32?] 



Professor Doderlein states that " it is not very common in Sicily, and is generally obtained 

 at the time of the April and October migrations, principally about Catania, Lentini, Syracuse, 

 and Trapani." Mr. A. B. Brooke speaks of it as common in Sardinia in the winter ; and it has 

 been several times obtained at Malta. Mr. C. A. Wright (Ibis, 1864, p. 144) writes that the 

 only instances of its having been shot or seen there that have come to his knowledge are : — " one 

 observed on Fort Mandel Island, in May 1858; the same or another was shot a few days after- 

 wards at St. Paul's Bay, and another a few weeks later. Three were killed in Gozo in the spring 

 of 1860, and another at Marsascirocco in November of the same year. One of two was killed in 

 May 1861, and two others in June 1862. Another (young), which is in my possession, was 

 obtained at the Salini on the 21st September, 1862." Lord Lilford writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 348), 

 it "occurs sparingly in Epirus in severe winters. I saw a few at Livitazza in January 1858. 

 More common in Greece about Petala and the Gulf of Lepanto. I could not hear of the 

 occurrence of this species in the island of Corfu." Lindermayer (Vog. Griechenl. p. 153) states 

 that " large numbers appear in the Peloponnesus and on the islands of Greece during the 

 equinoctial gales, but remain only a short time, and then migrate towards its breeding-haunts 

 northwards. On its return journey it is common in the Peloponnesus; but I have not observed 

 it in Eumelia." 



In Southern Germany it is found from time to time, but is not common. The Eitter von 

 Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs me that he knows of one having been obtained in Moravia by 

 Mr. Schwab, and a male was killed near Kagram, in Austria. Dr. A. Fritsch states (J. f. O. 

 1871, p. 392) that "it has been several times met with in Bohemia. In 1828 ten individuals 

 were seen on the Bestrever Lake, near Frauenberg; but in 1863 about a hundred appeared in 

 Southern Bohemia, evidently driven from Hungary owing to the dry season. They remained 

 from May to August on the islands in the Municer and Bestrever Lakes, but curiously enough 

 did not breed there." In Hungary and in the marshy country along the Danube it breeds 

 commonly ; and it is likewise recorded by Professor von Nordmann as common on the shores of 

 the Black Sea, nesting on the trees and in the reed-beds. Menetries (Cat. Pais. p. 50) says that 

 it is found along the Terek river, and in the marshes near Lenkoran ; and Canon Tristram, 

 though he did not himself obtain it in Palestine, saw a specimen in a local collection at 

 Jerusalem. Captain Shelley (B. of Egypt, p. 264) records it as " very plentiful throughout 

 Egypt and Nubia. It may constantly be seen in flocks on the sandbanks of the river and in the 

 great marshy lakes of Lower Egypt and the Fayoom." Dr. von Heuglin (Ibis, 1859, p. 346) 

 met with it on the Red Sea in summer and autumn, but says that it does not occur further south 

 than Dahalak. He remarks that the specimens he obtained were very small in size. Dr. A. E. 

 Brehm writes (J. f. O. 1854, p. 80) that in Sudan it is replaced by PL tenuirostris, which latter 

 species, however, is not so numerous as PL leucorodia. 



In North-western Africa the present species is found. Loche records its occurrence in 

 Algeria at all seasons of the year in considerable numbers ; but he adds that he has never been 

 able to discover its nesting-place. Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, in his article on the ornithology of 

 Tangiers and Morocco, speaks of it as being very rare. It occurs in the Azores, Madeira, and 

 Canaries. Mr. F. DuCane Godman says that a Portuguese gentleman in St. Michaels informed 

 him that " five or six had been shot at Sete Cidades a few years previously ;" and Dr. Carl Bolle 

 writes (J. f. O. 1855, p. 176), "it occasionally visits Teneriffe during the winter. Berthelot says 



