34G ITS SONG. 



the sportsman always picks them out from the rest, so 

 that, when stuffed, they may serve to decoy their admirers 

 within reach of the murderous gun." 



The song, so to say, of tin- Il:ireld, is not unmusical ; 

 it is something like Calloo, the name by which this bird 

 goes in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. Some people 

 liken it to the notes of the clarionet, and though mono- 

 tonous, it is very pleasing, especially when many join in 

 the concert. The sprightliness of the bird, its being 

 eternally on the move, and its wild and interesting ay, 

 tend greatly to give life to the " Skargard," which, without 

 animated nature, would be desolation itself. 



Though Swedish naturalists tell us that the Harold 



o 



rarely breeds on this side of the polar circle, there is good 

 reason to believe that many nest in the morasses on the 

 Dovre-ficld, and other mountain ranges of Norway, which 

 are in a considerably lower latitude; but Lapland, more 

 especially the north-eastern parts, is probably its chief 

 resort during the summer months. It makes its ap- 

 pearance there about May, mostly in its dark summer 

 plumage, which, indeed, it in great part assumes prior to 

 leaving the sea-coast; and breeds in very great numbers 

 in all the fresh-water lakes and tarns studding the lace of 

 that wild country. 



The female makes her nest, which is lined with down. 

 in marshy ground near water and amongst grass, or under 

 leafy plants that afford some sort of shelter; and lays 

 From five to seven en-s. somewhat smaller in size than 

 those of the barn-door fowl, and of a pale green colour. 

 When incubation commences, the males, which are not 

 believed to pair until the second or third year, abandon 

 their mates, and, like the eider and some other species 

 of birds, collect together in Hocks. As soon as the \oimg 

 can fly, the mother conducts them to their proper element, 

 the sea; and in the early part of August she may be seen 



