288 Capt. Sperling's Ornithological Notes 



lurk numbers of wild cats (not Felis catus, but the domestic breed 

 run wild) ; and the bones of both old and young birds tell the 

 tale of the ravages they commit. 



I was surprised to learn that all the Terns leave Ascension as 

 soon as the young can fly ; but, from the shortness of my stay, I 

 was unable to ascertain the precise times of their arrival and 

 departure. I should, however, judge, by the appearance of the 

 young at the time of my visit, that they would all be ready to 

 start by the end of July. Whither do they go ? 



There are, as far as I could learn, no other birds indigenous 

 to the island, save a Swallow; but Pheasants, Partridges, and 

 Guinea-fowls have been turned down on the top of Green Moun- 

 tain, the only green spot on Ascension, though whether these are 

 our Partridge and Pheasant, or some species of Francolin, I did 

 not ascertain ; probably the latter. 



1. Elanus c^ruleus (Desfont.). 



Two young birds, captured in the island, were given to me at 

 Zanzibar; they were very tractable and tame, and I kept them 

 for some time. Mr. Layard remarks (B. S. Afr. p. 27), " It is 

 migratory, appearing about Cape Town in the month of May. 

 I have never heard of its nesting in this country. To a certain 

 extent this species is gregarious." 



2. Merops superciliosus, Linn. 



When at sea in the Mo9ambic Channel I heard one evening 

 the chattering of Bee-eaters, and saw two sitting in the pen- 

 dant loop of a small rope outside my port, evidently roosting 

 for the night; after some trouble I captured the male. I could 

 not make up my mind for some time to what species this 

 bird belonged ; and after puzzling over it for some days, and not 

 being able to reconcile it with Swainson^s M. savignii, I came 

 to the conclusion that it was M. superciliosus, Linn., which he 

 named from Brisson's description of a Madagascar specimen, 

 and that M. savignii was either a distinct species or a strongly- 

 marked variety, belonging more to the West Coast of Africa, 

 where Swainson procured his specimens^. 



* [Herr O. Finsch, to whose remarks on the subject we have befcHre 

 referred, (supra, p. 155, note), thinks that Merops superciliosus, M. cegyptius, 

 and M. sai'ii/nii&ve but the sanie species in different stages of plumage.— Ed.] 



