298 SPORT IN EUROPE 



Jsederen. There, although the district has of late years been much 



spoilt by a railroad which traverses it, and brings out an army of 



gunners, excellent sport may be had at times. Shore birds of every 



kind also abound along its coast, and it is the gathering-place of 



thousands of the plover tribe just before migration. There, too, the 



double snipe collect for a short time in the autumn in great numbers. 



This delicious bird [Scolopax major-, Nor. dobbelt Bekkasin), seldom 



seen in England, is of rather local distribution in Scandinavia, and 



rare in the extreme north, but is found well within the Arctic circle, 



being common in the Lofoten islands, and occasional in Swedish 



Lapland. It is less partial to wet ground than its smaller congeners, 



and is often flushed, like a woodcock, in perfectly dry scrub, at a high 



elevation. The little jack-snipe is scattered all over the country, and 



is believed to breed almost invariably within the Arctic circle. 



Despite the enormous number of ducks, geese, and swans which 



are bred all over Scandinavia, the lover of wild-fowl shooting who 



expects a o-reat deal is sure to be disappointed, for 

 Wild Fowl. . ^ 



during the time when foreign sportsmen are m the 



country the birds are distributed among the innumerable and often 

 remote lakes, tarns, swamps, and other waters near which they have 

 nested, and seldom, after the flapper stage, congregate anywhere 

 in sufficient numbers to provide really good shooting. And when 

 they do assemble just before the really hard weather sets in, it is with 

 the object of at once taking flight for more temperate climes. Never- 

 theless, the roving sportsman will find opportunities of securing a fair 

 number of various ducks, and possibly a few geese, and more than this 

 he cannot reasonably expect, unless he devote himself to that branch 



