SPORT AND TRAVEL 141 



I examined, appeared to have. been freshly built that 

 year, and were certainly all freshly lined with the 

 ends of small fir branches, the bunches of green pine 

 needles on which formed a soft cushion for the single 

 white egg. Although these nests were large, they 

 were small in comparison with the accumulated piles 

 of many years from which I took the eggs of the 

 black vultures. The eggs of the griffon vulture 

 had a musky smell when first taken, from which 

 those of the black vulture were entirely free. 



I also saw two nanny-goats, and shot one to take 

 down with me to Smyrna. I saw too, for the first 

 time, a pair of ruddy shelducks (Casarca rutila), one 

 of which in the early morning kept flying along the 

 mountain-side and perching on the rocks above our 

 camp. Later in the day, I saw both of them feeding 

 in the marsh near the cranes. On my way back 

 to Smyrna, I noticed many wheatears and wagtails 

 about, none of which were to be seen earlier in the 

 season. The storks, too, were now all back at their 

 nests. These interesting birds breed very plenti- 

 fully in Asia Minor, and their nests may be seen on 

 the houses or trees in every town and village. At 

 Ephesus they are particularly numerous, and every 

 pillar of the old Roman aqueduct has been utilised 

 as a nesting site. On March 10, I had seen two 

 great flights of these birds passing over the Maimun 

 Dagh, and the sight of them conjured up visions of 

 the far off land in which I had spent all the best 



