183 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE BIRDS OF TORTUGAL. 



The substance of a considerable portion of the following 

 observations on the birds of Portugal I have already 

 published in a recent number of the ^ Ibis.' * They are 

 necessarily meagre and incomplete, and will amount at 

 the most to a very imperfect sketch — perhaps I should say 

 a mere outline — as rapid travelling amidst novel scenes 

 admits of little leisure for detailed examination ; and 

 every practical ornithologist is well aware that sufficient 

 time and prolonged research alone enable one to arrive at 

 any accuracy. Indeed^ the only excuse which I have for 

 submitting so indistinct a picture to the scrutiny of natura- 

 lists, is the general want of information which prevails 

 with regard to this strangely-overlooked district ; for, with 

 the exception of a catalogue in Portuguese, published in 

 Lisbon by Professor Barbosa du Bocage in 1862 f (of 

 which I shall make considerable use in this chapter), and 

 a few short notes by Mr. Gr. F. Mathews, which appeared 

 in the ^Naturalist' for 18G4,J I am not aware that anything 

 has been made known of the ornithology of Portugal. 

 I have already called attention to the diversified scenery 



* Vol. iv. New Series; pp. 428-460. 



t Instruc^ocs praticas sobre o modo de colUgir, 2>rcparar c remettcr pro- 

 dicctos coologicos para o Muscu de Lisboa. Por J. V. Barbosa du Bocage. 

 Lisboa, 1862. 



+ Naturalist, 1864, pp. 49-51, 60-71, a;id 88-90. 



