Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/185

Rh Forest of Ardenne, for instance. Many are kept caged in towns and villages, and sing very loudly; all that I examined were blind. The Chaffinch here sings a long and good strain. The first part is long, although usually rather sibilant; the second part is loud and full. The fact that the song of the Chaffinch differs (more or less) in different districts was remarked upon long ago by Humboldt, who, writing of the Canary of Montana Clara, says:—"The note of these birds varies with their flocks, like that of our Chaffinches, which often differs in two neighbouring districts" ('Personal Narrative,' vol. i. p. 39).

Linota cannabina.—Common about bushy cliffs and box-clad gorge, as well as by the river.

Pyrrhula europæa.—I met with a pair in a wood bearing the curious name of Bois de Froide Veau (so in the map), and another in the valley of the Molignée.

Emberiza citrinella.—Seen about the arable land, and bushed gorge above Bouvigne.

E. schœniclus.—One by the Meuse.

Sturnus vulgaris.—A few near Dinant.

Garrulus glandarius.—Two in the Forest of Ardenne, one of which was making a queer attempt to sing, or rather to chant.

Pica rustica.—Occasionally seen.

Corvus monedula.—Numerous; they haunt, among other places, the cliff under the Château Walzin, various bare cliffs along the Meuse, the old Norman church at Hastière, and the ruins of the Château Montaigle, on an isolated rock rising straight from the Molignée.

C. corone.—Seen about the cliffs and wooded heights along the river, and in the Forest of Ardenne.

Alauda arvensis.—Fairly common on the open arable land, and some near Givet.

Cypselus apus.—A fair number about Dinant, and Swifts were to be seen about high cliffs here and there between that place and Givet. In Givet the Swift was the ruling species, and abundant.

Iynx torquilla.—Heard twice in the distance.

Gecinus?.—I heard several times the note of a Green Woodpecker in the woods and forest, but never saw the bird. On some occasions the laugh seemed deep in tone, as if it proceeded from G. canus, but this is uncertain.