Avifauna of Italy. 213 



the extremes of my series amongst the perfectly adult speci- 

 mens : — 



a. Orbetello. b. Cagliari. 

 metre. metre. 



Height 1-490 1-120 



Tibia (naked) .... 0-250 0-170 



Tarsus • 0-350 0260 



Bill (length from rictus) . 0-113 O'lOO 



It is on such pygmy specimens, as the one from Cagliari, 

 which are not uncommon, that P. erythraus, Verr., was 

 founded. 



I believe there can be no doubt that the Flamingo 

 does occasionally breed in Sardinia ; I have quite recently 

 received a young and very small specimen shot on the 30th 

 of October on the Stagno of Quartu, near Cagliari, where 

 Flamingoes have been taken in July. 



Cygnus olor (Gm.). 



Not common in the wild state, and only met with during 

 severe winters ; I have one shot near Genoa in 1860. All the 

 specimens I have examined in Italian Museums belong to 

 this species, and not to the closely allied C immutabilis. 



Cygnus minor. Pall. 



I have had the good fortune to add this fine species to the 

 Italian avifauna ; our collection possesses a magnificent adult 

 female, shot in January 1874 at Massaciuccoli, near Lucca, 

 out of a small fl.ock, and presented by my friend Count E. 

 Minutoli. It is the only specimen I know of in Italian 

 Museums. 



-f-ANSER ALBIFRONS (SCOp.). 



Our rarer species. The Italian collection at Florence pos- 

 sesses a specimen shot near Rome in December 1874 ; I have 

 besides seen one caught in the neighbourhood of Naples in 

 February 1870, in that University Museum. This species 

 has been shot in 1 860 and in 1874 in the neighbourhood of 

 Pavia. 



7- Bernicjla BRENTA (Briss.). 



Quite accidental with us, but less unfrequent in Northern 



SER. IV. VOL. v. Q 



