of the Saxkoimo ! ; thus it frequents open situations, but, upon being disturbed, flies to the nearest scrub 
or patch of herbage, in Avbicb it either secretes itself or passes through to the other side and makes off 
to a distance, but not far enough to prevent the upward and downward movement of the tail being seen, 
or the upright position of the male — in which it resembles the Wheatears. Mr. Wolf, who accompanied 
me to the celebrated Snee Haetten range of mountains, on the 1st of July accidentally discovered some 
young birds which were just forward enough to hop out of the nest — a great prize to me, who had 
never before seen the bird at this age in a state of nature. Those who are acquainted with the nestling- 
plumage of the Robin would Immediately perceive, on an examination of the young of this species, that 
there must be an intimate alllanee between the two, the colour and markings of both being precisely similar; 
or if there be any difference, it consists in the buffy striations being somewhat longer and more conspicuous, 
and in the bill also being a trifle longer, in the young of the present species than in that of its near ally. 
The nest w'e did not find ; but it is stated to be cup-shaped, and placed in a depression of the ground, by 
the side of a stone or at the foot of a tree. Not having myself had an opportunity of becoming acquainted 
with this part of tbe bird’s economy from personal observation, it will be well to give the account published 
by Mr. Wheelwright, from notes made by him in the district of Quickiock, in Lapland, several degrees 
further north than tbe Dovrefjeld : — 
“Contrary to my expectations, this handsome little Warbler is rare in this district, and very local. I 
think it arrives latest of all the Warblers ; for I did not see one till early in June, when they came dropping 
in singly, stayed a few days in the lowlands, and then made their way up at once to the flat swampy 
meadows at the foot of and between the fells. Here, among the stunted willow-bushes, always near water, 
you may see the female creeping from branch to branch like a mouse, while the male, perched on the top 
of a high bush or a dead tree, trills out his clear, loud, rich song, which is certainly louder than that of 
any other Warbler, and well deserves its Lapp name of '■sadden kiellinen,' or ‘ hundred tongues.’ It is totally 
different from anything I ever heard before, and it is quite impossible to describe it on paper. The nest is 
most difficult of detection; and I only procured two, on the 27th of June, on one of which I caught the 
old female. Both were built in the ground, and were quite open, or without shelter of any kind. They 
were formed of dry grass, were deep and cup-shaped. Each contained six eggs, of a pale bluish green, 
minutely spotted with reddish brown, giving them a rusty appearance. Young fliers were shot near the end of 
July. The habits of this Warbler are certainly more aquatic than those of the Redstart, in proof of which I 
may mention that on the 3rd of August, 1863, 1 shot a female while beating a meadow in Wernland for Double 
Snipe. From what I saw^ of the bird in Norway, I should have inferred that it is not a frequenter of the 
drier parts of the countries it inhabits, and that arable lands do not tempt it to exhibit its blue throat for the 
envy of the sombre-tinted Lark, or to contrast its colours with the red breast of the Robin. Its peculiar 
silken plumage indicates, indeed, that low swampy grounds are the localities in which it loves to dwell : 
beneath the canopy of overgrowing shrubs, in water-courses, or in gardens with huge cabbages, and fields 
of turnips, under the great leaves of which it can shelter itself from observation and find an abundant supply 
of inseet food, are also situations it affects. 
“As autumn approaches, it leaves its breeding-grounds as suddenly as it appeared in spring; but whither 
it goes, as whence it came, is equally unknown. Any one of my readers who is attaehed to the study of 
birds, and can brave the keen air of the Dovre, would do well to proceed thither, make himself acquainted 
with the bird in a state of nature, and furnish us with the result of his observations. At Hjerkin he will 
find a comfortahle hospice, and every attention from the kind-hearted people of that elevated region.” 
Mr. Alfred Newton tells me that in Lapland, towards the close of the summer, this species resorts to the 
immediate neighbourhood of houses and barns, showing as much familiarity with mankind at that time of 
the year as the Redbreast constantly does. 
On referring to my ‘Journal in Norway,’ I find the following note : — “ A conspicuous feature of this bird in 
the breeding-season is the bright yellow colouring of the gape, which offers a strong cojistrast to the black of 
the bill and the blue of the breast ; in the female the same part and the basal half of tbe bill is dull orange, 
w'hlle in the young it is of a pulpy wdiite, except at the extreme base, where it is yellow.” 
The Plate represents the twm sexes, of the natural size, with one of the most interesting of our bog-plants, 
the Parnassia palustris. 
