tt THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



for that of P. domesticus. At Cruet, two Goldfinches were 

 twittering about some trees. As we got fairly into agricultural 

 France, where the people were busy carrying hay in the light 

 summer evening, which had been daily lengthening with rapid 

 strides for me, Magpies (birds which you are more likely to 

 see than any others when travelling on a French railroad) 

 became common, and just before we reached Macon, where I 

 proposed to stay the night, I heard the song of the Lesser 

 AVhitethroat at a small station. 



On the 26th, I got up at five a.m. to get a walk in the 

 meadows along the Saone before my train left for Paris at 8.30. 

 A good many Swifts were to be seen ; House Martins pre- 

 dominated in numbers over the Swallows. It has become a 

 habit with me to notice in every town or village, which of 

 these three species seems to be in possession of the place. 

 The predominance is curiously well marked in some instances, 

 and doubtless depends largely on the character of the build- 

 ings. The Swallow is, of course, always at a disadvantage in 

 a town ; but this solution is not always sufficient to account 

 for the superiority in numbers of one or other of the three 

 species. A Black Redstart — a male, in not very good plumage 

 — flew down from one of a row of trees on the river Boule- 

 varde, and settled on the ground in front of me. I crossed 

 the bridge and walked down the meadows, but the only birds 

 of any particular interest which I saw were a couple of Meadow 

 Buntings (Emberiza da). This, however, was more than suf- 

 ficient reward for my walk, as I had never before seen the 

 bird alive. Goldfinches — so much more numerous in parts of 

 the Continent than they are with us — twittered and sang in 

 the trees. On the day's journey I twice noticed the Blackcap 

 — my almost constant companion on my way north — before 

 reaching Beaune. Beyond Dijon, in the agricultural country, 

 still cultivated in " lands," were Carrion Crows, Books, Yellow- 

 ammers, Chaffinches, Whitethroats and Magpies. The long 

 lines of poplars help to make France a suitable country for 

 the last-named bird. I have seen their bulky nests in the 

 tops of some poplars less dense in foliage than usual, and 

 doubtless there were plenty more hidden from sight. 



In Paris, I naturally spent a good part of my time in the 



