270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



like a Thrush, and Macpherson tells me that his colloquial 

 French name is Grive d'eau, the Water-Thrush.* He abounds 

 in all this region of the Somme, and may, in fact, be heard 

 within ten minutes' walk of the station at Amiens — a fact we 

 learnt from Mr. J. H. Gurney, to whom we are indebted for our 

 first introduction to this district. With these were Sedge- 

 Warblers, and a single Eeed- Warbler (A. streperus). For Marsh- 

 Warblers, as I have said, you must look in drier ground, but 

 they were not far away. The Keed-Bunting was here, but not, 

 as we might have expected, in numbers. 



On our return to the suburbs, Macpherson descried a Black 

 Bedstart sitting on a chimney very placidly, and uttering occa- 

 sionally his plaintive strain, which is rather shorter and more 

 high-pitched than that of his cousin. The position was appro- 

 priate, for the bird's head and shoulders, which alone were 

 visible, looked as black as the chimney-pot itself. Next day, 

 just before leaving, we found another, also on a chimney, which 

 presently flew on to the roof of St. Paul's Church (an interesting 

 old building), and allowed us to examine him without bringing a 

 crowd round us. Both species of Redstarts here frequent houses, 

 and the Common one is more numerous than this year at home. 

 Why the Black Redstart should breed regularly within sixty-five 

 miles of our coast, and never cross the Channel for the purpose, 

 is indeed a mystery. 



In the afternoon we walked a long way up the road to Amiens, 

 into the high chalky country to the south-east. The Crested 

 Lark was what we were in search of — another species that 

 rarely, if ever, crosses to our island to breed — and there were, of 

 course plenty to be seen, together with the Sky-Larks. Here we 

 found almost the only Wagtail we saw during our stay — a Yellow 

 Wagtail, nesting apparently in the growing corn, which, so far as 

 we could see, was M. rail, not M. flava, as we might perhaps 

 have expected. 



On leaving this delightful region with regret next morning, 

 we felt that a fortnight at least would be needed to do justice to 

 it ornithologically. In order to contrast its avifauna with that 

 of the opposite coast, leisure for exploration in various directions 

 is absolutely necessary. 



* The specific name given to this species by Meyer was turdoides. 



