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TIIE ALPINE REGIONS.

(F. nivalis), as its name implies, mounts to the borders of thesnows, and is commonly mistaken by observers for the snowbunting (Emberiza nivalis), which there is no reason to believeinhabits the Alps ; and by rare good fortune the beautiful rose-coloured pastor ( Pastor roseus) may be noticed. I believe thatI saw a specimen of the last on the precipices of the GrandSom, above the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse. The com-mon starling ( Sturnus vulgaris) is very much more frequent.

Of the game-birds, the capercailze ( Tetrao urogallus), theblack grouse ( T. tetrix) , and the hazel grouse or gelinotte( T. bonasia), are not uncommon in many of the forests whichusually clothe the lower parts of the Alps , especially on thesouthern slopes; and ranging far above them is found theptarmigan ( Lagopus vulgaris), which, like the variable hare,haunts the waste stony tracts on the borders of perpetual snow.These birds seem to delight in the cold and solitude of themountains, playing on the snow-beds, and feeding on the scantyvegetation which here and there takes root among the rocks.They are generally seen in flocks, varying in number up toabout fifteen. They fly rather low and straight, with a whirringnoise, more quickly than the black grouse, and they rise to thewing much less noisily. In the winter they turn white, withthe exception of a patch about the eye and the outer tailfeathers, which are black; and even in the summer, when theprevailing colour is a greyish-brown, a good deal of whiteremains.

The pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus ) is, I believe, not foundin the Alps ; the quail ( Perdix coturnix), the grey partridge(P. cinerea), and the red-leg or French partridge (P. rufa), whichare abundant in many parts of the lowlands, can hardly be saidto be Alpine birds ; although they may be sometimes found onthe level plains which form the beds of valleys, surrounded by •lofty mountains, along which many species of birds and animalspenetrate into the Alpine region, without actually ascending