9 6 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



skmbe. j^g skrabe is a middle-fized Sea-bird ; fo called, becaufe it 



fcrapes or digs itfelf a hole down in the ground, ,or in grave! 

 and fand betwixt the flones, to make its neft like the Pope or 

 Ar£lick Duck. It lies there, not as other Birds, on its belly, 

 but on its back; Lucas Debes gives an account, p. 153, that 

 on Farroe, where this kind are moft frequent, the people eat 

 their young ones, of which they have annually but one, and 

 fay that it is fatter than a fed Goofe ; which is the more remark- 

 able, becaufe it is fed hy the mother only at nights, and does 

 not fee her all day. Any thing further I do not know of this 

 Bird 

 skue. The Skue, or Black Diver, is in make and form like a large 



Gull, and 'tis coal-black like a Raven. It lives in the manner as 

 has been faid of the Jo-fuglen ; not by fifhing for it, for he is 

 not able to dive ; but by robbing other Birds of what they have 

 caught : he purines them one after another, beats them with 

 his wings, and does not leave them till they let flip what they 

 have got, and he catches it in the fall ; how they manage with 

 their young I have not been able to learn ; but all agree that 

 they are very fierce when any one approaches their neft, and are 

 not afraid to lay hold with their beak, and give hard blows with 

 their wings. The fowlers therefore are forced to make ufe of 

 knives fometimes to defend themfelves, againft which the Birds 

 fly, and are killed. 

 snee.fugi. The Snee-fugl, or Winter-fugl, the Snow-bird, fo called 



becaufe they appear at the latter end of the Winter, or againll 

 the Spring, when there is much fnow, and are not feen any more 

 flying about when the Summer advances ; they are always in 

 the country. They live in the cracks of the higheft rocks, and feed 

 upon worms, flies, and infeas. The form of this Bird is like a 

 large Gull, or fomethmg larger ; 'tis black and white : the hen 

 is more inclinable to grey, the head is large and round. 

 gncppe. The Sneppe, or Snipe ; called alfo Scalopax, Langfnabel, on 



account of his long beak, is of a middling fize, as big again as a 

 Chaffinch, and excellent to eat when it is fat : fome call them 

 Myr-Snepper, becaufe they live in mofTes and on heaths. Thefe 

 are brown, and have a little black on the back. The Wood- 

 Snipe is much of the fame kind, but is reckoned better for 

 food, and wholefomer. The Strand-Snipe is theleafr; 'tis of a 

 light colour, and almoft like a Gull ; it lives on fhell-fifh, 

 worms, and fmall fifh along the coaft. Each of thefe kinds may 

 be divided again into three orfour forts, but the^ difference is but 

 fmall, and what I am not enough acquainted with. The Snipe 



is 



