II To the Engstlen Alp once more 41 



relation of our commoa little Hedge-sparrow, will 

 some day be discovered breeding among the hills of 

 our own island. It has indeed been very rarely 

 met with there at any season, but its sombre dress 

 and retiring habits may easily cause it to be over- 

 looked. If any reader, scrambling on some steep 

 hillside, should see a bird a little larger than a 

 sparrow which shows chestnut on the flanks and a 

 slight double-bar of white on the wing, let him 

 watch it very closely; and if it should presently 

 perch on the very edge of a rock, and show him a 

 throat speckled with black and white, he may make 

 a good guess that he has the Alpine Accentor before 

 him. For his benefit too I will transcribe an 

 account of the nest found by my companion on the 

 second day of search on the Engstlen Alp. 



"One morning I clambered up the steep grass 

 slopes to try and find a nest of the Alpine Accentor. 

 Before I had gone very far I found a pair of these 

 birds carrying food, and after a good deal of watch- 

 ing succeeded in finding the nest. The cock and 

 hen were so much alike that I could not see any 

 difference; they moved about slowly, flicking their 

 wings in a restless way, and after I had been watch- 

 ing them some time, one flew away, and the other 

 deliberately ate all the food it was carrying. In a 

 short time, however, one returned, and soon went to 

 feed the young. The nest was well concealed under 



