Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/90

64 One of them constantly sang while perched on the roof of the Schloss. No doubt two broods are raised, as they were in song until Aug. 5th.

Though surrounded by suburban streets, the Botanic Garden was visited by Jays, and occasionally by the Green Woodpecker; while I have heard the Tawny Owl within five minutes' walk of the busiest part of the town. Kestrels frequented the Minster, and I noted a pair nesting in the transept tower of Cologne Cathedral. A Sparrowhawk daily "worked" the Botanic Garden and adjoining streets. The Hawfinches, constantly seen till April, left the Garden to breed elsewhere, returning in August to feed on the hornbeam seeds.

The Tree Pipit arrived on April 14th. On the 19th I heard the Wryneck in the Friesdorf orchards; two days later Cuckoos were calling and chasing in the more open parts of the forest, and Common Redstarts had settled down to breed in numbers in holes in the pollard beeches. The Wheatear was only represented by an odd bird or two seen on passage; none stayed to breed. On the 25th a change from a long spell of cold weather at once brought the Swift and Lesser Whitethroat. Leafing made as much progress in one night as in the previous month, and Nightingales sang in the Botanic Garden and in the grounds of the villas along the Coblenzer Strasse. Next day I noted the arrival of the Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail and of the Common Whitethroat.

May came in with cold drying winds, so that some of the migrants were late; but the first week of the month brought the Whinchat, Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Turtle Dove, and Common Sandpiper. I met with the Sandpiper from time to time during June and July, so that a few pairs probably remained to breed; in the middle of August the return migration took place, and parties of six or eight were common upon the river. On May 7th the Golden Oriole's flute-like call announced its arrival. Next day, in a hazel-copse on the banks of the Sieg, I was in close proximity to at least half a dozen of these bright-plumaged new-comers. It was perhaps a migratory party. Oaks in young leaf were scattered through the copse, and from one or another of them, sometimes from several different directions at once, came the loud clear call, often interrupted by the harsh