HABITS Of TUK NOKWEttlAN LEMMING. 29 



A\ liicli migi'ate south. There is, however, in birds, and, I believe 

 in fish, a very strong affection for their old nests and breeding- 

 places geuerally, which cannot exist in the lemmings, siace they 

 breed en route. 



M. Gruyon*, writing in 1863, disposes of the theory that these 

 migrations are influenced by approaching severe weather, since 

 the one witnessed by himself took place in the spring ; also the 

 superabundance of food during the previous autumn seemed evi- 

 dence against the theory of starvation. He therefore adopts a 

 third view, that excessive multiplication in certain years neces- 

 sitates emigration, and that this follows a descending course like 

 the mountain-streams, till at length the ocean is reached. 



It is, however, very remarkable that no one professes to have 

 seen the lemming at home ; and as he is not shy, the broad fjelds 

 of Norway are as conspicuous by his absence as by his too de- 

 monstrative presence. 



I well remember, in the autumn of 1867, when I happened to 

 be shooting at an elevation of about 4000 feet, that my attention 

 was suddenly drawn to a shrill note, which I imagined to be pro- 

 duced by some bird unknown to me, till my Norsk companion 

 told me it was the cry of a Lemander or lemming. 



I had not long to searcli for the musician. He had set his back 

 against a stone, and, repeatedly jerking his body Tip and down as 

 though intending to jump at me, kept uttering the quick shrill 

 yelp which first drew my attention. I made a hasty snatch at the 

 pretty animal, whose black bead-like eyes protruded with rage. 

 He also made a snatch; and his snatch proved the more suc- 

 cessful of the two, as his incisor teeth left their pattern on my 

 hand for some days afterwards. 



My companion was no friend to the lemmings, and was loud 

 in his prophecies as to a severe winter and diminished grass to 

 follow in the spring. However, " one swallow does not make a 

 summer," and it was some weeks before I saw another lemming ; 

 then, on lifting a large flat stone, I found six in a snug nest, 

 apparently recently born. In a few days the whole fjeld be- 

 came swarming with these pretty voles. My dogs waged inces- 

 sant war upon them, although they never eat them ; and I noticed 

 that several species of hawks became unusually plentiful. 



As the season advanced and snow covered the ground, footprints 

 showed how foxes had joined in the pursuit, whose tracks were 

 * ^Comptes Eendus, 1863, p. 486; and Ann. & Mag."N. H. Srdser. xii. p. 407. 



