OOEAN NOTES. 9 



our E. Coast of Britain (J. A. H. B.), — as follows : — " We hope to 

 make Port Said to-morrow, after a very fair run all the way from 

 home. During the last three days we have been visited by more 

 little birds than I ever saw before at sea. So far as I can judge, 

 they were mostly Finches ; but we saw two Quails and, of all 

 birds in the world, a Kobin-redbreast, who most characteristically 

 seemed quite at home ; and when he was frightened by a Hawk, 

 which was in close pursuit of this flock of birds, Bobin quietly 

 hopped down the " companion " into the engineers' quarters. I 

 had seen another Bobin off Tarifa, the southern point of Europe, 

 but I was much struck to see this little fellow come on board 

 flying due south, the nearest land being Cape Matapan, hundreds 

 of miles away. Of course he may have been blown off shore by 

 a northerly gale, but when we met him he was flying against a 

 southerly breeze. The Hawk followed these birds, hovering 

 about the ship all day, but took his departure in the night. He 

 > was a small one— a Merlin, I think." — (Signed) John S. Alston. 



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