72 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



representatives of the feathered tribe, they are nevertheless 

 but sparingly stocked with those species which give life to 

 the scene, such as the many different kinds of warblers 

 and finches. 



Our road now wound through the most charming woods, 

 and I was particularly struck by a little grove of gigantic oaks 

 with a thick undergrowth. It was exceedingly lovely, and 

 the merry notes of its countless songsters rang out splendidly ; 

 but as soon as we had left it we found ourselves quite in the 

 open, for we had reached the plains. To our right were 

 fields and marshes ; to our left a little stream was bearing its 

 modest waters to the Danube between deeply cut banks, and 

 beyond it lay another stretch of flat land. Far before us we 

 saw a chain of heights, with their blue-grey outlines floating 

 indistinctly in the haze ; and at a considerable distance to our 

 right front I again got a glimpse of another side of that well- 

 defined peak which I had observed two days ago from the 

 deck of our vessel. 



Everywhere Wild Ducks were flying over the marsh, 

 countless flocks of Lapwings were whirling their gay plumage 

 in the air, and at each step we saw Marsh-Harriers and 

 Black Kites ; while Hooded Crows, Magpies, Sparrows, 

 Larks, Buntings, Wagtails, and various other birds en- 

 livened the scene. Jackdaws, too, were nesting in great 

 numbers, both in some high oaks which stood at intervals 

 along the roadside, and in a little wood of the same trees 

 near a farmhouse. 



The road now brought us to another brook ; and this little 

 fellow, mimicking the Danube, bore . on both its banks a 

 narrow belt of " auen," consisting of a few willows. Purple 

 and Grey Herons were flying up and down it, and a splendid 

 Osprey sailed along over the water ; and while we were 

 delightedly watching this lively bird of prey catching fish, it 

 was quickly followed by another, and soon afterwards by a 



