The Hasli-Thal. 107 



naturalist is liable ; he assured me that there were 

 two species, answering to the two prevailing 

 tints. 



I never can forget the spot where my old 

 friend's sharp ear first caught for me the quiet 

 note of these little birds. If any bird-lover should 

 chance to walk from Engstlen down to the Hasli- 

 thal, he should stop near the foot of the first rapid 

 descent among the pines, where the stream which 

 he has lately crossed tumbles over a ledge of rock 

 into a deep dark pool. At the very edge of this 

 pool stand a few black pine-trees, and among the 

 thick branches of these the Tits were playing. 

 Above us were vast mountain walls, and at our 

 feet was the mossy grass, damp with the spray of 

 the fall ; among the gray boulders the alpine 

 rhododendron was coming into bloom. At a little 

 distance a robin was singing its ever-welcome 

 song, mingling its English music with the sound 

 of alpine cow-bells from the pasture further down 

 the valley. Such scenes linger for ever in the 

 memory, and are endeared to us by the thought 

 of the blithe creatures who live and sport among 

 them during a long golden summer, long after we 



