Letters, Extracts, Notices, l^c. 295 



places in Europe still left to the birds. You might inform 

 the Members of the B.O.U., and others, that we do not 

 wish to have visitors of that kind, and that we are now 

 doing our best to make the overseers and the police at the 

 places in question do their duty. Any naturalist, desirous 

 of seeing our rare birds in their haunts, will be welcomed ; 

 but collecting can be allowed only to a very limited extent 

 and under control, Mr. Chapman's article contains nothing 

 unfamiliar to Danish ornithologists, except the '^Pelicans," 

 from the description, however, evidently Larus argentatus (a 

 species not otherwise mentioned, though it is common on 

 the coast), seen through dim air. I know our west coast 

 very well, and I have frequently observed how birds may 

 look wonderfully large when standing on the flat shore close 

 to the water, the humid air producing what we term " hild- 

 ring,^' a deceiving view. 



Yours &c., 

 Universitets Zoologiske Museum, Herluf Winge, 



Kjobenhavn. 

 2nd February, 1895. 



Sirs, — In reply to Herr Herluf Winge's accusations, here 

 are the facts -, — In 1889, previous to a first visit to Denmark, 

 one of us endeavoured to obtain the " limited licence '^ men- 

 tioned to secure a few specimens " under control ^' ; but 

 after long correspondence (which has been preserved), this 

 was refused, on the ground that the applicant A^as a 

 foreigner. On our second visit, in 1893, we did not there- 

 fore further trouble the authorities at Copenhagen, but took 

 a gun, with twelve cartridges, to obtain certain desired speci- 

 mens. No infraction of Danish law, however, was com- 

 mitted by us ; for the local authorities in Jutland at once 

 furnished us with licences (for which we paid), available for 

 1 4 days ; the only stipulation being that we should not shoot 

 the " Pomeranz Fogel.^' But since none of our Danish 

 friends were able more precisely to identify that mysterious 

 fowl, we remain in the dark as to whether we inadvertently 

 committed the orowning crime of its destruction. 



