OBNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORWAY. 61 



Motacilla alba, — The White Wagtail was not very numerous 

 at Tromso, though on July 20th we noted eight roosting side by 

 side on a sloop at anchor in the strait. There were several about 

 the shore at Lyngseidet; two were seen at Skjervo, and one at 

 Svolvaer. 



M. borealis. — The Northern Yellow Wagtail was noted the 

 day after our arrival, when one rose from the willow scrub by the 

 shore of the strait near Storstennaes. Next day we saw several 

 on Grindo. One much-excited pair led us to make a search, 

 with the result that we caught a young one just able to fly, and 

 saw another. 



Anthuspratensis.— The satisfactory determination of Norwegian 

 Pipits is well known to be a matter of no small difficulty. I 

 examined some scores with the field-glass upon the bogs and 

 crowberry " barrens " in the hope of detecting the Bed-throated 

 Pipit, but all appeared to be of the present species. Some 

 Meadow Pipits were feeding young, but the majority had eggs, 

 doubtless a second brood ; and so numerous were they that in 

 the Tromsdal we stumbled across three nests in the course of 

 about half an hour. Upon Grindo a boy showed us a nest with 

 six eggs in a clump of moss and Empetrum. We watched for 

 the return of the bird, much bitten by Mosquitoes the while, and, 

 though she did not turn out to be the wished-for Red-throated 

 Pipit, it was interesting to note the artless and unconcerned 

 manner in which the bird, under pretence of feeding, stole up to 

 the nest. 



A. obscurus rupestris. — The Norwegian Rock-Pipit cannot be 

 numerous in the part of the Nordiand which we visited, as, 

 though constantly upon the look-out for it and frequently about 

 rocky shores well suited to its requirements, I only met with it 

 at Svolvaer. 



Accentor modularis. — The Hedge-Sparrow seems to be a shy 

 bird in Norway, keeping to the cover of birch and willow. One 

 was singing at Lyngseidet on the morning of July 17th, and 

 another the same day at Skjervo. A third, heard in Lofoten on the 

 25th, was also singing in an unfrequented spot far from the village. 



Pyrrhula major. — On July 12th, a wet day spent in a first 

 exploration of Tromso Island, I twice heard the low piping note 

 of this species as we pushed through the birch woods. 



