Birds. 9693 



the lal^es of Neuchatel, Geneva, Maggiore and Como in our route. 

 We certainly set out rather late in the season, but then the weather 

 was so fine, and the autumnal tints so gorgeous, that I really must 

 agree with what is said in some of the Guide Books, — thai tourists 

 return from the Continent at least a month too soon, thereby losing 

 all its autumnal glories. I am not going to describe scenery, but I 

 must say that I never shall forget the sensation I felt at the first sight 

 of the snow-clad Alps, as they burst on our view when passing through 

 the magnificent valley of Travers. On the 1st of November we walked 

 over the Simplon Mountain, and although there had been a white 

 frost during the previous night, yet I never experienced a more 

 delightful day, for even at that great altitude we found the atmosphere 

 as calm and genial as it ever is in England at the same time of the 

 year. 



Before beginning my notes on the rarer species of British birds we 

 met with on the Continent, may I be allowed to ask if any of your 

 readers have remarked the great number of magpies to be seen in 

 France ; indeed, a pair or more might be observed in every other field, 

 and in one I saw no less than a dozen fly off together in a flock on 

 being disturbed by the passing train. I have visited France several 

 times, and from the first was struck with their extraordinary numbers. 



When in Paris we made a point of daily visiting the poultry markets 

 in search of rarities exposed for sale, and found the following: — 

 roughlegged buzzard, common buzzard, marsh harrier, ring ouzels, 

 crested larks (which we were fortunate enough to detect among the 

 immense bunches of sky larks hanging on the stalls), little bustards, 

 Norfolk plovers and spotted rails. All of these we purchased, and 

 many a time were we obliged to sit up half the night engaged in 

 skinning our treasures. At a game shop we bought a nutcracker, but 

 this bird seems rare in Paris, as none of the market women knew its 

 name, nearly every one of them calling it a jay. On one occasion I 

 met with a magnificent specimen of the forklailed kite suspended from 

 a stall, but unfortunately without its head ; and on asking why it had 

 been decapitated, was gravely told that that they pulled off" its head 

 because it bit ! This was very vexatious, as a perfect specimen would 

 have been most valuable. Wild ducks of all kinds appeared scarce 

 in the markets, but we saw no less than twelve little grebes hanging at 

 one stall. Among the live birds sold on the quays we found the little 

 owl, scops-eared owl and golden oriole, but the majority of the small 

 owls sold alive in Paris are the least European sparrow owl, which is 

 not identical with the little owl of the British fauna. I was much 



