250 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 
Sea. It could not have been more placid and calm since 
the last Doge of Venice stood on the deck of his gilded 
barge and wedded it, amid the plaudits of his nobles by 
dropping inaring. Here and there a few fishing smacks 
with parti-coloured sails*of various bright hues, and here and 
there a few stake nets, and a fisherman’s house, were all that 
was to be seen. For a long time I scanned the sandy 
shore and the limpid water without being rewarded by the 
sight of a sea-bird of any kind. At length J perceived a 
man with a long gun, hiding behind a heap of seaweed, in 
the hope that a flock of Gulls would come within shot of 
his ambush. Afterwards two more flocks of Gulls and one 
Lapwing appeared, and barring Crested Larks nothing else 
whatever. 
Probably birds are more plentiful in summer, as when 
‘returning in June I saw the following from the railway 
carriage, as well as a Manx Shearwater and some Mediter- 
ranean Herring Gulls, which I observed as we approached 
the harbour of Brindisi. 
Kestrel Magpie 
Swift Redbacked Shrike 
Swallow Goldfinch 
Sparrow (Passer italic) House Martin 
Titlark  ~ White Wagtail 
Common Sandpiper Starling 
Little Owl Hooded Crow (2) 
I was rather surprised to see Hooded Crows on the 24th 
of June, but writers on the ornithology of Italy say they 
are resident. 
Several instances have come to my fenailedes of their 
being seen in summer near Cromer in Norfolk; for example 
last July, one was seen from the 12th to the 27th, and the 
keeper at Trimingham picked up seven young Pheasants 
of its killing, 
