the Ladera of El Golfo looks splendid ground for both Columba bolli and C. laurivora, but a short scramble about it shows that there is no food-plant, the "viñatigo," asiriña, "laurel," and til-tree being almost absent, and the forest consisting almost entirely of tree-heath and "haya,” which, however, is the favourite nesting-tree of C. bolli. A man who was accustomed to shoot Rock Doves (C. livia) at a spring told me he had once seen two large Pigeons with red breasts, from which the Rock Doves fled: these may have been a pair of C. laurivora crossed over from Palma.

In the end of March of this year I paid a visit to the Eastern islands, accompanied by Canon Tristram. At Las Palmas, while waiting for the steamer that was to take us to Lanzarote, I saw several pairs and single males of the Trumpeter Bullfinch (Erythrospiza githaginea) close to the town, and at the back of the new hotel. I do not think that they have been recorded from any part of Grand Canary before, though Canon Tristram concluded that they would be found on the barren tract near Maspalomas Point.

After having thoroughly explored Fuerteventura, we did not find Lanzarote ornithologically interesting. This island is very carefully cultivated under most difficult circumstances, for there is hardly any water, only that which is caught in tanks after the very slight and uncertain rainfall. This year, however, the inhabitants had had abundant rain, enough, they told us, for ten years. They must be easily satisfied, for I thought the whole place, with the exception of the valley of Haría, had a most burnt-up appearance; they had, however, cultivated a splendid crop of onions, which long files of camels were bringing into the port of Arrecife for export to Cuba. The people of Lanzarote are remarkably industrious in comparison with the rest of the Canarians, and we found them obliging and kind throughout the island. The birds of Lanzarote appear to be, as would be expected, the same as those of Fuerteventura, with two differences. I do not believe that the Fuerteventura Chat (Pratincola dacotia) occurs there, we kept the most lively look-out in all the likely places and never saw one; while in Lanzarote exists

the Barbary Partridge (Caccabis petrosa), and there is no Partridge in Fuerteventura.

The Partridge in Lanzarote is confined to one lava-flow (that which flows from the Monte de Corona), and on that it is said to be fairly numerous. I only saw one, which I shota dingy-coloured male, that was not breeding. It has never spread to any other part of the island. No one knew if they had been introduced there or not, but it is almost the nearest point to the African coast, and the Partridge of Grand Canary is C. rufa.

The Quail appeared to be very numerous, and the Desert Short-toed Lark (Calandrella minor) swarmed everywhere; while Berthelot's Pipits, Common Linnets (which differed from those of Fuerteventura in being very bright instead of colourless), and Trumpeter Bullfinches were very common. The Ultramarine Tit was very local, and appeared to be confined to the Valley of Haría, where it was fairly numerous; those procured were small and pale in colour. We found a nest in a hole in the ground, and dug it out; it contained three young and one addled egg. We caught the old female, and kept her whilst we remade the nest, and arranged stones over it to prevent the earth falling in; on releasing her a little distance off, she went straight back and into the nest, notwithstanding the altered appearance it must have had to her. The Cream-coloured Courser is pretty numerous in suitable places, and I saw them in the fields, which I do not remember to have done in Fuerteventura; they were very tame from seeing many people, who never molest them. The Courser is not at all good meat. The Houbara is not really common, but there appear to be some on each suitable plain. There are great numbers of Waders on the shores, and at "Papagayo," the tiny village from which we took our boat to sail across to Fuerteventura, the Yellow-legged Herring Gull was absolutely tame, walking about among the children's legs and sitting on the tops of the houses. We saw them picking at food which the children were holding in their hands.

Our visit to the little islet of La Graciosa was not very

productive, as we were too early for the Petrels, which breed here in great numbers-the only early breeder that I am aware of being Puffinus obscurus, which lays at the end of February and beginning of March; none of the others seem to come to their holes before the end of May. La Graciosa is about three miles long by one and a half broad, and is flat, with three small extinct volcanoes on it; it is covered with a low scrubby bush, called by the people "salada mora." The Petrels burrow at the foot of these bushes, their roots preventing the sand from filling in. We procured a pair of breeding Black Oyster-catchers (Hamatopus capensis). They call them here "Corvino," on Lanzarote "Grajo de mar," and on Fuerteventura "Cuervo marino"-three different names on three adjoining islands. Shrikes were not uncommon here; they appear to be intermediate between Lanius algeriensis and L. hemileucurus, as are those on Fuerteventura; some are perfect hemileucurus. The Osprey is common round these small islands, and breeds on the isolated rocks and on the great precipice of El Risco, 2000 feet almost sheer down, on Lanzarote. The only small land-birds we saw on La Graciosa were Berthelot's Pipits, Spectacled Warblers, and Common Linuets; a few Common Buzzards live in the walls of the crater of one of the volcanoes. I shot one, the most miserable specimen of Buteo vulgaris I ever saw. There is a fine fish-curing establishment on this island, built and started at a great expense, which is fast going to ruin, all the valuable plant being in an absolutely neglected and rotting condition; the fish caught were principally tunnies and sardines.

Leaving Graciosa, we crossed over to Lanzarote, and walked the whole length of the island, and though we kept a sharp look-out, nothing fresh appeared. I think the plain adjoining "Papagayo" is the barrenest in the Canary Islands; it was too poor for Coursers, which is saying a good deal. They tell me there are a few Bustards on it. We then sailed across to Correlejo, in Fuerteventura, passing by the island of Los Lobos. From Correlejo we walked, in two days, by Oliva to Puerto Cabras. Here we embarked for

Las Palmas, but besides some Common Curlews, which are decidedly rare in the Canaries, nothing of note appeared.

I am sorry to have no more islands to go to, and am afraid that, with the exception of the Petrels, nothing much remains to be done; but to observe these satisfactorily, it would be necessary to visit and carefully work the outer islands and rocks during the months of June and July, and I have no greater wish than to do this, accompanied by my energetic friend and mentor Canon Tristram.

XLIV.-Notes on some Birds obtained at Madeira, Deserta Grande, and Porto Santo.

(Nat. Hist. Mus.).

By W. R. OGILVIE GRANT

(Plate XIV.)

Ir was my good fortune to be invited during the spring of this year to accompany a friend on a five weeks' trip to Madeira, and, having never visited that beautiful island, I gladly embraced the opportunity, and determined, if possible, to obtain there a number of birds which were much wanted for the British Museum Collection. I certainly never dreamed of finding anything new, least of all in the birdline, and the handsome new Sparrow-Hawk so excellently delineated by Mr. Keulemans in the accompanying Plate was an unexpected surprise.

After a terribly rough voyage from start to finish, we arrived in a somewhat battered condition at Funchal on the 15th of April, truly thankful to find ourselves once more on firm land, where, in the glorious sunshine and delightful climate of that most favoured island, our troubles were soon forgotten. The weather, owing to the late spring, was still all that could be desired, and not too hot to make walking unpleasant. Almost the whole of the three weeks we remained at Madeira were spent in making expeditions in all directions, and combined a very large amount of exercise with a thorough enjoyment of the grand scenery and the Jelights of collecting zoological specimens of all kinds, though

principally birds. At the end of our stay I found that I had got together a very satisfactory series of birds, a list of which is given below, along with some notes. We had also obtained a number of lizards and many examples of land and freshwater Mollusca, Myriopoda (including two specimens of a new species of Geophilus), Arachnida, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Vermes.

The town of Funchal does not boast of a taxidermist, and one is thus dependent on one's own exertions in the skinningline. Thus I soon found that, even by getting up every morning at six and working for a couple of hours or more, it was impossible to keep pace with the day's results. I was therefore obliged to put a number of specimens in spirit, and on my return sent them to Mr. Cullingford at Durham, who returned them transformed into most beautiful skins, quite as good as if they had been made from fresh specimens.

A. Specimens from Madeira.

1. ACCIPITER GRANTI, Sharpe. (Plate XIV.) Accipiter granti, Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 6, v. p. 485.

The only specimen as yet obtained of this very handsome Sparrow-Hawk was got by my friends Messrs. C. J. Cossart and C. Hinton while shooting Partridges in October last year. The former of these gentlemen showed ine the skin, together with some other specimens in his possession, and I at once felt sure that it was distinct from anything I had ever seen; but never having made a special study of the Hawk-tribe, I thought I could not do better than place the bird in the hands of my friend Mr. Sharpe and leave the responsibility of describing it or not to him. He at once pronounced it to be a very distinct insular form, most nearly allied to the Madagascar Sparrow-Hawk, Accipiter madagascariensis, from which it is only to be distinguished by possessing rufous flank-tufts, like A. nisus. My own opinion is that A. granti is the resident bird which breeds in the island, and that the common Sparrow-Hawks obtained there are visitors only. It has been denied that the Sparrow-Hawk breeds in Madeira, but this has been proved to be incorrect, as