150 Notes during a Voyage from Ceylon to England. 
thered tribes visited us compared with those met with in the 
Indian Ocean. 
On the 29th Oct. a White-headed Noddy ( Anous tenuiros- 
tris, Temm.) alighted on board. Vast shoals of dead locusts 
were seen floating around the ship; also numbers of por¬ 
poises sported around us. 
A Wagtail (M. dukhunensis , Sykes) paid us a visit on the 
30th Oct., and remained with us all the way up the Red 
Sea and Suez Canal, and left us in the Mediterranean. 
On the 31st a Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, was seen 
flying around the vessel. It ultimately alighted on the main¬ 
mast for a short time, and then left us for another vessel at 
some distance from us*. On this day a very handsome Owl 
came on board. It was about the size of Syrnium indranee 
of Ceylon, but of a lighter colour. It flew off in a straight 
line for the African coast; and we were unable to identify it. 
We entered the Suez Canal on the morning of the 3rd 
Nov., and spent about two and a half days in getting through 
it. The birds which we recognized along the banks and lakes 
were principally Coots, Vultures (Neophron), Moorhens, Rails, 
Ducks and Teal, Divers, Godwits, Sandpipers, Curlews, vari¬ 
ous Birds of Prey, Swallows, Pipits, Wagtails, &c. As we 
neared the Port-Said end of the Canal, myriads of Waders 
were seen fishing and pluming themselves on the lakes and 
lagoons. The most conspicuous were Flamingoes and Peli¬ 
cans ; and all on board agreed they had never seen a more 
imposing army of Waders. During our run up the Medi¬ 
terranean and the Bay of Biscay no birds visited us. We 
had evidently got out of the track of migration, or it had 
ceased for a time. During the entire voyage in the Indian 
Ocean and Arabian Sea we experienced no stormy weather, 
the wind, as a rule, blowing steadily from the north-east. 
In the Red Sea the wind was more variable. 
It will be seen from these notes that we met with over 
twenty species of land-birds in the Indian Ocean and Red 
Sea, between the 20th and 31st of October; and these we 
* This Peregrine was easily distinguishable from the bird I suppose to 
be F. peregrinator, by its size and flight. 
