SOUTHERN LIMITS. 139 



elevation. "The Old Bushman" tells us that the Dovre- 

 fjeld, lat. 62, may be considered as the limit of these birds 

 to the south ; but in this matter as also in regard to the 

 southern limits of the Dal-Ripa he is somewhat in error, 

 for their range in that direction is much more considerable, 

 as will be seen by the following extracts from Professor 

 Rasch's letter to me, dated April, 1866 : 



" The Ejall-Ripa," he says, "is found so far south in 

 the province of Christiansand that its southern limits can 

 certainly be placed in lat. 58 40'. It occurs wherever the 

 mountains rise above the limits of the dwarf birch, with 

 steep precipices and stone rubble. On mountains in the 

 southern districts of Norway at the height of 3,000 to 3,500 

 feet, one may be tolerably certain of meeting with one 

 pair or more of these birds." . . . The Norc-fjeld, in 

 Krydsherrecl, situated nine (Norwegian) miles to the east- 

 ward of Christiania," the professor continues, " is, as far 

 as I have been able to ascertain, the nearest Fjall-Ripa 

 mountain to us, and there they are tolerably numerous." 



The length of the male Fjall-Ripa is from fourteen 

 to fifteen inches, and the expanse of wing nearly two 

 feet. The female is ' somewhat smaller than the male. 

 Accurately to describe the summer plumage of this 

 bird would be next to impossible, owing to its being 

 in an almost constant state of moult. By all accounts, 

 indeed, it puts on at least three different dresses in the 

 course of the year. The illustration at the commence- 

 ment of this chapter will, however, give a very fair 

 idea of the plumage of the FjJill-B.ipa at the season in 

 question. But in the winter, with the exception of the tail 

 feathers, which are at all times black, and that the male 

 retains the small black mark reaching from the base of 

 the bill to the temple, both sexes, as with the Dal-Ripa, 

 are then clad in white. Even then, however, the male 

 Fjall-Ripa may readily be distinguished from the male 



