Page:Christmas Fireside Stories.djvu/98

86 of the setting moon we saw one shadow after the other of these birds passing over the tops of the trees. We heard the unpleasant braying of the snipe, now near to us, now far off, now high up in the air, now right over our heads, and suddenly it seemed close to our ears, now on all sides, still without our being able to catch sight of the bird. But the shrill wild cry of the heron overpowered the cries of all the other birds, whom it seemed to terrify; they were silent the moment they heard it, and a silence followed which made the interruption doubly unpleasant. At this moment the woodlark commenced his morning song with his clear ringing notes, which in the darkness of the night reminded us of the bright approaching dawn, and formed a cheerful contrast to the ghostly flight and un pleasant notes of the nocturnal birds.

"There goes the capercailzie bell, as the Swedes call this merry little bird," said the captain. "As soon as he starts singing, the capercailzie commences its morning hymn in its roosting-place; Let us remain here a while; we are not far away from the birds that came to roost so late last night. By going nearer we might easily frighten them away."

After having listened for a few minutes, we heard a capercailzie playing a couple of hundred paces off.

"I almost think it is the fellow that came last and snapped his beak," said Peter; "I really wonder if he won't get a dressing. The old one hasn't generally a short memory."

The captain gave me the choice of going in the direction where we heard the bird playing, or of going more to the north where he expected the younger birds were roosting. I chose the first, and the captain went in a northerly direction. Peter and I quietly approached the capercailzie, and carefully avoided making any noise by treading on the snow or the dry crackling branches. Every time we heard the bird commence the first part of his love song we stopped for a moment, but as soon as he had done the gobble and began snapping his beak we advanced rapidly two or three paces each time. When he went on with the first strain again, and while he did the gobble, we remained of course motionless. When we in this manner had arrived within a distance of