1314 The Zoologist— August, 1868. 



extinct, and the wild boar is now mostly confined to a few strictly 

 preserved forests. Of the smaller Mammalia I can at present say 

 nothing. 



Birds struck me as being rare in the larger forests, and I was un- 

 fortunately too late for the egg season. Many species which are 

 residents here are in Germany cither total or partial migrants, owing 

 doubtless to the greater severity of the winters: this greater cold also 

 causes the field mice and voles to seek shelter in barns and outhouses, 

 thus forcing many of the birds of prey to shift their quarters. I may 

 here give the dates of arrival of some of the spring migrants near 

 Heidelberg, as observed in 1861 by one of my brothers : of these the 

 fieldfare and woodcock are merely passing visitors, only seeu for a 

 short time in spring and autumn. 



Song Thrush 

 Kite .... 

 Common Buzzard 

 Woodcock 

 Starling 

 •Fieldfare 

 Black Redstart 

 Wryneck 

 Chimney Swallow 

 Common Redstart 

 Cuckoo 

 Hoopoe 



Of birds of prey I saw but little on this trip; all the species are 

 now rather rare near Freiburg, a considerable " schutzgeld" or reward 

 being paid for them. The kite and buzzard are, however, common in 

 many parts, as is also the goshawk in the larger forests, and the kestrel 

 and sparrouhawk are plentiful. The eagle owl is abundant in the fir 

 woods; one man killed no less than seven head in the Slernenwald 

 (near Freiburg) last winter. The tawny owl sometimes takes up its 

 abode along with the barn owl in the church steeples. 



Both the redbacked and woodchat shrikes are frequently seen, often 

 in company, especially in copse-wood near vineyards, where they find 

 an ample supply of food in the large grasshoppers, whose chirping is so 

 continually heard at this season all over the Continent: 1 very often 

 noticed them perched on the telegraph-wires. The black redstart is 

 one of the commonest garden birds, breeding in out-houses, barns, &c., 



