Notes from Norway. 9357 
the bushes, and saw the cuckoo fly into a bush within twenty yards of 
me. Here he was set upon by a flock of small birds, and while de- 
fending himself, rather to my surprise, uttered his well-known note. 
There was no mistaking the note, which, being uttered so near me, 
appeared to sound more hollow, soft and flute-like than I ever 
remember to have noticed before. 
Insects.—In driving over the Dovre, I noticed thousands of a small 
obscure, skipper-like insect settling on the road-side, but very nimble 
and difficult to catch; this turned out to be Psodos trepidaria. A small 
azure-blue Polyommatus Pheretes was very abundant indeed, along 
' with other blues, which I did not succeed in capturing: whole boxes 
might have been filled with P. Pheretes in a few hours. I saw one 
magnificent specimen of Papilio Machaon near Oien, and some other 
large butterflies, as I drove along, but did not identify them. Of Fri- 
tillaries I saw an immense quantity, and these in great variety. Among 
these I recognised Meliteza Athalia, Argynnis Euphrosyne, A. Pales 
and A. Freyja. About Hjerkin and the higher fjell an exceedingly 
common insect was Erebia Manta, and occasionally I observed 
K. Ligea. Hipparchia Semele, a beautifal variety, was very abundant 
near Christiansand. Setina irrorella I frequently brushed off the low 
willow bushes on the fjell top. 
Flowering and other Plants.—Several beautiful plants were noticed 
on the road-side in driving over the Dovrefjeld: Erigeron alpinum, 
Lychnis alpina, L. viscaria, Astragalus alpinus, A. glyciphyllos, Gen- 
tiana nivalis (a perfect little gem), Anemone pulsatilla, Salix herbacea, 
S. lanata, S. reticulata, Pedicularis lapponica, Viola biflora; also a 
little beauty, nestling among the under-growth, Papaver nudicaule, 
very handsome and growing in many-flowered tufts on the road-side 
and in the crevices of the rocks. 
Ferns.—Ferns are quite absent from the higher fjells; I did not 
see even Lastrea oreopteris or Blechnum boreale. The day before 
the high ascent commenced I was passing through a paradise of ferns, 
and collected many plants of Struthiopteris germanica, Woodsia 
hyperborea, Botrychium lunaria, Asplenium septentrionale, &c. A large 
Aconitum, probably A. septentrionale, is abundant all over the 
country. 
Whenever two large streams come together a large delta is formed 
by the detritus and boulders brought down during freshets. These 
spaces, often of large extent, are almost invariably covered with large 
bushes of Tamarix germanica. Speaking of detritus reminds me of 
the grand terrace-like masses of glacial detritus on either side of the 
