NORWEGIAN BIRD NOTES 



But the driver takes the road with calmness 

 and discretion, and although in places where the 

 track is hewn from the living rock, five hundred 

 feet above the black waters of the lake, his outer 

 wheels have rarely more than a few inches to spare, 

 he continues his course with speed scarcely abated. 



At certain points on the journey, little crowds, 

 mainly of children, still gather to gaze on the 

 wondrous machine, but for the most part, curiosity 

 and awe have been relegated to the ponies and 

 cattle. Now and again, at some awkward turn, 

 we come suddenly on a herd of the latter, browsing 

 on the steep roadside. Instantly they throw 

 up their deer-like heads, and career down the 

 track, followed cautiously by the new-fangled 

 monster ; now, a small rift comes in the dense 

 edging of trees, and the slim, dun forms burst 

 through the coppice and make for the peaceful 

 heights. 



In about four hours Skei is reached, a delight- 

 ful fishing centre, set at the head of the Jolster 

 Lake, and with a chain of lesser but more prolific 

 lakes behind. A small garden is attached to the 

 hotel, and here a family party of magpies have 

 taken up their residence, the abandoned nests 

 standing conspicuously in the upper branches of 

 a fir tree. The young birds roost night by night 

 in the garden, and throughout the whole day 

 flutter around the hotel, closely attended by their 

 parents. They have all the appearance of being 

 domesticated, and should a stray dog venture 

 into the enclosure, which they have come to 

 regard as their own, he is instantly mobbed by 

 the older birds. The plan of campaign is for 

 each parent to alight in turn on the summit of a 

 fir tree, then to drop suddenly, with indignant 

 cries, almost upon the back of the amazed dog, 

 and to return at once to the point of vantage to 



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