20 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



of Fieldfares and found the nest of a Long-tailed Tit, 

 Acrediila caudata, L. — a great beauty. The bird flew off 

 and sat close to me, and I could distinctly see the white 

 head which is peculiar to the Continental form. I took 

 the nest, which, however, contained no eggs. I saw some 

 eight or nine Goldeneyes in a flock, but could not get 

 near them. Also during our drive two or three Missel 

 Thrushes — the first we have seen in Norway — also a 

 White Wagtail building its nest. Also in the Gudvangen 

 Valley we heard a Peregrine Falcon, saw Kestrels, a 

 couple of Great Tits, AVheatears, etc. 



The Shiitzgaaden along one of the stages and myself 

 interchanged lessons in Norsk and English, naming the 

 different trees, etc., which we met with on the way, both 

 of us, in fact, endeavouring to improve the opportunity. 

 On the other hand, another Shiitzgaaden was singularly 

 stupid. I asked him a question which had always been 

 answered before, but he could not understand my bad 

 Norsk. I asked, ' Er der oret ; P^lven, store oret, eller 

 smaa oret ? ' and again, ' Eller fiske lax i Elven ' : but 

 he simply stared and spoke not. I put hwi down as an 

 idiot, and thereafter preserved a sullen silence, as I gazed 

 at the tempting-looking pools of the fine river. (I wonder 

 what he thought of me?) 



I afterwards learned from the landlord of the inn at 

 Vossevangen — Herr Fleischer — who speaks English well, 

 that the Trout attain to the size of 6 lbs. No Salmon, 

 however, go up further than the lake which lies in front 

 of the inn. 



Herr Fleischer told me that the Ducks we see on the 

 lake here breed in the neighbourhood, in holes in trees. 

 We had formerly understood that Goldeneyes bred only 

 much further north. 



Alston, in his diary, noted that, on the whole, we were 

 disappointed in the western slopes from a ' birdy ' point 



