20 



on the island ; and though no raptorial bird nests here, yet many 

 of the gulls are veritable birds of prey, and sundry of the newly- 

 hatched Eider Ducklings are snapped up, on their way from the 

 nest to the sea, by the voracious Greater Black-backed Gulls 

 (Larus marinus), and disappear in a twinkling in their capacious 

 gullet. Even the Cloud-berries are devoured with avidity both 

 by gulls and by others of the feathered inhabitants of the 

 island. 



The breeding season is over ; it is in the month of July, and 

 we set out upon our ramble over the island. Here and there on 

 the small peat hillocks one hears the melancholy call-note of the 

 Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus), and the male in his bright 

 coloured summer plumage, with the broad reddish-brown collar 

 and the yellow beak, regards attentively and without the least 

 shyness, the intruder who sets foot in his domain. From the 

 more swampy places sounds incessantly the song of the Pipits, 

 when the male mounts a certain distance into the air, and sinks 

 again on to a tussock or stone. Of the Pipits, the Red-throated 

 species of the eastern arctic regions (Anthus cevvinus) is, upon 

 this island, nearly as common as the Meadow-pipit ; and as 

 it flies, the difference between it and the latter species is quickly 

 seen ; it appears larger, and has a longer and sharper call-note. 

 The two species are commonly found intermingled in the same 

 locality ; the nests and eggs show no constant difference, though 

 the eggs of A . cevvinus are generally furnished with spiral lines, 

 which as a rule are wanting in those of the other. 



Where the surface is bare, and the ground stony or lichen- 

 covered, one generally finds a pair of Shore Larks (Otocovys 

 alpestris), established ; this is likewise a Siberian species, which in 

 comparatively recent times has immigrated from the East, and 

 is now included among the more common of the small birds of 

 Finmarken. Even before the snow has yet entirely melted, the 

 hen is sitting on her eggs, in the nest lined with yellowish- 

 white willow down ; and the young, which are covered with an 

 unusually soft and fluffy plumage, must often find themselves in 

 a snow storm or sleet squall, which makes the ground perfectly 

 white round the nest. During the time of incubation the male 

 executes his insignificant song, whilst he, like a true Lark, flies 



