218 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
and Common Gulls are plentiful. The Herring Gull has bright yellow 
legs: this, as far as I can remember, is different from our bird. The 
Lesser Black-backed Gull also seems different. There are no Rooks in 
these parts, but their place seems taken by Storks, who are very tame, and 
may be seen following the plough and walking sedately about the fields 
and gardens looking for food: the females are now sitting on their huge 
nests placed on top of a chimney, the domes of the mosques, or any 
convenient corner on a roof. On the 7th I went across to a place called 
Tcherdak, on the Asiatic side, opposite Gallipoli, to try for Quail. We got 
six brace and a half, and some Calandra Larks, which are fine big fellows 
and very good in a pie. There were numbers of Bee-eaters flying about, 
and their brilliant plumage looked beautiful in the bright sun. They hawk 
about for flies something like Swallows, and keep up a monotonous croaking 
the whole time. I must have Bree’s ‘ Birds of Europe’ sent out to me, for 
I feel the want of this work. There are several birds about here I cannot 
make out. One of the prettiest is a Bunting with black head, yellow 
throat, breast and belly, and reddish back. I remember the figure very 
well, but forget the name of the bird. I have skinned one specimen. The 
female is not nearly so brightly coloured. Calandra, Crested and Short-toed 
Larks are common, as is one very pretty Wheatear (not Saxicola wnanthe) 
and several Warblers, Buntings, Pipits, &c., whose species [ am not certain 
of. Little Kestrels are very common and tame, breeding among old 
tumble-down houses in the village of Bulair; as also are two kinds of 
Shrike I am not certain of, Buzzards, Hen Harriers, Magpies, Crows, 
Ravens and Royston Crows feeding on carrion; on the beach Little Ringed 
Plovers, Common Sandpipers and Little Terns (the former and latter 
evidently breeding); in a marsh, Black Terns (breeding), Snipe, &c., and at 
the report of my gun two black and white Geese rose from the rushes. 
They were rather fat; their wings seemed to be black and most of their 
bodies white, and I fancy their heads black. I cannot make them out. 
Near this marsh I came upon a lot of Pratincoles hawking about for flies, 
and was much interested in watching them. They were ridiculously tame 
and pitched within twenty yards of me, and when flying often came within 
a few feet. On the ground they do not move much, but on the wing they 
are very graceful, flying and twisting about in an elegant manner after flies. 
I shot three of them, but was sorry to do so, they were such pretty innocent- 
looking creatures. The base of each mandible is bright vermilion; I do 
not remember this in any plate, so perhaps it may fade after death. 
Unfortunately my shot was too large, and I only managed to make one 
decent skin. The bird’s crop was full of small beetles, mostly Brachelytra. 
Tell me, when next you write, where to look for their nests, for I fancy 
they may breed here. This is not much of a place for butterflies ; there is 
hardly a tree in the country—all grass and a few stunted bushes, The 
