Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/87

Rh Passer domesticus.—As Mr. Aplin remarks, House Sparrows are scarce at Tromsö. On July 14th I noted one in the street. Three days later, as we touched at Havnaes on the Ulö, half a dozen Sparrows were chirping on the roof of a warehouse by the landing-stage, and next day we saw plenty at Skjervö. Both localities are farther north than Tromsö; so that the reason of their scarcity at the latter place does not appear.

Emberiza citrinella.—Several Yellow-hammers were singing at Lyngseidet as we landed, shortly after midnight on the morning of the 17th. On the 25th I saw one amongst the birches not far from Svolvaer.

E. schœniclus.—Young Reed-Buntings, not long out of the nest, were once or twice detected in hiding amongst the willow scrub. Thus, on the 15th, there were some just able to fly near the Lapp camp.

Plectrophanes nivalis.—On July 13th we ascended the Flöifjeld, a hill lying opposite to Tromsö just across the strait. It rises to a height of about 2500 ft. Above the zone of creeping birch we met with a great variety of small herbaceous plants of arctic and alpine type, including almost all the characteristic species of our Highland and Lake District summits. An Arctic Hare, in blue grey summer dress, was seen for a moment as it stole away, and amongst the grass were the runs and droppings of the Lemmings. After gaining the shoulder of the hill, our way led over bare stony tracts of fjeld, with a very gradual rise towards the summit. We had just passed a herd of about sixty Reindeer, when, as we came to a more broken rocky part of the slope, the Snow Bunting's call-note drew attention to a male bird of this species perched upon a boulder. We soon discovered that there were about two families of them,— the old cocks in full black and white livery, hen birds, and young ones which had not long left the nest. It has been remarked that, to one who has only known him in winter in the south, to come across the Snow Bunting in his summer quarters is like making the acquaintance of a new bird. Again, on July 25th, after a fatiguing ascent of one of the mountains near Svolvaer, under an almost tropical sun and through jungles of lady fern six feet in height, as we at length gained the ridge and rested on its northern side, where in the shade several large snow patches still lay unmelted, a twittered