276 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



under a willow bush on June 28th, but on our return to camp we found 

 that he had boiled and eaten them, hard-set as they were ! 



Eedshank (T.calidris). — There were several pairs of Eedshanks on 

 the upper reaches of the river, and also on some of the marshes on the 

 fjeld, both to the north and south. They all, by their actions, had 

 young, but we did not trouble to search for them. 



Greenshank (T. cajiescens). — We saw altogether three pairs of 

 Greenshanks in the valley, all near the lower end. Two pairs were 

 together in a very wefc marsh in the woods, and the third pair in a 

 similar place, about a mile distant from the others. Of all the waders, 

 except perhaps the Wood- Sandpiper, the Greenshank is the noisiest 

 and most restless. All these pairs probably had young, and seemed to 

 spend their whole time either flying round or sitting on the tops of 

 dead birches, whistling and chattering continuously. When we were 

 near they all joined in mobbing us ; when we hid up they mobbed 

 every passing Magpie or Crow, and, when there was no Magpie or 

 Crow, each pair seemed to be mobbing the other. The young must 

 have been squatting somewhere in the tussocks of the marsh, or in the 

 wood near ; but in the thick wood that surrounded the marsh on every 

 side, it was impossible to keep the birds under observation for more 

 than a few minutes at a time ; while the mosquitoes that accompanied 

 us in a grey cloud wherever we went immediately got to work in 

 thousands directly we sat down, and made bird-watching an almost 

 unbearable torture. 



Whimbrel (Numenius phceopus). — On several occasions, when on the 

 fjeld, a flock of six or eight Whimbrels flew up from a long distance 

 off, and settled near us, feeding as often on the dry moss as in a wet 

 place. Only once did we come across a single bird, and that was on 

 July 3rd ; she rose a good distance in front, but flew away silently and 

 low, and settled some way off. Thinking she had risen from the nest, 

 we marked the spot, and hid up behind some rocks about two hundred 

 yards away ; she was soon joined by her mate, who flew up, whistling 

 loudly, from some distance off. Keeping our glasses constantly on her, 

 we saw her run about for a long time, and then fly back to the place 

 from which she rose first, but settled some way off, and then ran to the 

 top of a ridge, where she stood for a quarter of an hour, with her neck 

 stretched up to its fullest extent, keeping a careful watch for any signs 

 of danger. When she had finally satisfied herself that all was right, 

 she ran straight down the ridge towards us, and, much to our delight, 

 we saw her settle down on the moss in almost the exact spot that we 

 thought she had originally risen from. On rising, we had hardly taken 

 two steps before she was off again, flying away exactly as she had done 



