SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 263 



P. onocrotalus) together, as I have in Dalraatia, where it arrives in 

 spring and autumn, and where it gives preference to the neighbour- 

 hood of Fort Opus, on the river Naranta, which is bordered with 

 morasses. It comes through Bosnia, seldom alone, but generally 

 in flocks. I have seen as many as twelve together hunting for fish : 

 it is very cunning and extremely difficult to shoot. I obtained, at 

 different times as many as twenty-four examples." The Pelicanus 

 crispus differs from the Common Pelican in possessing a beautiful 

 crest and mane of narrow elongated silky feathers ; in the naked 

 space round the eye being smaller ; in the feathers of the breast 

 being stiff, lanceolate, rounded at the points, and of an elastic texture; 

 in the body being more bulky and larger in all its proportions ; and 

 in the tarsi being stouter, of a different colour, and considerably 

 shorter." The crest, however, appears to be a variable character, as 

 Baron Feldegg says : — " At all seasons of the year old birds may 

 be found both with and without the crest. I saw a specimen in M. 

 Aker's menagerie which had always had it, while a bird of the same 

 species in another menagerie had none ; in all other respects they 

 were the same, and were very healthy, and I possess a female in 

 which the ovaries were largely developed, and which has a large crest 

 covering the whole of the head ; which circumstance induces me to 

 conclude that it is a very old bird." 



Yellow-breasted Bunting, Emberiza aureola, Pall., — Bruant 

 aureole, JFr. Two beautiful figures, representing the male and fe- 

 male of this rare and elegant Bunting. — The native habitat of this 

 species is Kamtschatka, Siberia, and the Crimea ; its claim to a place 

 among the list of British birds rests on the circumstance of its having 

 been killed a few times within the precincts of our island. Its habits 

 and manners are little known, but no doubt resemble those of its 

 congeners. It is the Emberiza Sibirica, Nov. Comn. Petr. v. 15, 

 p. 488. 



The Whistling Swan, or Hooper, Cygnus ferus, Ray, — Cygne 

 sauvage, Fr. — Der Singschwan, G. — Cygno salvatico, It. The 

 figure of this bird, by Mr. Lear, is bold and masterly ; the neck, 

 however, might be improved : it is too much like a jug handle. 

 Four Swans are indigenous to Europe: 1st, the Tame Swan, Cyg- 

 nus olor, originally from north-eastern Europe. — 2nd, a very close 

 ally, distinguished, among other things, by the permanent pale fleshy 

 white colour of the bill and legs. It is the Cygnus immutabilis, 

 Yarrel, and has been very lately characterized. It inhabits the north 

 of Europe, and is a not unfrequent winter visitor to our island — 3rd, 



