Ramble in Lapland. 171 



singular instance of protective coloration occurred here : two 

 of these eggs were of the most extraordinary colour, resem- 

 bling very rich ]\Ierlin^s eggs, the other two were of the 

 ordinary green type. The ruddy ones were laid on a rich 

 red carpet of moss, the green ones on green reindeer-moss. 

 The yolk and albumen of these eggs was quite congealed 

 with the cold. On the edge of one of these frozen lakes a 

 Redshank's nest contained two eggs. Coming home we 

 found a Mealy Redpole^s nest with five eggs, profusely lined 

 with feathers of " ryper,^" a bird which, by the way, we had 

 not seen or heard since our arrival at Pulmak. 



June 15th. Winter seemed to return, for it snowed con- 

 tinuously all day. In a walk along the bank of the Pul- 

 makelf, a tributary of the Tana, we observed a single male 

 Goosander busy fishing, also a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes 

 {Phalaropus hyperboreus) , very tame, and actively feeding 

 in a quiet backwash of the river. They swim very high 

 in the water, with a jerky motion, nodding their heads like 

 a Waterhen, and are surprisingly quick and agile in their 

 movements. One of them landed and sat, like a tiny 

 Duck, preening his feathers on the bank. They seemed in 

 mature plumage, the yellow stripes down the sides of the 

 back being very conspicuous. A pair of Wood-Sandpipers 

 were very tame, and allowed us to come very close to them 

 as they were feeding, wading breast-high, in a little pool of 

 melted snow-water. 



June 16th. Coming down the Pulmakelf last night, I 

 observed a thick-bodied Duck flying, its wings rustling in 

 the air. I inquired of the Laps if any Ducks bred in 

 trees about here, and a boy assured me they did, and that 

 he knew of holes where he had seen their nests in pre- 

 vious years. I told him Avhere I had seen this Duck, and 

 this morning he returned, having found the nest and six 

 eggs of the Goldeneye (^Clangula glaucion). When we 

 arrived at the place, I wondered where the nest could possibly 

 be, so thin and small were all the trees ; however, in an old 

 stump about three feet high, with a hole in the side of it 

 large enough for a Duck's body to enter, and about eighteen 



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