212 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



4. Danish. 



It is so very gratifying to find an illustrious naturalist like Pro- 

 fessor Steenstrup bringing bis powers of observation to the aid 

 of our branch of science^ that we willingly go back to a period of 

 more than three years to call our readers' attention to a short 

 notice * communicated by him to the publications of the Natural- 

 History Union of Copenhagen in 1863 respecting the preference 

 shown by the Goldfinch, Carduelis elegans, for the pith of 

 willow-, lime-, and thorn-boughs, and the mode in which the 

 bird procures it. This is described as being effected by pick- 

 ing off the bud, and then stripping the bark — an operation in 

 which the bird's longicune-heak is a very apt tool. 



5. Norwegian. 



Herr Collett, whose work on the birds of the Christiania 

 district was last year noticed in our pages (Ibis, 1865, p. 227), 

 has kindly forwarded us a copy of his ' Zoological and Botanical 

 Observations in Gudbrandsdal and Dovre't, containing lists of 

 the birds which occur in the neighbourhood of Lillehammer 

 and Dovre, two important stations on the grand trunk road of 

 Norway, and pretty well known to all English travellers in that 

 country. It does not appear to us that the author's remarks 

 call for any particular comment ; but several localities for the 

 less common species are indicated with more or less precision, 

 so as to be useful to any person visiting Norway for the first 

 time. Of our own knowledge we can add a species to the 

 list of Dovre-fjeld birds ; for we remember one of a fine pair of 

 Totanus fuscus falling to the gun of our companion, and into the 

 water of a half- frozen lake by the road- side, which was so cold 

 that his dog, after one plunge, declined to have anything more to 

 do with the business. 



* lagttagelse om Stillidsens (^Fringilla carduelis, Linn.) Forkjserlighed 

 for Grenmarv og Maaden, hvorpaa den forstaaer at SkafFe sig denne. Af 

 Prof. J. J. S. Steenstrup. (Naturhist. Foren. Vidensk. Meddelelser, 4 

 Marts, 1863.) 



t Zoologisk-Botaniske Observationer fra Gudsbrandalen og Dovre. 

 Af Robert Collett, Stud. jur. Christiania (Johan Dalil) : 1865. 8vo, 

 pp. 64. 



