747 
daring a Voyage to Alexandria . 
were at their greatest height above the water at the end of 
the segment: then, with slanting wings, they went down to 
the surface and so started another flight; when feeding they 
suddenly put up their wings and dived straight in; then they 
came up and rested on the surface a moment before resuming 
their flight. 
On the return journey we left Alexandria on May the 19th, 
but saw no birds till the 21st. When in long. 20° 45' and 
a hundred miles from the African coast, two Red-footed 
Falcons came on board and roosted in the rigging. 
On the 23rd we put into Malta for an hour or so, but the 
only birds in the market were a few Turtle-Doves and a cage¬ 
ful of Short-toed Larks; the coloration of the latter birds 
varied enormously and no two seemed quite alike, especially 
about the head. In the harbour were a few Larus cachinnans. 
Off Gozo quite a number of Storm-Petrels followed the wake 
of the ship and came with us all day—that is, they presumably 
flew a hundred and twenty miles from their nesting-places. 
In the evening, when about forty miles equidistant from 
Pantellaria and the Sicilian coast, some House-Martins came 
on board and roosted. Some more came on board the next 
evening. The only other birds seen on the voyage to 
Gibraltar were a few Larus cachinnans and small Shear¬ 
waters. Just before we got opposite Gibraltar on the 27th, 
a Willow-Warbler came on board and, after remaining a few 
minutes, flew to land east of Gibraltar, making an un¬ 
necessarily long journey, as we thought. In the Straits 
some Puffins were still to be seen, and over the Rock, flying 
in a wedge-formation to the westward, was a flock of about 
a hundred and fifty Flamingoes, probably on their way to the 
Guadalquivir. On the 28th, when off Lisbon, I saw some 
immature Gannets, and a few more in the Bay of Biscay. 
Otherwise birds were few until we neared the French coast 
off Ushant and the Channel, when Kittiwakes, Herring and 
Lesser Black-backed Gulls, adult and immature, and im¬ 
mature Gannets were met with, and off the Scilly Islands 
Puffins were seen j off Holy Isle, in addition to the Gulls were 
Common Terns, Guillemots^ Manx Shearwaters, and a Black 
Tern. 
