470 Mr. W. Eagle C\sLrke—Ornifholoffr/ 



ver}' attractive to the Anatidse, not only during the seasons 

 of passage, but they also afford breeding-haunts for such 

 interesting species as the Red-crested Pochard and possibly 

 the Pintail. There are reed-beds and marshy tracts fringing 

 these etangs which are tenanted by a number of interesting 

 birds, such as the Bearded Reedling, Great Sedge- Warbler, 

 Marsh- Harrier, Purple Heron, and the Coot, the last being 

 quite a rare bird in the Midi. These etangs and marshes, 

 however, are a mere remnant, both as regards their extent 

 and their bird-life. 



The southern region is entirely impregnated with salt, and 

 consists of wastes clothed with salt-loving herbage, and 

 shallow lagoons of remarkably saline water. This vast 

 area of desert — it is nothing else — has baffled reclamation by 

 the agriculturist for these very reasons. Yet its singular 

 adaptation for the production of salt now threatens with 

 destruction its most characteristic bird, the Flamingo, a 

 species that has many charms for the naturalist. To the 

 south-east of the D>lta there flourishes an extensive Saline ; 

 and now, in addition, there have been erected very extensive 

 premises for the extraction of the valuable iodides and 

 bromides from the raw salt so abundantly produced. These 

 combined industries give employment to some 2000 hands, 

 and are close to one of the colonies of Flamingoes that 

 pass the summer in the Camargue. It is not at all likely that 

 these birds can flourish long with such a human population 

 as their immediate neighbours. 



On the other hand, in the south-west, where the second 

 herd of Flamingoes have their head-quarters, on the Great 

 Etang de Valcares, the march of cultivation has already 

 reached its northern shore. But this is not all. A singular 

 character, one Marius, a barber visiting Aries to shave the 

 country-folk on Sundays, and a recluse dwelling in a lonely 

 cabane on the east side of this etang during the remainder 

 of the week, takes a heavy toll of the eggs, which are laid 

 within sight of his retreat. 



Encroachments and persecutions such as these must soon 

 work changes on this, the most remarkable, and at the same 



