NOTES AND QUERIES. 



79 



September 15th. Muhlau (where I stayed the whole time, with the 

 exception of three days spent on an excursion) is a hamlet about 

 three miles north of Innsbruck. During my stay I could only devote 

 ten days to field work, and several of these were given up to high 

 mountain climbing, where one could not expect to see much bird-life. 

 I am sorry few notes were taken of our common birds, mostly rarities 

 attracting our attention. The first day I saw a Wheatear (Saxicola 

 oznanthe), which evidently belonged to the large variety from its size, 

 and the fact that it perched on the top of a somewhat high tree in 

 our garden. Later in the day I took a walk through the pine woods 

 adjoining our pension. Several small birds were heard, and momentary 

 glimpses caught of them flitting about among the pines, but it was 

 impossible to identify them correctly. However, numerous Tits of 

 different kinds inhabited the forest. Later on during our rambles we 

 occasionally noticed in clearings Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), and it 

 was most interesting to watch these clumsy-looking but nevertheless 

 acrobatic birds feeding on the seed of the pine-cones ; every now and 

 again they managed to sever the stalk, the cone falling to the earth 

 with a thud, but never did a Crossbill follow the cone to the ground 

 to continue its feast. On our first high climb, about 7400 ft., when 

 resting on a narrow ledge of bare rock, I noticed a pair of birds which 

 closely resembled in appearance and actions our Rock-Pipit (Anthus 

 obscurus) ; in fact, they were indistinguishable from our bird, although, 

 as far as I know, this shore-loving bird does not inhabit the Austrian 

 Tyrol. No sooner had the Pipits disappeared than we caught sight of 

 a pair of Chamois grazing far above us. We saw during the day 

 several large birds of prey, but could not name them owing to dis- 

 tance. I may state that these high climbs were not to my taste, but 

 my companion had been an ardent member of the Alpine Club for 

 some twenty years. We should have done much better by sticking 

 to the woods, or the limit of forest growth. Another day I caught 

 sight of a bird which resembled a Magpie minus the long tail, but its 

 appearance was too fleeting to be certain what species it belonged to ; 

 possibly it was a Magpie in moult. One day my companion met an 

 Austrian he knew well. This man was an ardent sportsman, and had 

 a small private museum containing birds he had shot. These in- 

 cluded Eagles, Owls (different species), Hawks, Falcons, Harriers, 

 Black-game, and Capercailzie, but, most interesting of all, he had an 

 Eagle-Owi (Bubo ignavus), which he had kept alive. He found this 

 bird a year before as a nestling at the foot of a tree which contained 

 the nest. He assured us that when an Eagle haunted the neighbour- 



