366 Mr. H. Saunders on the 



district which lies between Venasque and Prats de Mollo 

 I have not yet been ; but I know something of the Ca- 

 talan portion on both sides of the frontier, owing to an 

 autumn visit to Amelic-lcs-Bains and excursions round 

 Mont Canigou ; also to many conversations with Dr. Alfred 

 Bardou^ of Fontainebleau, whom I met there, and his col- 

 lectors. He was an agreeable, although somewhat eccen- 

 tric, companion, whose delight was to wander about the 

 mountains, living with the peasantry, doctoring them gratis, 

 and collecting eggs. He would never allow a gun to be 

 taken out with him, and instant dismissal from his employ 

 would have followed the destruction of any bird from the 

 nest, M'hether for identification or any other reason. To 

 him I am indebted for some thoroughly trustworthy infor- 

 mation about many of the Pyrenean birds ; but, unfortunately, 

 nothing would induce him to publish his experiences. It 

 would be interesting to know what has become of his collec- 

 tion of eggs, which must have been a very fine one, and his 

 notes, if any. Every thing was sold at his death ; but I can 

 learn no particulars, for to amateur naturalists in France he 

 seems to have been quite unknown. At Perpignan, also, I 

 was acquainted with the late Dr. Louis Companyo, who pub- 

 lished in 1863 his 'Histoire naturelle desPyrenees-Orientales,' 

 containing many interesting details about birds. He was a 

 fine old man, who had been an army surgeon during the 

 Peninsular war, over eighty years of age at the time that I 

 knew him, but still vigorous, and delighted to talk over his 

 recollections of Spain. His catalogue is useful to any one 

 having some previous knowledge of the country and its 

 fauna ; but to those at a distance it is a double-edged tool, 

 for, with increasing age, the venerable doctor got rather 

 confused about his scientific names. Still, he was a field- 

 naturalist, and by their Catalan names he knew his feathered 

 friends and their habits well enough. As regards the district 

 of which Bagneres-de-Bigorre forms the centre, it has been 

 explored better than any other by a working naturalist, the 

 late M. Philippe, whose widow and daughters still prepare a 

 few birds brought in by the guides and isard-huuters. Thanks 



