128 IT TREES. 



continue to roam the country until the spring, when tliey 

 separate in jiairs. 



The Dal-Ripa frequently " trees," a fact which many 

 people in Scandinavia seem to doubt ; but, to say nothing 

 of having myself been an eye-witness to the fact, there is 

 abundant evidence to show such is of frequent occurrence. 



M. Genberg, of Robertsforss, near Umea, after inform- 

 ing us that the Dal-Ripa in the winter commonly resorts 

 to dense pine-woods, interspersed with birch, &c., con- 

 tinues : " Sometimes, however, when the weather is very 

 severe, these birds make excursions to the moi'e open 

 country, and are then often seen perched on the upper 

 branches of the birch trees, plucking the buds." 



The Rev. Conrad Gronkmd, writing from Qvickjock in 

 Lapland, informs us, moreover, that " during the pairing 

 season the male often sits on the top of some lofty pine 

 or Scotch fir, probably that he may be the better enabled 

 to discover a rival." 



But the most conclusive testimony is that given by 

 M. Earth, who says : " From the middle of April the Dal- 

 Ripa — who at mid-day are mostly on the ground in the 

 thick woods — generally sit during the forenoon and after- 

 noon in the trees, especially when the weather is mild 

 and the sun shines. One can then often see as many as 

 two hundred Dal-Ripa perched here and there on the tops 

 of the birches, the dark colour of the ti'ces makinsc their 

 white and shining bodies more prominent. It is a beau- 

 tiful sight. At such times they are occupied in feeding 

 on the tops of the birch, of which during the spring 

 their ■ fcfod almost exclusively ct)nsists. I have also oc- 

 casionally seen them sitting on the trees late in the 

 autumn and winter, but never during the summer." In 

 a succeeding chapter, treating of the capture of these 

 birds, further evidence as to the fact of their "treeing" 

 will bo found. 



