THROUGH WILD EUROPE 299 



soil, sometimes several yards in length and ten or 

 twelve feet deep. In the sides of these nest num- 

 bers of Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster), Rollers (Co- 

 racias garrula), Hoopoes (Upupa epops), and Tree 

 Sparrows (Passer montanus), and an occasional Kes- 

 trel, or Little Owl ; while if water is near, as is often 

 the case, then Kingfishers also may be found using 

 the burrows. 



Just now there are numbers of Rose-coloured 

 Pastors passing through this district, and I was able 

 to obtain several with a walking-stick gun — some of 

 the cocks in extremely fine plumage, with long, glossy 

 crests, and bodies of a brilliant pink. When, as 

 sometimes happens, thirty or forty of these beautiful 

 birds settle in a small tree they look exactly like 

 brilliant pink blossoms at a little distance. On my 

 return journey through Budapest I heard that these 

 birds were nesting in Hungary. They have the 

 curious custom of not nesting regularly in any par- 

 ticular country, but sometimes in one district, where 

 for years they are never seen, and sometimes else- 

 where. They follow the locusts, on which they 

 largely feed, and their movements depend upon the 

 wandering flocks of those insects. 



The Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor) is exceed- 

 ingly abundant in this upper steppe-like country ; 

 in the lower parts you never see it. In the front of 

 Rettig's house were three acacia-trees ; in two of 



