354 Herr E. Hartert on the 



more common east of Dauzig, tliroiigliout East Prussia, au 

 area of 14,280 square miles. Again, in ' The Birds of the 

 Japanese Empire,^ he gives Pomerauia as the habitat of his 

 Sitta ccesia homeyeri, whereas it is found in the extreme east 

 of Prussia, but not in Pomerania. 



As would be anticipated, East Prussia, in consequence 

 of its north-eastern situation, is the home of several 

 species of birds that do not regularly occur in other parts of 

 Germany. 



The ornis of East Prussia is that of the plains, no moun- 

 tains of considerable height rising in this province, and 

 even the Galtgarben and the Gonscha Gora being too low to 

 have any appreciable influence on the ornis. 



Water abounds ; the most northern end of the province and 

 the tract called the Samland, i. e. the country north of Konigs- 

 berg and Pillau, border the Baltic Sea, but the greater part 

 of the coast-line does not quite extend to the sea. There are 

 situated the vast freshwater-basins known as the Kurische 

 and the Erische HafF, formed by the rivers Niemen and Pregel. 

 These are separated from the sea by a narrow line of land, 

 the Kurische and the Erische Nehrung, mostly consisting of 

 shifting sand-downs, but partly covered by forest. In the 

 southern and south-eastern parts of the province are a great 

 number of smaller and several large lakes, the largest being the 

 Spirdiug and the !Mauersee. Of the rivers only the Niemen 

 and the Pregel are worth mention. The soil is very variable : 

 along the sea-shore and in great tracts, especially of the south, 

 it is dry sand, thickly covered with pine-forest, whilst in other 

 parts the soil is rich, heavy, and fertile, presenting to view 

 fields, meadowy grounds, and often also swamps, forests of 

 fir, of Popidus tremida, Carpinus betulus, oak and birch, and 

 swampy woods of Alnus glutinosa. ]Many of the fir-forests 

 of jNIasuren ^ were almost primeval till nearly forty years 

 ago, when the caterpillars of Lasiocampa monacha ravaged 

 them, and by their ravages made them much more accessible 

 to the visitor. But even now vast forests are found, where 

 no whistle of trains or of manufactories sounds through the 

 * Masuren (or Masovia) is the south-eastern district of East Prussia. 



