323 



Kjserb oiling, who says that he saw three at Trappeskov, on iEro, but he did not shoot one. It 

 is stated by Godron to have occurred in Lorraine; and Messrs. Degland and Gerbe say that it 

 is only an accidental visitant to the northern departments of France during passage, but is 

 tolerably common in the southern parts of France. Baillon obtained it in Picardy and in the 

 provinces bordering the Mediterranean, where it occurs in greater or less abundance every year, 

 principally in spring. Colonel Irby did not meet with it when collecting in Southern Spain ; 

 but [Mr. Howard Saunders writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 399) as follows : — " Only observed once in the 

 ' marisma ;' but eastwards it becomes more abundant in spring, though I do not think it breeds 

 in any part of the peninsula. At the Albufera of Valencia it was abundant in May ; and I also 

 obtained it near Palma." I saw it exposed for sale in the market in Barcelona ; and Herr A. 

 von Homeyer met with it in the Balearic Isles, and says (J. f. O. 1862, p. 432) that, although it 

 inhabits the Prat only in small numbers, it breeds there. 



Passing eastward, again, I find it recorded by Bailly as found in the portions of Savoy 

 watered by the Rhine and the Isere. It occurs regularly in spring, though but seldom in 

 autumn, in many parts of Italy ; and in Sicily it is even common at times, especially near 

 Catania and Syracuse. In Sardinia it seems to be rarer. Mr. C. A. Wright, who has lent me 

 several specimens for examination, says that it visits Malta in the spring and autumn ; and 

 Lord Lilford found it common in April and May at Corfu. It is stated by Dr. Kriiper to occur 

 in Greece only on passage ; but Von der Muhle says that it breeds there. It certainly breeds in 

 Southern Germany and Hungary. Dr. A. Fritsch states (J. f. O. 1872, p. 374) that it formerly 

 appeared as a rare straggler near Pardubic, and there are very fine Bohemian-killed specimens 

 in the collection of Herr Hromadko. According to Ostrdal it is said to breed in the same 

 localities as the Whiskered Tern. I was told by Herr von Frivaldsky that it breeds on the 

 borders of the Neusiedler lake ; and he gave me eggs procured with the old birds in Hungary. 

 It is doubtless found on the Southern Danube ; but I have no definite data respecting its occur- 

 rence there. In Southern Russia it is said to be common in some parts ; and numbers are killed 

 by collectors on the Southern Volga. Mr. H. Goebel states (J. f. O. 1871, p. 151) that he twice 

 observed a pair in the Uman district, and took an egg on the 10th June, 1868. It breeds, he 

 says, not uncommonly near Kieff, and there are many nests and skins in the Museum of that 

 town. Professor von Nordmann writes that it is quite common in Abasia, Mingrelia, and 

 Bessarabia. I find but little said respecting its occurrence in Asia Minor ; but Lord Lilford, 

 who obtained it at Cyprus, writes to me as follows : — " We saw and shot a few of this species 

 in the marshes near Limasol in Cyprus, and also near the ruins of Paphos. First observed 

 May 7th, 1875. The stomachs of those we obtained were crammed full of small winged insects 

 and a few minute shells." Canon Tristram obtained one specimen in Palestine, and says that it 

 is apparently a straggler at Jaffa. Von Heuglin says that he believes it is a resident in North- 

 east Africa, and certainly breeds in the Delta and along the Nile southward to near Wady-Halfa. 

 In the lagoons of Lower Egypt he found it in full summer plumage in April and May ; and in 

 July he saw old birds with young, and young in changing-dress, in Upper Egypt and Northern 

 Nubia. It straggles to the Blue and White Nile ; and Petherick obtained it from Kordofan. 

 Loche says that it is common in Algeria, both on the coast and on the great lakes, where it 

 breeds ; and Colonel Irby states that he only knows of a single instance of its occurrence near 



