386 My. H. J. Elwes’s Field-notes 
ningslund, where we expected to find the Black Stork and other 
birds breeding. The country through most of the centre of 
Jutland is composed of dry barren heaths, interspersed with 
small lakes or bogs, and for the most part very uninteresting 
and devoid of bird-life. Wherever the land is good enough, 
and in many places where it seemed to be nothing better 
than hungry sand, the heath is broken up and cultivated by 
peasant proprietors, who, notwithstanding a poor soil and 
cold climate, seem to make a very comfortable living by agri- 
culture. Rye, alternating with spring corn, and grass-seeds 
(remaining down two or three years) are the principal crops of 
the country, which seems as desolate and unattractive to the 
naturalist as any that can be imagined. Here and there, 
however, are forests and extensive marshes, which can vie 
with any in Northern Europe in the number and variety of 
their feathered occupants; and it is therefore especially 
necessary to have good local information as to the breeding- 
places of the birds and a first-rate map, such as Mansa’s 
‘Karte over Norre Jytland,’ which shows the exact nature 
of the country, distinguishing between cultivated land, moor, 
marsh, and woodland. Thanks to Mr. Benzon and to this 
excellent map, we uever lost a day in unproductive localities; 
and the first day which I spent in the forest of Dronnings- 
lund was one of the most interesting days I ever had. Buird- 
nesting may be, no doubt, a boyish pursuit ; but I must con- 
fess that at thirty-four I enjoy it as muchas I did at fourteen, 
and there is no doubt that one learns more of the habits of birds 
when seeking their nests than at any other time. The forests 
of Jutland, of which Dronningslund is the most northern of 
note, are principally composed of beech, though towards the 
south oak, fir, birch, and other trees are found in them. 
Plantations of fir are rapidly growing up in many parts of the 
country ; but the beech is the characteristic and prevailing 
timber, and the only one which attains any great size. In 
Dronningslund Stor Skoy, which is a tract of low hills three 
or four miles long and about half as wide, the trees are, for 
the most part, small and stunted, growing on a poor sandy soil, 
and exposed to the sweeping blasts of the North Sea and the 
