THROUGH WILD EUROPE 73 



dilapidated double muzzle-loader fastened together 

 with string and wire, with a bit of stick for a ram- 

 rod. My gun, a double # 4 1 o, was a mistake. While 

 too small for very large birds, it shot so close that 

 it was very difficult to hit a small bird, and when 

 it did, the bird was generally knocked to bits and 

 spoilt as a specimen. I certainly made some good 

 and long shots with it at the larger Herons and 

 Hawks, but I should not like to say how many 

 were missed. 



Goldfinches and many other small birds were 

 very numerous in the fields on each side of our 

 road, and on the banks of a small, navigable river^ 

 which we crossed in a very primitive ferryboat 

 wound up by a rope* were many Sandpipers 

 ( Totanus hypoleucus). Magpies flew constantly over 

 the fields and perched on the roadside trees, in 

 which were many half-finished nests. Hooded Crows 

 were also nesting, but the most advanced, nest at 

 this date only contained one egg. As we neared 

 our destination birds began to be more plentiful, 

 many Godwits feeding in the swampy places, while 

 Marsh Harriers flew over the plains ; and once we 

 saw a very light-coloured Harrier, either Cyaneus or 

 Pallidus, sweeping to and fro over a small marsh. 



A pair of Sea Eagles then flew past us, and 

 presently I saw three large, heavily-built birds flying 

 low down, with their heads drawn back and large 



