on the Birds of Denmark. 397 
for want of time, and left Copenhagen on the 21st, vid Ham- 
burg and Bremen, arriving at Amsterdam on the 24th. 
Here we lost no time in visiting the breeding-place of the 
Spoonbill, described by Mr. Sclater in ‘The Ibis’ for 1877, 
p- 412; but as, owing to the unusual dryness of the season, 
the earlier period at which we visited the place, and the dif- 
ferent route by which we came, we were able to see more of 
the locality than he did, I add some details to his account. 
_ The Horster Meer is by far the most extensive tract of swamp 
which I have seen in Holland or in any part of Europe, 
except on the Danube and in Turkey, and probably is one of 
the few places in North-western Europe which is thoroughly 
adapted for the breeding of such birds as the Spoonbill. 
Most of the so-called marshes are merely tracts of low-lying 
pasture-land, more or less overgrown with reeds, but inter- 
sected with ditches, and dry enough in summer to be pastured 
by cattle. 
The Horster Meer, or rather the chain of lakes and swamps 
which follow the course of the Vecht from the Zuyder Zee 
nearly to Utrecht, are, however, very different, consisting of 
shallow lakes surrounded by high reed-beds, or by quaking 
bog overgrown with willows, dwarf alder, and many kinds of 
bog-plants, among which the marsh-fern (Aspidium thely- 
pteris) 1s very abundant. We crossed this tract of land in 
two places, one by the railway near the Zuyder Zee, and 
again several miles further up, opposite to Overmeer; and I 
certainly never saw a finer-looking place for all kinds of swamp- 
loving birds, and especially Warblers. Owing, however, to 
the very high wind, and the ignorance of the men who took 
us to the breeding-place, we had no chance of seeing or 
hearing what this ornithological paradise contained, though 
I was assured that Panurus biarmicus was not uncommon, 
and that its nests could be found on a calmer day. The 
Spoonbills seemed to have decreased in number since 1877, 
and we were told that this season not more than half the 
usual number had arrived. Whether this is caused by the 
constant taking of the eggs, or by some climatic influence, I 
cannot say, as birds often seem to suffer more from seasons 
