FIELD NOTES IN NORWAY. 11 



gaard it was paired and building in the birch -growth. At 

 Fokstuen I found several nests, some with eggs. This bird 

 displays great anxiety when you approach the nest ; both male 

 and female come and perch on the trees by the nest, sometimes 

 within a yard of your head, uttering their plaintive cry. I paid 

 them the compliment of attributing this conduct to parental 

 affection until I found that their minds were quite as much 

 troubled when the nest was so far advanced as to consist of about 

 as much lichen and fibre as might be contained in an empty 

 12-bore cartridge case. The nest strikes one at once as being 

 less tidy than that of a Chaffinch, and consists (on the Dovre 

 Fjeld) in great part of reindeer-moss and similar lichens. The 

 eggs principally differ from a Chaffinch's in their ground colour 

 being bluer, though the latter occasionally lays eggs quite as 

 blue as any Brambling's eggs I have seen. The call-note of the 

 male has a peculiar, harsh, unmusical sound, and seems to consist 

 of two different notes, a semitone apart, mingled and uttered 

 together, rather reminding me of the noise of a double white-metal 

 dog-whistle. 



Linnet, Linota cannabina (L.) — Not uncommon in the valleys, 

 but I did not notice it on Dovre. 



Mealy Redpoll, L. linaria. — I only identified this bird once 

 to my satisfaction, when I saw a pair, apparently feeding, on the 

 waste ground by the bridge at Laurgaard. I fancied I saw others 

 at different times, but they were too shj' for me to be quite certain. 



Twite, L. fiavvrostris (L.) — Appeared to be generally dis- 

 tributed, though in small numbers, on the Dovre Fjeld and the 

 fells near Laurgaard. 



Northern Bullfinch, Pyrrhula major (Brehm). — Not un- 

 common, but much oftener heard than seen. I tried to obtain 

 specimens in the pine woods at Lillehammer by calling, but 

 invariably without success ; before I got sufficiently near the bird, 

 a Hooded Crow always made its appearance (judging, I suppose, 

 from its frequent calling that there were some eggs to be got) and 

 drove my Bullfinch away. The would-be thieves occasionally got 

 into trouble for their pains, for I never think a cartridge wasted 

 if expended on a Hooded Crow. 



Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra (L.) — I kept a sharp look out for 

 this bird, but never saw it. Occasionally it is pretty common in 

 the summer in S. Norway. 



