4 PREFACE 



summers are spent in the very heart of nature; and I 

 learned and saw much with him there. He had lived as 

 a boy among these mountains and valleys his father 

 having been the leading physician in the district. 

 There, he had scoured the woods over which the 

 Snake or Short-toed Eagle circled, climbed up to the 

 Peregrine Falcon's nest, and boated on the lovely little 

 lake, watching the movements of the Osprey. But 

 indeed his whole life has been devoted to the study of 

 nature, and the fauna of his Country, and his many 

 published writings have had a very large circulation 

 there, as well as in Germany. 



M. Herman laments the constantly decreasing number 

 of birds in his native valley. In a spot where he once 

 counted many a Flycatcher's nest, only two pairs now 

 breed. The Nightingales, formerly plentiful, have 

 entirely forsaken this valley the Titmice are lessening 

 in numbers, and so on. Yet the masses show no 

 inclination to destroy useful, insect-eating birds 

 although modern forestry, and gardening, which does 

 not tolerate old trees, and the absence of sheltering 

 hedges over the great Hungarian plains, render many 

 birds especially the migratory species homeless. 



Numbers of interesting species nest in and visit this 

 valley, however. In winter that beautifully coloured, 

 long-billed Rock-Creeper (Tichodroma muraria) with 

 wings rose-red above, dashed with white underneath, runs 

 up the rock sides, as does the Tree Creeper on the tree 

 trunks a blithe, busy creature. This species is found 

 in the same latitude, in rocky mountain ranges eastward, 

 as far as Northern China. The great slanting rocky 

 spurs, that gleam with rosy light, or pale blue, as the sun 

 runs its daily course, this rock climber delights in. The 



