ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 285 



very common in all the rivers at the foot of the 

 fells, and, if they did not remain here all the win- 

 ter, must have been very early spring migrants, 

 for we saw them when we arrived, running along 

 the ice by the sides of the waterfalls, or sitting on 

 the snow banks, uttering their low, plaintive little 

 song, which always sounds to me like nothing but 

 a rehearsal. It is a cheerful little bird, and, were 

 it not for the belief that it is a great enemy to the 

 spawn of fish, must be a favourite with every 

 northern angler. 



The wheatear (Saxicola wnantlie, Nob. ; "stens- 

 quatta," Sw.). The whinchat (Saxicola rubetra, 

 Bechst. ; " busksquatta," Sw.). — Of the two the 

 wheatear seemed far more common here, and was 

 generally spread over all the lower fells. I fancy 

 it used to go much higher up than its congener 

 the whinchat. 



Of the common little Warblers, the only ones 

 I could clearly identify in this district were the 

 following (but I may add that, in these moss- 

 grown, stubby firs, and thick willow plantations, it 

 is difficult to detect these little, mice-like birds, 

 especially as they were a class of birds we did not 

 care much to look for). 



The garden warbler (Sylvia hortensis, Bechst. ; 

 " trad gard sangare," Sw.) ; the willow warbler 

 ($. trochilus, Lath.; "lof sangare," Sw.) — much 



