THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ARCTIC BIRDS. 209 



THE SOCIAL LIFE OF AECTIC BIRDS. 



By Db. ALFEED E. BEEHM. 



" TTTHEN the great architect of the universe had finished his fa- 



VV vorite star, the earth, Satan aspired to destroy it. From the 

 seventh heaven he slung down a great stone toward the blooming 

 earth ; but an archangel, witnessing the wicked act, flew down faster 

 than the falling rock, and turned it aside. The stone fell away up in 

 the Northern Sea, and was broken up. The fragments scattered on 

 every side and formed cli£Fs, some of which sunk in the deeps, while 

 others rose black out of the waters. God in his infinite mercy pitied 

 the bare devil's rock and made it fruitful." Thus runs an ancient 

 Lap legend. The rock is Scandinavia ; the fragments are the innu- 

 merable islands that surround it ; and the fiords are the clefts between 

 the larger stone and the fragments. One should have seen the coun- 

 try, rowed through the fiords, and gone down the icy mountains to the 

 lakes and bays, to appreciate the appropriateness of the Saga. 



Scandinavia is an Alpine country, and has, like Switzerland and 

 the Tyrol, majestic glaciers, musical, dancing mountain-brooks, and 

 strong rivers rushing over the blue slopes which are reflected in the 

 transparent dark lakes. High up among these lie the prettily poised 

 dwellings of the men, like eagles' nests stuck to the rocks. To make 

 the similarity with the Swiss Alps complete, the green meadows are 

 also not wanting in Scandinavia ; and, while the northern mountains 

 do not resound with the exultant jodel, joyous, fresh, melodious songs 

 may be heard in the valleys and on the heights. The difference be- 

 tween Switzerland and Scandinavia is nevertheless great, even if we 

 only consider how the deep sea cuts into the land and forms large 

 bays which receive, from the shadows thrown upon them by the dark 

 surrounding rocks, a mysterious yet not fearful aspect. 



The fiords of Norway are remarkable, but they are not the most 

 peculiar feature of the country ; this is found in the innumerable 

 islands which rise more than a thousand metres above the sea, or, 

 planting their roots in the boundless deep, are visible only at low 

 water. These islands are charming in the highest degree, and their 

 peculiar beauty approves itself when the sun is resting below the hori- 

 zon at midnight, and only a breath of twilight sweeps over the masses 

 overflowed by the water. One might then well believe himself in a 

 scene of enchantment. 



The farther the traveler advances beyond the polar circle toward 

 the north, the larger and more comfortable are the houses, while in 

 the south, where the poj^ulation is denser, they are of slighter con- 

 struction. Yet no furrow is turned, no scythe is swung there ; the 

 sea is the field from which man derives his living. At the parting of 



VOL. XXTIII. — 14 



