Birds of the Canary Islands. 517 



his breast was bluish white^ so he was not F. barharus. I 

 have seen no signs of their breeding here. Some natives, 

 when I drew attention to this bird, which was very tame, 

 said it was a "Coruja,"^ Owl ! ! They call the Sparrowhawk 

 " Falcon/' not " Gavilar/^ which is the name it is usually 

 known by. I procured a specimen of Leach's Petrel [Oceano- 

 droma leucorrhoa) ; I think it has not been recorded from 

 here before. I also got a beautiful little White-breasted 

 Petrel with grey back, forked tail, and long thin tarsi, with 

 yellow webs to its feet [Pelagodroma marina) ! Bulwer's 

 Petrel {Bulweria columbina) breeds commonly along the cliffs ; 

 there are two places, not very far from each other, to the 

 east of Orotava. I kept some alive for a short time, because 

 they would not fly away. If thrown up they either fell 

 like stones, or glided away and came into violent collision 

 with the first wall or fig-tree that came in their way. They 

 were all for hiding themselves anywhere, and I used to find 

 them in my boots. Their bill is as useful as a third leg, 

 they lift themselves up by it. They breed under the stones 

 and in the holes at the foot of the clifl's. The Great Shear- 

 water (^Puffinus kuhli) breeds in the holes in the caves. 



The Quails begin to arrive very early, the first migratory 

 Quails I found this year being found at the end of January. 

 In February numbers arrive, and they begin to breed then, 

 near the coast. There are two races, those which spend the 

 winter being smaller, darker, and more brightly coloured than 

 the migrants. They also have brilliant yellow legs, while those 

 that arrive in spring have mostly flesh-coloured legs. It is 

 probably food and soil that make the Quail which winters 

 here diff"erent from the spring visitors, for they winter at a 

 high elevation and feed mostly on the fruit of a small shrub, 

 called here " Trovisco,'' and are, as a rule^ only to be found 

 where it grows. 



I have this year carefully observed the Teydean Blue Chaf- 

 finch {Fringilla teijdea). 1 had a tent placed in a pine-forest 

 much frequented by them, and spent two or three days a week 

 for several weeks right in the midst of them. They are a most 

 entertaining bird, so full of life and so tame that thev can 



