138 THE NATURALIST IN NORWAY. 



Albino varieties are often seen here, wholly or partially 

 white. 



The bullfinch (Pyrrhula vulgaris) is common in the 

 woods round Christiania during the autumn and winter. 

 In summer it keeps to the mountain wilds, but is said 

 not to visit the extreme north. I have frequently seen 

 varieties of this species here, called in Norsk sort- 

 varietet, or black variety. They are soot-black in 

 colour, tinged with red-brown. As these varieties are 

 always procured in winter, the peculiar colour is, per- 

 haps, caused by extreme cold. The bullfinch receives 

 the name of dom-pap here. This appellation signifies 

 a canon of the cathedral (domMrke), so called in 

 Popish times for his melodious song, stemme, which 

 resembled the voices of the canons as they chanted 

 the " horas canonicas." In Norway the bullfinch is 

 captured by means of horsehair snares, inside of 

 which mountain-ash berries are placed, and when the 

 bird inserts his head to get at the bait, the hair tightens 

 round its neck, and it becomes a prisoner. 



The hawfinch (Coccothraustes vulgaris) is common 

 on the S.W. coast of Norway, where it feeds on the 

 kernels of the wild cherries which grow abundantly on 

 that coast. Large quantities of cherry-brandy (kirse- 

 bcer-brcpndeviin) are made there. The hawfinch opens 

 the cherry-stones, Mrsebcer-steen, with its strong beak, 

 and eats the contents. It is called in Norway the 

 kirsebcer-fugl, or cherry bird, and in Sweden the 

 sten-knock, or stone-breaker. It nests in a tree or 

 under a bush in a pine wood ; the nest is made of 

 twigs and lichens, and contains six eggs, which are a 

 pale olive-green, dotted with black, and streaked with 

 dusky-gray. 



