84 DAN MEINERTZHAGEN'S DIARY. 



I had fancied myself sitting in the boat 

 returning to 'Niska, feeding three or four young 

 Rough-legged Buzzards, but no such thing 

 was in store for us ; for at a Finn's house on this 

 lake (there is one apparently on every fair- 

 sized lake) one of the inmates informed us he 

 had cut the tree down, killing the young birds. 

 But our disappointment was more than partially 

 dispelled, on hearing we were to be taken to 

 an Osprey's nest. This proved to be some 

 15 miles off, on the way to Suontekio. We 

 met the weekly post on the way, and tried to 

 get our letters, but failed. 



We approached the Osprey's nest, which 

 was done very cautiously, as Bob wanted the 

 male bird. As soon as it came in sight about 100 

 yards ahead, I fancied I could see the hen bird 

 on the nest, and in a moment she slipped off 

 and was far away on the lake. Bob in the 

 meantime had gone some twenty yards ahead, 

 and hid under a fir tree, while I and the guide 

 also hid. The mosquitoes were awful, and 

 after a minute, 1 was beginning to wonder how 

 many more seconds the bird would be, as I 

 could not stand them much longer. I was 

 delighted to hear, after four minutes, a bang, and 

 see the male bird come crashing through the 

 trees close by. He had seen his mate slip off 



