OCCASIONAL NOTES. 217 
arrival in November—flying in a northerly direction, and evidently 
migrating. This total absence of the Fieldfare here during the winter is 
quite exceptional, if not unique, in my ornithological experience. I saw a 
Redstart on April 17th, and about a dozen Sand Martins on the 18th; and 
my brother saw a Swallow on the last-mentioned date. Two male Tree 
Pipits were observed, both singing, on the 19th April, and a Yellow Wagtail 
on the 21st. All the above-mentioned migrants, excepting the Swallow, are 
now (April 21st) generally distributed in suitable localities. The wind has 
veered into the east, and we are beginning to experience the truth of the old 
proverb, “ One Swallow doth not make a summer.”—E. P. P. BurrerrieLp 
(Wilsden). 
Summer Micranrs neEAR Dusiin.—I forward to you the following list 
of summer migrants, with dates of arrival, as observed by members of our 
Field Club :—Wheatear, March 24th; Swallow, April 8th; Chiffchaff, 9th ; 
Willow Warbler, 11th; Cuckoo, 16th; Swift and Corn Crake, 17th; White- 
throat, 18th; Sand Martin, 22nd; Flycatcher, May 12th.—C. W. Henson 
(Rathmines School, Dublin). 
OrnitHoLoeicaL Notes FROM THE SEA OF Marmora.—In a letter 
from my brother, Lieut. Gervase Mathew, R.N., dated on board H.M.S. 
‘Cygnet,’ off Bulair Lines in the Sea of Marmora, on the 14th May last, 
are several ornithological notes which I think will be interesting to readers 
of ‘The Zoologist,’ and I accordingly forward them for publication. He 
says :—‘ During our passage from Malta to Besika Bay a number of birds, 
migrants, flew on board the ship—Swallows, Turtle Doves, Grey-headed 
Wagtails, &c. One of the first birds I noticed was a Little Bittern; it flew 
on board and settled in one of the big boats we were bringing out. I crept 
up alongside the boat, then suddenly jumped up and caught the bird as it 
flew up. It was a beautiful creature; I skinned it, and it proved to bea 
female. One day a violent thunder-storm broke over us and the rain came 
down very heavily and lasted for several hours. In about half an hour 
from the time it commenced the ship was crowded with birds, the greater 
number being Grey-headed Wagtails (of which there must have been 
several hundreds), Turtle Doves, Swallows, Whinchats, Titlarks, Cuckoo 
(one), Short-toed Lark (one), Striated Bunting, &c. In Besika Bay and up 
the Dardenelles there were many hundreds of Shearwaters; they are 
continually on the move, flying backwards and forwards, and the Turks say 
they are the spirits of the departed. ‘They seem to be darker birds than 
our English Shearwater. The commonest gull about Gallipoli is the little 
black-headed Adriatic Gull, a very pretty bird with intense black head and 
bright coral red legs and beak. Its note is very different from that of Larus 
ridibundus, and it is, I fancy, a trifle larger. Herring, Lesser Black-backed 
2F 
