SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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A lli;k()\k\' l\ ASIA MINOU. 



Hv I. Hi l^-, l-.K.M.S. 



'j'lll-; Cum Rilkaiii is a shallow lake, vaiying in 

 •^ ■.i/.c, accDrdiim it> ihc season, from fmir to six 

 miles long and two lo four broad. It is overgrown 

 with reeds and rushes, and is a hideous, pestilential 

 place, recking ivith malaria, alive with mosquitnes, 

 suurniing with leeches, unattractive in the extreme to 

 any hut a lover of hirds. To hiui, if he escape an 

 attack of fever, it is well-nigh a paradise, for wild 

 fowl in immense numbers resort to it at all times of 

 ihi- yciir, lis dense cover rendering them safe from 



C-\t;.\ Balka.m. 



i>,ili-rfil r'/Vrc i>/ /r/iiiii inn/ lit li'illi iiit oiilfilclf itist. 



disturbance, and its surroundings suiting their varied 

 rei|uirenients. On one side it is bounded by a vast 

 pl.iin, on another by salt marshes leading to the sea, 

 while on the third and fourth sides, it is close to the 

 mountains and a <leep lake of considerable size. It was 

 during the winter nf 1875, I fust visited this place in 

 searchofsome birds "as big assheep," which the natives 

 told me were to be found there. These proved to be 

 pelicans (Piliiaiiiis oiio(rotatiis), and I still remember 

 my excitement when I got within range of a large flock 

 of them, also my pride, as I waded through the black 

 vile-smelling mud dragging the great creature out, 

 for I was then young and new to the country. 



L;iter visits 10 the Cara Balkam gave me cranes, 

 herons, egrets, swans, and spoonbills, as well as 

 many species of ducks. In these excursions, how- 

 ever, I never penetrated more than a liundred yards 

 or so into the lake, but in spring of this year, being 

 n the neighl>ourhood, I determined to reach its 

 Oct.. 1899.— No. 65. \'ol. \'I. 



centre, the real home of the birds. Starting early one 

 morning in the last week of May, my wife and 

 I, with a friend, reached the lake side before 

 the forenoon was far advanccil, and embarked 

 in a couple of boats providetl by some fishermen 

 who gain a precarious livelihood from the river 

 near by. These men waded alongside, dragging and 

 pushing the boats, and we were soon in a dense growth 

 of reeds and bulrushes, which rose to a height of 

 eight or ten feel above our heads. The water lilies, 

 of which there were two .species, were beautiful. The 

 numerous tiragon (lies, grey, steel blue, and liright 

 scarlet, were flitting about in all directions, giving 

 animation to the scene. In half-an-hour we reached 

 a piece of open water about an acre in extent, and 

 emerging from the cover of the reeds, we beheld such 

 a sight as would delight the eyes of any naturalist. 

 From the further side rose cloiuls of birds, hundreds 

 circling round us, as though enijuiring why we 

 intruded on their domestic privacy. Hundreds more 

 circled round iheir nests, which were sn numerous 



IIkkonrv in Cak.\ ItAi.KA.M Will! Nestsoi- S.mall E( 



and close together that we could proceed no further 

 without destroying them, which we particularly wished 

 to avoid. Xests were found which we believe belong 

 to the large egret, they were composed of stalks 

 and leaves of bulrushes, fitted into a clump of 

 rccds, about a foot above water level, the eggs being 

 of a bluish-green colour. The small egret (Jnica ^ar- 

 zet/a), with egfjs and ne.sts similar to the Last-named, 

 but smaller. The squacco heron (./. ralloides), eggs 



