120 



Nest. 



Eggs. 



Breeding 

 Season. 



nest among the heaps of driftwood in default of rocks. Further north it 

 is common in Franz Josef Land and generally distributed in Spitzbergen. 

 In the Faeroes a few pairs formerly bred on the tops of the mountains, 

 and also in the northern islands of the group, but of late years their numbers 

 appear to have diminished. In Iceland it is common and generally distributed, 

 from the sea coast up to the snow line (2000 ft.), avoiding only the low- 

 lying grassy or marshy districts, and breeding in crevices of the lava, 

 sometimes at a considerable depth, as well as under boulders and in stone 

 heaps or in walls. [In Arctic N. America it is known to breed as far 

 north as Grinnell Land (lat. 82° 33' N.).] 



Although as a general rule the nest is placed out of sight in some 

 crevice of the rock, it is occasionally found in quite an exposed site. 

 Chapman has seen nests built quite openly among boulders on the high 

 fjeld in Norway; on Franz Josef Land one was found on a small open 

 ledge 5 ft. from the ground; on Waigatz Feilden and Pearson noticed old 

 nests on flat boulders in the dry bed of a stream, and found young in a 

 nest on the top of a little pinnacle 3 ft. high and 6 in. wide. Captain 

 Lyons found a nest on the bosom of the corpse of an Eskimo child on 

 Southampton Island. The materials consist chiefly of dead grasses and 

 stalks, with occasionally a little moss or a few twigs, lined with finer grasses, 

 a little hair or wool and feathers of Ptarmigan, Snowy Owl, Raven, Gull, 

 etc. The nests vary in size according to their position; approximate 

 diameter of cup, 2f — 3} in. 



Usually 5 or 6 in number, occasionally 4 or 7, while 8 are occasionally 

 found in Greenland. They are very variable in colouring, and in some 

 cases extremely handsome. The ground colour is usually pale bluish or 

 greenish, but occasionally white, sometimes with a yellowish or reddish 

 tinge; while the markings generally tend to form a zone or cap at the 

 big end, and consist of spots, blotches, and streaks of deep red brown, and 

 sometimes a few spots or lines of almost black, generally with underlying 

 spots or blotches of violet grey. 



In Scotland and mid Norway the first eggs are laid at the end of 

 May and the first days of June. In Lapland they are rather later, and 

 most eggs are found in the latter half of June. In Iceland the breeding 

 time seems to vary considerably. A few older birds have eggs about 

 May 20, but most nests are found in June, and may even be met with 

 up to the second week of July with fresh eggs. In Franz Josef Land 

 the first fledged young were seen July 10 — 26, and on the Taimyr full 

 clutches were found by June 10. The period of incubation is 14 days. 

 When flushed from the nest the hen is usually joined at once by the cock, 

 and soon begins to work her way back to the eggs as inconspicuously 

 as possible. 



