AN ORNITHOLOGICAL TOUR IN NORWAY. 451 



fresh eggs, with the ground colour greener than the eggs of the 

 Chaffinch and sparingly spotted, save in a distinct zone at the big 

 end. The next day we found Bramblings common about a colony 

 of Fieldfares on Tromso, and took a nest from the main fork of 

 a birch about fifteen feet from the ground. As usual, the outside 

 was chiefly formed of beautifully green moss, worked up with 

 willow- down, shreds of dead plants (very fine and thin), and a few 

 feathers. In the walls were a few bits of cotton-rag and yarn 

 (there was a farmhouse not far off), and on the outside a very few 

 bits of lichen. The inside was finished and rounded off with some 

 bents. The lining was chiefly of cow-hair, with a few horse-hairs 

 and some feathers of the Willow Grouse, Fieldfare, &c. Its thick 

 walls make the nest of the Brambling a good deal broader than 

 it is high. This nest contained six fresh eggs, not unlike some 

 eggs of the Chaffinch, not so blue in ground colour as those 

 in the other nest, and marked all over with indistinct suffused 

 cloudings of light vinous colour, and with a very few scattered 

 brown spots, hardly any of which are to be seen at the big end of 

 the eggs. The Brambling sits very close; on the 18th I found 

 one of the usual bulky bright green nests high up in a birch; the 

 bird was on; usually they will fly off if you tap the tree, but 

 the only response this bird made to tapping was to raise her head. 

 Linota linaria. — The Mealy Redpole was very common on 

 Tromso, and was usually more abundant in those parts of the 

 birch-woods frequented by other species. But pairs were often 

 seen in any part of the island where there were birches or willows. 

 Some of the males had lovely rosy under-parts, while others 

 showed no rose-colour underneath. They are lively, merry birds, 

 and a pair never failed to attract attention. The males have a 

 way of flying round and round in the air, uttering a note like 

 " che-che-che-che." Other sounds uttered commonly by them are 

 "zeeeeee" or " chzeeeeee " or " chizzzzz." As with Linnets in 

 spring in England, I several times saw three birds together; 

 I can never make out the reason of this. The Mealy Redpoll 

 was pretty common on Grindo. In the Tromsdal we found many 

 about the Fieldfare colony, and found two nests. One was about 

 fifteen feet up in a birch; the bird sat until I tapped the tree, and 

 then fluttered down to the ground and went as though wounded 

 across the dead birch-leaves ; she soon came back and went on to 

 the nest again. The other nest was in an alder in the lower and 



