crimson. This occurred twice, and it would be hard to get a better view."[1] It was a delightful moment, for this bird is perhaps the most singular, and in some ways the most beautiful, in all Europe. It is the Crimson-winged Wall-creeper (Tichodroma muraria), which I had looked for repeatedly in places where it was said to breed, with no such good success as I met with on the last day of June. This bird, we felt sure, was feeding young when we saw it, and those young ones may be there next summer to greet the eyes of travellers.
We then followed the road to the pass, and leaving it there, we took a delightful route along the heights to the little hamlet of Hohflüh. This is the "fatherland" of the Woodpeckers; and you may almost always hear the loud cry of the Great Black Woodpecker high among the pines, even if you fail to see him; and if you will but wait a while among the ancient mossy sycamores, you can hardly fail to see the gray species (Picus canus), which is a total stranger to most Englishmen. This last bird has a hoarse cry which he repeats again and again as he nears you; he thus lets you know where he is, and,
- ↑ The crimson is on the wing-coverts, not on the quills; it is therefore visible even when the wings are folded. There is a well-known insect of the locust kind in the Alps which wears the same colours as the Wall-creeper, ash-gray and crimson; but in this case the crimson is only visible when the creature is in motion. When it alights on a slaty rock, the gray colour acts as an infallible protection.
