Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/324

274 over the lake when we first arrived, quacking and somewhat excited. We made sure that they had a nest on the island, but were unable to find it either there or round the margin of the lake. We did not see them there again. A single drake flew down the river past our camp one evening.

(Mareca penelope).—On one or two occasions we saw a single Wigeon in the river, and on July 3rd we found near the same place the Duck swimming with her brood of about eight young. We never saw them again.

(Querquedula crecca).—One was seen by a pool near the river, and a feather, probably belonging to a bird of this species, was picked up near another tarn.

(Lagopus albus).—Considering how hard these birds are to put up without a dog, and that at this time of year they were solitary or in pairs, there must have been a very fair sprinkling of them both in the woods and in the scrub on the fjeld. Hardly a day passed without we put up one or more in the course of our rambles. Two nests of seven and ten eggs respectively were brought in by the Finns, and we came across a nest of eleven eggs on July 1st. It was simply a hollow scratched out of the dead leaves under a fallen birch, and the hen ran off on our approach with dropping wings and excited duckings; she ran along in front of us for some distance, and could not be made to fly. All the eggs were considerably incubated.

(Eudromias morinellus).—We came across in all about four pairs of these delightful little birds, scattered in single pairs over a vast expanse of fjeld. One pair which we saw several times at about the same place possibly had young, though they never took much notice of us, and ran about or went to sleep on one leg quite unconcernedly within a few yards of us. Having found one of these birds that is certainly nesting, there is no bird of this group whose nest is easier to find. This was illustrated very well by the first nest we found. On June 26th, while walking over the fjeld, we topped a small rise, and immediately caught sight of a Dotterel running, with drooping wings and head straight out in front, directly away from us at about twenty yards distance. A short search failing to reveal the nest, we retired below the rise again, and almost immediately saw the bird fly back to the point where we had first seen her; giving her five minutes to settle down, we walked towards the place; she at once ran off as before, but this time, being able to mark the spot more accurately, we were able to find the nest without any difficulty. It was a mere depression in the reindeer-moss, and contained three partially incubated eggs; they were of the light stone-coloured variety, with bold