IN TRANSYLVANIA. 567 



the birds that I certainly expected, while the rich field for 

 study which the Alpine fauna of Central Europe opens up to 

 the wandering ornithologist is non-existent in these eastern 

 regions. 



To this unfortunately rather meagre account of my summer 

 excursion tojthe Alps of Transylvania I will add a few notes 

 on what I saw during the autumn in the central part of the 

 country. 



From the railway-station at Maros- Vasarhely I drove along 

 a good road up the great valley of the Maros to Szasz-Regen. 

 Both right and left were the well-tilled fields of the broad 

 vale, which was enclosed by the gentle slopes of a slightly 

 wooded chain of hills. Of ornithological interest there was 

 nothing. Hooded Crows, Rooks, and Jackdaws were very 

 abundant, and there were a few Magpies and some very occa- 

 sional Turtle-Doves. I also saw several Red-backed Shrikes 

 (Lanius collurio), although it was already the 21st of 

 September ; two days later, however, they had quite disap- 

 peared. Of the other small birds there were only the com- 

 monest kinds. At Szasz-Regen our road turned eastwards 

 into a neighbouring valley, and we soon reached Gorgeny 

 Szt. Imre, the end of our journey. 



The districts through which I now rambled for fourteen 

 days may be divided into two strongly marked types of 

 country. First, the low but steep chain of hills reaching down 

 to the valley of the Maros, all of which are clothed with almost 

 impenetrable deciduous woods, formed partly of stunted trees 

 and partly of young covers, here and there broken by little mea- 

 dows on which wild fruit-trees grow luxuriantly. Secondly, 

 the sharply defined regions of the higher wooded mountains, 

 with their long lofty ridges and their many square miles of 

 uninterrupted virgin forests, consisting of beeches with 

 a very slight admixture of conifers. Through the broad 

 valley flows the Gorgeny, a clear mountain-stream well 



