14 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



common. Both are resident and breeding. The Jay (Garrulus 

 glandarius) and the Magpie are common and resident, and so is 

 the Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), which is perhaps not 

 very abundant, and which lives particularly in the thickest 

 woods. 



The Turtle-Dove {Turttir communis) is a summer visitor, but 

 not very frequent; it breeds. The same may be said about the 

 "Wild Pigeons which are sometimes met with during the passages, 

 but they are somewhat scarce, and I do not know whether they 

 breed or not. 



Pallas's Sand Grouse {Syrrhaptes paradoxus) seems to have 

 appeared once in the last incursion of 1888 ; this information was 

 given me by Dr. Giacomelli. The Common Ptarmigan (Lagopus 

 mutus, V. Roncas) and the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) are 

 fairly common, resident, and breeding on the highest mountains, 

 as Cancerbero Aralalta, Ca S. Marco, &c. The former is sold 

 in the market for about four shillings each, the latter for twenty 

 shillings a couple, if they are male and female, and less if they 

 are not. The Hazel Grouse {Bonasa betuUna, v. Francoli) and 

 the Capercaille {Urogallus vulgaris) seem to have disappeared 

 from Brembana Valley ; the former is now only seldom met in the 

 mountains of the Seriana Valley, where it confines with Caval- 

 lina ; the latter in those of the Valley of Scalve ; but they are 

 uncommon birds, perhaps almost extinct. All these gallinaceous 

 birds are greatly persecuted by birdcatchers, in every way and at 

 all seasons, so they decrease perceptibly every year. The Quail 

 (Coturnix communis) is not a common bird in the Brembana 

 Valley, strictly speaking, but it is met with and sometimes breeds 

 in the lower parts of it, in corn-fields or meadows of trefoil (Dr. 

 Giacomelli). Fairly common, however, are Partridges (Perdix 

 cinerea, v. Pernis), and especially Greek Partridges (Caccabis 

 saxatilis, v. Cotiirna). The latter is found in many places — 

 Cancerbero, Somnadello, Castello Regina (1424 ft.), Ca S. Marco, 

 &c. To give an idea of its frequency, I may mention that Sign. 

 Pianeti, from Camerata Cornello, a most celebrated hunter and 

 shooter, kills from one hundred to one hundred and thirty of 

 them every year in two months' shooting. They cost, on the 

 market, from eighteenpence to two shillings each, according 

 to the weight; very old specimens weigh about two pounds, 





