NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND AND NORTH ITALY. 259 



Nov. 15th. A drake Tufted Duck was diving close to the 

 shore, and during an afternoon walk I saw three Buzzards, 

 some King Ouzels, and a number of Coal Tits, Nuthatches, 

 and Crows. 



Nov. 16th. A fine day. Set out for an expedition up the Rigi 

 (5675 ft.), accompanied by the Rev. W. Marriner, who was staying 

 at Lucerne. The first bird observed on commencing the ascent 

 above Vitznau was a fine grey-backed Marsh Tit, P. borealis, but 

 as we mounted higher the absence of the Tits and Goldcrests, 

 which swarm on these hill-sides in summer, became very notice- 

 able. After rising about a thousand feet, we found a Lesser 

 Spotted Woodpecker; and shortly afterward I suddenly came upon 

 a species I had long wished to see — the Three-toed Woodpecker, 

 Picoides tridactylus, hammering away loudly on the trunk of a 

 tree. The yellow crown was not very conspicuous, and it was 

 apparently a young male bird. Only that morning M. Stauffer, 

 the naturalist at Lucerne, had shown me a fine series of skins 

 of this species, all obtained in the neighbourhood, where it is 

 evidently fairly abundant, though during a previous visit to 

 Lucerne, in July, 1886, I was unable to find it. On resuming our 

 upward journey nothing more of interest appeared till we were at 

 a height of about 4000 ft., when, just as we reached the thin 

 coating of snow which covered the upper portion of the hill, 

 a flock of Snow Finches, Montifringilla nivalis, flew by, twittering 

 loudly, and showing a good deal of white in the bright sunshine. 

 On reaching our destination we had a short rest, in order to have 

 some lunch and enjoy the view, which was most beautiful, and 

 then commence the descent. It was now afternoon, and the side 

 of the hill up which we had come was enjoying the full benefit of 

 the sun, and birds were far more numerous. There were numbers 

 of Great Tits, Crows, Jays, Nuthatches, and Green Woodpeckers 

 (Gecinus viridis, we did not see canus). When we reached the level 

 of the fruit trees (about 1000 ft.) we unexpectedly came upon a Nut- 

 cracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes, busily engaged in a cherry tree ; 

 this bird allowed us to have a splendid view of it before it flew 

 off, and in a few minutes we found several more. One was 

 hammering on the bough of a cherry tree, just like a Nuthatch, 

 throwing the whole weight of its body into each blow. On my 

 approach it retired, and I climbed into the tree to see what it had 

 been trying to break, but found nothing. A glorious sunset was 



