WAYSIDE NOTES FKOM SWITZERLAND. 45 



saying, " If a Stork builds in the housetop conjugal affection 

 is never disturbed within." Montgomery says : — 



Stork, why were human vu'tues given thee ? 

 " That human beings might resemble me, 

 Kind to my offspring, to my partner true, 

 And duteous to my parents. What are you ? " 



Heron, Ardea cinerea. — With its lazy, flapping flight, is found 

 amongst the marshy fields by the Limmat. I only saw two, 

 and I think they are not very common. 



Eaven, Corvus corax. — Two or three times I heard the un- 

 mistakable bark of the Eaven, — a sound distinctly audible even 

 when the bird is so high as to be almost out of sight, — but it is 

 not very common in the lower valleys. 



Crow, Corvus corone, and Eook, Corvus frugilegus. — Common 

 enough. The latter abounds in all the lower plains, but I never 

 could detect any with the bare warty base of the beak. Is it 

 that all the birds we see in August are young ones ? or is it 

 that the food of this bird is chiefly derived from moister ground, 

 and therefore this condition is not attained? How fond these 

 birds are of young walnuts ! Along the shores of the Lake of 

 Constance, where walnut trees abound, the Eooks commit great 

 depredations. 



Magpie, Picus caudata. — Common as this bird is in France 

 and Italy, I only saw it twice in Switzerland, near Basle. 



Jay, Garridus glandarius. — Plentiful, but very shy. In the 

 woods near Baden (Aargau) I have occasionally come upon a 

 flock, but on the first note of warning they all disappeared into 

 the depth of the pine forest, without the screaming clamour Jays 

 usually make when disturbed. At Felsinegg, where the pine 

 woods extend to a great distance, I have found their feathers on 

 the ground, but only once or twice got a glimpse of the bird. 



Nutcracker, Nticifraga caryocatactes. — It was in the locality 

 last named, hovever, that I had the great pleasure of being able 

 for two or three days to watch the habits and mode of feeding of 

 the Nutcracker. I have seen this bird, while walking over the 

 Pass of St. Gothard, come down to the hazel trees, which are 

 found on the lower part of the Pass about Amsteg, pick off a nut, 

 and then fly to a stone and commence breaking it by repeated 

 blows with his beak ; but here at Felsinegg a party of six, two 



