Avifauna of the Eastern Pyrenees. 529 



The avifauna of Andorra is eminently Pyrenean, and pos- 

 sesses^ it is believed, no single species peculiar to, or charac- 

 teristic of, the regions north or south of the great dividing 

 range. The ornis of the valley is not, however, without its 

 peculiarities, which are of a negative character, since they 

 are to be found in the absence of species of wide European 

 range, species which were, without exception, observed by us 

 in the valleys of Ariege. The absentees are the Blackcap, 

 Long-tailed Titmouse, Marsh Titmouse, Tree Pipit, Golden 

 Oriole, Woodchat Shrike, Swallow, Sand Martin, Green- 

 finch, Bullfinch, Magpie, Swift, Wryneck, and King Dove. 

 The absence of some of these is perhaps not remarkable in a 

 country where the lowest lands are 3000 feet in altitude. 

 Some, it is true, may have been overlooked, but it is not 

 thought these could account for more than one or two species 

 at the most. The non-presence, however, of such not-to-be- 

 overlooked birds as the Blackcap, Golden Oriole, Swallow, 

 Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Magpie, and Swift, to say nothing of 

 the rest, is worthy of special remark. The following species, 

 among others, were observed in Andorra, but not in the 

 valley of the Ariege, and are mentioned because they have also 

 not been noted for the French Pyrenees by Messrs. Saunders 

 and Backhouse, namely : — the Garden Warbler, Orphean 

 Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, and Citril Finch, The fol- 

 lowing may be mentioned as uncommon species : — the Wil- 

 low Warbler, Orphean Warbler, Great Titmouse, Blue Tit- 

 mouse, Grey Wagtail, Bed-backed Skrike, Pied Flycatcher, 

 Sparrow, Sky Lark, Carrion Crow, and Common Sandpiper. 



Perhaps the most interesting of our observations related to 

 the breeding of the Crag Martin {Cotile rupesti'is) under the 

 eaves of the houses in the centre of the town of Andorra. On 

 the day after our arrival we were much surprised to observe 

 several large pale-coloured Martins flying in and about the 

 town. At the time we were somewhat puzzled with this 

 bird, for it appeared, Avhen now seen at close quarters, to be 

 much lighter in colour than the one we had seen so abun- 

 dantly flying above us on the great cliif betAveen Merens and 

 Ax, and also to have less chestnut in the plumage of its 



