THE BIRD-BERGS OF LAPLAND. 49 



be able to keep domestic birds as you do in the south. But the sea 

 sends us our doves, and, I ask, have you ever seen more beautiful ?" 

 I could but answer in the negative, for the picture of the dazzling 

 white and delicate blue-gray gulls on the luxuriant green turf amid 

 the grand environment of the northern mountains was indeed mag- 

 nificent. It is these gulls chiefly which make the brooding holms 

 conspicuous from a distance, and distinguish them from others which 

 are physically the same. The other members of the feathered popu- 

 lation are but little noticed, though they number many thousands. 

 Only when one of the admirable light boats of the country is pushed 

 ofi" from the inhabited shores and rowed towards the holm does the 

 quiet life of the birds change. Some oyster-catchers, which have been 

 feeding directly above the high-water mark, have observed the boat 

 and fly hastily towards it. These birds, which are absent from none 

 of the larger islands, scarcely from any of the skerries, are the guar- 

 dians of the safety and welfare of the peacefully united colony. More 

 inquisitive and active than any other birds known to me, self-possessed, 

 cautious, and deliberate, they possess all the qualities necessary to 

 make them the sentinels of a mixed colony. Every new, unusual, or 

 extraordinary event arouses their curiosity, and incites them to make 

 closer examination. Thus they fly to meet the boat, sweep round it 

 five or six times in ever-narrowing circles, screaming uninterruptedly 

 the while, thus attracting others of their own species to the spot, 

 and rousing the attention of all the cautious birds in the colony. 

 As soon as they have convinced themselves of the presence of actual 

 danger, they fly quickly back, and, with warning notes, communicate 

 the result of their investigation to all the other birds on the berg 

 who will pay any attention, as indeed many do. Some gulls now 

 resolve to investigate the cause of the disturbance for themselves. 

 Five or six of them fly towards the boat, hover falcon-like in the 

 air, perhaps even dart boldly down upon the intruders, and return 

 to the holm more quickly than they came. Just as if their report 

 was mistrusted, twice, three, four — ten times the number take wing, 

 proceeding exactly as the first spies had done, and soon a cloud of 

 birds forms above the boat. This cloud becomes thicker and thicker, 

 more and more threatening, for the birds not only endeavour with 



(m70) 4 



