254 BIEDS OF TUNISIA 



North of the Mediteranean, T. sylvatica is apparently now only to 

 he found in certain districts of Southern Spain, and possihly in Por- 

 tugal, though it is probably not uncommon in some of the localities 

 where it occiurs. 



In Sicily, where the species was once plentiful in all the uncul- 

 tivated parts of the southern and south-western districts, it now seems 

 to be totally extinct, and I have not heard of a single example having 

 been met with in the island for several years. 



The following is a copy of a letter I wrote {Ibis, 1896, p. 290), 

 less than ten years ago, regarding this species, and I can only express 

 the regret that my fears, there set forth, as to its probable approach- 

 ing extinction in Sicily have unfortunately been so soon verified : — 



" I regret to say that the Hemipode, once so plentiful in Sicily, 

 must now be looked upon as a rara avis here, and I only hope I may 

 be mistaken in thinking that it will, at no distant date, be totally 

 extinct in this island. Professor Doderlein, writing of Turnix 

 sylvatica in 1871 (' Avifauna del Modenese e della Sicilia,' p. 168), 

 reported the species as plentiful in Sicily at that time, he himself 

 having often killed as many as ten to fifteen of these birds in a day 

 in the southern and south-western districts of the island. 



" I myself remember this bird fairly plentiful in the above districts 

 so recently as the year 1890, its favourite haunts being the so-called 

 ' sciarre,' or tracts of uncultivated moorland, which extend for many 

 miles along the south coast of Sicily, running parallel with it, but 

 lying a little way inland. Here, among the clumps of dwarf broom- 

 palm and other scrub vegetation, one might have been sure of meeting 

 with Turnix sylvatica, and, with a good dog and decent luck, of 

 making a fair bag. A friend of mine, one day when riding over the 

 moorland near Mazzara, rescued one of these birds from the clutches 

 of a Hawk that had just seized it. 



" In those days one might often have seen the Hemipode in a cage 

 hung on the wall of a peasant's cottage. During the last fifteen years 

 or so, however, the species has gradually, but steadily, been decreasing 

 in numbers, and I have not seen a single specimen in the flesh since 

 the year 1891, when two or three were sent me from Campobello near 

 Mazzara. Indeed, for the past two years 1 have been endeavouring 

 to procure another specimen, without success, nor can I hear of any 

 having been obtained during this period anywhere in the island. This 

 leads me to fear that the Hemipode, following in the steps of the 



