150 THE NATURALIST IN NORWAY. 



The fjeld-rype keeps to the higher fjelds, amidst the 

 regions of perpetual snow, and never breeds with the 

 dal-rype. Pontoppidan quotes an ancient writer on 

 this bird as follows : " Eeperiuntur Lagopides in Alpi- 

 bus et Pyrenceis montibus et in summis jugis. In fri- 

 gore, nive et glade delectantur, ut ubi locis inferioribus 

 liquantur nives, altiora et soli aversa petant locdj in 

 quibus nix perennat." 



Some naturalists have supposed that the fjeld-rype is 

 less common than the dal-rype, but Professor Esmark, 

 no mean authority, is of opinion that both species are 

 equally abundant in this country. In summer the food 

 consists of the blades, blossoms, and seeds of various 

 mountain plants ; in winter, of the seeds and buds of 

 alpine trees. The young are fed on insects and larvse. 

 The nest is made on the ground in the moss or coarse 

 heather, and is placed for shelter near a dwarf birch 

 or large stone. The eggs number from ten to twelve, 

 and are deposited in the nest so as to form a square ; 

 they are of a ferruginous -yellow colour, marked with 

 black-brown spots. When the young are hatched, the 

 cock bird leaves them to the care of the mother, and 

 Joins his bachelor friends on the high fjelds. 



