Dan Meinertzhagen's Diary. 66 



eggs, and two more — very small ones — close to 

 the summit. 



This evening, or rather early in the morning 

 of the 19th, we arrived at Sieppiajarvi, where 

 a boy brought me a pair of Black-throated 

 Diver's eggs he had taken. 



Many of the mountain lakes were still frozen 

 over; some even we walked across. We had 

 seventeen hours walking to-day, and I suppose 

 covered very nearly 50 miles. 



May igth. — I arrived home to-day, and was 

 very pleased to see Bob. He had taken an 

 Osprey's nest some eight or nine miles from 

 the town and shot the old bird. 



May 20th.-To-d^y was spent in keeping quiet, 

 and comparing notes, and writing diaries out. 



May2isf.-\ took my first Tengmalm's Owl's 

 eggs to-day, and also a clutch of Snipe's eggs. 



It seems curious that the men here should 

 cut down so many trees, and leave them where 

 they are cut ; for the whole place is strewn 

 with rotting trees lying on the ground, and 

 makes walking about most difficult. It is a 

 curious fact that pine and fir trees when they 

 rot while standing, warp from right to left, and 

 birch from left to right. This is almost invariably 

 the case. I wonder if anybody has noticed 

 this, and can account for it. 



