Birds. 5423 



specimen of the species I obtained, but a few days after I procured the 

 spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola), which species was common 

 during the month of May. 



Before passing on to a family of birds the migration of some of the 

 members of which is allowed by even casual observers, I may state 

 that the scantiness of my notes during summer, autumn and the begin- 

 ning of winter is to be accounted for, not only on account of a severe 

 attack of fever, which incapacitated me for duty for between two and 

 three months, but also by my not having a book of reference on birds : 

 I was like a sailor making observations of a coast without a compass. 

 While at Scutari, however, I received from England Yarrell's ' British 

 Birds : ' here was my chart and compass ; I could without difficulty 

 recognise lands which were well known, and had ideas as to where to 

 look for others. I returned to the Chersonese just before Christmas, 

 with the expectation of being able to make some w r ay. Having 

 previously sent only a dozen specimens of birds to England, I 

 managed, before the end of the next four months, to make the number 

 up nearly five times, almost all of which were distinct species ; for in 

 collecting I thought it waste of time to occupy myself about handsome 

 duplicates when I had killed others, although common, of which I had 

 no specimens preserved: many of these I also missed, when pressed 

 for time, because, if they agreed with the written descriptions, I cared 

 not so much for them, but noted any trifling deviation, and then pressed 

 forward to some of more importance ; but I should recommend no one 

 to throw away specimens which he has not among his collection, just 

 because they appear to him to agree with descriptions, if he can 

 possibly find time to devote to the preserving of them. 



Thrushes, 



Of the thrushes we can enumerate five of the true genus and two 

 borderers as Crimean : first, the missel thrush (Turdus viscivorus) is 

 most likely resident throughout the year, as it has been observed both 

 in the middle of winter congregated in woods, and in spring about the 

 brushwood on the hills : the specimens which I examined agreed very 

 well. 



Of the blackbird (Turdus merula) I can only say that I observed it 

 both in winter and spring, when, although it was not numerous, it was 

 not uncommon. 



I did not take notice of the song thrush (Turdus musicus) before 

 nearly the middle of April, when I saw half-a-dozen together, and 

 afterwards I used often to come across them in about the same 



