266 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



TWO DAYS WITH THE BIRDS OF THE SOMME. 

 By W. Warde Fowler, M.A. 



About half an hour after leaving Boulogne the fast trains to 

 Paris run into the valley of the Somme not far above its estuary, 

 which can be seen from the train window on the right, crossed 

 by a long viaduct. In a few minutes the town of Abbeville is 

 passed, standing on the left of the line, with the broad valley 

 between it and some chalky hills to the west, and with other 

 heights to the north and east, well cultivated, stretching away 

 to the forest of Crecy and the battlefield. After leaving Abbe- 

 ville Station the train almost at once passes into that region of 

 reedy marsh and swamp, broad marais fringed with willow and 

 poplar, which characterizes the Somme Valley most of the way 

 to Amiens, looking almost repulsive to the traveller as he rushes 

 through it, but in reality, on a fine day in June, so full of 

 beauties that artists as well as ornithologists might do well to 

 visit it. 



Ornithologists, at any rate, will see from this brief description 

 that the country round Abbeville, which can be reached in less 

 than six hours from London, and is, in fact, hardly seventy 

 miles from Hastings, should be worth special attention. In 

 May, 1898, Mr. A. Holte Macpherson and myself spent a single 

 day here, and saw quite enough to suggest a second visit. In 

 particular, I may recall the fact that on the hill to the west we 

 found thl Meadow-Bunting (Emberiza cia) , and in the 'Trans- 

 actions ' of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society for that 

 year I ventured to suggest that it might before long be met with 

 on our own coast — a prophecy which has since been fulfilled. 

 We also, by a piece of good luck, discovered the right way to get 

 among the marshes in search of water-loving birds — by no 

 means an easy thing to do, for the river here flows in several 

 streams, which are liable to cut one off completely from the 

 region which looks most promising. This year, on June 1st, we 

 made our second descent upon Abbeville, with some acquaintance 

 with the lie of the land, and also with the knowledge (which I 



