of the Delta of the Rhone. 467 



The results obtained regarding the migratory movements 

 were highly satisfactory. Even during our brief sojourn^ a 

 considerable number of species, and hosts of individuals, of 

 birds which summer and nest in Northern and Central 

 Europe were observed traversing the Lower Rhone Valley as 

 birds of passage, most of them to rest on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, before passing still further south to their 

 accustomed winter-quarters. Among others were the Eire- 

 crest, Starling, Goshawk, Osprey, Pintail, Teal, Wigeon, 

 Stock-Dove, Great Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sand- 

 piper, Wood-Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, and 

 Black-tailed Godwit. 



In addition to the boreal and infra-boreal birds just enume- 

 rated, a number of species which nest in Northern and 

 Central France and elsewhere, but which are not summer 

 visitants to the Bouches-du-Rhone, were noted passing south- 

 ward as emigrants in the Delta and its neighboui^hood. 

 These were the Wlieatear, Whinchat, Redstart, Willow- 

 Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightjar, 

 Sparrow-Hawk, Common Heron, Shoveler, Land-Rail, and 

 Curlew. 



In addition, again, to the strictly transient visitors above 

 mentioned, the ranks of a number of species which are 

 summer birds in Provence, including the Delta and district, 

 were largely recruited by migrants from more northern 

 provinces and countries, and these, along with the summer 

 visitors of the same species to the Bouches-du-Rhone, joined 

 forces in the general movement southward. The White- 

 throat, Blue-headed Wagtail, Swallow, Martin, Sand-Martin, 

 Wryneck, Hobby, Kestrel, Mallard, Garganey, Quail, and 

 Redshank may be mentioned, among others, as of this group. 



The tamarisk-bushes, which flourish in the arid s.dine region 

 of the southern portion of the Camargue and which are 

 eminently birdless during the summer months, were now 

 alive with Redstarts, Warblers, and other Passerines ; and it 

 was here that we made most of our observations on the 

 movements of the birds of this order. In this desert-region, 

 too, we saw the Hobby, Kestrel, and Sparrow-Hawk as emi- 



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