THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORWAY. 177 
A. sees a duck, he shoots it, on the principle that B. 
should not get it; B. acts from similar motives with 
regard to C.; and so on till it comes to Z.’s turn, who 
does just the same as the others, for fear A. should 
return ; and as the eider-duck is the easiest of all ducks 
to kill during the breedfig-time—when they will, in fact, 
sit so close that they may be knocked on the head with 
a stick—it is not much to be wondered at that they have 
diminished very seriously on this island. In Norway, 
however, they have been jealously preserved; and not 
only has the Storthing recently passed a law rendering 
every one who shoots one of these birds, or robs a nest, 
amenable to a fine, but they are especial favourites with 
the peasants: indeed, along the whole coast of Norway, 
where they annually resort in great numbers, they are 
held as dear by the natives as the robin-redbreast is 
with us; and this principle proves a far more efiicient 
means of protection than any fine or penalty. Gene- 
rally speaking, they build their nests on the small 
islands with which the whole Norwegian coast is so 
plentifully sprinkled; but very frequently they will 
repair to the mainland, building close to the farmhouses 
and fishermen’s cottages, even under the very doorsteps, 
as if they knew that they were among friends. In 
such cases, they become as tame as farmyard ducks, 
suffering the goodwife to lift them off the nest, and 
receiving food at her hand. And yet, notwithstanding 
N 
