82 On the Birds of Tenerijfe. 



Orotava, and, at liis request, I carefully collected examples 

 of the parasites from my four species, which lie subsequently 

 mounted on slides for his microscope. An examination of 

 these formidable -looking (under the magnifying -power) 

 creatures gave the following startling results : — The parasites 

 from P. kuhli and P. anglorum are alike, or at any rate very 

 similar, while those from P. obscurus and O. marinus also 

 resemble each other. The latter have no eyes, and belong 

 to a set peculiar to night-flying birds ; the former have eyes 

 and are usually met with in birds seen abroad by daylight ! 

 Is this accidental, or is it part of a regular system of nature ? 

 i^ I did not meet with the Razorbill {Aim torda) myself, but 

 Don Ramon Gomez has specimens in his collection from the 

 neighbourhood of Orotava. This is the only member of the 

 Alcidse I recorded as Teneriffian. Viera mentions several 

 sea-birds in his Dictionary; but his descriptions are some- 

 what puzzling, and I cannot make out clearly what they 

 refer to. 



Though very common, I never succeeded in obtaining a 

 specimen of the Raven. On several occasions young Baeza, 

 when out with me, had an easy chance of securing one ; but 

 one time he did not fire, and another he missed, and so I came 

 away without one. I was sorry for this, as the bird seemed 

 to me smaller than the ordinary European Corvus corax, and 

 may prove to be of a different species, perhaps C. tingitanus, 

 the Tangier Raven of Col. Irby. A pair of eggs marked 

 " Cuervo," in the Tacoronte Museum, looked no larger than 

 those of C corone or C. coryiix. 



Another bird I was anxious to obtain, the migratory 

 Turtle Dove, which visits the island every summer, I did not 

 remain late enough to procure. There seems to be a doubt 

 as to which species it is, but I hope to receive specimens 

 shortly and to clear this up. 



I have now, I think, gone through my list of species re- 

 corded in Teneriffe — 68 during my residence there, and 3 

 more subsequently, making 71 in all : not a very large 

 total, certainly, but not bad_, considering the limited area I 

 worked. 



