98 Dr. F. H. H, GmWemsLrd—Omitholoffical 



to be seeu. n the Nikosia market; and also, but more rarely^ 

 by 0/is tarda, of Mhich Mr. King, the District Commis- 

 sioner, told me he hod once had a recently-killed specimen 

 brought to him. A. species of Pterocles is now common, and 

 I learnt on good authority that it breeds in the island. 

 Among the birds I noticed on the road to the capital were 

 the Magpie, Hooded Crow, Bunting, Goldfinch, Great Tit, 

 Saxicola morio, and Tinnunculus cenchris, all of which are 

 extremely common and generally distributed in almost every 

 part of Cyprus I visited ; the Bunting alone, perhaps, con- 

 fining itself to low altitudes. The Chaffinch, of which I saw 

 a single specimen, appears to retreat to the hills for the 

 summer. A Stonechat or two were to be seen perched on the 

 summit of the parched and stunted bushes, and I remarked 

 a flock of Lapwings, a bird I never met with afterwards. Of 

 the extraordinary abundance of the Crested Lark I need say 

 nothing. At one place a migration of a small species of 

 Julus was going on, the road being covered with them for 

 fifty yards or more. 



Everyone who has travelled in the East must have remarked 

 that the Corvidse have a distinct predilection for a town life. 

 Ravens and Carrion Crows find Nikosia a good hunting- 

 ground and are tame enough, and around the beautiful 

 church of Santa Sophia, now a mosque, the Jackdaws chatter 

 in hundreds. There are few other birds in the neighbourhood. 

 Vultur fiilvus floats lazily in the cloudless sky, or sits at the 

 edge of the low, truncated kopjes near the Larnaka gate ; and 

 within the town Tinnunculus cefickris is nearly as common 

 as the ubiquitous Sparrow; but these practically complete 

 the list. On the 2-ith February I saw the Swallow for the 

 first time, and three days later they were abundant. The 

 tempei'ature at this date was distinctly cold, for although at 

 mid-day the mercury might stand at 65° Fahr. in the shade 

 or even higher, it sank at night to 39° in the verandah. 

 From the clearness and thinness of the air such weather is 

 more felt than might be imagined, and though the Greek 

 and Turkish houses are for the most part without fires, the 

 English sit round their stoves with the same enjoyment as 

 they gather on the hearth-rug at home in winter. 



