July, 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



105 



been taken in the State, one in Gone county, once 

 at Wallace ('?), lioth being in the extreme western 

 jiortion of the State, and once here. During the 

 Winter, if open water can be found, the Bulf- 

 ))reasted, (MergvK meri/Knser (tmericanns,) and 

 Hooded Mergansers, (Lophodyte^ ciicnUatnti,) may 

 b(^ seen. 



During the Spring migration Ducks are much 

 more plentiful and stay with us much longer than 

 in tlie Fall. In point of arrival the Pintails, 

 (Ircen-wing Teal, Mallards and Redheads are the 

 earliest, first appearing about March 1st, the Blue- 

 wing Teal and Shoveller being generally the last, 

 arriving about the 1st of April and staying until 

 the middle of .June. There not being much water 

 here causes what there is during the Spring to be 

 well supplied with birds, and an insignificant little 

 puddle may be a famous spot for hunting. In 

 tlie Fall the Ducks hurry swiftly by, compara- 

 tively few stopping. Here the favorite duck for 

 eating is the Mallard, being large, and of mild 

 llavor, but people who think that a Duck is a 

 Duck, one being as good as another, naturally be- 

 come disgusted with Ducks when they try to eat 

 such things as Mergansers, "Sheol" Divers and 

 tlie like. I have seen people at a meat market buy 

 Kuddy Ducks in preference to nice little Green- 

 wing Teal because they (the Ruddys) seemed, on 

 account of their shape, so mucli fatter and 

 plumper. 



A Birds'-Nesting Ramble in Lapland. 



1!Y AI.KRED CRAWIIM.r, CirAPMAN. (TliC Ihin.) 



The ornithologj' of the extreme northwest of 

 Europe lias not been treated of for some years in 

 T>ic IM-t, so perhaps the following account of a 

 trip to East Finmark during the Spring of 1884, 

 may be of interest. The district visited was the 

 vallc}' of the Tana, one of the great rivers which 

 drain the area lying between the North Cape and 

 the Gulf of Bothnia. The Tana and the Muonio- 

 Tornea rivers have their source in the same dis- 

 trict, the former flowing northwards into the 

 Tana Fiord, a little to the east of the North Cape: 

 while the Muonio-Tornea, flowing in a southerly 

 direction past Muonioniska, the scene of the late 

 Mr. Wolley's memoralile achievements, emjitics 

 itself into the Gulf of Bothnia. 



lu crossing the North Sea, on May 21st, wlicn 

 two hundred miles from land, a Whinchat came 

 (111 board the steamer and sought shelter near a 

 warm steam-pipe; the unfortunate little bird must 

 have lieen mucli fatigued, for shortly afterwards 

 it fell dead from its perch. On the 22d, during a 

 short walk in the suburbs of Bergen, I was 



pleased to see Pied Flycatchers, the males in fine 

 black and white plumage. Between the 33d and 

 36tli of May, when going up the fiords, the usual 

 common seafowl were to be seen: but twice I 

 oliserved Brown Eiders, witli very pale-colored 

 heads, which I took to be female King Eiders. 

 On the 37th we arrived at Bodo, in Nordland, 

 (lat. 67' N.): and alter obtaining permission from 

 the magistrate there to shoot specimens, we made 

 our way across what was formerly a marsh, be- 

 hind the village, but which is now drained. 1 

 suppose it would be here that the Messrs, God- 

 man found the Great Snipe breeding (iW», 1861. 

 p. 87); now nothing but an occasional Golden 

 Plover and numerous Wheitears floated over 

 the drj- tussocks of moss. The first birds that 

 attracted attention were a pair of Northern Marsh 

 Tits (Panis horeaUi) actively searching the lower 

 stems of the birches for food. They appeared to 

 be much lighter in color on the underparts than 

 our Marsh Tits, and the long fluffy plumage of a 

 slate-blue tinge is wonderfully adapted to resist 

 the rigors of a northern Winter. Magpies were 

 very common, and I noticed them breeding in 

 low bushes in the streets of Bodo. Presently we 

 got among a colony of Fieldfares {Turdtis pilarii), 

 their nests, which we found in great numbers, 

 being mostly placed in small Birch trees, from 

 three to ten feet from the ground. I remember 

 looking down on a Fieldfare's back, as .she sat 

 on her eggs, and remarking how ill-fitted the cir- 

 cular nest was to the outline of the bird's body, 

 for I could see right into the bottom of tlie nest 

 on each side of her closed wings, although the 

 eggs were not visible. The trees lieing small and 

 stunted, the nests were necessarily placed close to 

 the main stem; they were constructed of dry 

 white grass externally, then about an inch and a 

 half of wet earth, and an inside lining, about an 

 inch thick, of dry white grass. The internal 

 diameter was invariably four inches, and I found 

 afterwards that those of the Redwing (Turdns 

 iliacus) were as invariably three and one-halt 

 inches. The old birds occasionally hovered in 

 tlie air with jerky flight, after the manner of a 

 Pipit, uttering a peculiar cry, which could 

 scarcely be called a song; but I think this is con- 

 fined to the breeding season; they also kept up a 

 continual cackling, similar to the familiar note 

 we hear in Winter. While selecting some of the 

 finest clutches of eggs, we presently saw a nest of 

 sticks in the top of a Birch tree, and on approach- 

 ing, a male Merlin {Fnlco malm) dashed off it. 

 Soon the female Meriin appeared, moljbed by a 

 screeching crowd of Fieldfares, and I easily se- 

 cured both these little Falcons. The nest ap- 



