DAN MEINERTZHAGEN'S DIARY. 66 



eggs, and two more very small ones close to 

 the summit. 



This evening, or rather early in the morning 

 of the iQth, we arrived at Sieppiajarvi, where 

 a boy brought me a pair of Black-throated 

 Diver's eggs he had taken. 



Many of the mountain lakes were still frozen 

 over ; some even we walked across. We had 

 seventeen hours walking to-day, and 1 suppose 

 covered very nearly 50 miles. 



May igth. I arrived home to-day, and was 

 very pleased to see Bob. He had taken an 

 Osprey's nest some eight or nine miles from 

 the town and shot the old bird. 



May 2oth. -To-day was spent in keeping quiet, 

 and comparing notes, and writing diaries out. 



May 21 st. -\ took my first Tengmalm's Owl's 

 eggs to-day, and also a clutch of Snipe's eggs. 



It seems curious that the men here should 

 cut down so many trees, and leave them where 

 they are cut ; for the whole place is strewn 

 with rotting trees lying on the ground, and 

 makes walking about most difficult. It is a 

 curious fact that pine and fir trees when they 

 rot while standing, warp from right to left, and 

 birch from left to right. This is almost invariably 

 the case. I wonder if anybody has noticed 

 this, and can account for it. 



