Valley of Engelberg. 89 



valley, is one which we seldom see in England, 

 and never in the summer. This is the Black- 

 redstart, a bird which has a wide summer distri- 

 bution all over Europe, and is found in Switzerland 

 at all altitudes, suiting itself to all temperatures. 

 Wherever there is a chalet under the eaves of 

 which it can build, there it is to be found as soon 

 as spring has begun to appear, even though the 

 snow is lying all around. I have found it myself 

 nesting in chalets before the herdsmen and cows 

 had arrived there, and at a height of 6000 feet or 

 more, it has woke me at dawn with its song : yet 

 at the same time it is abounding in the plains of 

 France and Germany, and nowhere have I seen 

 greater numbers than in the park at Luxembourg. 

 It is one of the puzzles of ornithology, that in 

 spite of this, the bird never comes to England in 

 the summer ; and that the stragglers that do visit 

 us always appear as winter visitants ; straying to 

 our foggy shores as if by mistake, when they 

 ought to be on their way to the sunny south. 



The little ' Rothel,' as they call him, is a great 

 favourite with the Swiss peasantry ; he is trustful 

 and musical, and will sing sometimes when you 



