16 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



rasses to breed undisturbed. Tame geese, and ducks, are kept as 

 domestic birds, but are not common. We shot two species of the 

 storm-finch on the Saronic Gulph ; these we observed frequent on 

 the wing flying along the iEgaean Sea, particularly when it was 

 troubled. We noticed the common sea-gull, the common sea- 

 swallow, and a smaller species, probably the Sterna minuta. 



The winter and the early spring would be the most proper season 

 of the year for the naturalist to observe the different species of the 

 Grecian grallas. Woodcocks, and snipes, I was informed, visited the 

 neighbourhood of Athens during the winter in considerable quanti- 

 ties. I heard the curlew and the red-shank cry along the marsh to 

 the right of the Piraeus. The domestic stork, a privileged bird, 

 arrives regularly at Athens, sometimes in the month of March, and 

 leaves it when the young are able to support the fatigues of a long 

 flight, about the middle of August. The purple and the grey heron 

 frequent the marshes of Bceotia. We observed the long-legged 

 plover near Marathon ; the grey plover and the sand plover on the 

 eastern coast of Attica. Wheler makes mention of the Charadrius 

 spinosus which he shot in Bceotia. Bustards, I was assured, visited 

 the plain of Athens during the winter in abundance. Fowls are 

 the most common species of poultry, and turkeys are also kept. 

 The red-legged partridge abounds every where, and probably the 

 grey might be found in the environs of Parnassus. I heard quails 

 call, but could not learn the particular times of their migrations. 

 Wild pigeons are frequent among the rocks. The turtle and the 

 wood-pigeon are found in the woods and thickets. Among the larks, 

 I observed the Crested-lark to be the most frequent species, with a 

 small sort, probably the Alauda Campestris of Linnaeus. I saw the 

 Alauda Calandra, but it was very rare, and a thin slender species near 

 the sea coast, probably the Spinoletta of Linnaeus. Blackbirds fre- 

 quent the olive grounds of Pendeli ; the solitary sparrow inhabits the 

 cliffs of Delphi, and the song thrush is heard in the pine woods of 

 Parnassus. Above these, where the heights of the mountain are 



