ORNITHOLOGICAL KOTES. 543 



cineraceus) ; on April 10th several, as well as some Marsh- 

 Harriers (C. ceruginosus}. 



Up to the 14th of March the Black Kite (Milvus ater} had 

 not been met with at Vienna, but by April 10th they were 

 already flying about in pairs. On the 16th of the same 

 month both the Black and the Common Kite (M. regalis) 

 were busy finishing their nests, while the Common Buzzard 

 (Buteo vulgaris) was already sitting hard. 



On the evening of April 22nd I heard the first Cuckoo 

 (Cuculiis canorus) calling in a large forest in the north of 

 Bohemia, and after that day their notes resounded everywhere 

 with extraordinary frequency. 



On April 24th I saw, in the same district, the first Hoopoe 

 ( Upupa epops) , also a great flock of Common Storks ( Ciconia 

 alba) upon a meadow at the edge of a wood; and on the 25th 

 I heard before sunrise the call of the Quail ( Coturnix dactyli- 

 sonans) in a wood near Prague. 



Both at Vienna, as well as in the various districts of 

 Bohemia, I was much struck with the great abundance of the 

 Corn-Bunting (Emberiza miliaria). The White Wagtail 

 (Motacilla alba] I this year saw for the first time at Vienna 

 on the 12th of March, and at Prague on the 18th. 



Before concluding these fugitive notes I will add a few 

 more observations made during the winter and the beginning 

 of spring in a couple of gardens situated in the middle of 

 the town of Prague. One of these spots lies on a steep 

 slope, and is open towards the Moldau on the south-east, shut 

 in on the north by high houses, and in all other directions by 

 the buildings lower down at the bottom of the hill. The 

 other is surrounded by houses on the south and south-west, 

 and open towards the north and the west. There are fields 

 near it, but no real wood for far and wide, nothing but a few 

 patches of garden-ground with low bushes. 



I here found no confirmation of the idea that in severe 



