An Ornithological Letter from Mentone. 161 



one toe directed backwards, which somewhat resembles that 

 of the Lark, measuring altogether If inch, and the nail alone 

 ^ths of an inch. The three anterior claws are, then, the 

 instruments of attachment ; and the vertical transits are chiefly 

 made by means of the long posterior claw, the impetus being 

 given by the shortening of some tendon, which causes it to ap- 

 proach the three anterior, while its whole length acts as a lever 

 against the rock ; and thus the start is made. 



I have so far attempted to explain what is to me the most 

 interesting habit of the Tichodroma, and I have perhaps been 

 somewhat too bold in defining it solely on my own authority. 

 The attempt is the result of five months^ careful study of the 

 point, and is given here because I know that it is the belief 

 of many observers that the bird flits up from stage to stage, 

 using the wings as the principal motive power. I deny this 

 supposition, for two reasons, — firstly, because the Tichodroma 

 is furnished with feet beautifully adapted for this very pur- 

 pose; and secondly, because the wing is, during these trajets,^o 

 slightly expanded that it could not even support the weight 

 of the body, much less propel it against the powerful influ- 

 ence of its own specific weight. The Tichodroma, when seen 

 alive and in its natural haunts, cannot be minutely described. 

 Unless we use a very powerful glass, we are unable, for instance, 

 to get much idea of the beak and legs, the general idea conveyed 

 being of a bird something like a Nuthatch, with grey body and 

 dark wings, on the upper parts of which predominates fine crim- 

 son colour, and lower down are two rows of circular white spots. 

 So much we get from casual observation. 



But, beside having a wonderful foot, the bird has also a won- 

 derful beak — an instrument as v/ell suited to the search in the 

 cracks of the rock as is the bill of the Dunlin for probing after 

 worms in the soft mud . While talking about this bill, I must 

 mention a curious fact, stated by M. Bailly in his ' Ornithologie 

 de la Savoie,^ where he says, " The Tichodroma varies most of all 

 in the size of its beak; it is not rare to find, as in the Hoopoe 

 and Creepers, some individuals even of mature age in which this 

 organ may be from yVhs to ^^ths of an inch longer (' soit de 

 9-15 millim. plus long^) than in the greater part of their 



