76 Lieut. S. A. Davies on the 



Picoides tridactylus. Three-toed Woodpecker. 



We saw ouly one Woodpecker during the whole of our 

 stay, and obtained but one clutch of eggs. Yet we 

 examined over five hundred nesting-holes, of which the 

 bigger birch-woods were full. The Finns themselves were 

 surprised at the scarcity of Woodpeckers, Tits, and Siberian 

 Jays during the season, a fact which can only be accounted 

 for by supposing that they are capricious in their local 

 migrations. 



Cuculus canorus. Cuckoo. 



Fairly common ; it arrived at Leveavuopio on the 28th of 

 May. Although we examined some hundreds of the smaller 

 birds' nests, we were not successful in finding any eggs of 

 the Cuckoo in them. 



Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Oivl. 



Fairly plentiful and distributed evenly all along the river. 

 It arrived at Ainettivaara on the 28th of April, and was to 

 be seen every evening hawking above the frozen river or 

 sitting motionless on a roof or post. At this season the cry 

 resembled the barking of a dog, but as soon as the breeding- 

 season began it changed to the extraordinary call " Poomp- 

 poomp," from which the Finnish name i( Pumpo-haukka" is 

 derived. The males were then to be seen soaring and 

 hovering in the air, occasionally stooping as a Snipe does 

 when he drums, and at the same time making a loud 

 snapping noise with the bill. We found the first eggs on 

 the 6th of June. These were laid under a ling-bush in 

 an open meadow not two hundred yards from the house at 

 Ainettivaara. 



Nyctea scandiaca. Snowy Owl. 



We saw only one of these birds, and, although in the 

 preceding season they had been abundant, none bred on the 

 fells at the time of our visit. Yet lemmings were then very 

 plentiful, so that there was an abundant food-supply ; the 

 lemmings appear, however, to have been still more numerous 

 the year before, so possibly the Snowy Owls anticipated a 



