82 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



this date patches of snow lay here and there on the slopes, 

 reminding us of what might otherwise have easily been forgotten, 

 that we were in the same parallel as treeless Disco on the west 

 coast of Greenland, and the frozen area of the Parry Archipelago. 

 Here the surface temperature of the sea-water of the fiord was 

 58°, that of the air 53°.* As soon as the anchor dropped, at 

 2 a.m., I went ashore, and made for the birch-woods that cover 

 the small island on which the town of Tromsoe is built. It was 

 a delightful morning, the sky clear and unclouded, with a breeze 

 just sufficient to render walking in the woods not oppressive. 

 The birch, the " lady of the woods," was then decked in tenderest 

 green, and her million leaves trembled with gentle murmur to the 

 breath of the south wind. The wild flowers grew in rich pro- 

 fusion in the meadows adjoining the sea-shore and in the dank 

 vales that ran up to the birch-clad hills. Now and again the 

 musical tinkle of a cattle-bell sounded, answered by the croak of 

 the Ravens or the merry chatter of Magpies. I walked for several 

 miles through the birch-woods before I fell in with a colony of 

 nesting Fieldfares. I saw the birds at intervals flying over the 

 trees with food in their bills. At length the harsh cries of these 

 birds, darting about amongst the branches, showed me I was close 

 to a colony, and I stood in a grove where some twenty nests were 

 visible. Many of them contained young, which the parent birds 

 were feeding, though they showed by their harsh screams that 

 they did not approve of my being there ; one nest had five fresh ' 

 eggs in it. During my ramble I did not find a Redwing's nest. 



I several times almost trod on males of the Willow Grouse, 

 Lagopus albus ; they arose at my feet with a loud cry, flew a short 

 distance, and then settled with outspread wings, and commenced 

 running about ; this to allure me from the hen bird and young, 

 which in one case I nearly stepped on. The anxiety of the mother 

 was intense : scattering her young in the first place with her feet, 

 she then ran round and round to gather them together ; at times 

 she crouched, with every feather upstanding, within a few paces 

 of me, then dashed here and there and everywhere collecting her 

 brood. I remained still until this was accomplished, and the 

 parents had departed with their young. The male bird, in his 

 white and orange-tawny plumage, is a fine-looking fellow. I found 



* Temperatures recorded in Fahrenheit. 



