during a Voyage to Ahwandrla. 745 



cachinnans) were the only birds seen, Ou the 23rd we were off 

 the Baj^ of Tunis, aud during thedaylsaw an immature Gannet 

 and some ^'0\\\^^Larus mnrinus and adwltL. cachinnans. Some 

 small Shearwaters, probably P?/^/^w^ ge/kouanus,yveYe observed, 

 about ten miles N.W. of Pautellaria, and in the evening a few 

 Swallows came ou board. The following morning we Avere in 

 Malta^ and ou visiting the market I found a few birds exposed 

 for sale. Turtle-Doves, Quails, and Golden Orioles (mostly 

 fully adult birds, but some immature) were the most numerous, 

 but there were also a Scops Owl, Cuckoo, Hoopoe, Ptock- 

 Thrush (Monticola saxatilis), Red-footed Falcon, a Roller, 

 a Short-eared Owl, and a Reeve — a truly mixed bag — which 

 could be bought for threepence a head. Having a few hours 

 to spare, I took a cab to the Marsa and walked up a very rocky 

 valley, on the side of which were innumerable small patches 

 of cultivation surrounded by low stone walls, known as the 

 Wied Zubbug. Even here, the only place near Valetta where 

 one can get away from houses and people, I found bird-life 

 not abundant ; but I noted the following birds : — Swallows, 

 House-Martins, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Golden Orioles, 

 a Wood-Chat, Turtle-Doves, Spectacled Warblers, Rock- 

 Thrashes, Red-footed Falcons, and the Maltese Sparrow. 

 All the birds were very wild, no doubt ow'ing to native per- 

 secution. The Rock-Thrushes were in full song; the song 

 seemed to me rather sweet and soft, more melodious and less 

 monotonous than that of the Song-Thrush and having more 

 *' body '' than that of a Common Wheatear. The Spectacled 

 Warbler was also uttering a rather pleasing little song, in 

 parts rather like a Common Wren's, but more warbling and 

 varied and not so shrill. I found the nest of this bird where 

 the straggling branches of a crab-tree mingled with those of 

 a hawthorn. It seemed rather big for the size of the bird, and 

 ■was composed of the dried leaves of some kind of thistle 

 lined with dried grasses, while dotted about in the lining were 

 the tops of a flowering grass which looked like yellowish 

 wool and reminded me of the little bits of wool frequently 

 seen dotted about in the nest of the Common Whitethroat ; 



