MEDITERRANEAN NOTES 175 



" Last night after dinner I was on deck and 

 heard strange moaning sounds from the rock, which 

 I attributed to wild cats or perhaps seals, but am now 

 convinced that they proceeded from the big cinereous 

 shearwater, of which, however, we did not see any about 

 the rock. On nearing Vacca we could distinctly make 

 out amongst hundreds of gulls a large number of Falco 

 eleonor<e ; of which more anon. The shags on and 

 about the island were in incredible numbers, quite 

 fringing the little rock of Vitello and sitting on every 

 coign of vantage on the rock of the island itself. We 

 saw a great-; many shearwaters in the Bay of Palmas 

 and four griffon vultures about Cape Teulapa. Two 

 of the men went ashore at a cleft on the east side 

 of the island. The Eleonora falcons kept swooping over 



us ; I got one, and M three (brought to bag), 



but I knocked down another, and he says he shot 

 three more. Only one of those bagged was in the 

 hobbyish plumage, all the rest were sooty. They found 

 several big shearwaters (Puffinus kuhlt] on their nests 

 under the debris in the aforesaid cleft, and caught 

 three and got their eggs. Some swifts, but not in 

 vast numbers. Several pigeons and one turtle-dove. 

 We shot four F. eleonorx^ five rock doves, and caught 

 the three shearwaters mentioned before. The rock is 

 inexpressibly wild and grand, and the multitude of 

 birds makes it most interesting. Saw a very large seal 

 close to us." 



