114 LORD LILFOKD 



new to me has lost its attractions, but I must hope 

 that my friends' expectations for the benefit I am 

 to derive from the climate may be realised. . . . 

 ' I have a pair of Scops Owls, very tame and 

 most charming pets ; I know that they will die 

 if left at Lilford, and hardly know what to 

 do about them. Would you care to be troubled 

 with them ? They require moderate warmth 

 and not too much food, for they are very vora- 

 cious ; they will eat beetles, moths, flies, and 

 birds, as well as any sort of meat, but they 

 require a good deal of casting, i.e. fur, feathers, 

 and small bones. I have three beautiful speci- 

 mens of the Blue-crested Guinea Fowl from 

 Mozambique.' 



To the same. 



' Villa Linda, Algiers : January 23, 1878. 



'We have had a great deal of cold wet 

 weather, and I did not feel any benefit from the 

 change, but lately the weather has been bright 

 and beautiful, and I am a great deal better, 

 though I cannot say I like the place; it is 

 too French and artificially civilised to suit my 

 taste. We reared last year at Lilford about 



