Spring in the South Tyrol. 



By Ebray Sich tt Alfred Sich. Read Maij 8tli, 1913. 



I associate the name of my son with this paper for two reasons, 

 firstly, because he was my ahiiost constant companion in these 

 enjoyable natural history rambles, and secondly, because owing to 

 his keen eyesight and youthful activity many objects were brought 

 to book which otherwise might have escaped attention. At the 

 same time I would remark that any inaccuracies or shortcomings 

 that there may be in this paper must be attributed solely to myself. 

 There is, I believe, little that is new in the observations here 

 brought forward. My main object being to draw your attention to 

 some of the enjoyments experienced by lovers of natural history, 

 when face to face with the delights of springtime in a sunny land, 

 in a land that harbours a Fauna and a Flora more extensive and 

 varied than those of our own sea-girt and therefore somewhat 

 cloudy Isles. 



Botzen (Bozen),one of the principal towns of the Austrian South 

 Tyrol, lies at an elevation of rather less than 900 feet, at the con- 

 fluence of the rivers Talfer and Eisak. The Talfer is a shallow 

 but rapid river, which flows out of the narrow Sarnthal, above 

 Botzen. Its course is much obstructed by huge boulders, and as it 

 approaches the town, it becomes broken up by masses of shingle, so 

 that the bridge which spans its gravelly bed is of considerable 

 length. There is a fine promenade on its eastern bank. The 

 Eisak, though of considerable volume, is one of those bewitching 

 mountain torrents, which boil and tumble and rush along their 

 courses, as if in unmingied joy. It gathers its waters from near the 

 summit of the famous Brenner Pass, much over 4,000 feet above 

 the sea, and is joined by other streams coming down from the 

 eastern mountains ; it reaches Botzen in considerable turmoil, and 

 dashes right across the valley till it is brought up suddenly by an 

 immense wail of rock on the opposite side. 



Here the Etsch or Adige, which comes from the Alps on the 

 Swiss border and flows through the Vintschgau, joins the Eisak, 

 and the united waters flow down the Etschtal and subsequently 

 past, but not through, the beautiful Lago di Garda, and finally 

 through the town of Verona, and then into the Adriatic, about 

 twenty miles south of Venice. These streams are too rapid and too 

 shallow for boating, but some good trout may be obtained from the 



