66 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



cliffs, whither thofe bold and venture fome bird-catchers purfue 

 N^ber!" 2 tnem i an d mi d 5°r 80* or ioo pair, fitting interchangeably 

 upon one anothers eggs. Thefe referable hens eggs, and if they 

 do not grow cold, at the expiration of 14 days the young are 

 hatched, and in 14. days more they are fit to go to the fea with 

 the old ones* Their number is fo great, that L. Debes, in his 

 Defcription of Faroe, p. 133, fays they hide the fun like a cloud, 

 when they fly out from the rocks, and the noife of their wings 

 makes a roaring in the air like a florm. It is faid in the fame 

 place, that they have annually but one young one ; but my 

 obfervers inform me that they find two eggs in the neft, and 

 that is little enough, in regard to the great number that is 

 annually catched and fhot ; fo that our Creator's oeconomy is alfo 

 here aftonifhing. The A Ik is counted the greateft herring- 

 fifher, and they will dive, according to our Strandfiddere's 

 atteftations, 20 fathoms deep under the water : they have fome- 

 times the misfortune to miftake, and bite hold of a fiflta-hook, and 

 fo are drawn up from that depth as fifh. 

 Various kinds ^ nc l we fave here, befide the well-known common tame 

 ones, various forts of Wild Ducks, and thefe again are divided 

 in certain fpecies ; fome keep in frefh water, and don't care 

 to go to the fea, excepting in neceflity. Some have fharp- 

 pointed bills, which differ again in colour, being black and 

 brown ; of which the laft are fomewhat imaller, and are often 

 tufted. Both forts lay many eggs, more than any other Birds, 

 namely,- a© or 25 ; and when the young ones are hatched, then 

 the Drake flies away; and if, by any accident, they become 

 motherlefs too, it has been obferved, that others of the fame 

 kind have taken care of the poor forlorn young ones, as if they 

 were their own ; a good leffon for us human creatures. 



One of the broad- bill'd Wild Ducks is called Huiin or 

 Quiin-iEnder, becaufe it whines or fqueaks in the air, when it 

 takes flight. The Drake is black and white, with a tuft and a 

 white ring about his eyes upon the black ; for which reafon they 

 are alfo called Ringoyer, and (he is brown or greyifh; thefe live 

 moftly upon fnails, mufcles, and the like ; thefe are not feen 

 longer than the Spring. Some are called Mort-iEnder or Fisk- 

 ffinder, becaufe they live by ducking for fmall fifh. Their 

 fhape is like the former, excepting that the Drake is more 

 ftreaked on the back part of his neck ; and there is a feather 

 ftanding out about a finger's length: they lay 12, or 18 eggs: 

 There are alfo fome called Knek-JEnder, becaufe they feek for a 

 fort of berries called Knekke-bser; or, according to the opinion 



of 



