NORWEGIAN BIRD NOTES 



danger appear to affect the birds in no degree 

 whatever. Another case of what must be de- 

 scribed as almost criminally negligent nest- 

 building comes to our notice a little later. A 

 perfectly bare, fully-exposed wooden building 

 stands near the road. Its blank exterior shows 

 no projection nor lodgment of any kind, except 

 the narrow ledge above the single window-frame. 

 Yet upon this a spotted flycatcher's nest is pre- 

 cariously fixed, conspicuously inviting the atten- 

 tion of every passer-by. 



Nor is the pied flycatcher much less reticent. 

 These birds are exceptionally common, and in 

 the Stryn Valley it is rare to visit any of the 

 little clustering homesteads without catching a 

 glimpse of the black and white plumes as the 

 bird flits from roof or post. Many of the houses 

 and saeters are constructed from old ships' 

 timbers, and the holes through which the re- 

 taining bolts have passed form, apparently, most 

 attractive passages for these little birds. On no 

 occasion do we find a pied flycatcher nesting in 

 the hole of a tree as in England, although we have 

 no doubt that the occurrence is a common one. 

 But in all the cases we mark, the flycatchers have 

 taken advantage of these holes which conduct 

 them to a cosy space between the outer and 

 inner timbers practically within the house, and in 

 one instance, the hen bird is sitting within a few 

 inches of the family dining table, separated there- 

 from by the thin boarding alone, through the 

 clinks of which she may be perceived. 



Day by day willow-wrens are singing from 

 well-nigh every coppice, and whinchats are hardly 

 less common. The wheatear, too, is one of the 

 more conspicuous birds, and following the habit 

 of all the smaller tribes in Norway, appears to be 

 drawn to the small areas where men mostly con- 



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