568 ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 
stocked with trout and much frequented by Dippers; while 
woods of huge lofty oaks, rich green marshy meadows, and 
extensive flats covered with alders and birches give it a 
pleasant appearance. 
In detailing my unfortunately very scanty bird-notes, I 
will begin with the virgin forests. These I merely skirted, 
and never went to their upper parts, the only raptorial bird 
that I observed being a very large Hagle-Owl (Bubo maximus), 
for to my great astonishment I did not see a single Ural 
Owl. The Nutcracker, however, was tolerably abundant, 
even as low down as the edge of the meadows. There were 
not many Jays and only a few Hazel-Grouse ; but I naturally 
saw but few of the latter, as this year I did not visit the 
localities of these primeval woods where both this bird and the 
Capercaillie are so numerous. Of the small fry I only noticed 
a pair of Three-toed Woodpeckers (Pecoides tridactylus) and 
a good many Common Wrens, Goldcrests, Firecrests, and 
plenty of the ordinary species of Tits. 
This about finishes iny forest-notes, and although I saw 
but little the woods seemed this year to be full of life in 
comparison with the utter stillness which prevailed when I 
rambled through them in the middle of last November, for 
then there was quite a striking dearth of birds both in the 
valleys and the outlying hills, and this could not be said on 
the present occasion. 
In November J did not see one of the larger birds of prey, 
but I now observed, both in the Gérgény valley and the 
deciduous woods of the lower hills, a good many Cinereous 
Vultures, two Sea-Hagles (Haliaétus albicilla), some “ Stein,” 
Larger and Lesser Spotted Hagles, and a great many Short- 
toed Eagles, Common Buzzards, Goshawks (Astur palum- 
barius), Sparrow-Hawks (A. nisus), Kestrels, Merlins (Falco 
esalon), and Peregrines (Ff. peregrinus), as well as several 
