454 
Lieut. J. N. Kennedy on 
[Ibis, 
as to local subspecies which have not yet been described in 
Russia. Perchance some fellow member of the B.O.U., 
visiting the Crimea, may find these latter a useful indication, 
for future research. 
I would here express my indebtedness to my brother, 
Lieut. J. R. Kennedy, M.C., R.A., who collaborated with me 
at Novorossisk, and to Lieut. V. Martino, of Sebastopol, who 
helped me in the Crimea. 
Dr. E. Hartert has been so very kind as to verify my 
identification of the skins, and to assign them to their proper 
subspecies as far as possible. 
The skins I have presented to the Natural History 
Museum, with the exception of that of the Blue Tit shot at 
Novorossisk, which is now in the Tring Collection. 
The eggs mentioned in the second section are now in the 
collection of Mr. J. G. Gordon, Corsemalzie, Whauphill. 
I. Novorossisk. 
Novorossisk is a small town lying round an open bay near 
the northern end of the Caucasus Mountains and not far 
south of the Straits of Kerfch. The hills rise steeply from 
the shore, their slopes being rocky and .clothed generally 
with low trees and bushes. Behind the hills lies Circassia 
and the steppe-laud, the Scythia of two thousand years ago, 
where the fabled one-eyed Arimaspians waged everlasting 
warfare with griffins which guarded treasures of gold. 
The winter climate of Novorossisk is more severe than a 
study of the map might lead one to suppose—the thermo¬ 
meter often falls to 20° F. below freezing-point, and the sea 
freezes along the shore, although not to such a great extent 
as in the Sea of Azov, where we had some skating and ice¬ 
boating. The chief feature of the weather is the north-east 
wind, which blows with incredible velocity for a few days at 
a time at irregular intervals. This wind makes the port a 
dangerous one, and while it blows, ships lying close inshore, 
even inside the breakwater, are unable to communicate with 
the land by boat. On occasion, during the noEeaster, some 
of our officers had to crawl on hands and knees from 
