214 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Some birds are equally common to both countries. A brief 

 notice of these will probably suffice. 



It should be borne in mind that the observations set down in 

 this paper were chiefly made during a few tours through the 

 alpine scenery of Switzerland ; hill, dale, and large inland lakes 

 being the nature of the greater part of the country traversed. 

 Hence the following list treats of land birds for the most part, 

 such as those found in the orders of Accipitres and Passeres. By 

 far the greater number of birds recorded belong to the latter 

 order. Still, the presence of large inland lakes (Geneva, 

 Lucerne, &c.) one would almost think should have afforded suit- 

 able "natural habitat" for some fresh-water aquatic birds belong- 

 ing to the orders of himicolce and Natatores, such as the Common 

 Sandpiper and Coot ; and, indeed, the absence of these and others 

 of the same class appears somewhat remarkable.* 



As we should naturally expect, the habits of a given species 

 found in Ireland differed but little from the same found in 

 Switzerland. If anything, the continental birds on the whole 

 appeared rather the tamer of the two. As in Ireland, so in 

 Switzerland, the birds of the mountainous districts showed a 

 more marked tendency to shyness than those frequenting the 

 towns and the vicinity of human habitations. 



The plumage of a species common to the two countries seemed 

 practically identical. To this there are a few exceptions, which 

 will be referred to when dealing with the bird in question. 



In order to render the subject-matter of this article more 

 complete, and to endeavour to add to its interest, the authors 

 have deemed it advisable to very briefly refer to the general 

 geographical distribution of each species mentioned, in addition 

 to its occurrence in Switzerland and Ireland. 



Finally, before drawing up this list of birds, it is important to 

 mention that the observations were made during short visits to 

 the Continent in the summers of 1897, 1898, 1899. Each visit 

 only lasted three weeks ; but, when added together, they extended 

 over the greater parts of July, August, and September. For this 

 reason it is obvious that the numbers of birds which were noticed 

 were no doubt proportionately small. Instead of this, had the 

 visits extended into one of longer duration, lasting continuously 

 * It is ikely that both Coot aod Waterhen were overlooked. 



