Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/297

Rh blackness of their heads, I put down as Mediterranean Black-headed Gulls. Lisbon differs strangely from the towns of Southern France and Northern Italy in being full of bird-life. From every garden came the notes of the Blackcap, already nesting, and on the whole the commonest songster. I had rather expected to meet with the Orphean Warbler, but it may be that (as none of this species pass the winter in Europe) it had not arrived, or that it is confined to the country and the olive-gardens. Goldfinches were abundant. The call-note of the Greenfinch was to be heard on every side. The Great Tit was vociferous, and I saw Blue Tits busily engaged in destroying the blossom on the trees. In the cypress-grove at the English Cemetery there were many Blackbirds, who seemed to find there a retreat from the heat, and an abundance of snails among the grave-stones. Thrushes, on the other hand, were remarkable by their absence. I saw a few Redbreasts, and heard one singing (a strange and powerful song it seemed to me) at Cintra. In the Botanic Gardens and elsewhere a Warbler of an unknown species was diligently searching the trees for insects, and singing a pleasant song; its habits and movements were those of a large Willow-Wren, and I identified it to my satisfaction as the Melodious Warbler. My only doubt is that so reliable an authority as Colonel Irby declares that it does not arrive in the south of the peninsula till April 25th. The sky everywhere was alive with Swifts, whirling and screeching overhead. Swallows and House-Martins were also plentiful, though neither had reached England when I left. I saw Swallows descend in the busiest street to gather mud from between the tramway-lines. The Chaffinch was a common cage-bird, but I saw none out of captivity. The absence of Chiffchaff and Willow-Wren was surprising, but still more the absence of Jackdaws; for, though most steeples fell in the great earthquake of 1755, there are still plenty of desirable nesting-sites. In the market I saw cages with Turtle-Doves, but, from their demeanour, they had been some while in captivity. From the train, a few miles out of the town, I saw a Stonechat. The woods of Cintra resounded with the call of a Woodpecker, very similar to that of our "Yaffler." I judged it to be that of Gecinus sharpii. The only Wagtail I Saw was near a pond at Cintra, and belonged to the beautiful blue-headed species (M. flava), varieties of which have received many different names. In the lodge of Gardens of Monserrate there was a much decayed specimen of a small raptorial bird which may once have been a Hobby. I looked in vain for the Iberian Sparrow, but the House-Sparrows were abundant. It is one of the ornithological sights of Lisbon to see them go to roost in the trees of the Avenida. They weigh down the acacias in their thousands, and their twittering is like the crash of a waterfall. It is said that people with nerves have to avoid apartments which look upon that street. The only signs of migration on the