O. Gy. Dely szerk.: Vertebrata Hungarica 20. (Budapest, 1981)

Horváth, L.: Communities of breeding birds in the peaty forest at Tabdi 69-74. o.

easternmost part of the great alderwood of the Hanság; the other in the "Gémes Forest" between the villages ocsa and Inárcs in the eastern part of this peaty region; it has bred in former times also in the Tabdi Forest provided that its feeding places were not far from the forest (at the Danube). The Tree Sparrow settles alongside the nests of the larger raptors and it can be found in all three marshy forests (Hanság, Ocsa, Tabdi). The Hooded Crow is not a silvifugous species notwithstanding the fact that it builds its nest often on the marginal trees of the marshy forest, particularly here where there are few suitable trees in the encircling meadows. It may be found in some pairs In all four part (Nagy Forest, Turjáni Forest, Gémes Forest, Hosszú Forest) of the alderwoods at Ocsa. The case Is similar In the peaty forests of the Hanság and of Tabdi. The Woodcock appears regularly during migration in the Tabdi Forest - both at springtime and in the autumn - as also at Ocsa and in the Hanság. However, it does not stay for breeding except in the case of a very old observation (Balatoni Farkas, 1931-1934). The three breeding communities discussed above include nearly all of the species breeding in the region under examination. The following six species may occur in dry parts of the Tabdi Forest lacking ash or alder trees. The Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus

) settles for breeding in the young forest sites; the Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus

) and the Goldfinch (

Carduelis carduelis

) live also in the same quarter of the forest; the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

, the Great Tit (Parus major) and the Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus slbilatrix

) occur in the older ones. So far only the breeding species have been discussed, but the picture drawn of the bird life of the Tabdi Forest would not be complete without mention of the birds wich occur from autumn to spring in the region. These are as follows: Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

. Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)

, Siskin (Carduelis spinus)

, Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula

), Wood Lark (Lullula arbo- rea)

, Nuthatch (Sitta europaea

), Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

, Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

, Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

, Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)

, Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus)

, Wryneck (Jynx torquilla). To sum up, it may be stated that the breeding communities of the Tabdi Forest are the same as those found during the earlier investigations in the turfmoors of the Hanság and in the peaty region at Ocsa. The demonstrable differences - qualitative as well as quantitative - derive from the much lesser extension of the forest. The sequence of importance of the subordinate species of the breeding communities, that is, the order of rank of their characterization of the type of country show no deviations from one another in these forests, which still increases the stability of the communities. It i s also manifest from the investigations that the character of the forest (the age of trees, combination of the plant species, geographical situation, its open or closed state, its richness in bushes and herbaceous undergrowth does not alone determine its bird life, but also its soil and to a great extent its environment, too. However, the environment of the Tabdi Forest is also related with the marshy and peaty alderwood forests of the Hanság and the Ocsa-Inárcs region. On the basis of my investigation conducted for one year, 42 bird species have been regularly observed, among them 28 species have bred, while the other ones were spring-autumn transitional migrants and winter visitors. The explanation of these relatively low numbers is that birds which I have seen merely flying above the investigation area (turfmoor region) or which were represented very rarely and Irregularly by occasional specimens in the peaty meadows have not been included or treated here. In reality these birds are not at all connected with forests, and perhaps they do not even appear for many years or decades in the country. BALATONI FARKAS, J. (1931-1934): Az erdei szalonka fészkelése az AlföldOn. Nisten der Waldschnepfe im Alföld. - Aquila, 38-41: 356, 419. BALOGH, J. (1953): A zoocönológia alapjai. Grundzüge der Zoozönologie. - Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 248 pp. BALOGH, J. (1958): Lebensgemeinschaften der Landtiere. - Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 560 pp. DICE LEE, R. (1952): Natural Communities. - Ann Arbor, 547 pp. HORVÁTH, L. (1956): Communities of breeding birds in Hungary. - Acta Zool. Hung., 2: 319-331. HORVÁTH, L. (1957): Avifaunistic and ecological conditions of the Peat Bog Region between the Danube and the Tisza River. - Acta Zool. Ac. Sei. Hung., 3: 233-244. HORVÁTH, L. (1959): A szegélycönózis elve a madarak fészkelőközösségében. The principle of marginal coenoses in the nidifying communities of birds. - Vertebr. Hung., 1: 49-57. HORVÁTH, L. (1970-1971): A csévharaszti erdővidék madárvilágában bekövetkezett változások az elLITERATUR