JACKDAWS 69 



remarked anything of special interest. With the excep- 

 tion of a yellow-hammer, which was making a feeble 

 attempt to sing, we scarcely saw or heard a bird. One 

 effect of the thaw was to banish the snow-buntings from 

 the town to the country. Although this bird is thick- 

 billed, and undoubtedly feeds on grain and seeds during 

 the winter, it appears to change its diet to some extent 

 during the breeding season. When I was in Lapland I 

 found it nesting among the rocks on the island of Vadso, 

 in the Varanger Fjord. Not far distant, down by the 

 shore, was the great whaling establishment of Mr. Foyne, 

 where on an average three whales a week were cut up. 

 The snow-buntings constantly visited the yard, which 

 abounded with insects attracted by the offal ; and the 

 stomachs of some which I shot and skinned proved to be 

 full of these. 



During this sloppy season we confined our walks 

 pretty much to the town itself, carrying our walking-stick 

 guns in case a new bird should turn up. On the 3rd of 

 May we were rewarded by seeing for the first time a pair 

 of jackdaws. It was contrary to law to shoot in the 

 streets, and the birds were within a stone's-throw of the 

 house of the public prosecutor. I shot one of them, as I 

 thought, very cleverly, on the sly, but I found that my 

 attempt at concealment had been a failure, for a day or 

 two afterwards, whilst discussing our walnuts and wine 

 with the chief magistrate at the public prosecutor's 

 hospitable table, we were kindly cautioned to shoot as 

 little as possible in the streets. 



The liberal hospitalities of our friends helped to 

 beguile the time during the thaw ; and occasionally the 

 peasants offered us birds, which provided variety for our 

 larder, and sometimes interested us and found employ- 

 ment for Piottuch We bought four capercailzies for 



