MEDITERRANEAN NOTES 159 



flock of wild geese and a few common wild ducks ; also a hare. We 

 shot 3 snipes, i teal, i peewit, i golden plover, 2 spotted rails. Saw 

 also common starling." 



"March 2"]th. On the Simeto river shot i bittern, 2 snipes, 

 i golden plover." 



"March 2$>th. Pantani. i curlew, i solitary snipe, 4 full snipes, 



1 jack snipe, 4 spotted rails, i wild duck, i garganey, 2 black-headed 

 gulls, i calandra, i quail." 



"March $oth. 13 coots, 2 garganey, 2 white-eyed ducks, 5 snipes, 



2 waterhens." 



"March $ist. 13 coots, i mallard, i white -eyed duck. Lost 

 2 mallards and 2 garganeys, besides some coots." 



PANTANI DI CATANIA 



" March ^oth. In a stack near the house where we 

 hired out boats the cutter's crew found a quantity of 

 snakes, chiefly Coluber natrix, which swarms all about the 

 marshes, and I fancy one or two of the black variety of 

 Laments atrovirens. Poland found a nest in the reeds, 

 I fancy of sedge warbler (Schcenobttnus}, with three eggs." 



CATANIA. LENTINI, AGOSTA, AND SYRACUSE 



"March ju/. The yacht lay off and on all last 

 night, and we landed at the same place to shoot ; lost 

 several things in the dense reeds. I found a nest of a 

 porphyrio * in a heap of growing flags, containing one egg. 

 The nest is exactly like that of a common water-hen, or 

 perhaps not quite so high -sided as some nests of that 



* The Porphyries are ' water-hens.' Many of them are coloured 

 blue or bluish-purple, and have red legs, feet and bills. 



