43S 
Mr. C. A. Wrights Visit to Filfla. 
Wood-warblers, and a Whitethroat. Several Swallows ( Hirundo 
rustica ) skimmed over the ground on the top, catching flies, 
which there abounded. The Blue Thrush, true to its love of deso¬ 
late places, was there to cheer us with its song, though rather 
plaintive withal. The truly indigenous birds of the rock are the 
Cinereous and Manx Shearwaters and the Storm Petrel ( Tha - 
lassidroma pelagica). We did not find any eggs or young of any 
of these three species. In June and July the eggs and young 
of all three maybe found. We came across several nets stretched 
on canes. We were told that they are used to catch the Shear¬ 
waters as they leave their holes in the rock in the evening. 
These birds are all, I believe, more or less crepuscular in their 
habits. Several of the nets had either live or dead birds of 
Puffinus anglorum entangled in them, which had been left there 
by the fishermen until they were wanted. Some of the feathers 
are used to put on hooks for Bonito, Mackerel, &c., and the flesh 
of the birds is sometimes employed for baiting basket-traps for 
catching fish. We did not see any Storm Petrels or Cinereous 
Shearwaters on the island this trip; but on our passage back to 
Malta under sail, with a fresh breeze from the north-west, we 
repeatedly fell in with small flocks of them, either floating grace¬ 
fully on the water or shearing the surface in the manner peculiar 
to these birds. I must not omit to mention that a large kind 
of land snail ( Helix candidissima) was very abundant on Filfla; 
indeed so much so, on the high level ground, that it was im¬ 
possible to take a step without crushing dozens of them. On 
gaining this part of the island, one of our party started a Rabbit 
(grey), and shortly afterwards another (of a reddish colour), but 
failed in obtaining either. On making a second ascent after 
lunch, another Rabbit, or one of the two seen at first, was started 
and shot. It was a female, tolerably fat, notwithstanding the 
little herbage the rock affords. While searching for objects of 
natural history, we were not a little surprised to find here a 
fragment of iron shell, and lower down a couple of 40-lb. 
Armstrong shot. It appears that H.M.S. Marlborough had 
been using the island as a target. In one of the shot the leaden 
casing was nearly all stripped off; in the other it was very little 
iujured. 
