Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

Phylum Vertebrata 197 head, and similar to the black woodpecker in every respect, except that it is much smaller. Here I cannot cover all the smaller species of woodpecker. They are generally black and white, some with red heads and most with red bellies. It is worth noting that the woodpeckers have very long tongues, pronged at the end, with which they penetrate holes and pull out insects from them; and their tongues, instead of returning into their necks, curl right round the whole skull into the head. The best thrush is the mistle thrush,

59 the fieldfare

60 being rarer. There are many song thrushes, blackbirds and golden orioles. The golden oriole is known as the oromálu.

61 There sports here in summer a bird the size of a crow, with black and blue feathers, known as the roller.

62 Wild duck appear in the spring and breed in the Eörségh [sic] ponds, but not many of them. Wild geese and cranes only pass over in autumn and spring. There are no storks or bustards. The various buzzards and hawks, the rabbiter, the hen-catcher,

63 the sparrow-catcher

64 etc., are known as kites in the Eörségh. I will not mention any other common birds. The hoopoe is known as the hoputa,

65 and the wryneck as the tekerincs.'

66 Towards the end of the 19th century, an extensive bird collection of about a thousand specimens was formed at Léka (Lockenhaus) under ÖDÖN HUSZTHY (1891). ÖDÖN HUSZTHY (1837-1905)

67 began his career as secretary to the lord lieutenant of Sopron County and later became private secretary to Count PÁL ESTERHÁZY. On retiring, HUSZTHY settled at Léka, where he spent vast sums on his bird collection and on smaller mineral, plant, mammal and ethnographical collections. The bird collection was examined at that time by OTTÓ HERMAN. ISTVÁN CHERNÉL (1890) gave important professional assistance in assembling it, and along with GYÖRGY ALMÁSY, gave the Léka museum valuable material. The collection covered not only Vas County, but the bird-life of the whole Hungarian kingdom and possessed specimens of many extremely rare birds. Notable among them are two specimens of the European race of the lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus feldeggii

—collected at Báziás (Bazias) on May 14, 1875 and at Sárvár on January 22, 1896). GYÖRGY ALMÁSY'S was the only other collection with a specimen of the lanner falcon, of which there has been no Hungarian occurrence since. Similar faunistic importance 59 It is referred to here as the hums and in MOLNÁR 1935 as the hurosrigó. The modern name is léprigó. 60 The species arrives in Hungary in large numbers in October and breeds in the North, but in milder winters, significant numbers may winter there as well. These days it also breeds in Hungary with increasing frequency. 61 The common Hungarian name is sárga rigó (Oriolus oriolus). 62 Coracias garrulus (after CSABA 1955a). 63 The species cannot be identified and LAJOS MOLNÁR (1935) gave two similar names: tikhordó kánya— the chicken-bearing' buzzard (Buteo buteo) and 'chicken-killing' buzzard or goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). 64 Mentioned also in MOLNÁR (1935), this is the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). 65 Upupa epops. MOLNÁR (1935) has babuta, huputa. The present-day common name is búbosbanka. 66 Jynx torquilla. The common Hungarian name is nyaktekercs. 67 ANON. 1906. Huszthy Ödön 1837-1905... Aqála 13:270.