Z-I>. 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



VoL.VIIL] FEBRUARY, 1884. [No. 86. 



WAYSIDE NOTES IN SWITZERLAND. 

 By Edward Hamilton, M.D., F.Z.S. 



One sees more birds, particularly of the smaller kinds, in 

 Switzerland than in the neighbouring countries of la belle 

 France or of sunny Italy. They are not so much sought after by 

 the chasseur. No strings of Robins, Tits, Redstarts, Chaffinches, 

 Blackbirds, and other songsters of the grove, are to be found 

 hanging up on the stalls on market days, as is invariably the 

 case in the cities and towns of Northern Italy. The Switzers 

 appear not to care for such trifles, but they dearly love a good 

 Squirrel ; and it is amusing to see how the connoisseurs handle 

 and pinch the loins of the defunct beauties to test their fatness. 

 On one stall at Lucerne I counted eighteen of both species 

 {S. vulgaris and aljnnns), and they were all sold within a quarter 

 of an hour. The smaller birds, for the most part, are left to 

 themselves to perform their duties, unmolested by nets or guns, 

 and the consequence is that many pleasant voices enliven the 

 woods and gardens of this happy land. 



The few remarks I have noted down were made at a time 

 when many birds are silent, and many about to depart or have 

 departed south ; but I am told by competent authorities that 

 there is no lack of birds of all kinds singing and breeding in the 

 spring months, which a glance at some of the museums where 

 special rooms are devoted to the fauna of the country fully 

 verifies. At the Grand National Exhibition, held at Zurich last 



The Zoologist. — Feb. 1884. e 



