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stragglers only are seen during passage ; but on one occasion a pair bred far from the sea, in the 

 Gudbrands dale. A few remain over winter as far north as the Trondhjems fjord." 



In Sweden it is merely a summer resident, arriving in March or, should the weather be very 

 mild, even as early as the last days of February, and leaving again in September or October. 

 Nilsson says that it appears on the coast of Bohuslan in the spring and autumn ; near Gothen- 

 burg it is not very common ; and though it breeds in Wermland, in the Gillberga valley it is 

 rare, and is exceedingly rare in Ostergothland. In the south of Sweden, however, it breeds in 

 colonies in several localities. In Finland it appears to be extremely rare. According to 

 Dr. Palmen (Finl. Fogl. ii. p. 298) it is said to have occurred at Gloet, near Helsingfors, about 

 1820 ; and Professor W. Nylander believes, from what the peasants say, that it has bred at 

 Taipale, in South-eastern Finland. Mr. Sabanaeff informs me that it is rare in the Government 

 of Jaroslaf, in Russia, but becomes common in the southern portion of the Moscow Government. 

 In the Ural he did not meet with it on the eastern slope above Ekaterinburg ; but in the autumn 

 he observed numbers frequenting the lakes in the black-earth plains, and believes that large 

 heronries exist somewhere on the westei*n slope, probably in the Niazepetroffsk or Poleffsk Ural. 

 In the Kaslinsk and Keshtemsk Ural it breeds but rarely. I have no data respecting its occur- 

 rence in Poland; but Meyer speaks of it as being not uncommon on the Aa and Diina, in 

 Livonia; and Borggreve says that during the summer it is found commonly in the eastern 

 districts of North Germany, but, so far as he knows, in the western portion it is only met with 

 breeding in colonies in Oldenburg and the Lower Rhine. Stragglers, however, are to be seen in 

 Western Germany not only during winter but also in the summer season. I have seen it on 

 several occasions in the Rhenish Provinces ; and Mr. Carl Sachse, of Altenkirchen, informs me 

 that it is found there, but is not common ; for only a few are seen, but are met with at all 

 seasons of the year. There are two small heronries about sixteen or twenty English miles from 

 there, whence those that are seen near Altenkirchen doubtless come. In Denmark the Heron 

 is said by Mr. A. Benzon to breed in tolerably large numbers, arriving in March, or, in late 

 seasons, in April, and leaving in September or October. It breeds, he says, in colonies near 

 either inland waters or in the vicinity of the sea, placing its nest on large beeches or larches, 

 usually on the former, selecting the largest trees it can find, and placing its nest on the topmost 

 boughs. In Holland it is common ; and there are, Mr. Labouchere informs me, still some very 

 large heronries in that country, chiefly in Guelderland. One large heronry is near the railroad 

 between Amsterdam and Utrecht. It occurs in Belgium as in Holland; and, according to 

 Messrs. Degland and Gerbe, it is a summer resident in the north of France, but found through- 

 out the year in the vast marshes of Languedoc, Roussillon, and on the banks of the Rhone near 

 its mouth. It is included by Professor Barboza du Bocage in hislist of the birds of Portugal as 

 common ; and it is said to be resident in Spain, where, however, Dr. A. E. Brehm says, it did 

 not appear to him to be so numerous as it is in Germany. Colonel Irby writes (Orn. of Str. of 

 Gibr. p. 184) that it "visits the neighbourhood of Gibraltar in great numbers during the winter 

 season ; and they particularly frequent the district between the rivers near Palmones. Mostly 

 departing by March, some few pairs are resident about Casa Vieja." 



In Italy it is said by Salvadori to breed in the northern and central districts, where it 

 seldom remains during the winter, but is common in the south, in Sardinia, and in Sicily during 



