144 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



owing to the scanty population it is impossible to find labour 

 sufficient for the entire cultivation of the district, and consider- 

 able areas lie fallow for three years, being used in the meantime 

 for pasturing cattle. This, then, is the nature of the ground 

 infested by the Thessalian Field Vole. 



The natives, though fully aware of its destructive habits, are 

 very apathetic in regard to remedial measures, and, were it not for 

 the more enlightened views of their employers, they would leave 

 things to take their course, without any interference save 

 sprinkling the ground with holy water from Mecca, in the hope of 

 thus securing the direct intervention of Providence. 



The real enemies of these little animals are the Kestrels, 

 Buzzards, Kites, and Harriers, of which we saw great numbers in 

 the plain. To convey some idea of the frequency with which 

 these birds were observed, I give the following list of species ob- 

 served one day in the course of an hour, named in the order in 

 which they were seen, and noted immediately in my pocket-book : 

 — Rooks, Magpies, Crested Larks, Starlings, Calandra Larks, a 

 Great Bustard, two Magpies, a Common Buzzard, two Kites on 

 the wing at close quarters, six Buzzards and a Kite on the wing 

 together ; two Kites on a small tree, about fifty yards distant ; 

 two Magpies, several Rooks, a solitary Kite, a small flock of 

 Stock Doves passing over, a Kestrel, a flock of Crested Larks ; 

 five Snipe, rising from a pool near the railway line ; one Kestrel, 

 a flock of Linnets, Wild Ducks on a pool ; an Eagle seen at a 

 distance, species uncertain ; a Kite on the wing at close quarters, 

 two Magpies, a flock of Larks, two Kestrels, a Kite, another 

 Magpie, another, another, and a flock of Peewits. 



In the absence of trees, the Kites and Buzzards were fre- 

 quently seen perched upon the telegraph-poles, upon which they 

 would often remain unconcerned until we were within twenty yards 

 of them. On one occasion a Rough-legged Buzzard allowed so 

 near >in approach that, when at last it took flight, we were near 

 enough to see the feathered legs, which dropped for a few seconds 

 until the bird was fairly on the wing. The Harriers seen were the 

 Marsh Harrier and a blue one — apparently Circus cyaneus (Linn.), 

 which is most likely only a winter visitant to Thessaly. 



This host of rapacious birds (amongst which, to our surprise, 

 we saw no Short-eared Owls) would make tremendous havoc 

 amongst the Voles ; and perhaps the reason for the nocturnal 



