12 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella (L.)— Very abundant and 

 tame. I shot a curious male Lillehammer, which had such a dark 

 brown head, and showed so little chestnut on the rump, that 

 I imagined, till I picked it up, that it was a male Ortolan not quite 

 in full plumage. 



Ortolan, E. hortulana (L.) — I saw one or two in the Gud- 

 brandsdal, but it seemed pretty common near Christiania. 



Reed Bunting, E. schceniclus (L.) — I saw one or two near 

 Lillehammer, towards the Mesna Lakes, but found it abundant at 

 Laurgaard in the marshes near the station. On Dovre it was one 

 of the commonest birds, and was nesting when I was there. 



Lapland Bunting, Plectrophanes lapponicus (L.) — Very com- 

 mon at Fokstuen, but I saw none at Hjerkinn; I have no doubt 

 I could have killed eighty at the former place, where a dozen might 

 be heard singing together In fine weather they were very tame, 

 running like mice amongst the willow-scrub in the marshes, 

 and feeding composedly when I was only a few yards off. In wet 

 weather they get very wild, and will not let you approach within 

 forty yards. They were all paired whilst I was at Fokstuen, but 

 (judging from the ovaries of two females I obtained) not laying; 

 the male had still a few rusty feathers in the crown. The note — 

 that of the male at least, for I never heard the female utter any 

 but the low call-note common to both sexes — is one of the most 

 pleasing I know. The ground-work is a sort of warbling twitter 

 like the Sky Lark's song; but mingled with this, at regular 

 intervals, come five fuller and more musical notes. When at 

 some distance from the bird you lose the twitter, and these five 

 notes are all you catch, being louder than the rest; they give you 

 rather the idea of a peal of bells, and are always uttered in the 

 same order. When singing the bird often sits on the top of a 

 low bush ; sometimes is high in air; in the latter case he descends, 

 singing with elevated tail and outstretched quivering wings, like a 

 Tree Pipit or Blue-throat. The food seemed to consist of sedge- 

 and grass-seeds gathered from last year's still-standing plants, 

 and mingled with small insects. 



Snow Bunting, P. nivalis (L.) — I saw two small flocks at 

 Lillehammer and one at Fokstuen, all very shy. 



Sky Lark, Alauda arvensis (L.) — Very common near Lille- 

 hammer. I saw very few near Laurgaard, and none on the 

 Dovre Fjeld. 



