LETTER TO THE LATE DUKE OF ARGYLL 201 



Zoological Society. The little Brown Martin that 

 you tell of is no doubt Cotyle Bupestris. The Eock 

 Dove is no doubt Columba Livia. 1 Tunis must 

 be a very altered place from what it was in 1856, 

 when I was there. The great Baheira lagoon 

 was then a constant source of delight, swarming 

 with Flamingoes and wildfowl innumerable. 

 The few birds that I got there were a Tawny 

 Eagle, and the curious Spiny-tailed Duck 

 (Erismatura Leuco-ceplmla). After a spell of 

 extraordinarily mild weather we are now having 

 a bitterly cold snap. Forty-five wild swans were 

 seen about ten miles from this on Friday last, and 

 two considerable flocks of geese on the same day 

 close to Oundle. ... A pair of Storm Thrushes 

 are busily building in the Pinsapo immediately 

 in front of our bedroom windows.' 



To the DuJce of Argyll 



' Lilford Hall : March 3, 1896. 



' Dear Duke of Argyll, I am greatly obliged 

 to you for your very interesting letter, and can 

 most sincerely sympathise in your attack of our 



1 The Rock Dove was obtained in the Aures mountains. Its 

 crop was found to be full of the seeds of bitter apple (Cucurnis 

 colocynthis). 



