SOME WANDERINGS IN THE NORTH OF FINLAND. 107 



left him in disgust. " Eeumoron " we found to be a com- 

 mon exclamation of the country. 



There is one more bird T must mention which no one 

 could see without delight. As we were starting on the 

 last morning of our forest walk, we heard a curious chatter- 

 ing sound in the pine trees near, and soon found ourselves 

 in the midst of a flock of Wax wings, chattering to one 

 another, with crests erect, as they sat on the ends of the 

 boughs in the sun. They were ver}^ tame, and I wish you 

 could have seen them — so different in their life from the 

 stuffed specimen in a museum. AVhile we watched them, 

 one darted off his perch in chase of a dragon-fly. 



On this last day, too, we were ferried across a river by 

 thirteen logmen, like those we saw at Kovaniemi. They 

 sang a most curious dirge as they rowed, which still rings 

 in my ears, though I cannot reproduce it. "We had a long 

 walk that day, and reached Alkula at length, passing by 

 the mountain Aavasaxa, from the top of which you can see 

 the midnight sun, although not within the Arctic circle. 

 We were rather disappointed with Alkula, for we could 

 not get the meal to which we had been looking forward 

 during the last day or two, and so went on southwards 

 along the remaining 42 miles of road to Tornea without 

 delay. 



At Haparanda we were in luxury again, and soon con- 

 tinued our journey southwards by steamer to Stockholm. 

 But we were not to be without birds, for they were our 

 fellow-passengers in the Grulf of Bothnia, and again in the 

 North Sea, when we crossed from Christiania to London, 

 Members of no less than nine species took short rests on our 

 steamer as they were making their long journey to their 

 winter- quarters. It was pleasant to see the confidence with 

 which they ran about the deck, and perched close to 



