in thp Dobrudscha. 
367 
places. The Marsh Harrier seemed to be cock of the walk in 
default of any nobler bird. I found a new nest of this species 
in some reeds, and an old nest in a low blackthorn bush by the 
water’s edge. There is another Harrier also pretty numerous 
here, the same which is so extremely abundant on the uplands. 
I presume it to be Circus cineraceus , but not having succeeded 
in shooting one, could not undertake to say for certain. 
The old Turkish town of Kustendje covers the low promon¬ 
tory which partially protects the harbour. The new town is 
built higher up, on the edge of the undulating plateau of the 
Dobrudscha—an open treeless tract of country very much like 
what the downs of Newmarket and the heaths of Suffolk may 
have been in former times. Trajan's wall runs across from here 
in a westerly direction to the Danube. Besides the wall of 
Trajan, there are many interesting remains of antiquity at this 
place, which occupies the site of ancient Tomi. If Ovid had been 
a sportsman and naturalist, he might have found abundant con¬ 
solation in his exile; but having been in all probability indifferent 
to the advantages of Bustard-hunting, and totally unable to ap¬ 
preciate the ornithological riches of the country, he seems to 
have found the place very dull. In the face of a ravine on the 
edge of the new town, recent excavations have laid bare some 
Roman temples and other remains. These the railway autho¬ 
rities, with more zeal for the improvement of the harbour than 
for the conservation of antiquities, are using up in the formation 
of the new breakwater. Thus unhappy Tomi is being disinterred 
only to be re-entombed in the waves. A facetious acquaintance 
observed, that when the breakwater is finished, a monument 
should be erected at the extremity with Here lies Tommy" by 
way of epitaph ! Wheatears and Hoopoes frequent the old stones 
that are lying about. The latter bird is very tame, and a great 
ornament to the place; but I fear that, as far as Kustendje is 
concerned, his epitaph too may shortly be wanted. Numerous 
tumuli, attributed, with what reason I do not know, to the Tar¬ 
tars, occur on the plateau; to some of these the Ruddy Shelduck 
is very partial. 
The birds of the plateau or open down-country come next 
under our observation. Here it must be remembered that there 
