41 



" Here, above 4000 feet up, amid the snows of winter, there 

 is not much entomological life, yet there are a few flies and 

 gnats, and occasionally a Vanessa urticce may be seen career- 

 ing over the waste of snow. There must be a good many of 

 this species in the district, as I have seen two dead pupae, 

 one imago, and a piece of wing of another. 



" I have noticed Helix pomatia and H. ericetorum, besides 

 three or four other species of Hclicidcc. 



"Among the birds I have seen crows, magpies, yellow- 

 hammers, tits, mountain finches (and sparrows in the village). 

 I have also heard the notes of woodpeckers, but have not yet 

 been able to see any. I am rather surprised not to have seen 

 any crossbills, as this is a sort of country they would like. 



"I have noticed the small, cone-like galls of the Chcrmes of 



Tephrosia cr&puscularia, malformation. 



the spruce fir, and also the Scolytus-like burrows of the beetle 

 which attacks the moribund fir-trees, and perhaps more 

 especially the felled timber. I believe its name is Hyhirgus 

 pinipcvda, L. 



" I think Adelboden should yield a good number of Lepi- 

 doptera in the summer ; anyhow, it must be very hot, as even 

 now one can sit in shirt-sleeves and enjoy a cigarette in 

 perfect comfort. I was out with some friends the other day 

 and we all agreed we had never remembered it so hot in the 

 Riviera in the winter, but then, I must say, we were wearing 

 rather thicker clothes than we would be in the south. 



"Adelboden lies in a very narrow valley, with mountains 

 about 8000 to 10,000 feet all around. There is not much 

 colour in the landscape, except at sunset. White snow, dark- 

 green fir-trees, and here and there reddish rock is about all 



