580 



localities not far from the sea-coast, and I have received specimens from the Valencia, Malaga, 

 and Seville districts ; but personally only three or four pairs have come under my notice. It 

 breeds far down in the Coto de Donana, and near San Lucar de Barrameda, whence I have eggs." 

 I am also indebted to Lord Lilford for the following note, viz. : — " The Avocet is not uncommon 

 in the marisma of the Guadalquivir in April and May, and breeds sparingly in that locality, 

 laying its eggs on the bare hard mud or shingle. Very clamorous, and justly deserving the 

 name, formerly given to it by the fenmen, of ' Yelpers.' " 



Passing eastward, again, I find it recorded as of very rare occurrence in Savoy in spring, and 

 in one instance a specimen has been obtained in the autumn. In Italy it is somewhat rare in 

 the northern and central provinces, but there is little doubt that it nests, or used to nest, near 

 Venice. In the island of Sardinia it is more common; and Salvadori cites the marshes of 

 Cagliari and Oristano for it ; but Doderlein finds it a rare bird in most parts of Sicily, although 

 he believes a few breed about Lentini and Syracuse. In Malta, Mr. C. A. Wright states (Ibis, 

 1864, p. 149), it is " very rare. When seen it has generally been in April and May. There are 

 two specimens in the University Museum, which were shot many years ago. I have a specimen, 

 a female, shot at the Salini, out of a party of three, on the 7th November, 1860. One of the 

 two others, a fine male, was afterwards killed at the same place, and another in the spring 

 of 1862." 



Dr. Kruper says that it occurs as a straggler in Greece during passage, but that it is 

 uncertain if it remains there over the winter. Von der Miihle, however, states that it is found 

 in winter during the most severe weather. It is certainly found on the Greek islands in winter ; 

 for Lord Lilford states (Ibis, 1860, p. 345) that he was shown one in December 1856, which had 

 been killed a few days previously at Butrinto, and he once or twice heard of others, but did not 

 himself ever see one alive there. In Southern Germany it is now and then met with ; and Dr. A. 

 Fritsch states that it has been killed in Bohemia, at Frauenberg, as well as at Pardubic. 

 Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown state (Ibis, 1875, p. 420) that it is rare in Transylvania. 

 " Herr Buda says it has occurred ; and Bieltz mentions two, one of which was shot at Reussbach, 

 near Hermannstadt, in 1835, and the other he saw in the market in 1846." I did not see it 

 when on the Lower Danube ; but Dr. Cullen says that it is not uncommon near Kustendji, where 

 it breeds. 



In Southern Russia it is extremely common on the borders of the salt lakes ; and it must 

 breed in tolerable numbers on the Lower Volga, judging from the numbers of specimens of the 

 bird and its eggs sent from there. In Asia Minor it is found during passage, or in winter, and 

 was met with by Canon Tristram in Palestine, where it is a scarce resident, and by Mr. J. K. Lord 

 on the Sinaitic peninsula. In North-east Africa it is tolerably common, and is very generally 

 distributed throughout that continent ; Von Heuglin, who says that he believes it breeds in the 

 delta of the Nile, as he observed it there in May, adds that it is seen in small flocks of from six 

 to fifteen individuals, most frequently in August, along the Nile in Egypt, Nubia, and Kordofan, 

 and remains over the winter; and the information published by Captain Shelley and others 

 respecting the occurrence of this species in North-east Africa, tallies with what Von Heuglin 

 states, except as regards its occurrence in May. Loche states that it is not numerous in 

 Algeria, but that it is generally distributed in suitable localities. Canon Tristram observed a 



