6 Mr. E. G. Meade- Waldo on some 



most noticeable birds near the town. Having discovered 

 and made the acquaintance of a native sportsman, I ques- 

 tioned him about the birds, and he told me that there were 

 two kinds of Pigeons in the mountain-forests : one, " Paloma 

 turque,^^ which I recognized from his description as the 

 common Tenerife "Paloma turqiiesa'' [Columba bollii) ; 

 the other, a much larger bird, called " Rabichi " or " Rabi 

 blanca," which I saw would be C laurivora. 



Starting early next morning to cross the island, we climbed 

 slowly up, beasts of burden being very hard to get and very 

 bad in San Sebastian. At about 3000 feet we got into some 

 low heath-scrub, where Sylvia melanbcephala was plentiful, 

 also a few of the pale-coloured Robins. We saw very many 

 Partridges {Caccabis petrosa) , and Ravens [Corvus tingitanus) 

 were in flocks and very tame. A Red Kite soared over us; 

 but this species is comparatively scarce in Gomera, where 

 there are but few pine trees. Blackbirds, Thrushes, Linnets, 

 and Goldfinches were about all the other birds we saw here ; at 

 4000 feet the heath got higher, and I saw a most brilliant 

 cock Azorean Chaffinch. After 4300 feet we began to de- 

 scend, and soon opened out large valleys and hills of ever- 

 green forest stretching to the north. I soon heard Pigeons 

 cooing, and recognized the voice of C. bollii. Goldcrests, 

 Tits, and Chiffchaffs were here very abundant, and at dusk 

 many Woodcocks flighted over us, squeaking and croaking, 

 and then we felt our way gradually downwards in the dark 

 by an almost blind track, not arriving at our destination till 

 10 P.M. I started early the next morning for the high forest, 

 where my sporting friend said I should get Pigeons, accom- 

 panied by two or three peasants carrying my things, for I 

 intended to sleep upon the Pigeon-ground. The woods were 

 very fine, the heaths and evergreen trees of many kinds being 

 far larger and more luxuriant in growth than any I had 

 ever seen before. We hunted carefully through the woods 

 that day and the next without seeing a single C laurivora ; 

 but C. bollii was common enough, and I shot two or three 

 for specimens, finding some of its nests, each containing one 

 egg, and catcliing alive a nearly full-grown young one, a fine 



