Some birds are equally common to both countries. A brief notice of these will probably suffice.
It should be borne in mind that the observations set down in this paper were chiefly made during a few tours through the alpine scenery of Switzerland; hill, dale, and large inland lakes being the nature of the greater part of the country traversed. Hence the following list treats of land birds for the most part, such as those found in the orders of Accipitres and Passeres. By far the greater number of birds recorded belong to the latter order. Still, the presence of large inland lakes (Geneva, Lucerne, &c.) one would almost think should have afforded suitable "natural habitat" for some fresh-water aquatic birds belonging to the orders of Limicolæ and Natatores, such as the Common Sandpiper and Coot; and, indeed, the absence of these and others of the same class appears somewhat remarkable.[1]
As we should naturally expect, the habits of a given species found in Ireland differed but little from the same found in Switzerland. If anything, the continental birds on the whole appeared rather the tamer of the two. As in Ireland, so in Switzerland, the birds of the mountainous districts showed a more marked tendency to shyness than those frequenting the towns and the vicinity of human habitations.
The plumage of a species common to the two countries seemed practically identical. To this there are a few exceptions, which will be referred to when dealing with the bird in question. In order to render the subject-matter of this article more complete, and to endeavour to add to its interest, the authors have deemed it advisable to very briefly refer to the general geographical distribution of each species mentioned, in addition to its occurrence in Switzerland and Ireland.
Finally, before drawing up this list of birds, it is important to mention that the observations were made during short visits to the Continent in the summers of 1897, 1898, 1899. Each visit only lasted three weeks; but, when added together, they extended over the greater parts of July, August, and September. For this reason it is obvious that the numbers of birds which were noticed were no doubt proportionately small. Instead of this, had the visits extended into one of longer duration, lasting continuously
- ↑ It is ikely that both Coot and Waterhen were overlooked.
