ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 277 



of killing and eating it. I do not think these 

 birds are nearly so gregarious as the common jay, 

 and, in my opinion, much more carnivorous. I 

 cannot say how it may be in the depth of winter, 

 but certainly those we saw together after the 

 breeding season were families, and when \vo 

 arrived in the spring the birds had paired. I 

 cannot agree with the accounts which some natu- 

 ralists give of the extreme difficulty in finding the 

 nest of this bird. It is true that they breed in 

 April, when the snow lies deep in the forest ; and 

 a man without " skiddor " cannot get on at all, 

 except just in the very early morning after a sharp 

 night's frost. They are, moreover, very quiet in 

 their breeding habits, and, as old Major Bagstock 

 would say, " Sly ! devilish sly! " for once I watched 

 one (evidently building) come hopping, with a 

 stick in its mouth, towards me. As soon, how- 

 ever, as it caught sight of me, it dropped the 

 stick and flew back like an arrow to the place 

 from whence it came. But when once built, there 

 is little difficulty in finding the nest by any one 

 who has a pair of good eyes in his head, for it is 

 very large, never placed very high in a small fir, 

 and generally in a most conspicuous situation, 

 often by the side of a pathway in the forest. I am 

 certain, if I had wanted them, I could easily have 

 procured a dozen nests in these forests. The first 



