LETTER TO THE LATE DUKE OF ARGYLL 201 



Zoological Society. The little Brown Martin that 

 you tell of is no doubt Cot/tie Bupestris. The Rock 

 Dove is no doubt Golumba 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-cephala). 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 Duke 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 (Cucumis 

 colocynthis). 



