Birds on the Brunig Pass. 185 



the pine-forest rises above it sharp and dense. 

 A better position for an ornithologist could hardly 

 be desired ; for as he stands at the edge of the 

 road his eye must catch every movement in the 

 bushes below him, while his ear commands for a 

 considerable distance the pine-wood above him. 

 Here I walked up and down for some time, 

 scanning the multitudinous Cole-tits and Marsh- 

 tits which were playing in the cover below the 

 road, and mentally comparing their plumage with 

 that of our British forms of the same species ; and 

 while thus occupied, a Great Black Woodpecker, 

 the first I had ever seen alive, hove in sight and 

 fixed himself on a pine at no great distance, en- 

 abling me to watch him for some time with my 

 strongest glass, as he went to work on the bark, 

 now and again twisting his head round watchfully, 

 like a Wryneck, and giving me an excellent view 

 of his powerful bill. Presently, with rapid wing- 

 strokes, like those of the Green Woodpecker, he 

 flew over our heads, and was lost in the forest 

 above us. As he flies, he utters a series of laugh- 

 ing notes, and often gives out a prolonged call 

 after settling on a tree. He is a very fine and 



