MEDITERRANEAN NOTES 155 



MESSINA 



" March 1 2th. Went out to the Faro in the cutter. 

 Thousands of gulls, chiefly L. melanocephalus, also L. 

 argentatus, L. ridibundus and L,. canus. Saw a very large 

 shearwater, and a few terns,* the Sandwich tern, I think 

 (Sterna cantiaca\ near the Faro. Saw the first house 

 martins. At the little salt lakes at the Faro, they stick 

 up wooden herons as decoys ; it appears that the common 

 and the purple heron (Ardea cinerea and A. purpurea] 

 pass in great numbers in spring. Many of the L. 

 melanocephalus, of which I shot three, have the black 

 head nearly perfect, others show very little trace of it. 



" About Capo Sant' Andrea, saw the common kestrel 

 (Falco tinnunculus\ the blue rock-thrush (Monticola cyaned], 

 black redstart (Ruticilla titys), kingfisher (Alcedo ispidd], 

 rock pigeon (Columba livid), and gulls. Between Messina 

 and Taormina, saw several little gulls (Larus minutus\ and 

 two or three flights of cranes (Grus cinerea]. Young 

 R brought me off two bottles of lizards, appar- 

 ently all of one species (L. viridis}, but one (Gecko 

 platydactylus . ? ). 



"Saw ten vultures going north at an immense height 

 in the air." 



TAORMINA 



"March i6th. A bright sunny morning. Sailed for 

 Taormina, where we anchored. Beautiful scenery all 



* Popularly known as 'Sea-swallows.' 



