on some Swiss Birds. 145 



the nestj in which the birds had not yet laid. I have since 

 received eggs and a nest from here, of which a short descrip- 

 tion is given below. On June 16th we recrossed the Furka, 

 in the hope of taking the eggs ourselves ; but now all the 

 nests contained young just hatched, to which the old birds 

 were bringing small larvse and insects in their bills. 



From these observations it appears that the Snow Finch 

 breeds at an altitude of not less than 6500 feet, and lays about 

 the end of May or the beginning of June, at a time when the 

 ground in these Alpine regions is entirely covered with snow ; 

 from which cause, I suppose, it is obliged to place its nest 

 under the roofs of buildings, or, where there are no buildings, 

 in rocks which do not hold the snow — the former not only 

 affording them a dry nesting-place, but one which also 

 protects the nest from the storms of snow and sleet, which 

 have by no means ceased to fall by the end of May. 



A nest obtained on the Furka is made principally of dry 

 grass-stalks, intermingled with which are tufts of hair, wool, 

 leaves, shavings of wood, and a few feathers ; the inside walls 

 are lined with Ptarmigan^s feathers, both white and brown, 

 these being woven together very compactly with horsehair, 

 and in the nest before me also with strands of green 

 worsted. The bottom of the nest is not lined with feathers. 

 The outside diameter, w Inch is nearly round, is 8 j inches ; 

 the inside diameter 3^ inches ; thus the inside cup is small 

 in proportion. The eggs are pure white, and from three to 

 five in number. 



To these personal observations perhaps I may add some 

 information we received from several people while in the 

 Alps. Tiie Snow Finches in winter descend from the 

 Alpine region to the lower valleys ; and a lady who spent a 

 Avinter at Leukeibad told me that they used to sit on a tree 

 in the courtyard of the hotel to the number of thirty or 

 forty, and would fly dow n and pick up bread from the ground. 

 At the Simplon Hospice, where we spent a night, one of the 

 monks (who, by the way, had a fine collection of insects) told 

 me that these birds come into the corridors and are very 

 familiar. One spring he caught a " Niverolle," which he 



SER. V. VOL. V. L 



