REMINISCENCES OF THE RHINE; 



ORNITHOLOGICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL. 



The following notices, made during a recent tour on the Rhine, may not be con- 

 sidered altogether unworthy a place in the pages of The Naturalist, conceiving, 

 as I do, that the slightest contributions, detailing facts, may assist others who, with 

 more knowledge, perseverance, and means, may be treading the same paths, and ena- 

 ble them to devote their attention to particular spots in search of those favourite ob- 

 jects which the Naturalist, of whatever class he may be, hails with a delight un- 

 known and incomprehensible to the non-observer of those minuter portions of the 

 living world, who pass them by unheeded and disregarded, as unworthy of a mo- 

 ment's contemplation. The time comprised within the limits of these observations 

 was a period of about six weeks, commencing from the middle of June. When 

 leaving England, I unfortunately omitted to re-provide myself with nippers and 

 insect nets, which I had transferred to the hands of a friend embarking on a 

 distant and arduous expedition— an omission I was unable satisfactorily to supply 

 in any one of the large continental towns through which I passed, and which I the 

 more regret as I was perpetually tantalized with glances at insects which, by the 

 rapidity of their flight, eluded capture, and only left me to guess at their character 

 and identity, without sufficient accuracy to enable me to record them with a cer- 

 tainty of being correct in my opinion. But for this unfortunate deficiency, I have 

 no hesitation in saying, that, from the numbers I occasionally saw, and the rich 

 field of discovery afforded by certain localities, I might have added to my stock an 

 hundred fold, and not thought it necessary to apologize for the brief reminiscences 

 I have now in my power to bestow. 



I shall commence my list of birds with the Moor Buzzard, (Falco ceruginosusj. 

 I can only speak positively to one specimen, seen through a telescope, as it rested 

 immoveably, perched on the dead branch of a tree in rather a wild and open part 

 of the country near Wiesbaden. I had watched its motions for some time as it 

 slowly and sluggishly skimmed over the adjacent field and marsh grounds, and I 

 have reason to suspect that some other birds of the Hawk tribe, which I had occa- 

 sionally noticed soaring high in the air, were of this species, as the males, during 

 the breeding season, which might be considered as scarcely passed, are said to 

 elevate themselves to considerable heights, and remain suspended on the wing for 

 a length of time. 



The Kite, (Falco milvus). I can well remember the time, in my boyhood, 

 when two, three, or even more of these large and graceful birds might be seen 

 almost any day winging their wide circles, and rising or descending in spiral 

 flights ; but the race, in England, seems rapidly to approach extinction — whether 

 from the increased vigilance of game-keepers, increase of population, or other 



