Bi7'ds of the Upper Engadine. 29 



a nest in a cleft of the rocks not more than a hundred yards 

 from the hotel, and was sitting on two pure-white eggs as late 

 as the 10th of August : no doubt a second brood. The 

 Black Redstarts were very expert at catching flies in the 

 air. 



On the way home we stopped a few days at Constance. 

 Close to the Insel Hotel is a most interesting aviary, full of 

 Ducks, Geese^ and Swans. Among the former were a pair 

 of Pochards and a pair of Tufted Ducks, perfectly tame, 

 though able to fly. A branch of the Rhine runs through 

 this aviary, and the observer can lean over the iron railings 

 and look down into the blue-green water and see the weeds 

 at the bottom. It was very curious to watch the Ducks 

 dive ; their wings were never used ; everything was done by 

 their feet, and hard enough they worked. With their out- 

 spread toes as a fulcrum, they made a headlong dive into the 

 water, and as they somewhat slowly but steadily descended to 

 the bottom, their feet were working as hard as they could 

 go against the natural buoyancy of their bodies. As soon as 

 they had gathered as much weed as they wanted, they raised 

 their heads, stopped the rapid motions of their feet, and soon 

 rose like corks to the surface. At other times they seemed 

 to be fast asleep on the surface of the water, the head snugly 

 tucked under the wing, and one foot apparently moving mecha- 

 nically to prevent them from drifting down with the current. 

 Sometimes they spent hours preening their feathers whilst 

 swimming, occasionally almost lying on their backs in the 

 water to smooth out the feathers of the underparts. I have 

 never seen any place where the habits of these birds could be 

 so easily observed. 



At St. Gall I paid a visit to Dr. Girtanner, and was much 

 interested in three or four Wall-creepers wdiich he had in 

 a cage. He told me that they moulted out of their first 

 plumage in their first autumn, and acquired the black on the 

 underparts early in spring. 



