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4 
Meyer says that it is rare in Livonia; and in North Germany it is, Borggreve writes, a partial 
migrant, being most numerous in the non-evergreen woods in the western portion of that 
country. Dr. Rey says that whereas it used formerly to breed near Halle, in Saxony, it now 
only occurs there during passage, when it is not uncommon. Mr. Benzon informs me that it is 
met with in all the Danish provinces, but most frequently on passage, and though it breeds on 
the islands it cannot be looked on as anything but a rare summer resident. In Western 
Germany I have frequently met with it, especially in the countries bordering the Rhine. 
Mr. Sachse informs me that at Altenkirchen, in Rhenish Prussia, it is not common, but remains 
to breed, arriving in March and leaving in October or November; but some remain over winter, 
these being almost all males, and at that season are found in the beech-woods. I found a nest 
close to the Rhine, near Staufen, in Baden, in June this year, and took a young bird out to 
sketch it from life. I was told that it breeds there not unfrequently, but is always found in the 
plains. In Belgium it occurs during passage, and also breeds in the Ardennes and other wooded 
districts; and in Holland, Mr. Labouchere informs me, it “is by no means common; it is, how- 
ever, known to breed in the province of Guelderland; and in autumn it is an occasional visitor of 
the other provinces.” In France it is, Messrs. Degland and Gerbe say, resident throughout the 
country; and Professor Barboza du Bocage states that it is common in Portugal. In Spain, 
Colonel Irby writes (Orn. of Str. Gibr. p. 124), “it is very common, and most plentiful in winter. 
Some nest in the cork-wood (near Gibraltar) in May ;” and Mr. Saunders states that it is common 
on the coast in winter, but retires to the higher ground to breed. Passing eastward, again, I 
find it recorded by Bailly as resident in Savoy; but he adds that some migrate during the winter ; 
and in Italy, Salvadori states, it is generally distributed, some breeding in the northern provinces, 
but retiring to the south for the winter, when many are also found in Sicily and Sardinia; but 
Mr. A. B. Brooke writes (Ibis, 1873, p. 247) that he “did not see any [in Sardinia] before the 
9th of April, when they began to appear in considerable numbers; and during the summer they 
were common in all the orchards, where they bred.” Mr. C. A. Wright has met with it in Malta 
in November and December, and says that in some years it is common, but rare in others; and 
Lord Lilford writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 137), ‘‘I found it common in winter in the thorn-coverts of 
Epirus. I have observed old nests in that country, which I am pretty sure belonged to this 
bird, though I never saw it or heard of its occurrence there during the summer months.” In 
Greece it is, according to Dr. Kriiper, a resident, but commoner during the winter than in the 
summer. He found it breeding in A%tolia, near the lakes of Vrachori, as also at Taygetos, in 
the Southern Peloponnesus. In Southern Germany it is also resident; but Dr. A. Fritsch says 
it is not common in Bohemia. Seidensacher informed me that it bred here and there near Cilli, 
in Styria; it occurs in the countries skirting the Danube; and Dr. Finsch speaks of it as being 
not uncommon in Bulgaria. 
In Southern Russia it is common; and Mr. Goebel says that it breeds not unfrequently in 
the Uman district, and some winter there; but the latter are, he believes, birds which arrive 
from the north, as he did not observe them until some time after those which had bred there 
had left. 
Dr. Kriiper informs me that it is resident in Asia Minor; and Canon ‘Tristram met with 
it in Palestine, but only once, near Gilead. In North-east Africa it is extremely rare; for 
