NORWAY 33 



of the lake we got the loan of a boat, and visited the islands 

 at the mouth of the river, where we expected to find a 

 Goldeneye's nest. In this, however, we w r ere disappointed, 

 though we saw two pairs. They evidently have no nests 

 yet, and the eggs we took on the 26th must have been 

 exceptionally early. 



We then went again to the wood close to Tvinde, where 

 I had taken the Redwing's nest on Saturday, and here we 

 remained till evening. We took seven nests of Fieldfares, 

 four nests and eggs of Bramblings, and one. nest of Red- 

 wings, watching the last two species in every instance to 

 their nests, except in such cases as where we revisited 

 formerly-found nests. In two nests of Fieldfares we 

 found no less than six eggs, which is surely unusual.* 

 In one of these all the six were fertile, and in the other 

 one egg was addled. In one Brambling's nest were 

 seven eggs. Another Redwing's nest, building, was 

 found. 



The four nests of the Brambling we took contained 

 seven, five, four, and four eggs respectively ; and the nests 

 were larger in size apparently than Chaffinches', certainly 

 larger than a Chaifinch's nest taken the same day from 

 which the bird was seen to fly. Some of these Bram- 

 blings' nests were placed at least a dozen feet from the 

 ground in birch-trees, one in a tall fir against the trunk 

 about 10 feet from the ground, and the fourth in a small, 

 dead fir, and nearly concealed by the pendent sprays of 

 long, dead lichen. Amongst the materials of the nests 

 were many small pieces of the thin, white bark of the 

 birch, which was entirely absent in the nests of the 

 Chaffinch. The moss used by the Brambling also seems 

 generally to be of a different species from that used by the 

 Chaffinch. The Bramblings' nests are fully as neat and 

 compact as those of the Chaffinch. The nests in the first 

 * We got eight eggs in a nest afterwards. 



VOL. I. 4 



