8170 



Natural History Notes. 



Natural History Notes from Norway. — These notes have heen kindly forwarded 

 to me by my esteemed friend Mr. Charles Doughty, of Hiberton Hall, Suffolk, who 

 has just returned from Norway. He has been on a tour of geological research, and 

 has devoted some portion of his time in penning these interesting notes. He commences 

 thus:— "The cuckoo I heard in full call at midnight was at Tromsoe, 2° north of the 

 Arctic Circle ; it sang at intervals throughout the night. The night hour in these 

 regions, at this season, is merely an arbitrary division of time, as the sun shines 

 throughout the twenty-four hours, diffusing a sensible warmth at midnight at an ele- 

 vation of rather more than 4° above the horizon. I spent the night upon the Sound 

 shooting, and most beautiful it was, surrounded by snow-peaks, the full globe of the 

 sun shining above them, and the water so clear that I could plainly see shells and 

 other marine productions thirty or forty feet below the surface. Everything was per- 

 fectly still, except the occasional notes of the solitary cuckoo from a stunted wood 

 above the town. It was here I shot most of my eiders and the rednecked diver : they 

 are quieter at night, when the sun has less power, and can consequently be more easily 

 approached. The Norwegians call the red and blacknecked divers 'looms.' I saw 

 several altogether, but they are singularly wild and shy, being seldom shot on that 

 account. They fly very high up in the air when going from place to place, making a 

 loud cackling noise not unlike a duck : they rise from the water very awkwardly, run- 

 ning and splashing for at least fifty yards before they are fairly on the wing ; then, 

 however, they fly with amazing rapidity. They are very tough birds, and unless struck 

 on the head or wing are seldom brought down. The skua gull I shot at Bodo, a 

 little north of the Arctic Circle. There is a vast morass behind the town, and about 

 six of these birds were coursing and screaming over it; they were very shy, and after 

 many attempts T gave up all hopes of getting within range of any of them. At last I 

 quite lost my way, the town being hidden behind hills, and when wandering hopelessly 

 about I suddenly looked up and saw two sailing over my head. I immediately 

 brought down one of the birds, but the other was too quick for me, and was out of range 

 in a moment. The one I shot was only wounded, and bit at me fiercely as I went to 

 pick it up. By holding it up, when dead, at arm's length, I managed to entice its 

 mate and two or three others nearly within shot : they made great circles round me, 

 uttering, if I remember right, loud cries. Its gizzard was nearly empty ; it contained 

 a few minute fish-bones and a small quantity of decomposed or digested matter. Of 

 the eiders which I shot the gizzards of most were comparatively empty, containing the 

 merest traces of shelly matter ; whilst the others contained broken fragments of shell- 

 fish in considerable abundance. One I shot apparently in the act of swallowing, as 

 no less than three small mussels were in its throat: its gizzard was swollen to a pro- 

 digious size and perfectly hard ; on opening it I found an immense mass of shells, for 

 the most part broken up, but many nearly and others quite entire, with the animal 

 still unchanged in them : the shells were almost entirely mussels, with a few like peri- 

 winkles ; the mussels are of a very small species. In the throat of another I found a 

 crab, about an inch and a half long and one in width ; it is not the common British 

 species, but allied to the ' spider crab.' The thing that struck me so much in this was 

 the[sagacity of the bird in biting off all the legs before swallowing it! The razorbill 

 I shot a few miles from N. Cape. They congregate about Stappen Island in 

 thousands : when the sound of my gun disturbed them they rose up in ten thousands, 

 screaming and shrieking at a great height above my head, but occasionally darting 

 past almost within arm's reach. I fired about twelve times, and, though each time I 



