NOTES IN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. 61 



neighbouring reed. The throat was whitish, but less clear than 

 the under-parts. Above the eye ran a line of yellow ; then came 

 one of dark brown or black ; down the centre of the head ran a 

 median stripe of yellowish. The light brown back was marked 

 with longitudinal black streaks ; of these the broadest was in the 

 centre of the back. The lively little fellow seemed to spend most 

 of his time among the roots of the reeds ; he ran up and down 

 with great rapidity. Very early, September 14th, three reed 

 birds shared possession of a faggot pile on the edge of the 

 morass with Passer domesticus. Only one of the former awaited 

 my arrival and subsequently close proximity ; very fearless, its 

 light, active movements reminded me of the Pekin Nightingale ; 

 its legs seemed long, its outline undulating. When it flew to a 

 reed, which bent beneath its weight, its wedge-shaped tail was 

 well displayed. Eeturning home the same forenoon, I saw a 

 male Bluethroat alight on a vineyard wall, overlooking the road 

 near the Castle of Chillon. Having studied this species on the 

 Dovre Field for some days, in July, 1878, I saw with increased 

 pleasure, that this Chillon bird wore the entire blue gorget 

 assigned to Cijanecula Wolfi, in contradistinction to C. leucocyana. 

 From its tameness I thought it a bird of the season. It foraged 

 boldly round me, taking short flights in and out of a garden on 

 my right, and even clinging to the perpendicular edge of the 

 vineyard wall, to secure some fugitive insect. Not until Septem- 

 ber 30th, though I constantly passed this spot on perpetual but 

 worthless expeditions to trap one or more of the reed birds, did I 

 fall in with Bluethroat s again. Meantime the bec-figioe had 

 departed, about the 24th, The solitary specimen met with on 

 the outskirts of Interlaken had puzzled me, as did some Bed- 

 backed Shrikes. I did not at first recognise the owner of those 

 well-marked grey or white secondaries. Those so numerous at 

 Montreux hawked insects constantly, darting off the branches of 

 the walnut trees in the way of the spotted flycatcher. But on 

 September 30th, our last day at Montreux, a "red-tail" flew 

 close to me in the marshes which could not belong to a Black 

 Bedstart ; after plodding another mile through the tall reeds, I 

 saw two Bluethroats quite close to me, in a comparatively dry 

 spot. On my approach, one crossed the canal ; the sun at that 

 moment showed up the throat of the other, perfectly blue, but 

 centred with a white or creamy spot. In colouration he other- 



