452 Mr. A. H. Evans on Birds 



XXXII. — Field-notes on Birds from the Western Pyrenees. 

 By A. H. Evans, M.A., F.Z.S. 



During the month of April last, I was able to spend a fort- 

 night at Argeles-Gazost, in the lower portion of the Depart- 

 ment of the " Hautes Pyrenees," and to devote nearly my 

 whole time to the observation of the birds of the district, in 

 furtherance of the researches of Mr. Howard Saunders in 

 the years 1882, 1883, and 1896. His papers (Ibis, 1884., 

 pp. 365-392 ; 1897, pp. 61-89), supplemented by that of 

 Mr. II. M. Wallis (Ibis, 1895, pp. 64-85), give so good an 

 account of the avifauna of the western section of the chain, 

 with full lists of the species, that some apology is due for 

 traversing once more such well-trodden ground; but 

 Mr. Saunders made his headquarters at St. Jean de Luz, 

 and from that centre worked up both the French and Spanish 

 side of the mountains, while I devoted myself to the country 

 above Lourdes, and especially to the valleys extendiug to the 

 Spanish frontier beyond Cauterets and Gavarnie. Mr. Wallis 

 visited the locality in May and June, and his paper gives no 

 information concerning the earlier part of the season ; it 

 may therefore be of interest to the readers of our Journal to 

 learn what species of birds were present and what absent in 

 the foothills at the time of the spring migration, in a year 

 Avhen the snow had covered the ground for more than four 

 consecutive months and was particularly late in melting. 



A visitor to the districts above Pau in April is at once 

 agreeably struck by the abundance of bird-life compared with 

 its deplorable scarcity in many parts of France ; not only 

 are the numbers of individuals considerable, but little fear 

 is shown of man, from which the inference may be naturally 

 drawn that persecution is less felt there than elsewhere. As 

 regards species, more might doubtless have been recorded a 

 month later, as not a few of the birds' customary breeding- 

 quarters Avere inaccessible at the time of my visit, a circum- 

 stance which I regret the more as it precluded the observation 

 of many of their most interesting habits. 



Comparatively few members of the Turdidse were to be 

 met with near Argeles-Gazost in April, but a most noticeable 



