LIFE OF THE A UTHOR. 87 



Rotunda for sale. This ornithological amusement is often carried 

 on in the street of the Propaganda during the months of May and 

 June. 



" After the benediction by the sovereign pontiff from the portico 

 of St. Peter's has given the world to understand that all the cere- 

 monies of holy week are over, the strangers take their departure 

 from Rome with a precipitation as though the pestilence had shown 

 itself within her walls. We, however, determined to prolong our 

 stay, wishing to be present at the services during the month of May, 

 the whole of which delightful time is dedicated to devotions in 

 honour of the blessed Virgin. It is called in Rome, * the month of 

 Mary ; ' and these devotions are performed in the church of the 

 Jesuits with a magnificence worthy of the occasion. The beautifully 

 arranged blaze of innumerable candles on the high altar ; the hea- 

 venly music ; the fervent prayers of the people, and the profound 

 attention of the officiating Fathers, all tended to make a deep and 

 a lasting impression on my mind. 



" Our prolonged stay gave me an opportunity of collecting speci- 

 mens of those birds of passage so rarely to be seen in our own land, 

 and scarcely ever acquired in a state fit for preparation. We had 

 the golden oriole, the roller, the bee-eater, the spotted gallinule, the 

 least of the water-rails, the African redstart, the hoopoe, the egrette, 

 the shrikes, and several varieties of the quail, and I procured an 

 adult pair of the partridge of the Apennines in superb plumage. 



" Thus did time glide on, every day producing something new to 

 engage the attention of my indefatigable sisters-in-law, and to give 

 me sufficient occupation in ornithology, so that we felt somewhat 

 low in spirits when the day arrived on which we were to take our 

 departure for Naples. I saw more birds on the route from Rome to 

 Naples than I had observed in the whole of the journey from Eng- 

 land. Kites and common buzzards, sparrow-hawks and windhovers, 

 were ever on the wing in the azure vault above us. 



" As we were resting our horses at a little inn on the side of the 

 road, I had a fine opportunity of getting close to a very large herd 

 of Italian buffaloes. These wild-looking animals have got a bad 

 name for supposed ferocity, and when I expressed my determination 

 to approach them, I was warned by the Italians not to do so, as 



