d54 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



loudly like domestic Geese, but the sounds are more highly 

 pitched. I afterwards noticed this in the case of a pinioned 

 Grey-lag kept in an hotel yard at Trondhjem. I should have 

 liked very much to bring this bird away with me ; it might have 

 been bought for a trifle, for the landlady's daughter complained 

 that it had been palmed off on her as a domestic Goose ! 



Anas boscas. — I saw a Mallard on Tromso on one occasion 

 only. 



Dqfila acuta. — A freshly-killed drake was hanging on the wall 

 of a farm-house on the west coast of Tromso. 



Somateria mollissima. — Eiders were common on the coast of 

 Tromso. On one occasion I saw about forty together. There 

 were a good many on Grindo, and we saw four nests (one egg 

 taken was fresh). Two were on the Ernpetrum-grown bluffs, 

 merely depressions, with a good deal of down ; one was in some 

 rocks, with less down ; the fourth was placed against the walls of 

 a shed, adjoining the one house on the island, under a bunch of 

 fishing-line floats. The old bird was on, and sparred with her 

 wings at the man's foot. We saw some dark brown downy young, 

 three or four days old. The Eiders have, or would have, five or 

 six young. The Eider on the wing has a Dutch-built appearance ; 

 the feet, which are stretched out behind, show on each side of the 

 tail, and the bird flies heavily, though it goes fast when it has 

 way on. They are noisy birds. The alarm-note is " go-gooo " 

 or " oh-ooo." The call-note of the male is " oh-ooo-ow " (last 

 part drawn out in some cases), uttered with head raised and bill 

 pointing rather upwards. The female cries " ga-ga-ga." 



[Somateria spectabilis. — To judge from the skins in a curiosity 

 shop, the King Eider is not uncommon here.] 



Mergus merganser. — Saw a female, or young male, off a sea- 

 weed-covered point on the west side of Tromso. On Grindo we 

 saw either on the shore at the edge, or just off shore, two single 

 adult males, a pair of adults, and an adult male with two females 

 or immature males. The old males were grand birds, with 

 beautiful salmon-coloured under parts; we watched one asleep 

 with his head turned back over his shoulder. 



M. serrator. — On Grindo we saw a pair, two single drakes, 

 and a single female. Seen in life, the female, to my mind, has 

 little or no resemblance to a female Goosander ; it is a more 

 dusky bird. 



