The Zoologist — June, 1870. 2175 



bear, once so corainoii in northern Portugal as well as Spain, is now 

 restricted." — p. 151. 



I now proceed to what is to me the most interesting portion of the 

 volume, that which relates to the birds, and this must be prefaced by 

 an explanatory introduction from Mr. Smith's own pen. 



" 1 have already called attention," says Mr. Smith, " to the diversi- 

 fied scenery of Portugal ; and it may be supposed that a country 

 intersected by rivers whose banks are clothed with the most luxuriant 

 vegetation, abounding in wide-extending forests, as well as vast un- 

 cultivated heaths, or sandy plains, covered with brush, with an open 

 coast extending from north to south, washed by the waves of the wide 

 Atlantic, furnished here with rugged rocks and tliere with cultivated 

 fields, and all lying under a climate which for unclouded brilliancy of 

 sun and almost tropical heat, can scarcely be matched in any other 

 district of Europe, must possess an avifauna which if properly investi- 

 gated would }'ield a rich return to repay the exertions of the inquirer. 

 Moreover, it is not alone in rare species that the ornithologist would 

 expect to reap a valuable harvest, but in the differences and shades 

 of colour, and in the variation of size, which even the common birds 

 offer in different localities, and more especially under different 

 climates, that he would look for interesting results in this extreme 

 south-western corner of Europe ; and to this point my particular 

 attention was directed before 1 set out on my journey. Bearing this 

 in mind, and resolved not to overlook the commonest species, I took 

 every opportunity during my few weeks' tour in Portugal, to examine 

 all the birds which came in my way. To this end I wandered through 

 plains and forests, by banks of rivers, and amidst the rocks and 

 mountains, armed vviih double-barrelled gun and double field-glass ; 

 the latter, I take leave to add, quite as serviceable to the student in 

 Ornithology as the former. I also frequented the markets in Lisbon 

 and other towns every day at early morning, and overhauled all the 

 feathered bouquets composed of the smaller birds of all ranks and 

 orders, which seem so attractive to continental epicures generally. 

 Moreover, I visited frequently the excellent Museum at Lisbon and 

 the indifferent one at Coimbra, already described, which, so far as 

 1 can ascertain, comprehend all the Natural-History collections of the 

 country, and these 1 carefully examined, verified and catalogued every 

 specimen asserted to have been captured in Portugal. Lastly, I was 

 fortunate in meeting with many intelligent men, who were not only 

 willing to impart valuable information, but were able to do so in a 



