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

Phylum Vertebrata 217 1644, presumably for hunting purposes. 'He sent partridge birds in 1648, four at a time, and on another occasion, six live ones, asking whether these live ones can be sent to Németújvár.' Another time, hazel grouse were sent to the landlord's court, presumably from the Őrség woods rather than the Rába valley. As mentioned before, the first capercaillies (T. urogallus) appeared on the Western borders of Hungary in the 1780s. Observations and cases of breeding were recorded from an increasing number of places in subsequent places (ANON, without date, 1899,1900a, 1900b, 1900c and 1905; KLOBUSICZKY 1899; CHERNÉL 1886 and 1921a; SCHAEFF 1905; MAYER 1928; ROTH 1932; SZÜGYI 1933; FÁBA 1964; FARAGÓ 1991c), with substantial populations developing in the Kőszeg Hills and the Őrség. A cock that had probably arrived from the Austrian province of Steiermark appeared in 1939 on the estate of GYULA GYÖNGYÖS-HALÁSZI TAKÁCS at Szalafő, where five more cocks and several hens were observed later, so that the stock had risen to 50-60 birds by 1941. The landowner eagerly protected them, removing predators and providing a reserve of about 150 hectares (GYÖNGYÖS-HALÁSZI TAKÁCS 1940 and 1941; TAKÁCS 1941; CSABA 1974a). There were estimated to be 150 birds in the Szalafő district in 1948, but the number had shrunk to 35-40 by 1955, due to intensive timber production (GYÖRGY 1957). Some communal mating displays in the Sopron Hills at the end of the 1920s involved 8-10 cocks, of which 3-4 would mate on each occasion (BREUER 1926a; GYŐRY 1962). Nesting ceased in the 1960s (CSABA 1967b), since when the capercaillie has been observed several times as a vagrant (SZABÓ 1975; KÁRPÁTI 1977; RÉGENI 1979; BECHTOLD 1981). After the establishment of the Őrség National Park, the management resolved to reintroduce the capercaillie into the Őrség. The first steps have been taken. A cock and two hens bred in Austria have arrived for breeding purposes (NÉMETH 2002a). Unfortunately, the hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia) has also disappeared from Vas County as a breeding bird, although occasional birds appear (at Kondorfa on January 2, 1985, ANON. 1988). ALBERT VERTSE (1939) recalls that it once occurred in the vicinity of Sopron. Data by GROSSINGER on the occurrence of the great bustard (Otis tarda) in Vas County have already been quoted. ADOLF KUNCZ reported in his monograph on Szombathely (KUNCZ 1880) reported its occurrence in the Nagymező (Great Meadow), between Szombathely, Gencsapáti and Söpte. LÁSZLÓ VARGA (1987d) retailed a story of how the inhabitants of the village of Zanat, now part of Szombathely, used to be called 'great bustards': 'The nickname is based on a former occasion when the wings of a flock of great bustards in the district were frozen together by freezing rain. On seeing that, some Zanat people went out and drove the birds, which were unable to fly, into a stable with whips. However, the roof was in disrepair, and while the villagers prepared for the feast, the birds warmed up again and flew out through the opening. So the people of Zanat gained a nickname instead of a feast.' Earlier observations seem to have been confirmed when VARGA and some fellow ornithologists saw