SIDE I.IGHTS ON BIRDS 



through which we have travelled. A flutter 

 comes in the leaves, and a gleam of white-lined 

 wings is caught, that at first points to the chaf- 

 finch ; but in a moment more the bird hops upon 

 an outer spray, and the clear black and chestnut 

 plumes clearly disclose the brambling. In the 

 deeper cover the nest is at last made out. It is 

 placed in the outer boughs of a birch some ten feet 

 from the ground, and it is possible to bend down 

 the branches by means of the hook on the landing 

 net, so that the mossy cup can be inspected without 

 need of climbing the tree. 



The nest strongly resembles that of the chaf- 

 finch, but is looser in construction, and is decorated 

 with shavings of different hues, which the bird 

 has borne from a saeter near at hand, where a 

 wood-cutter has been at work. 



The eggs, too, may easily be mistaken for those 

 of the chaffinch, especially in the matter of the 

 spots, which have the slightly inflamed appear- 

 ance characteristic of the chaffinch's, but the 

 ground colour, in a general way, appears to be 

 slightly redder. We should imagine from the 

 types we have seen that the eggs of the brambling 

 show a greater variation than those of the chaf- 

 finch. Of the three nests we came across one was 

 placed in the slender fork of the main stem of the 

 tree, and all were close to the river ; one, indeed, 

 was upon a small island. 



The Jolster Lake, i6 miles in length, lies in a 

 cup surrounded by more or less precipitous moun- 

 tains. The little steamer Skjold, plies daily be- 

 tween Skei or Upper Vasenden and Nedre 

 Vasenden — in English, the lower end of the water. 

 The hotel here commands a wonderful view of the 

 river, which rushes in a mighty flood into the 

 ravine beyond, tearing through a labyrinth of 

 huge boulders, and losing itself later in a network 



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