Ornithology of the Var S^c. 369 



have to be added, making 314; but bis paper is little more 

 than a list^ with very brief remarks in most cases : I saw 

 it abroad, but believe that Prof. Newton is the only pos- 

 sessor of a copy in this country. It must be admitted that 

 for an area little bigger than the county of Norfolk 314 is a 

 very good total (the Norfolk list stands at only 307) ; but it is 

 probably greater now, for Jaubert wrote nearly fifty years ago, 

 and since then some of the scarce Buntings, such as Emberiza 

 aureola and E, ccesia, which have come to the Basses Alpes 

 and the Bouches du Rhone, have most likely also visited the 

 Var^ while some of the rare Thrushes, of which there are 

 French specimens in the Marseilles Museum, e. g. Turdus 

 varius, T. atrogularis, and T. obscurus, may have occurred. 



All these 314 species are without doubt migratory, in the 

 sense that the bulk of the individuals have reached the 

 South of France by crossing either the North Sea or the 

 Mediterranean or a very great extent of land, except Bubo 

 ignavus, Cinclus aquaticus, the Game-birds, and perhaps 

 Passer domesticus, Gecinus viridis, and Tichodroma muraria ; 

 but I am not certain about the last three, as the evidence is 

 conflicting. 



It is a very common remark among the English in the 

 Riviera that there are no birds, and a discussion on this 

 subject was recently started in the ' Field ■* newspaper 

 (April 7th, 1900 et seqq.) *. I think, however, after the 

 preceding description, the reader will not quite acquiesce in 

 that opinion. It seemed to me, being on the spot, that the 

 truth really lay in this, that wild birds were not in evidence 

 because the number of individuals was much less than we are 

 accustomed to see in the lanes of England, where all sorts 

 find food in abundance ; but in fact a good many species 

 are there — at any rate during the periods of the vernal and 

 autumnal migration — for those with good eyes and leisure 

 to search, and especially is this tlie case in the Western 

 Riviera and the districts nearer to the Rhone. Eno-land is 

 a favoured country, and the truth is that there are very many 

 parts of Europe which are birdless indeed compared with the 

 * See also ' Ibis,' 1899, p. 442. 



