Messrs. Elwes and Buckley on the Birds of Turkey. 335 



the same time as the White Stoi'k, and is just as shy and solitary 

 as the other is sociable. The nest is usually built in a rock in a 

 lonely situation, and is used for many consecutive years. We saw 

 the Black Stork in the Pravidy valley, and near Babadagh, where a 

 pair were making their nest in a low rock on the edge of the forest. 



■-f-259. Falcinellus igneus (Gmel.). 



Common in summer, especially about the lagoons and marshes 

 of the Danube. The first flock we saw was on the 18th of 

 April, when we shot one near Pravidy. 



260. Pelecanus crispus, Bruch. 



Common in Macedonia, where we saw it in the Gulf of Salo- 

 nica and about the mouth of the Vardar. We were told that 

 Pelicans bred in the great marsh of Janitza, which is quite im- 

 penetrable, except in one or two narrow channels. On the 

 llth of April we visited a lagoon which runs back from the 

 Danube three miles above Rassova, whither a great number of 

 Pelicans resort to breed. We had much trouble in getting a boat, 

 as the Circassians who lived there would not allow us to go in 

 theirs ; but at last we brought a dug-out canoe in a cart from 

 Rassova, and launched her on the lake, which was surrounded 

 by a deep bed of tall reeds. We paddled up to the top of it, 

 disturbing numbers of Geese, Grebes, and Ducks, and came at 

 last to the breeding-place of the Pelicans. The nest consists 

 of a shallow depression in a large strong platform formed by 

 reeds broken down and heaped together in the water; and on 

 this great heap of decaying matter the eggs were laid. Many 

 of the nests contained two or three ; but all of them were quite 

 fresh, and in some instances covered with bloody marks, as if 

 they had cost a severe effort to lay. The old birds, when dis- 

 turbed by our approach, flapped off heavily and began soaring 

 about above us. It is wonderful to see the ease and grace with 

 which they fly when once fairly on the wing, mounting up with 

 hardly a motion of the wings until almost out of sight, and 

 soaring round and round like Vultures. 



261. Pelecanus onocrotalus, L. 



Found in Epirus by Lord Lilford, and also on the sea of 

 Marmora by Mr. Robson. 



N. S. VOL. VI. 2 B 



