122 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF INDIA. 



thing about them, every one had seen the falcons (or hawks 

 as they were barbarously denominated) but nobody had fired. 

 " Oh dear no, they passed quite out of shot you know !" 

 Should any one ever feel tempted to compose a le Mysteries 

 of Preparis," this remarkable incident should play a leadiug 

 part in the, doubtless, thrilling romance. 



Everybody was hot, tired, torn, wet and dirty, and though 

 timely refreshments soothed us somewhat, Preparis was, I 

 fear, generally voted a " beastly hole" aud left without regret, 

 save only by me. As for me the curtain fell on my pleasant 

 play, when I stepped on board the dear old Scotia that night, 

 to leave her again only when I reached that most detestable of 

 all abominable places, Calcutta. Preparis per se might have 

 its drawbacks, but to me it was a paradise as compared with 

 India's metropolis where, as has been justly said, " everything 

 smells, except the flowers !" 



Next day we were well on the homeward track, out of sight 

 of land, and the only noteworthy point was the arrival on 

 boardship towards evening of a single Mosque Swallow 

 (L. erythropygia)^ of which no specimen .had been seen 

 throughout the whole cruise, and which I have not, therefore, 

 included in the ornis of the Bay Islands. 



III. — Analysis of the Avifauna. 



Notwithstanding all our exertions, our materials (which I 

 must now explain) for a review of the Avifauna of the 

 islands of the Bay of Bengal are still imperfect. 



Our own trip has been described, and our route will be found 

 duly marked on the map. During that trip we preserved a 

 little over 500 specimens. 



At the end of the previous November, I had sent my Curator, 

 Mr. Davison, with his staff down to Port Blair. He arrived 

 there quite at the beginning of December, and collected vigo- 

 rously in that portion of the South Andaman until the 15th of 

 January, when he left w r ith General Stewart (to whose kindness 

 we have all owed so much) for a cruize through the Nicobars. 

 On the 10th of February General Stewart dropped him at 

 Camorta, where he remained, working that island, Nancowry, 

 Trinkut and Katchall, until the 11th of March, when he joined 

 and accompanied us in our expedition. We left him on the 21st 



