106 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 



pearcil to be newly liuilt, of thick Biroh Iiranclics 

 loosely put togctlicr, and lined with a little moss, 

 dead leaves, and a few feathers, hut deeper in 

 the centre than the nests of the Sparrow Hawk 

 or Kestrel; it contained three very dark-colored 

 Cf^gs. It struck me as peculiar that these active 

 and powerful little Falcons should be quietly 

 nesting in the very midst of a colony of Field- 

 fares; for there mvist have been at least a score of 

 the nests of the latter within a short stone's throw 

 of the Merlin's tree. A single Roiigh.lpggea 

 IJiizzard was seen to-day; on the low grounds 

 Reed Buntings and "Willow Wrens were very 

 common, and a single ChifTcliaff was seen and 

 heard singing lustily, as well as a single Hedge 

 Sparrow. Blackcocks were "crooing" loudly in 

 the still evening, and occasionally we flushed a 

 Willow Grouse, which seemed to be already in 

 Summer dress; its bold hcc-hr on rising exactly 

 resembles the cry of our Briti.sh bird. Bramblings 

 were numerous in the Birch forests, their mono- 

 tonous drone, like the word me-ee, being con- 

 tinually audible; it struck me as resembling the 

 note of the Greenfinch, but distinctly louder and 

 shriller. I often saw them floating about in the 

 woods with quivering wings, somewhat remind- 

 ing me of the Wood Warbler; but they were 

 rather wild, and it was some time before I pro- 

 cured one. Ring Ouzels were common in the 

 steep heather-clad gorges, and I saw one pair of 

 Mealy Redpoles sitting together on a dead twig 

 projecting from some snow, their gray breast- 

 feathers fluffed out, and looking very disconso- 

 late. Where the ground was wet, Red.slianks 

 and Snipes kejit getting up, and I took an egg 

 from the oviduct of a Yellow Hammer which I 

 got here. On the 28th we took a boat, as I had 

 heard that a pair of White-tailed Eagles bred an- 

 nually on a rocky island off Bodo. We did not 

 find them at home, however, so having landed 

 we amused ourselves by watching a pair of 

 Ravens {Cormis cora.v) which had a nest in the 

 face of the crag, containing several young birds 

 nearly ready to fly. The youngsters frequently 

 hopped on to the side of the nest, and flapping 

 their wings, received their first lessons in the art 

 of flying. Directly they saw us they would drop 

 back into the nest, whilst the old birds kept fly- 

 ing round, occasionally uttering a deep guttural 

 'croak." 



While watching the Ravens, a Kestrel [Fnko 

 Unnuncvlug) flew into the crag and began to 

 make signs of disapproval at our intrusion here. 

 He .seemed to have come to the crag for the pm-- 

 pose of feeding, and on being fired at dropped a 

 half-eaten Redwing. Here I observed a pair of 

 Redstarts, and a pair of Common Scoters were 



busy diving in an enclosed bay of the sea. Ne.xt 

 day we foimd the nest of a Hooded Crow (Cor- 

 vus carnix), containing three newly hatched 

 young and two eggs; amongst the wool which 

 lined the nest was a fairly large sheet of a Bodo 

 newspaper. We also observed a pair of Com- 

 mon Sandpipers on a small piece of water rather 

 high up on the hills. 



The Loffoden Islands had a fine but wintry 

 appearance as we steamed past them on the .30th 

 of May. for from the summit of their jagged 

 peaks down to the water's edge was one white 

 expanse of snow. At Harstadhavn, where we 

 waited several hours, I observed flocks of Com- 

 mon Gulls (T^iruit caniis) feeding on the patches 

 of cidtivated land. Fieldfares' nests were also 

 numerous, but here none of them had eggs yet, 

 though a Hooded Crow had a nest full of half- 

 grown young. Magpies were common. On the 

 31st I observed Arctic Terns for the first time. 

 The nights now were as light as day, but there 

 did not seem to be the least sign of Summer. 

 Tromso was reached in the evening, and there, 

 according to arrangements made before leaving 

 England, I met and engaged a Norwegian ser- 

 vant, afterwards referred to as Trinus, to accom- 

 pany me on my journey to Lapland. 



June 1st— 3d. The hills north of Tromso were 

 clothed in snow to the water's level, and we were 

 greeted by cold north winds and occasional snow 

 storms. Nevertheless, at Vn>rholt, in Laxe Fi- 

 ord, in spite of the cliffs being covered with 

 snow, Common Gidls already had eggs in num- 

 bers. On the 4tli of .Inne we landed at Stange- 

 nn>s, in the Tana Fiord, at 3 a. m., and a dull 

 and dreary look-out it was— great steep cliffs and 

 rounded hills, with pure white snow down to the 

 sea level. Where could we expect to find birds 

 breeding in such a country? A pair of Merlins 

 were hawking about the shore, chasing and 

 alanning the small birds (Wheatears, White Wag- 

 tails, and Titlarks); Cormorants, or Shags, 

 Eiders, and Mergansers .seemed plentiful, and 

 seals were numerous. We got a boat to take us 

 from StangencTs, at the head of the Tana Fiord, to 

 a little island called Gulholmcn, at the mouth of 

 the Tana river; but instead of being able to go 

 straight up the country, as I had intended, I 

 found that the ice in the river had not yet broken 

 up, and about two miles above Gulholmcn a 

 white line of fast ice extended right across the 

 stream, beyond which it was impossible to go. 

 The river banks and the fells above them were 

 many feet deep in snow; the Birch forests were 

 without sign of leaf, and the fell-lakes were all 

 solid ice. Sledging on the frozen river was not 



