The Birds of Angmagsalik. 215 
better than the winter, as except for the past two weeks we have not 
had much else than rain, fog and wind.” 
Like the climate as a whole, the snow-fall varies very much. Some 
winters only a little falls, and then only late in the season; in others 
the country may be covered with several feet of snow in November, 
and there may be so much that it is not melted by July Ist. In April 
the snow begins to melt on the mountain sides, while May is the month 
when it really melts in earnest. The layer of ice in gulfs and fjords also 
varies very much; ice certainly begins to form in November—December, 
but heavy gales break it up again. Not until February or March does 
a more durable layer form, and sometimes this breaks up as early as 
in April, although it does sometimes last until May or June. Owing 
to the shape of the coast, however, with its numerous sounds through 
which there is a strong current, there are always open places even when 
the ice-layer lasts a long time; these are the so-called “current-runs”’ 
and, of course, they play an important part in the life of the birds. 
The field-ice, as the belt of ice-floes and ice-fields, often many miles 
broad, is called, brought from other districts by the current down along 
the coast of East Greenland, is fairly regular in its occurrence, although 
the quantity of ice may vary greatly. Owing to the situation of Апо- 
magsalik on a stretch of the coast which runs almost east-west, and 
on account of particular current conditions, this district is less besieged 
by field-ice than the remainder of East Greenland, and here the ice- 
belt is often comparatively scattered. 
From November until the end of May the field-ice most often lies 
in a belt several miles broad along the coast—densely packed in against 
the land or further out to sea according to the direction of the wind. 
In June the ice begins to scatter and disappear, and this is continued 
in July, August and September; in this latter and the following month, 
but particularly in October, there is usually an entire absence of field- 
ice, which however again begins to appear in November; some years 
it happens, however, that it does not wholly disappear. During the 
winter the field-ice is occasionally driven on shore and forms one mass 
with the ice in the fjords and gulfs, but it is seldom that this happens. 
The trading station of Angmagsalık must also be said to be favour- 
ably situated for the observation of the birds, as it lies on the south 
side of Angmagsalik Island, just to the west of the narrow mouth of 
a gulf, Tasiusak (King Oscar’s Haven), which stretches almost half a mile 
inland and is just as broad. Round here the land is fairly low with 
abundant vegetation, one of the most luxuriant places known on the 
east coast. At the back of the gulf are three smaller gulfs, into which 
run streams from some large lakes farther inland and abounding in 
fish. There are a few small islands in Tasiusak, and on the east side is 
