ON THE BREEDING OF THE WALL CREEPER. 291 



I expected the nest to be. But as I watched I had not long to 

 wait before one of the birds, the male again, came swinging round 

 the corner with a beakful of food and lit upon the slab of stone 

 a few yards from the crevice. I was discovered at once, and the 

 bird seemed irresolute whether the risk of approaching the nest 

 was not too great; but, as I remained quiet, he soon commenced 

 with sidelong hops to approach the crevice, and at last dis- 

 appeared within it. 



The crevice seemed six or eight inches wide at the outside, 

 and was some twelve or fifteen feet long, horizontal, and appeared 

 to have been caused in the fall of a gigantic block as large as a 

 four-roomed cottage, which had left the mountain-side, and had 

 found a resting-place on the upper edges of the boulders in the 

 torrent-bed. A further slip had apparently occurred, and the 

 upper portion had moved forward, causing it to project over the 

 lower half, and of course made a projecting roof to the crack in 

 which the nest was placed. The rock overhung the torrent, 

 swollen with the rapidly-thawing snow, and nothing could be 

 done in the way of further examination of the nest-site without a 

 rope and crowbar, neither of which was at hand. 



I watched several visits of the male bird, but the female did 

 not appear for some time. At last, after one of the visits of the 

 male, after leaving the crack, and when on the point of taking 

 wing, he scrambled up the slab again, fluttering his wings and 

 showing the beautiful colours to the greatest advantage, in much 

 excitement. From the nest out slipped the female, bearing away 

 in her beak what was evidently the dropping of one of the brood, 

 and I watched her flight until she began, in her turn, to search 

 for food, the male having taken a longer flight round an angle of 

 the mountain side. 



At this point I was obliged to leave them, as there was a 

 dance going on in a half-finished chalet above, and I noticed that 

 I was arousing the curiosity of the young people passing up and 

 down by my movements, and I was of course afraid of betraying 

 the secret which I had accidentally discovered. But a friend 

 told me that a few days afterwards, in passing the place, which 

 I had described to him, he saw the parent birds still busy, so no 

 doubt the brood was soon afterwards safely launched. 



I was surprised to find that a site had been selected by 

 these birds, which one is accustomed to see in such desolate 



