126 
[Ibis, 
Col. R. Meinertzhagen on the 
YI .—A Note on the, Breeding Birds of Crete. 
By Col. B. MeinertzhaOen, D.S.O., M.B.O.U., F.Z.S. 
I arrived in Crete on the 4th of June, 1920, and left the 
island in early July, having had my visit cut short for official 
reasons. H. L. Powell accompanied me as taxidermist. 
Landing at Candia I collected for three days in the neigh¬ 
bourhood and then went direct to Mount Ida, the central 
hill-mass of Crete. Here I remained for about a fortnight. 
Ho collecting was done outside the Candia district. 
The area comprising this district falls easily into three 
areas ’ 
(a) Below 2500 feet. Human habitations and cultivation, 
mostly olives, vines, orchards, and corn. 
(h) Between 3000 and 4500 feet. Ilex forest on mountain 
slopes. 
(c) Above 4500 feet. The bare wind-swept hills of Ida 
and Nidha with the remarkable Nidha Plain. The 
summit of Ida is 8200 feet elevation, and snow was 
still lying about in drifts of many acres in extent 
above 6500 feet. 
Travelling in Crete in summer is easy. The weather is 
perfect and one can sleep anywhere, though the nights 
on Ida were bitterly cold. I always bedded down in some 
garden, having taken no tent with me. On Mount Ida one 
has difficulty in avoiding an incessant wind, as shelter is 
rare, but we usually managed to get in a hollow. Staple 
foods can be obtained everywhere and good water abounds. 
Mule transport is the rule, a beast carrying about 400-450 
pounds the whole day without fatigue. There is but one 
great drawback — expense. A naturalist, living simply, 
without tent or luxury, must be prepared to spend £100 
per month, excluding his ticket to the island. Mules cannot 
be hired for less than £1 a day each. A guide-interpreter 
costs from £12 to £15 per month. My expenses were par¬ 
ticularly heavy, as I was compelled to retain in my service 
the numerous policemen and consular messengers who were 
searching for me for three weeks. 
O 
