THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORWAY. 171 



siderably enhance the value of the property to which 

 they are attached. About the end of February or 

 beginning of March, the birds repair to the open sea 

 along the coast in large flocks. The male bird seldom 

 pairs before the third year some naturalists say not 

 before the fifth but the female obtains a mate when 

 she is one year old. The call of the male with which 

 he woos his mate is exceedingly melodious. Bloody and 

 severe are the battles fought amongst the male birds at 

 this season ; twenty may perhaps be seen all at once 

 fighting desperately for the possession of one hen, who 

 swims all the time quietly along behind the combatants, 

 waiting till the contest has been decided, when the for- 

 tunate bird immediately claims her as his prize. When 

 once his superiority has been thus publicly asserted, he 

 suffers no further molestation. This important business 

 of finding a husband being at length satisfactorily 

 settled, the female selects a convenient place in which 

 to build her nest, choosing generally the protection of 

 an overhanging rock, or the shelter of a juniper-bush, 

 which latter shrub is found in great abundance. The 

 nest is formed on the outside, of birch twigs, next to 

 which comes a layer of moss or soft grass ; and the 

 inside is lined with the down which she plucks from 

 her breast, mixed with switch-grass. 



She lays generally from five to eight eggs, according 

 to her age. She sits on them very assiduously, 'pluck- 



