'2 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



great many Gannets sitting on the sea, contrasting well with 

 the dark blue it assumed in the late afternoon. Occasionally 

 one rose lazily as we passed, but only a few remained on the 

 wing. They were nearly all adult, but I noticed one or two 

 very dark immature birds. The day following we were in the 

 Mediterranean in mild, bright, sunny weather. I was up early 

 to see the snowy Sierra Nevada, and kept a good look out, but 

 on this and the next day (4th) could only see a few Kittiwakes 

 and a lesser Black-backed Gull. But the cold weather was 

 following us. On the 4th we had snow, and on the 5th saw 

 the mountains of Sardinia snowcapped. Here we fell in with 

 Yellow-legged Herring-Gulls (Lavas cachinnans) . The next 

 day we reached Naples. In the bay were a few Yellow-legged 

 Herring, Black-headed and Slender-billed Gulls (L. gelastes). 

 I went ashore, but found the place destitute of birds. I had 

 quite a difficulty in finding even sparrows, but at last fell in 

 with a few (P. italics) in the Aquarium Garden and on the sea 

 promenade.* No naturalist should miss an opportunity of 

 seeing this Aquarium. The only other bird I saw was a 

 Starling on the wing, just as I was going off to the steamer 

 which was to carry me over to Sicily. 



After a very rough and unusually protracted passage of 

 twenty-one hours, I found a stroll in a lovely garden on the 

 outskirts of Palermo, in the late afternoon of January 7th, 

 more than refreshing. Geraniums, stocks, pansies and roses 

 had lingered in bloom to meet the narcissi already coming into 

 flower. Many Phylloscopi (Willow Wrens chiefly, to judge 

 from their familiar call-notes) were feeding in the trees and 

 shrubs around a piece of ornamental water, or hawking insects 

 over the surface. The low grating song and harsh alarm note 

 of the Sardinian Warbler (S. melanocephala) soon drew atten- 

 tion to these pretty, restless little birds as they crept and 

 flitted about among the agaves, cacti, &'c. I noticed a Robin 

 and a great many Spanish Sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis) 

 noisily going to roost in a clump of Eucalypti. It was 

 delightful in the brilliant sun and clear air next morning, and 



* On asking my guide why there were no small birds about, he pointed 

 to a sportsman (!) with a gun slung over his back who happened to be 

 passing, and added that they ate all they could in Naples. 



