82 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



but our Swedish guides, after a long search, discovered the party, 

 and we crossed the lake for another tramp. During this walk we 

 saw a good many " Rvper," a flock of Redpolls (Linota), and a 

 few Teal on the mountain swamps. Four Buzzards were seen 

 in all; I believe that the Rough-legged Buzzard, Buteo lagopus, 

 is the commonest Scandinavian bird of prey. But night surprised 

 us when some six miles from our stopping-place, and we were in 

 the midst of a thick, tangled willow swamp, wet through with 

 crossing the river which ran through it, one of the tributaries of 

 the Vindel Elv, and with no boat to take us down it. So we 

 made our way up into the birch above, and having kindled a 

 roaring fire, we camped out for the night. 



Aug. 17th. A thick hoar-frost had fallen during the night, 

 but it soon melted, and our men having found the boat, which 

 they missed the night before, we proceeded down the river, which 

 for a northern stream has here an extremely flat and sinuous 

 course between high banks fringed with dense willow scrub. 

 Here we passed a good many Teal and Wigeon, including a few 

 " flappers " that sought refuge under the banks. Presently we 

 entered a small lake which seemed a paradise for ducks, so many 

 did we see. Within the twenty-five minutes which we took to 

 cross this lake, whose weedy bottom seemed a good feeding place 

 for trout, we saw perhaps fifty ducks, mostly Wigeon, Teal, and 

 Wild Duck, though perhaps there were other species among them. 

 Several Sandpipers were running along the shores, and a Snipe 

 was seen. Passing down a few runs of broken water, we reached 

 a larger lake, where we saw more ducks, amongst which we 

 distinguished some Goldeneyes. We saw one or two Buzzards, 

 and a bird on the water, which, from its size, was probably a 

 Goose of some kind. We arrived in the evening at a settlement 

 of Swedish Bonders, which boasted a chapel; here I saw two 

 Divers flying high in the air and uttering their harsh cry, 

 *' kakera," which is said to predict rain. 



Aug. 18th. We were now in the zone of firs, and, as the 

 Red -throated Divers predicted, the rain fell. The mosquitoes 

 were very troublesome. Several Divers (Lomme) and Wigeon 

 were seen ; but fishing, and not travelling, was the order of the 

 day. Sandpipers and a Kestrel were the only other birds seen, 

 and I did not observe any Fieldfares, which hitherto were seen 

 daily. House Martins build here in great numbers, as the Swedish 



