416 
BIRD-LIFE. 
In the forests numerous flocks of Finches and Redwings 
are to be met with; and every bubbling brook and rill 
harbours Water Wagtails, both yellow and gray. In the 
lower valleys the Swift and Rock Swallow may be seen 
disporting themselves late in November; and, indeed, it 
is possible that the last-named species passes the winter 
there. At the foot of the spurs the list of northern birds 
increases, for to that already given we may add the 
Woodcock, Peewit, Sky Lark, Wood Lark, Starling, and 
Quail, besides the Blackcap, all of which are seen there in 
December, and, doubtless, remain the whole winter. In 
the same manner the other two South-European 
peninsulas may be said to afford ample shelter to winter 
visitants, as I find my experiences confirmed in every 
respect by those of other observers. It is true that in 
Italy the little feathered strangers are subject to a much 
greater amount of persecution at the hand of man than 
they are in Spain. On the Balkan peninsula .they lead a 
still quieter life; the sparse population, and especially 
the Mahommedan portion of it,—in accordance with 
their ideas of hospitality,—treat the wanderers in such a 
manner as to leave little else to be desired. 
The last winter asylum of our pretty feathered truants, 
that came under my own personal observation, resembled, 
as far as powers of attraction go, the lagoons I have 
before described. The forests of the interior of Africa— 
with their rivers and fresh-water lakes, I may say seas, 
interspersed with desert tracts—unite, in fact, all that 
can be considered desirable in the bird-world, and tempt 
the wanderer to stop for weeks and months together. I 
will give a description of it to the best of my ability. 
Central Africa possesses two seasons,—the dry and the 
wet: the first may be regarded as answering to our 
