THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORWAY. 171 
siderably enhance the value of the property to which 
they are attached. About the end of February or 
beginning of March, the birds repair to the open sea 
along the coast in large flocks. The male bird seldom 
pairs before the third year—some naturalists say not 
before the fifth—but the female obtains a mate when 
she is one year old. The call of the male with which 
he woos his mate is exceedingly melodious. Bloody and 
severe are the battles fought amongst the male birds at 
this season; twenty may perhaps be seen all at once 
fighting desperately for the possession of one hen, who 
swims all the time quietly along behind the combatants, 
waiting till the contest has been decided, when the for- 
tunate bird immediately claims her as his prize. When 
once his superiority has been thus publicly asserted, he 
suffers no further molestation. This important business 
of finding a husband being at length satisfactorily 
settled, the female selects a convenient place in which 
to build her nest, choosing generally the protection of 
an overhanging rock, or the shelter of a juniper-bush, 
which latter shrub is found in great abundance. ‘The 
nest is formed on the outside, of birch twigs, next to 
which comes a layer of moss or soft grass; and the 
inside is lined with the down which she plucks from 
her breast, mixed with switch-grass. 
She lays generally from five to eight eggs, according 
to her age. She sits on them very assiduously, pluck- 
