* 4
Thfe AarfngL
Winter-Quarters.
N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y o f N O R W A T.
After this general'account óf the-Norway Birds, I pnapofe-’now
to enumerate feyerally^aU thofe forts-thatl halve tfeget
'any~fatisfa£lory- intelligence about; and- that, as 'has been faid,
in alphabetical order, according to their Norway names. :
; S\E C T. IV.
Aarfugl, Urhane, Urogallus, or Tetrao minor,; the Growfe, *is
jfhaped not unlike to a common cock, but black or dark brown
in colour, and red about the eyes: the hen is much lefs brownifh,
with black fpots *. Their refort is in woods and rocks;' and they
live .upon buds óf trees, the catkins of, birch and the 4-ike; their
flefh is wholefome and well-tailed, and therefore they are/ififety
much followed by the fportfmen. In the Winter they takeysare
of themfelves in this manner; they firft fill tfeir oraw with .as
much food as it will hold, fo that it hangs like a bag! under their
neck, whereby they are provided with fomething^todiyB upQfidbr
fome timëij then they’ll drop themfelves, döwn<m-the;foft-ïhbw
and don’t flay in their firft hole, but undermine and burrow an
the fnow, fdme fathoms from ; and there-they make a fmall
opening, for the bill, and thus they „lie-warm ^a-nd comfortable
together : but the huntfman difturbs them in their Winter
quarters thus.; he looks ©ut for the place where he finds t;he»fno.w
appear^s if it were funk inland there he puMiet-dowiifa-pdle
with a fpread net at the end of. it, into which , the poor-feared
birds fly, and then are drawn np. . ?
The moll convenient time for ■ fhooting them is in the Spring
of the year, early at fun-rifing; for then the Bird sties -on\the
fmooth and flat ground, from whence it is calièd Leeg-V oid;
for it is.in the nature of-it,.at thatrfeafon, to-be -quite heedlëfs,
through its amorous difpolition, and with its eyes--{hut iV'lies
crowing or chirping for. thé .hèrf There-commonly lie .-three
or four, or more, together ; fo that there is a good mark: if th e
cock, falls then all th©;hens fly away ;ifuhe -glands ftill
crowing, and appears to he ftupid, as is fometimes *the cafe, they
fhpot again: from the cock’s-bill at that time runs a. flfPng
feum or froth,. which the hens peck up eagerly, and that i& all
according to the opinion of many, which ferves for procreation;
but others deny the laft, and fay they have feen them copulate in
the ordinary manner, which appears moft credible.
* Mas a Foemina in tantum difFert, ut duorum generum hujufmodi return imperito
-videri póflint". Immo Gefne'ro etiam ipfi viias funt, FayS Frandifciis WiMugbeWipIri
Orhitha^';LiË; iji ?ap. xii. §, i-r; p.-.**$.- where -theft Tort 'ef BirdsOif&Safflëd
Tetrao Minor.
Aker-
N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y of N O R W A Y. 65
Ak$d»By-& fort offma'll Bird, which* in the Spring ajipears ^ AkedoJ
plowed land, an^ pfell’s Up the, WotrUs ; 4 he.y look,!>a good-'deal
iik£ a Heilbe; (whicMfrau be hereafter-noticedjMfrf khey are
fomfething lefs.
I Aker Rixe,. or jVagtei Konge, are-called- here by fome Ag<fr-Aker
Hone, tho’ ikynuft '%Qt b|'tak-en'fa£ the Bird to which' wV give
that name in Denmark; for' fueh .%,tfdfi Ager-Hons ar#not - found
in ‘Norway; asd knowfoFV. 1.1$ j.$)lnade a gl^Vdeal like, a Snbppe,
brownifh, with' af pretty lbngifh* neck an d 'leg s,; but/'of the
bjgnefs of a KsrarfiSfrfgl; ik- flefh is >whi«% an'd c l ’' al?dt^ic^eJtafteV ’ 1
-edm ® h fg h * en'oU g h ; for them Vo hi^e^themlelm.
in, then they’ll flay and hatch their young ones there ; with th eir'
bill they make a kind of noife | like fawing b l’e^tin^Vom^thihg
hard, which uncalled to- rixe,* and Vrpm thence; the-‘Bird has
'ip^rtSme.!
: ^ril-ike, Kaa, Kaye, |Kaage,' Monedul4kth‘e*Jackdaw, f6methirig’'4H.i£«.
like a finall Grow, 'is'- caHed alfd-Corriix OarrUlay becMfo they' earr
b ep au g h t to fpeak a few. words';,- this Bird builds high, and
gathers -in, g re a tflig h ts ! ■ together by the - nameg they fmdy '‘be
eafily confounded with-the followiHgf tha*%liiy are 'very%ffifefe1it?
from it.
Aik;-this isa'Bird peciirliat to'this;country; aAd f<Vk|*fea(he'r4 M * ’;•
feyj ufeful ;Vis- as big as a-large;duck,J but nafroWer in the'breaft ;
tfleTlegs ftand clofer together, and the wihgs'are leE !j They are
diftinguifhed ifito two forts by the beak; it-is on-fome longifh
and nafrow ; in-others thick, fhort, and bent ,d i| the.back; 'it is
black, excepting-at the eifds of thei vving^and tail, which are
white,-as well-as all-underneath; and' from- the'ey es there goes a ,
white"ftripe- all down- the neckf. "They, cart fifh and fwim
Seyona1 triany- Other, ‘hut 'iare-. very weak- at flying- or walking*
bpcaufe the - legs-are as if they Were upon the'rump;; foVVyfar
bfehind, that it-is troublefome. to. movenhen^-on land-; the Bird
therefore totters like a drunken- man: ’ on this account is the
faying, He is-sas drunk as an 'A-lk. The- wings are of-no great
ufe,-and for that reafon it is .eafily taken-on the neft. They
always build by'the fqa-fide, on .the higheft and fteepeft^rocts; or
* P-.S- I am juft informed by a good friend, that till about twenty years iince there
liever were feen any Ager-hons in this country; about that time they appeared like a
colony, moft likely from Bahus-Lehn in Sweden, ..and perhaps firft from Skaane.
Thefe fixed, themfelves here and in Smaalehnene, and'fo on farther fiuite to Ghriftiana,
a®d fpread themfelves; particularly after they .were as it were taken into prote&ion,. by
the king’s-order, and had. three years' privileges from being deft toyed. “
. t. The Aik’s bill is particularly deferibed by Frid. Martens, in his:Spitzbergenlke
Travels, cap. ii. p. $4, feq. where it appears under the name of Papagey-
Taucher. ' •
Part. II. S efiffs,