298 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



and their monotonous call-note, " cree, cree," 

 was heard from every tree. In some parts of the 

 north the brambling is called " har sparf," because 

 they say that the grey ling or "harr" come up 

 from the deeps as soon as this bird appears. 

 When they first arrived they seemed to be in full 

 summer dress. We took our first nest on June 2. 

 As far as I could see, the nest was always placed 

 in a small fir, generally six to ten feet from the 

 ground, very like that of the chaffinch, built out- 

 wardly of moss and fine grass, thickly lined with 

 feathers of the willow grouse, deep and cup- shaped, 

 but hardly so neat and pretty as that of the chaf- 

 finch. Six eggs appear to be about the full 

 number, though I have often seen seven in one 

 nest. The eggs are very like those of the chaffinch, 

 but generally a trifle smaller, darker in the ground 

 colour, and the purple lines and dots more coloured. 

 Still the greatest caution is required in identifying 

 the eggs, for where both these birds breed in the 

 same district the nests may easily be confounded ; 

 and this was a nest which I would always take 

 myself, and see the old bird. I got plenty of these 

 nests, and could have had as many more had I 

 wanted them. 



Like the mealy redpole, there was a little mys- 

 tery regarding the breeding of the brambling. We 

 took our first nest on June 2, and again as late as 



