678 TUP: WO&Lb's WONDEfcS. 



as upon all kinds of water-fowl and their eggs ; but when pinched 

 by hunger, it does not disdain the carcasses of fish, or the mol- 

 lusks and crustaceans it m;iy chance to pick up on the shore. Its 

 enemies are the glutton, the snowy owl, and man, who, from the 

 Equator to the poles, leaves no creature unmolested that can in 

 any way satisfy his wants. 



ARCTIC LEMMINGS. 



LEMMINGS, of which there are several species, are small ro- 

 dents, peculiar to the Arctic regions, and are found as far north 

 as vegetation extends. They breed like rabbits, bringing forth 

 five and six at a birth, and would be very destructive but for 

 their numerous enemies. With the exception of the bear and the 

 hedgehog, they are pursued by all the northern carnivora. The 

 wolf, the fox, the glutton, the marten, the ermine, devour them 

 with avidity, and a good lemming season is a time of unusual 

 plenty for the hungry Laplander's dog. The snowy owl, whose 

 dense plumage enables it to be a constant resident on the tundra, 

 almost exclusively frequents those places where lemming, its fa- 

 vorite food, are to be found ; the buzzards are constantly active 

 in their destruction ; the crow feeds its young with lemmings ; 

 and even the poor Lap, when pressed by hunger, seizes a stick, 

 and, for want of better game, goes out lemming hunting, and 

 rejoices when he can kill a sufficient number for his dinner. 



MOSQUITOES AND GNATS. 



THE greatest plagues of the tropical countries mosquitoes and 

 gnats are found in increased abundance in the Polar regions, 

 where they swarm at times in such myriads as to almost obscure 

 the sun. Lapland is particularly cursed with mosquitoes, and 

 the people are plagued into devising a thousand different ways to 

 escape the voracious insects. The gnats are no less troublesome, 

 for they are even more numerous than mosquitoes and bite with 

 almost equal severity. If anything eatable be exposed for even 

 a few minutes, the gnats and mosquitoes dispose of it in about as 

 quick time as the crustaceans of the deep devour a piece of meat 

 flung into the Arctic sea. For one thing, however, " God be 



