The Zoologist — February, 1871. 2465 



Continental Notes on Ornithology. 

 By John Gatcombe, Esq. 



Having within the last few weeks returned from a long trip 

 through parts of Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Switzer- 

 land, and Italy as far as Venice, and back through the Tyrol, 

 1 fancy that a iav^ ornithological notes made by the way might 

 perhaps interest some readers of the 'Zoologist.' 



In the first place, I must remark that I was (more than on any 

 previous occasion) struck by the scarcity of small birds to be seen 

 in a wild state on the Continent, although I passed through 

 apparently the most likely localities in which one might expect to 

 find them ; and no wonder, for on visiting the different towns 

 I was truly grieved to find that the game-shops and markets 

 contained thousands of them. For instance, at Milan I observed 

 more than one hundred robins in a bunch on many of the stalls in 

 the streets. How they can manage to trap so many I cannot 

 conceive. I will, however, give a list of the different species 

 I detected among the poor little victims destined for the table ; 

 indeed, the stall-keepers seemed to be plucking small birds all the 

 day long ; and I was disgusted on seeing a party of men, after 

 a good dinner at an hotel, crunching the bones of a large dishful 

 of little birds, by way I suppose of a bonne houche — I only hope 

 they disagreed with their delicate stomachs. I am aware that large 

 numbers of larks, blackbirds and thrushes are eaten in England, 

 but when it comes to robins, common and goldcrested wrens, 

 I think it is too bad. But I must go on with my list : — Tree 

 sparrows (the most numerous of all) might be counted by thousands, 

 blackbirds, thrushes, redwings, ring ouzels, robins, black redstarts, 

 stonechats, sky larks, titlarks, wagtails, sparrows (of the common 

 and Italian variety), hedgesparrows, buntings, hawfinches, green- 

 finches, chaffinches, mountain finches, goldfinches, linnets, siskins, 

 great, blue, marsh, cole, longtailed and bearded tits, goldcrested 

 and common wrens, lesser spotted woodpecker, creeper and nut- 

 hatch. There was also a sprinkling of hawks, owls, crows, magpies 

 and jays — all to be eaten. 



With regard to the black redstart, I may mention that I remarked 

 the same scarcity of old males with the black breasts to prevail 

 among the plain brownish gray plumaged birds that I have observed 



