BIRDS 399 



buntings, the area of the grey bunting extends into northern Norway, as do those 

 of the yellow bunting, the ortolan, and the reed bunting. 



starling and The starling is met with up to 70° X. latitude, while the golden 



crows. oriole is rare in south Sweden and is unknown north of Finland. The 

 rook and the hooded crow are found up to the Arctic Circle, although they begin to 

 be rare in Scandinavia, Finland, and northern Russia ; and the blue roller's northern 

 limit is southern Sweden. The jackdaw is absent from both Iceland and Lapland ; 

 but the magpie wanders to the latitude of the North Cape. The jay does not go 

 north of southern Sweden ; the nutcracker is, however, a more northern bird, being 

 common in central Sweden and the Russian Baltic provinces. 



Shrikes and Fly- Shrikes are represented in the high north by the great grey 

 catchers. species, which is found even in the Arctic Circle ; although the lesser 

 grey shrike becomes rare even in Denmark. The woodchat seldom appears in 

 Sweden or England, but the red-backed shrike ranges into northern Scandinavia. 

 Of the flycatchers of the north, we find the spotted species in Lapland, and the 

 pied flycatcher in Scandinavia, although the white-collared and the red-breasted 

 flycatchers are restricted to the east of Europe. 



woodpeckers, Among the bird-fauna of the high north, swallows, swifts, and 



etc. nightjars are present, although some of them are unknown beyond 



south Sweden. The hoopoe does not breed beyond 60° N. latitude ; while the 

 kingfisher, which inhabits Livonia and Esthonia, is rarely seen in Sweden ; and 

 although the cuckoo straggles to the shores of the Polar Sea, it seldom wanders 

 beyond the Arctic Circle. The wryneck reaches the latitude of Finland and central 

 Sweden, but neither this species nor the woodpeckers can exist beyond the timber- 

 zone. Of the various kinds of woodpecker, the middle-sized spotted species 

 but seldom appears in the north, although its lesser relative is well known in 

 Lapland. The three-toed woodpecker is, however, essentially a northern bird, 

 though it also nests in the Alps and Carpathians, while it is found now and then 

 in Silesia and Brandenburg. From the other European species it is distinguished 

 by the absence of the hind toe. The five woodpeckers of this group (Picoides) are 

 indeed distributed all over Europe, northern Asia, and North America ; they 

 resemble the spotted kinds in the shape of the tail and also in the colour of 

 their plumage, but differ by the closer and stift'er feathers round the neck. The 

 European species (P. tridactylus) inhabits the pine and larch forests of the 

 Alps, but lives in the birch-forests in the north of its area, which embraces the 

 north of Europe and Asia as far east as Kamchatka, and as far north as the 

 tree-line. It is a rare bird generally, in the main resembling the lesser spotted 

 woodpecker in habits, and most frequent in Switzerland, Bohemia, Moravia, and 

 Austrian Silesia, In length it measures 6} inches ; and in colour it is principally 

 black and white, although the male has a yellow spot on the crown, which in 

 the female is replaced by one of silvery white, and both sexes have a white stripe 

 down the middle of the upper part of the back. 



Of the birds-of-prey there are numerous representatives in the 



north of Europe, the owls being particularly abundant. Of these latter 



the eagle-owl is found within the Arctic Circle, although the long-eared species 



does not range higher than latitude u'4° N. The short-eared owl {Asia ac- 



