210 Dr. F. 11. H. GmWemard— Cijprns 



o^ Sylvia melanothur ax ; and having left them a skin of the 

 bird with full directions^ I returned again to Limassol. 



It being evident that whatever the island had to show in 

 lie way of birds would, at this season, be confined to the 

 akes and marshes, I determined to return to Larnaka to 

 work the sheet of water at Voroklini, which afforded me a 

 good number of specimens on my first visit, and thence to 

 proceed to the still larger lake near Famagusta. I therefore 

 rode by easy stages to the former place. The country presents 

 few objects of interest, and under deluges of rain we ploughed 

 wearily along the most miserable combination of bog and 

 rock that ever laid claim to the title of road. It was again 

 with great surprise that I found the Voroklini lake almost 

 dry, for I had left it nearly full in July. I have seen the 

 same sort of thing in Africa, however. These thirsty lands 

 drink up an enormous quantity of water without much 

 surface-result. Then comes saturation, and the lakes will 

 perhaps fill in a night with far less rainfall than that to which 

 they have been exposed ior many days previously. 



Ring Plovers {zE(/ialitis hiuticula) were the only visitors to 

 this uninviting expanse of mud, so I turned my attention to 

 the neighboviriug marsh. This was in good shooting-order 

 and contained an abundance of Snipes, and — what was of 

 more interest to the ornithologist — a flock of Starlings. They 

 were extraordinarily wild, and it was not till many days later 

 that I succeeded in obtaining specimens, which, as Aviil be 

 seen, turned out to be of two species. Other birds there 

 Mere few, but I shot a very fine male of the common Circus 

 ceruginusus, and saw a number of Water Rails. T also noticed 

 Porzana parva and a solitary Quail. I do not know whether 

 this latter bird is ever abundant in the island, but during my 

 two visits I do not suppose that I saw more than a dozen all 

 told. 



The chain of salt lakes south of Larnaka added no more 

 to my collection, although I saw a fine string of Geese passing 

 over them on one occasion ; and having wasted a day in cave- 

 digging, in the vain hope of finding some remains of primitive 

 man, I shifted my quarters to Famagusta. The lake here 



