THE FEATHERED GAME OP NORWAY. 147 



brown ; flight- feathers dark brown, a white line 

 running along the shaft of each quill; belly white, 

 pencilled with brown ; sides red-brown ; tarsi and 

 toes covered with grayish-brown feathers. The bird 

 has sixteen feathers in its tail, and is fourteen inches 

 in length. It has a red wattle over each eye, which it 

 can conceal at pleasure. It nests on the ground, in 

 moss or heather, and lays from ten to twelve pale 

 yellow eggs, marked with brown spots. 



Attempts have been made to introduce the hjerpe 

 into England, but, so far, without success ; the only 

 practicable plan would be to send sittings of the 

 eggs to England, and these may be procured with- 

 out much trouble, for the bird breeds 011 Naesodon, 

 a woody peninsula running into the fjord near Chris- 

 tiania. 



Writing of the hjerpe a century ago, Pontoppidan 

 says : " Caro hujus avis laudatissima est,facilis concoc- 

 tionis, nutrimenti multi et optimi, primum dignitatis 

 apud veteres obtinuit" 



The white grouse of the valley (Lagopus subalpina, 

 Nilsson). This bird is called in Norway dal-rype, and 

 frequents the subalpine districts ; it is found in Nord- 

 land, in the lower parts of the Dovre-fjeld, in Oster- 

 dalen, Gudbrandsdalen, etc. The colour is snow-white 

 in winter, the " pinnae " being white at all times ; 

 late in the spring the feathers begin to change, when 

 the head, neck, and breast become red-brown. A 

 beautiful specimen of this species may be observed in 

 the Zoological Museum at Christiania ; it was shot 

 May 1st, 1863 ; it is in the breeding plumage, a male 

 bird of course. It has a comb as thin as a wafer, red 

 like coral, and crimped ; the head, neck, and breast 



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