on some Siviss Birds. 143 



our knees. Arrived at the Pass, we sat down to watch for 

 birds, while our chasseur went off with the gun. We had 

 not waited long before we saw a pair of Snow Finches flying 

 backwards and forwards, always to the same place — a great 

 isolated mass of rock high above the right-hand side of the 

 path, and quite inaccessible, at least from below. The parent 

 birds were, we should say, judging from the date (27th May) 

 on which we subsequently found a nest with young, bringing 

 food to their young. All the time they were flying back- 

 wards and forwards they kept uttering their rather peculiar 

 note, which greatly resembles that of the Brambling. When 

 the chasseur came back, we attempted to get at the place 

 to which we had seen the birds flying, and where the nest 

 evidently was, from above ; but this, though the chasseur 

 was a well-known chamois-hunter, we found to be impossible. 

 Thus, though not successful in getting a nest, we saw at 

 least in what sort of a place, for want of a better, the Snow 

 Finch breeds. 



We recrossed the Gemmi on July loth, and on the wild 

 desolate country round the Daubensee, which was now almost 

 free from snow, we met with a family of Snow Finches — two 

 old birds and three young ones of the year, — and were suc- 

 cessful in "obtaining the three young and the male. The pure 

 white of the breast and underparts of the young birds, together 

 with the clear bright yellow of their bills, was very distinctive, 

 as compared to the worn dirty-white underparts and pale 

 bluish-yellow bill of the old bird. These young were most 

 probably bred among the crags of the Gemmi, and, as soon as 

 they were able to fly, were brought by the parents to search 

 for their food (small seeds, of which their crops Avere full) 

 among this rocky and desolate-looking waste. There is 

 scarcely any vegetation here except dwarfed grass ; the rocks 

 themselves are, however, mostly covered with the pretty little 

 Azalea procumbens , with here and there patches of gentians 

 (G. acaulis and G. verna), Ranunculus alpestris, and other 

 Alpine plants, with their lovely bright colours. 



In the spring of 1886 we were successful in finding the Snow 

 Finches nest, but in a very different place. Remembering 



