8 
Mr. J. A. Buclmill on the 
432. Petronia stulta (Gmel.). 
As Fringilla petronia Linn., the Pock Sparrow is included 
by Sibthorp is his list, but apparently he does not mention 
it in his journal It duly re-appears in Unger and Kotschy’s 
list and in those of the later writers, without any additional 
remarks. No one has hitherto been able to confirm 
Sibthorp’s record. 
450. Fringilla ccelebs Linn. 
The Chaffinch is a common resident and it is rather 
remarkable that, apparently, it was not recorded prior to 
Guillemard\s visit. Even he has little to say about it; he 
met with a single specimen in February near Nicosia, and 
found it in June on Troodos; he, however, brought back 
three specimens, two obtained on Troodos in April and Mav, 
and one near Limassol in March. Glaszner sent a good 
series to Madarasz, obtained in January, February, May, 
June, September, and December in various localities, and 
the bird is casually mentioned by Miss Bate. 
Guillemard thought that the Chaffinch retreats to the hills 
in the summer. Its movements in the island are in my 
opinion rather similar to those of some other local species, 
and are sufficiently interesting to be referred to in some 
detail. The extreme heat and the sunburnt arid character 
of the plains during the summer months, coupled with the 
scarcity of water, render the hills, with plenty of foliage, a 
cooler climate and the perpetual streams a far more preferable 
home for most birds which spend the hot part of the year in 
the Island. The Chaffinch well exemplifies this fact. 
In the winter months it is abundant in the plains, and I 
have no doubt that its numbers are then largely increased by 
visitors from the north. In February or the beginning of 
March it breaks into song, and towards the end of April those 
individuals which have not migrated north retire to nest in 
the cooler parts of the mountains. From May to the middle 
of October it is very common on Troodos; it nests there 
in May and June, Horsbrugh having found young on the 
1st of May, while Mr. Nicolls sent me a clutch of fresh eggs, 
