56 Dr. Henry Giglioli on the Birds observed at Pisa 



seen it hopping about, tail erect, among the rocks which form the 

 bed of the torrent Lima, at the Bagni di Lucca. Of the Turdi 

 I have observed all the common European species, except the 

 Fieldfare {T. pilaris) ; and I have several times met with the 

 Ring-Ouzel {Memla torquata) . In April the two Rock-Thrushes 

 make their appearance : the Petrocincla saxatilis may then be 

 seen perched on the detached masses of limestone which adorn 

 the flanks of the Monte Pisano; while the ''Passera solitaria" of 

 the Italians (P. cyanea) generally frequents old towers and church 

 steeples, and pours forth its glowing melody even from the top 

 of the Verruca, a ruined mediaeval fortress which crowns one 

 of the highest summits of the Pisan range. The Golden Oriole 

 [Oriolus galhula) reaches these shores towards the end of April, 

 and the poplar-trees which fringe the Arno resound soon after 

 with its powerful and monotonous note. It is indeed a glorious 

 sight to see one of these beautiful birds flying, the golden yellow 

 of its body contrasting beautifully with the intense black of its 

 wings and tail. As Mr. Swinhoe has observed in O. chinensis, 

 in the European species also, the adult female acquires a plumage 

 similar to that of the male; and I suppose the same is the case 

 with all true Orioles. 



Flycatchers were pretty abundant in April, and on the same 

 day I shot the three common European species, Butalis grisola, 

 Muscicapa albicoUis, and M. luctuosa. This last species is new 

 to the Tuscan avifauna ; and when I showed the numerous speci- 

 mens I had procured toProfessorSavi,he was much surprised, and 

 said that, during the forty years he has been studying the ornis of 

 this part of Italy, he had never come across the Pied Flycatcher, 

 which, however, abounds during the spring passage at Genoa and 

 all along the Riviera. Erythrosterna parva has been caught not 

 far from here, but it is very rare. 



I have only met with two species of Shrikes, the common 

 Enneoctonus collurio and the scarcer Lanius minor, though the 

 Wood- Shrike [Phoneus rufus) is said to be abundant in this neigh- 

 bourhood. 



Few species of the Crow-tribe appear in the vicinity of Pisa. 

 Garrulus glandarius is very common, and even utters its loud 

 screams along the much- frequented Piaggie road. The Magpie 



