CONCERNING LAPLAND, 
231 
the houfe fparrow, and fome other birds common to other coun¬ 
tries, are not to be met with. 
The fwan is found amongft the fea*fowls, and taken by the 
Laplanders in fnarcs contrived for the purpofe. 
The wild, or, as it is called in Norway, the gray goofe, is a yearly 
vifiter in the fummcr feafon, and takes up its refidence in the 
fmaller uninhabited iflands on the fea-coaft, where it breeds: in 
autumn it leaves Finmark, and returns fouthward, accompanied 
by its young. In thefe flights the wild geefe are formed into fo 
regular a body, as to appear to be conducted by a leader, a fmgle 
goofe feemingly bringing up the rear. They are obferved to have 
particular flages or refting places in their migration, where they 
remain for nights, and fometimes whole days, placing a goofe as 
centry, to be on the watch, and give an alarm upon the approach 
of an enemy. Notwithftanding the extraordinary warinefs of this 
fowl, the Laplanders fhoot great numbers with their pieces, and 
take many more by various devices: they are often furprifed in 
their retreats, when, owing to their having fhed their wing fea- 
T 
thers, they are unable to fly, and become an eafy prey to their 
purfuers, who hunt them yearly during the time they remain in 
this Rate. There is a variety of this fowl called the Finmark 
goofe, which differs both in fize and colour from the wild fort. 
Of ducks there is in Finmark a very great diverfity; amongfl: 
thefe the moft remarkable is the elder duck, called in the language 
of Norway, the edderfugl. Thefe are found in large numbers, 
and fometimes feen in flocks of a thoufand. Their down feathers 
2 
are 
