frequenting the mountains, the other keeping to the plain. In
fummer they'are o f the colour they are feen elfewhere, but in
winter they have white feathers ; and when they lie half covered
with fnow, they are fcarcely difcernible from it. Partridges are
taken by the Laplanders in great numbers after the following
manner : a low hedge is made with twigs of the birch-tree, openings
being left a t fmall diftances ju ft large enough for the birds to
creep through. In thefe openings fprings are placed of cows’ hair,
with a running noofe ; and the partridges, coming to feed on the
buds of the birchen boughs, and endeavouring to paß thefe holes,
are taken in the fnare.
Pigeons and doves (called by the natives o f Norway ringel due)
are found in many parts of Finmark, and on the borders of Ruffia,
but they are by no means a common bird. There is a kind of
plover f charadrius) which, in the Danifh language, is called broi-
fu g l, much admired for the glofly black of its feathers, and the
¿delicacy of its flelh. This bird is very common in Denmark, and
frequently found in Finmark ; it appears early in the ipring, and
is not feen after the fummer is pail, during which time it makes
its neil, and breeds its young, which have at firil brown fpotted
feathers that are afterwards replaced by black. O f this bird there
are found fome varieties, which have different names.
Befides thefe, there are feveral forts o f thrufhes, the flelh of
which is thought to be delicate. There are likewife woodcocks,
fnipes, fnow birds, linnets, goldfinches, lilkins, and a variety of
other imall birds. The cuckoo is found hère, but the llarling,
the
the houfe fparrow, and fome other birds common to other countries,
are not to be met with.
T h e fwan is found amongil the fea-fowls, and taken by the
Laplanders in fnares contrived for the purpofe.
The wild, or, as it is called in Norway, the gray goofe, is a yearly
vifiter in the fummer feafon, and takes up its relidence in the
fmaller uninhabited iflands on the fea-coaft, where it breeds: in
autumn it leaves Finmark, and returns fouthward, accompanied
by its young. In thefe flights the wild geefe are formed into fo
regular a body, as to appear to be conducted by a leader, a Angle
goofe feemingly bringing up the rear. They are obferved to have
particular llages or refting places in their migration, where they
remain for nights, and fometimes whole days, placing a goofe as
centry, to be on the watch, and give an alarm upon the approach
of an enemy. Notwithftanding the extraordinary warmefs of this
fowl, the Laplanders ihoot great numbers with their pieces, and
take many more by various devices: they are often furprifed in
their retreatSj when, owing to their having ihed their wing feathers,
they are unable to fly, and become an ealy prey to their
puriuers, who hunt them yearly during the time they remain in
this Hate. There is a variety of this fowl called the Finmark
goofe, which differs both in fize and colour from the wild iort.
Of ducks there is in Finmark a very great diverflty; amongil
thefe the moll remarkable is the eider duck, called in the language
of Norway, the edder fu g j. Thefe are found in large numbers,
and fometimes feen in flocks of a thoufand. Their down feathers