and Hs Birds in 1888. 217 



wc were able to make ourselves most comfortable in Govern- 

 ment House. The winter had been rather severe, and snow 

 had fallen to the depth of three or four feet. The Moufflon 

 had roamed farther eastward than is customary, and on the 

 day before our arrival some had been seen by the care-takerfe 

 in close proximity to the house. 



Wc spent a week here, but of this tiine only two days and 

 a half were clear. On the I'cmaiuder we were enveloped in 

 mist so thick that it was almost impossible to shoot, and we 

 dared not go more than a hundred yards or so from the house 

 for fear of losing our way. Had the weather been better, we 

 might have done more ; as it was, we did not get either 

 Woodpecker or Nuthatch, of both of which birds, by the way, 

 the care-takers, who were always abont with a gun, were 

 ignorant. We obtained a good series of Farus Cypriotes, 

 however, and I was pleased to find the Crossbill (all that I 

 shot being of very dark plumage) in some abundance. The 

 Tree Creeper [Certhia familiaris) was very common, and Cotile 

 rupestris was nesting under the eaves of the house. 



From Troodos we made a two days' march to Paplio, where 

 I thought it very probable that I might find Sylvia melano- 

 thorax breeding, as well as, possibly, some of the other 

 Warblers. I was also desirous of seeing the excavations at 

 the temple of Aphrodite, which had by this time been com- 

 pletely brought to light. On the way down we saw many 

 Golden Orioles, which were said to be particularly plentiful 

 that year. I noticed, as I had on my first visit, that the 

 Hoopoe was, on the Mhole, not common, not anything like so 

 common, at least, as it is in Greece. 



On arrival I found hardly any Warblers in the gardens 

 excej)t the inevitable Hypolais elaica, while not a single Sylvia 

 melanothorax Avas to be seen. We resolved accordingly to 

 return to Nikosia, taking an unused route across the moun- 

 tains to the west of Nikko. The day before we were to start 

 I heard of an extraordinary bird, an " dypco^ crTpov96<i/' 

 alive with other birds, some of which it was said to have 

 killed, in an aviary in the town. On going to see it I found a 

 much dilapidated Hawfinch {Coccothraustes vulyaris), which 

 was said to have been caught on the slopes of Troodos. It 



