440 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant on 



I am informed by Mr. Cossart that a clutch of eggs, taken on 

 the island, were shown him by a gentleman residing in 

 Funchal. There is a popular superstition in Madeira that the 

 Sparrow-Hawk is the outcome of the fifth egg in the 

 " Mantas " or Common Buzzard's nest ! During my stay I 

 saw a number of Sparrow-Hawks, but never had an oppor- 

 tunity of obtaining any specimens, as the chances of getting 

 them always occurred while I was temporarily disarmed 

 in pursuit of some other branch of zoology. Some of the 

 birds seen were undoubtedly only A. nisus, but two, at least, 

 I believe to have been specimens of A. granti, judging from 

 the hurried glimpses I had of them. I should imagine that 

 the resident birds were not nearly so numerous as the visitors. 

 Mr. Cossart tells me that what first drew his attention to 

 this Hawk was its peculiar flight, just topping the bushes, 

 like a tired or wounded bird, and it was this that made him 

 and Mr. Hinton give chase and procure it. As he had never 

 seen so large a Sparrow-Hawk, and as it was a particularly 

 fine one, he fortunately brought it home and skinned it. 



2. Strix flammea. 



3. Phylloscopus sibilatrix. 



Four specimens, which undoubtedly belong to this species, 

 were obtained by me in a garden a few miles from Funchal. 

 I was first attracted to the bird by its note, which was per- 

 fectly different from that of any Wood- Wren I had ever 

 heard at home. When I had remained quiet for some 

 minutes, I found there were several of these birds dodging 

 about in a very thick hedge, and every now and then darting- 

 out among the apple-trees in pursuit of some insects. It would 

 have been easy to get more specimens, as there were at least 

 a dozen. I never saw them anywhere else, and suppose they 

 had only touched there on their way north. 



4. Sylvia atricapilla. 



5. Sylvia heinekeni. 



6. Sylvia mklanocephala. 



I shot a pair a mile or so north of Santa Cruz, in some 

 thick furze-bushes, but never saw them anywhere else. 



