368 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



crossed by a public road, the pedestrian or cyclist has any day 

 of the year an opportunity of seeing such of the animals as 

 happen to be grazing or wandering within sight of that track. 



THROUGH THE FOREST IN FINLAND. 



By Herbert C. Playne (Clifton College) and A. F. R. Wollaston 

 (King's College, Cambridge). 



The days from August 6th to August 24th of this summer 

 we spent in a part of Finland which stretches from the north of 

 the Gulf of Bothnia to a short distance within the Arctic Circle. 

 Our attention was chiefly directed to birds, and some account 

 of what we saw may be of interest. August is by no means a 

 favourable month, and it is especially difficult to get good views 

 of birds when they are silent and disposed to hide themselves, 

 in a country which is so thickly covered with forest ; conse- 

 quently the number of species met with is no doubt far short of 

 what it might have been at another time of year. However, we 

 were in some respects lucky, and saw and heard enough to make 

 us anxious to make use of the first opportunity of revisiting the 

 same country in the earlier part of the summer. 



Briefly, our journey was as follows : — By road from Tornea, 

 along the banks of the river Kemi to Bovaniemi, where we stayed 

 a week. From Bovaniemi we walked a few miles further north 

 up the river Ounas, and then struck across the forest to Alkula 

 on the river Tornea, and so southwards again. 



In our walk through the forest we went much of the way 

 without paths, and with a compass only as our guide, and 

 naturally in such thick forest as covers that part of the country 

 we often heard birds we could not see, and saw strange birds 

 which hid themselves before we could identify them with cer- 

 tainty. The following is a list of the species we were able to 

 identify : — 



Bedwing, Turdus iliacus ; Fieldfare, T. pilaris. Several 

 seen. 



Song Thrush, T. musicus. We only saw one. 



Wheatear, Saxicola cenanthe. Very abundant wherever the 

 country is fairly clear of trees. 



