The Zoologist— June, 1870. 2177 



species which accident or the cupidity of dealers have brought into 

 our museums : for instance, the swallowtailed kite, the redeyed fly- 

 catcher, the American whitewinged crossbill, the redwinged starling, the 

 goldenwinged woodpecker, the downy woodpecker, the yellowbilled 

 American cuckoo, the belted kingfisher, the American purple martin, 

 the American martin, the passenger pigeon, the Virginian colin, the 

 American bittern, the Eskimo curlew, the American stint, the tree 

 duck, &c. These species ought never to have been admitted into the 

 British list, and having been admitted should be expunged as speedily 

 as possible. Then, again, it must be admitted, indeed, more than that, 

 it must be asserted, that the observers in England are ten to one com- 

 pared with those in Portugal : the ' Zoologist' has not only recorded 

 observations, but has created observers ; before its existence probably 

 the sand grouse, the waxwing, the oriole, paid us occasional visits, as 

 they have since, but there was no record ; the observers, and therefore 

 the observations, were wanting. It is indeed a curiosity to read such 

 records of curiosities as those which formerly saw the light. " Non- 

 descript bird," " rara avis," " extraordinary occurrence," " immense 

 bird," are amongst the least sensational announcements that we find 

 authenticated by such signatures as "Verax," "Veritas," "Vindex" 

 and " Judex." Now happily chapter and verse is required, sought and 

 obtained for every assertion; and should they not be forthcoming the 

 statement itself receives but little favour. 



On the other hand, the ornithologist on the Continent has an 

 advantage over his coadjutor in Britain, in the gastronomico-orni- 

 thological taste of the inhabitants : nothing from a cormorant to a 

 tomtit seems to come amiss to a Russian, a German, a Frenchman, an 

 Italian or a Portuguese. Hence the feathered bouquets suspended in 

 the shops contain occasional rarities, just as the sweeping of a barn- 

 floor must comprise grains of good corn, although often concealed by 

 the superabundance of chaff. 



Everything considered, and all the advantages and disadvantages 

 of each country brought into full account, still I cannot find sufficient 

 reason for the discrepancy I have pointed out. The whitetailed eagle 

 occurs not only in Britain and the north of Europe, but throughout 

 Russia, Asia Minor, and the islands of the Mediterranean ; the little 

 merlin breeds in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and France, 

 the islands of the Mediterranean, and in Palestine, Egypt, Abyssinia 

 and at the Cape of Good Hope ; the honey buzzard is found throughout 

 Europe, and has been noticed in the islands of the Mediterranean oil 



SECOND SERIES— VOL. V. 2 G 



