Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/80

56 the purple and golden hues of the northern twilight. Gulls were still playing above the shoals of fish, a Cormorant flapped along the water, and a Black Guillemot rose from a dive. Next morning, by contrast, was fresh and overcast, and as we crossed the Arctic Circle the snow-patches became more numerous. Arctic Terns passed us beating up the channel, as we neared the seaward front of the lion-like Rödö. Skuas were seen at frequent intervals, and I watched the amusing performance so often described by visitors to this coast. Screams of a Common Gull drew my attention: a Skua was hot in chase. Its tail was spread kestrel-wise, showing the projecting middle tail-feathers. It swooped and grappled, putting down its feet to tackle the Gull. The latter settled on the water, but the Skua kept making feints at it, till a Lesser Black-back joined in and chased the two. Finally the Gull reached a rock, and its persecutor sheered off.

As we steered to seaward to round the promontory of Kunnen, I heard a Whimbrel, and three Scoters flew past in company with Eiders. Numerous Puffins rose before the vessel. The islands just outside Bödö were swarming with Eiders. With them were Oystercatchers, Gulls of two or three species, and a pair of Red-throated Divers. As we anchored off the little town of Bödö, with its wharves and shipping, a Raven flew past. About 2 p.m. we saw the wild Matterhorn peaks of Kjaerring, outposts of the grand district of the Folden Fjord. The vessel steered through the Gissund, a narrow strait with clear green water. Here were whole fleets of Eiders, at least one of the old birds followed by young ones. Oystercatchers ran over the stones and seaweed; a White-tailed Eagle rose from the rocky shore, and flapped slowly past our stern. It was an immature bird, its back splashed with lighter colour, and its tail not yet white. We now steered out into the Vest Fjord, and tossed and rolled over thirty miles of open water to Svolvaer in the Lofotens. Black-backs and a Skua followed the vessel. A short run ashore added only one species, the Wheatear, to our list. Later in the evening, as we skirted this lofty coast, Herring Gulls appeared. They seem to avoid the more land-locked waters farther south, where the vessel was followed by Common Gulls and Lesser Black-backs only.

On the morning of the 12th, as we neared Tromsö, the savage