70 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



the valley between Bienne and Bern, but not seen again until we 

 reached Stansstad, where one was feeding in an orchard. 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Alpine Chough. — Seen on the Joch Pass 

 from about half way up the west side ; a flock of fifty or sixty 

 near the top. When wheeling almost like Kestrels in the air 

 their tails are spread, somewhat fan-shaped, a little rounded; 

 wings with widely separated primaries, more rounded than one 

 would expect, and the feathers bent back at the tips. They often 

 sail on motionless wings, and are no less pretty in the sunshine 

 as they run actively over the grassy slopes, poking their shining 

 yellow bills under the stones, doubtless in search of beetles. 

 They seemed fond of feeding along the edge of the wasting snow- 

 fields, as the Rooks feed along the edge of a flooded meadow 

 with us. Two mobbed a Kestrel which appeared on the scene. 

 Perhaps their commonest note is a short "kray, kray," but 

 I heard, too, a short, sharp, rapid "kurray" or "krray" and also 

 a little scream-like "creek." These notes are, of course, the 

 result of only a short study of the Alpine Chough, but they were 

 put down on the spot with the birds all round me. 



Nucifraga caryocatactes, Nutcracker. — Observed in the pines 

 below the Magis Alp. Near Hohfluh, a bird which had been 

 calling in the pines on a cliff near, flew overhead, and gave us an 

 opportunity of observing its most peculiar flight, which is weak 

 and jerky, with intermittent and irregular wing-beats ; it is an 

 awkward-looking bird, with its heavy head and body, and short 

 tail. On two mornings on the Engstlen Alp, as I was dressing, 

 I heard the "kraa kraa kraa" or " kraay kraay kraay" of the 

 Nutcracker, and on one occasion made out the bird on its 

 favourite perch, on the top of a pine ; on the other he was 

 shrouded in drifting mist. There is a white variety in the Bern 

 Museum. 



Garrulus glandarius, Jay. — Observed in the deciduous trees 

 about the Alpbach, and as high as nearly 4000 ft., where a stream 

 was bordered with low trees and bushes. 



Pica rustica, Magpie. — Only seen once, viz. at Golderen, 

 where one flew up out of an orchard at the back of one of the 

 chalets. 



Corvus corone, Carrion Crow. — Common in the valleys ; at 

 Tlmn, Meiringen, where they would sit in a fruit tree and croak 

 within a dozen yards of one, and Stansstad. A young brood 



