372 Sir William Hamilton’s Defcription 
curious circumftance in the natural hiftory of birds, of which 
I was informed by an officer of the garrifon of Ventotiene, 
who is a great fportfman, and fhoots often in the ifland of St. 
Stefano, inhabited only by hawks, and a large kind of fea- 
gulls ; but is occasionally vifited, as a refting place, by divers 
forts of birds of paflage. In the month of May great flights 
of quails arrive there from Africa, fpent with fatigue ; and 
many of them fall an eafy prey for the hawks and fea- gulls; 
but, as their arrival depends upon one prevailing wind, there is 
often an interval of many days. between one flight and another. 
My informer allured me, that the hawks conftantly, during the 
flights, make a provifion of each day’s prey, laying them up. 
ill feparate heaps of fix or feven near their haunts, always 
feeding firft upon thofe of the oldeft date. The fea-gulls have 
not the fame forefight, but greedily fall upon their unhappy 
victims in their languid ftate before they reach the fhore, and, 
having beat them down into the fea, fwallow numbers of them 
whole. Extraordinary as this may appear* yet as facts related 
by perfons of credibility in any branch of natural hiftory 
are always pleafing, I thought you would excufe this digref- 
fion. Give me leave likewife to add, for the information of the 
curious in antiquities, that, during my ftay in the ifland of 
Ventotiene, I got out of the ruins of an elegant ancient bath 
(fuppofed to have been built for the ufe of Julia, daughter of 
Augustus, whilft fhe was in exile here) a fragment of a tile, 
on which are ftamped the following characters in baflo relievo, 
H ACINI 
IVLIAX 
AVG VS. P 
which, according to the interpretation of a celebrated anti- 
quary at Naples, mean Opus Hacini ad commodum Balnei 
Juli Augusts faSlum . I was informed, that feveral entire 
tiles, 
