ECCENTRIC NORWEGIANS. 131 



dissimilar amusements, but a taste for which is no 

 doubt induced by strong animal spirits. The men are 

 so nimble of foot, that when they dance the " Hailing/' 

 they pirouette, give a sudden leap, and touch the ceil- 

 ing with the right foot. When under the influence of 

 drink, they gravely enter into amicable encounters, 

 shake hands before commencing, after the manner of 

 English pugilists, then draw their short knives 

 (tolkniv), and cut and slash at each other in all direc- 

 tions ; much wholesome blood-letting takes place, but 

 a tragical termination of the affair seldom occurs. 

 The traveller who has sufficient leisure on his hands 

 will find a short stay in this district interesting ; it is 

 about one hundred English miles from Christiania. 



The marsh titmouse (P. palustris) is not so com- 

 mon as some other species ; it is, however, sparsely 

 seen in Einmark. Albino specimens of this kind are 

 often to be found in Norway. 



The long-tailed titmouse (P. caudatus). This 

 pretty and graceful little bird is common in Norway, 

 although it is said not to venture further north than 

 Throndjem; it nests in the branches of trees, and 

 surrounds the nest with the lichens which abound in 

 this country. The bright and varied colours of the 

 lichens, with the extraordinary size of the nest for so 

 small a bird, fixed, as it is, to the branches of the tree, 

 make it a pretty and remarkable little structure ; it is 

 wonderful, too, how the bird manages its long tail 

 when it sits on its eggs. Nature is, however, ever 

 kind to birds, and gives them ways and means where- 

 with we are unacquainted. This interesting little tit 

 lays from twelve to fifteen white eggs, dotted with 

 minute red spots. 



K 2 



