AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBEKGEN. 407 



shot-gun, which one of the sailors was carrying, and followed 

 them. Upon this they stopped and allowed me to shoot five, 

 singly, and one of the seamen one with his rifle, in a most 

 unsportsmanlike and cold-blooded manner ; but then, while I was 

 fumbling in my pockets for cartridges, the remaining four sud- 

 denly took wing. What made them start just then I hardly 

 know, unless the fate of the other members of their family had 

 just dawned upon them. We followed the spor of the deer, and 

 after a bit found they had divided into two parties of four and 

 three. We followed the four, as they included the best animals, 

 and finally I secured the biggest buck (I guessed him to be four 

 years old, total length 62 inches), the seaman who was armed 

 with a rifle getting a smaller buck (supposed two years old, and 

 measuring 59 inches). On our way back to the coast with the 

 deer we came to a single Ptarmigan sitting. It allowed me to 

 put down my load, put a cartridge in my gun, and "pot" it, 

 without making any effort to escape. Just before we reached the 

 boat we saw a pair of clucks with one young one on the shore 

 edge ; they took to the water and swam awajr before we had 

 got close, and the men, on whom had fallen the chief share of 

 carrying our spoils, were too tired for me to insist on giving 

 chase in a direction exactly contrary to that in which the smack 

 lay. During the time of getting the boat into the water and 

 embarking ourselves and the game, I stupidly did not give these 

 ducks a second thought, but when, some time later, I did think 

 about them again, I was convinced that they were not Long-tailed 

 Ducks, as I had at the time supposed them to be, as they were 

 neither Common nor King Eiders, and the Long-tailed Duck is the 

 only other duck known in Spitzbergen ; nor were they anything 

 like that species. On talking about them to one of the seamen 

 who was with me I found him quite confident that they were not 

 the " Havel "(= Longtailed Duck), but he did not know any 

 name for the species. After our return to Tromsd I met this 

 man in the Museum, and he tried to find the duck he meant, but 

 unfortunately without success, but he was still equally sure that 

 the specimens of Long-tailed Duck were not what he wanted. 

 My own impression is that they were Velvet Scoters, (Edemia 

 fusca (Linn.). This opinion was formed when I got back to 

 the Museums of Norway, and confirmed when, on my return to 

 England, I had access to books, and while the subject was still 



