314 Notes on the Ornithology of Norway. 



of no avail. Whether or not this part of Norway is supplied with 

 birds emigrating from Russia or other parts of the continent, or by 

 more partial emigration from its own mountains, during the severe 

 months of winter, I will not pretend to say. The previous winter 

 had been such for extreme mildness as was not remembered, so 

 little snow having fallen that the sledges were useless, and the 

 communication from the inland country cut off. 



The capercailzie we had only twice the satisfaction of seeing alive 

 in the woods ; on the hospitable board of the merchants of Dron- 

 theim more frequently. They are scarce and very difficult to pro- 

 cure, and are only obtained by the natives with the greatest perse- 

 verance, being nearly always shot with the rifle, and either during 

 the night or at the break of day : it is considered in consequence a 

 very good night's work to bring down one. They breed in the 

 mountainous parts of the forest far from any habitations, and it 

 was with the greatest difficulty we could procure the eggs. They 

 are very similar to those of our black grouse, but larger. The other 

 species of game are the black grouse ; the British ptarmigan (T. 

 lagopus,) ought scarcely to be included in a list which is intended 

 to contain those birds only which we ourselves saw, not having met 

 with a single specimen, although extremely abundant in some sea- 

 sons. Of the willow grouse (T. saliceti) we shot a pair upon one 

 of the larger islands ; they were remarkably tame, and could not be 

 urged to take flight. 



The note of the corncrake was once or twice heard. 

 The golden plover and the dotterel were in small flocks upon the 

 patches of cultivated land. The ring-dotterel often upon the sea 

 shore, the colouring of a specimen which we shot appeared to us 

 unusually bright and beautiful ; indeed, we observed this with regard 

 to several of the birds which we shot while there. Of the waders, 

 we noticed occasionally, the curlew, the whimbrel, the greenshank, 

 redshank, ruff, dunlin and purple sandpiper. We were much amus- 

 ed with what was to us quite new, with regard to some of the birds 

 just mentioned. One day we were pursuing a bird of this class, 

 and after hunting a marshy place towards which it had flown to no 

 purpose, we discovered it, much to our astonishment, seated above our 

 heads on the top of a tall tree. We found afterwards that it was 

 a common practice with the redshank and the greenshank, and 

 what surprised us more, the long legged curlew would frequently 

 alight on the top of the pine forest, and would pass from tree to tree 

 uttering its loud note. 



The oyster catcher was frequent everywhere. Numbers of them 



