168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



statistics accumulate. Iu the classification and nomenclature I 

 have followed * The Ibis ' List of British Birds. 



Turdus viscivorus is relatively uncommon, and T. musicus 

 also, at least in winter, when numbers emigrate to warmer 

 climates. It avoids the town more carefully than merula. — T. 

 iliacus and pilaris. Both observed in the neighbourhood of 

 Karlsruhe, the former scarcer. — T. merula. The proportion be- 

 tween Thrushes and Blackbirds in summer is about equal. In 

 other portions of the continent and in parts of England I find 

 merula preponderates : a younger form, it appears less delicate, 

 diffident or particular as to site and construction of nest. It 

 begins to sing sooner (I have heard it with the thermometer at 

 freezing-point), and nests perhaps earlier, qualifications that may 

 contribute to this ascendancy. — Mr. E. Barrington writes to say 

 that he has noticed T. torquatus in the Black Forest, Kaiserstuhl 

 near Freiburg, and Hohentwiel near Constance. 



Pratincola rubetra. Near Biegel, on the Kaiserstuhl. 



Ruticilla phoenicurus and titys. Both common, the latter 

 apparently more so. They arrive about the time (March 15th 

 to &5th) when Bluethroats are said to come in considerable num- 

 bers, and remain till the first week of October. 



Krythacus rubecula is not so abundant or familiar as in 

 England, and affects out-of-the-way places. Slightly on the 

 increase. 



Daulias luscinia. Numerous in and around Karlsruhe, where 

 it breeds principally in the Grand Ducal " Schiosspark '' and 

 " Phasanengarten," and still commoner in the woods bordering 

 the Khine. My earliest date for hearing the song is April 2nd, 

 and the latest June 13th. I am told a neavy fine is imposed on 

 those who are found catchiug Nightingales, and that this is the 

 cause of their abundance here, whilst in other parts of Germany 

 they have become practically extinct. It sings occasionally, con- 

 trary to habit, from the branches of trees, about twenty to thirty 

 feet from the ground. 



Perhaps the commonest Warbler, though it has the gift of 

 keeping out of sight, is Sylvia cinerea. It breeds late, I suspect 

 in order to await the growth of vegetation, in which to conceal 

 its nest. — I stumbled against a nest of S. curruca in a private 

 garden of the town : it contained ten eggs, probably the product 

 of two-hen birds* Qy. Could all the young have survived in the 



