On the Susten Pass. 197 



as we sat there for a few minutes, one flew right 

 over us and disappeared in the depths of the 

 valley in the direction of Wascn. All the way 

 down too on the other side little parties were 

 making their way in the same direction ; and thus 

 it became clear that these birds at least do not 

 take flight all at once, but move in a continuous 

 stream of parties smaller or greater, much as the 

 late Mr. A. E. Knox described the migration of 

 the Pied Wagtails from west to east in the south 

 coast of England, in his admirable Ornithological 

 Rambles in Sussex. 1 But we may well ask the 

 question, Do they arrive in the same manner ? 

 The Susten Pass is 7000 feet above the sea, and 

 is covered with snow from October to June. I 

 myself once crossed it on June 29, when its deep 

 snow bore no trace of human footsteps, and it was 

 possible to make glissades over slopes where now 

 not a vestige of snow was to be seen. Are we 

 to suppose that the Pipits and their friends pass it 

 in spring in spite of the snow, and travel in the 



1 It is worth noting that Knox observed that the progress of 

 the Pied Wagtail is chiefly observable between daybreak and 

 10 a.m. All the movements I noticed in the Alps were 

 observed during the earlier morning hours. 



