BIRD-NOTES FROM TEE MEDITERRANEAN. 107 



reached on the 21st. During our passage among the islands, 

 before reaching Platea, there seemed to be a great scarcity of 

 Gulls, but at Platea itself there were plenty — mainly Herring- 

 Gulls, but with a few Lesser Black-backs and Black-headed. 

 On landing I saw some Jays, and found a Common Buzzard's 

 nest with four eggs situated in the topmost twigs of an oak 

 tree, and I made many attempts to photograph it without 

 much success. However, I spent a good deal of time watching 

 the birds change rounds at the nest and moving about in its 

 vicinity ; the female was much the shyer of the two, and would 

 not return to the nest while I was near. One day I saw a 

 Hooded Crow come to the nest with the evident intention of egg 

 stealing, but the owners returned in the nick of time, and he 

 made off, though on another occasion I saw one of them being 

 mobbed by a Hoodie. I once found a small snake (dead) in the 

 nest, but otherwise never saw what the birds fed on. The 

 Hoodies at Platea used to come and feed round the ship with 

 the Gulls, picking up scraps from the water ; I do not know if 

 this is a common habit, but I have never seen it elsewhere.* 



On the 23rd I saw Magpies, a Hoopoe and a Sparrow-Hawk; 

 and on the 26th a Black Bedstart and a Wheatear (sp. ?). On 

 the 27th a pair of Binged Plover arrived and remained a few 

 days when they disappeared, and a pair of Egyptian Vultures 

 were seen in the distance. 



On April 1st Swallows arrived in large numbers, and on the 

 same day I found a nest in a hole in a tree made of dry grass 

 and lined with feathers, in which were eight eggs, which I took 

 to belong to a Great Tit ; but I did not get a good look at the bird. 



On April 3rd we sailed for Venice : during the night there was 

 a strong W. N. W. wind, and I woke up in the morning to see a 

 Swallow sitting at the head of the hammock next to mine. This 

 bird soon died, but another which had arrived during the night 

 was more fortunate. At 7.0 a.m. a small bird, reported to me 

 as a Hedge-Sparrow, joined us, our position at the time being 

 42° 21/ N, 16° 30' E. As we entered Venice on the 5th I saw 

 the first House-Martins of the trip, and after staying five days at 



* The Indian House-Crow (Corvus splendens) may be seen feeding in 

 this way along the Hooghly and in Colombo Harbour, among the 

 shipping. — Ed. 



