116 



CHAPTEE XV. 



The Woodpeckers. The Cuckoo. The Wryneck. The Wren. The 

 Crow. The Jay. The Nutcracker. The Night-jar. The Bohemian 

 Waxwing. The Garrulous Koller. The Swallow. The Starling. 

 The Shrike. 



NOEWAY is a country of contrasts, and a stranger to its 

 wild and romantic scenery would hardly suppose that 

 its feathered tribes are so numerous. Here the natu- 

 ralist will find a constant source of instruction and 

 amusement. I once asked an eminent Norwegian na- 

 turalist to explain to me the reason why the " Picidae" 

 were so much more common in Norway than in Eng- 

 land. "Your inquiry is very easily answered/' was 

 the reply ; " your country is thickly populated ; it is 

 overrun with railways ; you make the most of your 

 land, and you have but few forests, in which those 

 birds which delight in silence and solitude can conceal 

 themselves. Again, the Coleoptera are very common 

 in our woods, and, as you are well aware, woodpeckers 

 are very partial to them ; while in England you clear 

 your woods, and beetles and such-like insects are 

 scarce, and so, consequently, are this species of birds." 

 "What number of Coleoptera do you think there 



