II To the Engstlen Alp once more 39 



or moving shadow- — he sits up with his paws in front 

 of him, whistles loudly, and bolts into his hole. The 

 whistle is astonishingly loud and shrill ; even with 

 my dull ears I could hear it half a mile away. How 

 it is produced I know not ; one book tells me that it 

 is done by means of the two long incisor teeth, but 

 of this I cannot be sure. 



Chamois are not yet wholly extinct in this dis- 

 trict ; in 1891 we saw one for a moment, and I have 

 frequently found their tracks in the snow, showing 

 well the animal's strongly divided hoof. They may 

 no longer be shot in this canton of Bern, and it may 

 be hoped that they are getting more plentiful again. 

 Among other vertebrate animals, vipers are here 

 (though I have seen but one), and stoats, and alpine 

 newts, and the curious black lizard-like salamander 

 {Salamamdra atra). These salamanders came out 

 in great numbers at the close of a warm rainy day, 

 and waddled clumsily about, tumbling down from 

 the puny eminences they tried to cUmb, and trying 

 to look like some inanimate object when stirred up 

 with an alpenstock. 



But to return to birds, let me tell of the most 

 enchanting nest that I have ever seen, the discovery 

 of which was due to my old friend the landlord's 

 son ; we were allowed to see it as being rational and 

 privileged persons. I had long suspected that Teals 

 visit this alp, but had never been able to prove it. 



