CYPRUS. 79 



numbers of Grallas pass over in the spring from Egypt and Syrian 

 these retreat farther, in proportion as the salt pools near Larnica are 

 evaporated by the sun. The Francolin and red partridge reside 

 throughout the year ; the Pardalos * and the quail visit the island in 

 the spring, and retire in the autumn. Immense flights of ortolans 

 appear about the time of the vintage ; these are taken in great quan- 

 tities, preserved in vinegar, and exported as an object of commerce. 

 The swallow, the martin, the swift, the Melba, the Pratincola, which 

 frequent in numbers the pools of Larnica, visit also the island in spring 

 and leave it in the autumn. Those large birds which frequent the 

 higher regions of Troados, called by the inhabitants Aero/, I should 

 suppose from their flight to be a species of vulture. The Falco 

 Tinnunculus breeds here, but the difficulty of procuring the birds of 

 this tribe prevented me from ascertaining the number of species with 

 more precision. The raven, the hooded crow, the jackdaw, the 

 magpye, are common. The jay is found but rarely in the pine-woods 

 of Troados. The little owl, though a nocturnal bird, flies frequently 

 by day among the rocks. The great horned owl, which I did not see, 

 is found in the mountainous parts of the island. The roller, the 

 bee-bird, and the oriole are not uncommon ; and we often heard the 

 hoopoe and the cuckow. I observed the rock-pigeon on the cliffs in 

 the western extremity of the island ; the wood-pigeon and the turtle- 

 dove in the groves of Bel-paese. The Calandra and the Crested-lark 

 are the most common species of the lark tribe, and these inhabit the 

 island probably throughout the year. The two species of Lanius 

 confine themselves to the pine-woods with the black titmouse. Dif- 

 ferent species of the Motacilla are confounded under the general 

 name of Beccafica. Of the Fringilla tribe, the house-sparrow is the 

 most numerous ; and the beautiful Scarthalis, perhaps the Fringilla 

 flaveola of Linnasus, rivals the nightingale in the charms of its song, 



* " Near the Salines we shot a very rare bird of the Tetrao kind, Tetrao Alchata, called 

 by the Greeks Pardalos." Sibthorp's MS. This bird is described in Russell's Aleppo, 

 ii. 194. 



