298 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



Mlwarsfogel, or bad-weather birds ; the Uplanders, Hardwars- 

 fogel, expressive of the same. The Laplanders style them Alaipg. 

 Leems remarks, I know not with what foundation, that they fatten 

 on the flowing of the tides in Finmark, and grow lean on the ebb. 

 The Laplanders take them in great numbers in hair springs, for the 

 tables ; their flesh being very delicate. 



" They seem to make the countries within the whole arctic circle 

 their summer residence, from whence they overflow the more south- 

 ern countries in amazing multitudes at the setting-in of winter in 

 the frigid zone. In the winter of 1778-79, they came in such mul- 

 titudes into Birsa, one of the Orkney Islands, as to cover the whole 

 barony ; yet, of all the numbers, hardly two agreed in colors. 



" Lapland, and perhaps Iceland, furnishes the north of Britain 

 with the swarms that frequent these parts during winter, as low 

 as the Cheviot Hills, in latitude 52"^ 32'; their resting-places, the 

 Feroe Isles, Shetland, and the Orkneys. The Highlands of Scot- 

 land, in particular, abound with them. Their flights are immense ; 

 and they mingle so closely together in form of a ball, that the 

 fowlers make great havoc among them. They arrive lean, soon 

 become very fat, and are delicious food. They either arrive in the 

 Highlands very early, or a few breed there ; for I had one shot for 

 me, at Invercauld, the 4th of August. But there is a certainty of 

 their migration ; for multitudes of them fall, wearied with their 

 passage, on the vessels that are sailing through the Pentland 

 Firth. 



" In their summer dress, they are sometimes seen in the south of 

 England, the climate not having severity sufficient to affect the 

 colors ; yet now and then a milk-white one appears, which is 

 usually mistaken for a white Lark. 



" Russia and Siberia receive them in their severe seasons 

 annually, in amazing flocks, overflowing almost all Russia. They 

 frequent the villages, and yield a most luxurious repast. They vary 

 there infinitely in their winter colors, are pure-white, speckled, and 

 even quite brown. This seems to be the influence of difference of 

 age, more than of season. Germany has also its share of them. 

 In Austria, they are caught and fed with millet, and afford the 

 epicure a treat equal to that of the Ortolan. 



" These birds appear in the northern districts of the United States 



