648 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



battles and love-affairs at the regular places for eleven weeks. 

 They commence to call soon after three o'clock, but leave 

 off altogether between five and six, especially on warm 

 mornings. The old pugnacious cocks already show the 

 effects of this prolonged "Balz," for their necks are bare 

 and the gloss of their plumage is worn off, while the heiis 

 all appear to be breeding, as they no longer come to the 

 trysting-places. 



On May 4th a somewhat strong but very mild south wind 

 was blowing, which continued throughout the night of the 

 5th, and after two fine days brought up clouds and stormy 

 weather with passing showers of heavy rain. 



Before three o'clock on the morning of the 5th I was walk- 

 ing along the edge of the wood that lies nearest to Prague, 

 and from which an almost unbroken stretch of fertile fields 

 runs right up to the town, when I suddenly heard the cry of 

 the Eagle-Owl (Biibo maxitnus). I stole up to the place 

 whence the sound came ; but unfortunately the shy bird would 

 not let me get within range, but flew away over the fields 

 when I w r as about eighty yards from it. 



Soon after this, as I was sitting in a Blackcock hut hard by 

 I heard the call of the Nightjar (Caprimulgus europwus). It 

 kept sounding its disagreeable note until a few minutes before 

 sunrise, when it was relieved by the Nightingale (JLmcinia 

 philomela), while as soon as the sun was up the song of the 

 Oriole (Oriolus galbula) resounded from all the higher 

 woods. These three birds I now heard for the first time 

 this year, and I also greeted as a fresh arrival the Turtle- 

 Dove (Turtur auritus), which, singularly enough, was silent 

 all that morning. 



Both the last-mentioned species are very abundant in the 

 neighbourhood of Prague, but generally only in the clumps 

 of trees about the fields and in the large gardens. I never 

 suw so many of them in the thick woods as on May 5th, and 



