265 



island of the Ivido. Here a few birds were seen ; 

 notably a small bunch of Wheatears — all cocks and in 

 most perfect plumage — a single Sedge Warbler was seen 

 among some reeds. The almost complete absence of 

 Gulls from the foreshores was very striking ; and in- 

 deed all along this coast we saw only one Gull, and 

 that too far away to distinguish the species. One fine 

 afternoon we took one of the quaint gondolas to 

 Muracco, an island about a mile from Venice, and, as 

 everyone knows, the headquarters of the glass indus- 

 try. We passed on our way a small flock of Brown- 

 headed Gulls. Some representatives of this species 

 ma}'' be seen in the Gulls' aviary in the Zoological 

 Gardens here in London. 



From Venice we took train away up to the Tyrol, 

 and noted curiously enough that the vegetation which 

 in Italy was backward (more so than in England) was 

 more advanced the further North we went. I have 

 only one birdy note on the jonrney up, and that is as 

 we were steaming up the valley to the Brenner Pass, a 

 most beautiful Waxwing flew out and alongside the 

 train for some distance, enabling one to have an ex- 

 cellent view of its plumage. 



We reached Innsbriick to find that, although hot 

 and sunny, a great fall of snow iiad taken place two 

 days before, covering the streets to the depth of 2 — 3 

 feet, a most unusual thing at this time of year (2nd 

 .May). But the mountains covered with snow, which 

 surround Innsbruck on every side, looked very grand, 

 though our walks were ver}' largely spoiled in conse- 

 quence of the heav}' snowfall. We rested longer in 

 Innsbiiick, and had ample lime for bird-gazing, but of 

 this I must defer the account till a subsequent date. 

 {To be co}iii?iued). 



