NORWEGIAN BIRD NOTES 



above one's head, and are covered with a dense 

 tangle of vegetation, the yellow fluff from the 

 willow-catkins forming in places a deep bed on the 

 surface of the water. These channels, rarely 

 disturbed, form delightful sanctuaries for many 

 living things. Here the willow-wren, yellow- 

 hammer, tree-pipit, chaffinch, brambling, mallard, 

 dabchick, and many other species may be noted. 



In some places the crystal-clear water is eight 

 or ten feet deep, and one may see the great trout 

 lying like shadows amid the variegated mosses 

 below. Resting here to evade the glare of the 

 sun, one may come to learn something of the ways 

 of the fish, and it appears no longer strange that 

 for hours at a stretch the surface of the lake 

 should show no sign of life, although, later, for 

 no apparent reason, the whole glassy expanse is 

 broken by rising trout. 



The fact is simply that for periods, more or 

 less long, the trout rest in the lower deeps, asleep, 

 or, at any rate, oblivious to all that may be passing 

 around them. Peering into the glassy depths, we 

 see one long dimly outlined form lying on the 

 silver sand, just clear of a dark tongue of weed 

 that projects from the bed. A worm dropped 

 cautiously from above passes him within a few inches 

 but he gives no sign of recognition. Save for the 

 movement of fins and tail as they sway, weed-like, 

 in the current, one might take him for a sub- 

 merged log of wood. For an hour or more he 

 lies thus ; if he moves at all it is but to drift lazily 

 a few feet away, and resume his position a little 

 lower down, turning his head again to the running 

 water. 



But now a change comes ! The sun still^ beats 

 down unpityingly. There is no change in the 

 atmospheric conditions that we are subtle enough 

 to note. But a sudden awakening appears to 



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