215 29 



ever an opportunity presents itself of doing so with impunity. In the 

 adjacent valleys, it evinces the same predatory proclivities, preying 

 upon small birds and the eggs and young of black-game and 

 ptarmigan. 



The damage done in bringing up the young birds is also con- 

 siderable, notwithstanding they are fed chiefly on insects in the 

 earliest stage of their existence. The contents of the stomachs of a 

 number of individuals will best show the omnivorous nature of 

 this bird: — 



A brood about five days old. Almost exclusively Coleoptera, in 

 particular countless numbers of Bemhidia and Elateres (chiefly 

 Oryptyphnus rivularis), and the larvse of Noduce (Opdal, in Trond- 

 hjems Stift, 2000' a. 1. s.). 



A brood about 15 days old, half fledged. Quantities of seed- 

 corn (barley), a number of Coleoptera of the species named above, 

 a few Araneidce, and the pelvis of an Arvicola (Opdal). 



A brood almost fledged. Fish and fragments of the shell of 

 Patella (Foldenfjord). 



An adult of the year (Aug. 1871). Fragments of Carcinus mce- 

 nas and entire cherries (Drammen). 



They often breed on the naked rocks among sea-birds, here 

 on the ground itself, and as a rule on the side of a large stone 

 or rock. 



They are resident along the greater part of the coast, ranging 

 into East Finmark; in the interior, the species is more or less a 

 true migrant. 



Trypanocorax frugilegus, Lin. 



From Heltzen's MS., — „Helgeland's Beskrivelse" — where the 

 species is minutely described — it appears to have been shot in 

 Helgeland (66^*) in the autumn. This is the most northerly point 

 at which it is known to have occurred. 



On Inder0en, in the Trondhjemsfjord, numerous flocks were 

 found wintering in 1870 — 71 (Schiibeler); large numbers have also 

 been observed on the southern coast in that season, but rarely in 

 the interior. 



