Mr. W. C. Tait on the Birds of Portugal. 77 



VI. — A List of the Birds of Portugal. 

 By William C. Tait^ Oporto. 



During the year 1883 I commenced the publication of a 

 '' List of the Birds of Portugal/' in the Portuguese magazine, 

 ' Jornal da Sociedade d'lnstru^ao do Porto.^ After a few con- 

 secutive numbers of this periodical had appeared, its publi- 

 cation was temporarily suspended, but it is about to reappear. 

 However, I have resolved to publish my list in the English 

 language also, in case any of our British ornithologists may 

 feel interested in the observations on the birds of this 

 country, many of which are probably British migrants. 



Very little has hitherto been published on the ornithology 

 of Portugal, and, indeed, few people have, so far as I am 

 aware, studied it. In 1862, Dr. Barboza du Bocage pub- 

 lished a catalogue of the Portuguese birds then existing in 

 the Lisbon Museum. Dr. Albino Giraldes also published a 

 list of those in the Coimbra Museum ; and the Rev. A. C. 

 Smith contributed to this Journal (Ibis, 1868, pp. 428-460) 

 a '' Sketch of the Birds of Portugal,''^ in which he enumerated 

 193 species. 



Since these lists were printed, the knowledge of the orni- 

 thology of this country has increased, and many species 

 which were then thought to be rare have since proved to be 

 common, at least in suitable localities or at some special 

 season of the year ; other forms have been differentiated, 

 such as Sitta ccesia, Acredula irbii, &c. Unfortunately, how- 

 ever, the number of lovers of ornithology in Portugal has 

 continued very small, and, so far as I know, there are at the 

 present moment only two field-ornithologists in this country, 

 my valued friend. Dr. Jose Maria Rosa de Carvalho, of 

 Coimbra, and myself. We have for many years had a very 

 pleasant occasional correspondence on our favourite hobby, 

 and to him I am indebted for many particulars in this list, 

 more especially as regards the birds observed by him in the 

 neighbourhood of Coimbra and the popular names by which 

 they are known there. 



Of late years many of my friends, learning that I was 



