2834 The Zoologist — November, 1871. 



Birds of the Upper Engadine. Translated from the French of 

 M. Saratz, by Peter Inchbald, Esq. 



I SPENT last summer in the Eugadiue, and there made the 

 acquaintance of M. Saratz, the President of the Valley, an enthu- 

 siastic lover of birds. As his Notes, already published in one of 

 the scientific journals of Geneva, may prove of interest to the 

 readers of the ' Zoologist' who are more especially interested in 

 Ornithology, I venture to enclose them for publication in your 

 serial, should you deem them suited to your purpose. 



With them is a brief notice of some of the leading objects of 

 interest in the Zoological Gardens at Rotterdam, which may also 

 be acceptable to your readers. 



Peter Inchbald. 



The Valley of the Engadine, which is not more than a mile in 

 width, is watered by the Inn, a tributary of the Danube. It lies, 

 in the upper part, upwards of 5000 feet above the level of the sea, 

 and is shut in on both sides by a mountain chain of aljiine granite, 

 occasionally alternating with limestone and schistous rocks. Winter 

 reigns here for about nine months of the year, the thermometer 

 sometimes descending many degrees below zero. The glaciers of 

 the Bernina form a conspicuous feature in the landscape, and a 

 rich alpine Flora clothes the sides of the mountains. The birds of 

 the upper valley amount to 141 — a surprising number when we 

 consider the climatal characteristics of the Pass, and the frightful 

 destruction of the migratory birds on their passage through Italy, 

 where thousands perish every year to give flavour to insipid 

 polenta. I am indebted to ^I. Saratz, of Pontresina, for an 

 "Ornithological Fauna of the Upper Engadine," which appeared 

 in the Records of the Societe Ornithologique Suisse, and from 

 this I can only give such brief notices as may show what a rich 

 bird-fauna frequents the pine slopes and grassy valleys of the 

 Engadine. M. Saratz kindly showed me his beautiful collection 

 of stuffed birds, all mounted by his own hands — all the produce of 

 his own gun. I could not but admire the life-like character that 

 was given to them by the chamois-hunter, proving to me that birds 

 have been long a study with him in their own wild haunts, and not 

 put up, as is too often the case, for mere artistic effect ! Hence the 



