4 
NATURE NOTES. 
a bird with ruddy breast and proud shy eyes. So the robin 
has not deserted us in evil days ! A month ago, when butter- 
flies were still dancing above the saxifrages and thyme, this 
robin came to sing ; he looked extremely pert and happy then. 
His feathers were well groomed, his song was as sweet as his 
English brother’s. To-day the earth was cold, and Cock Robin’s 
feathers were ruffled ; his voice was almost harsh in its clamour for 
food. Still, he is too proud to come indoors to warm his frozen 
claws on the green stove, though the windows are open for him. 
He had the old perky look in his eyes when I suggested that 
he might honour us with his presence. He is taking care of a 
tiny brown creature, a Jenny Wren. She flutters so lightly over 
the frozen snow that her feathers scarcely brush it. She also is 
extremel}' cold, and her note is plaintive, like a shabby-genteel 
lady’s. Two chaffinches peck at the mountain-ash berries — 
acrid food ! There were twenty degrees of frost last night. 
We saw a hawk fly across the valley yesterday ; his breast 
shone like silver, and the span of his wings was noble. He 
floated up to the golden larches and away to the mountains 
deep in snow. There was a water ousel resting his white breast 
by the side of the lake. 
Birds are not over plentiful in these high regions, yet there 
are rare and beautiful visitors who come to make the long winters 
bright. In October a large white bird may be seen passing low 
over the meadows in the valley — a grebe, who comes up from 
the lakes to fish along the river and over the surface of the 
Davosersee ; a flight of goldfinches travelling southward ; a rush 
from the wings of departing swallows, golden-crested wrens. 
Bullfinches visit us about Christmas time. They arrive in 
families of ten or twelve, and are beautiful and gay, greedily 
pecking at the berries, lively even in the zero days. They will 
spend a fortnight here, then disappear over the mountains. 
A bird who comes to stay all the winter is the alpine accentor. 
About the size of a small thrush, he is brown, with bluish 
bands upon the wings. His song is continuous and suppressed, 
rising and falling like the note of a lark. He comes in Novem- 
ber usually, and takes up his abode under the eaves of this 
house. He disports himself upon the window ledges, singing 
from sunrise to setting. Hemp seeds and berries of all kinds 
await his coming ; occasionally, when in good humour, he will 
walk in at the window, and strut upon the sill. As soon as 
spring is there he is off to the high mountains. A very dear 
friend is the alpine accentor ; never a winter has he missed 
coming ; we hail him as a cherished guest. His liquid note and 
domestic habits are extremely pleasant. 
I must not forget to mention the ptarmigans, who descended 
upon the garden one snowy winter, and who took refuge under 
the eaves of this house. These birds are snowy white in winter, 
with red rings round the eyes, and lovely furry feet. No Paris 
dame could dress more daintily. The white hares alone equal 
