mines were worked for many years at a loss; but about the year 1768 they yielded a very handsome profit. Sometimes they were worked on public, and sometimes on private account. In 1833 the mines were worked by the state at a profit of £80,000. They are now carried on under the control of three directors, who employ about 400 hands. It is said that the ore is purer than that of any other country in Europe.

Cobalt has been found near Drammen, and nickel near Espedalen.

Gold is said to have been discovered near Eidsvold, but not in any quantity.

CHAPTER XII.

Notes on the Feathered Game of Norway. ORWAY is a country that affords a fund of instruction and amusement for those who are partial to natural history. Besides its numerous plants and wild animals, the mournful solitudes of its mountains and forests are enlivened by the song of birds.* Many rare aves are to be met with in this interesting country during the summer months. The glossy ibis (Ibis falcinellus) has been shot no less than four times in Norway. A fine specimen of the wandering albatross (Diomedia exulans) may be seen in the Zoological Museum at Christiania, which was shot on the south coast. Two species of eagle are to be found in this country-viz. the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and the cinereous or sea-eagle (Falco albicilla). In summer the former kingly bird may be seen in Finmark or Norwegian Lapland, where it breeds; the latter is

*The more important of the wild animals of Norway are :— The brown bear, the wolf, the lynx, the glutton, the fox (both the common red and white or Arctic), the Norwegian hare, the badger, the ermine, lemming, otter, beaver, elk, and reindeer.

often observed off the coast near Christiansund, a town

lying between Bergen and Trondhjem.

GAME.

It should be mentioned that sport, so called, differs very much in Norway from what it is in Great Britain. There is no battue shooting in this country, and the sportsman who bags his eight or ten brace of birds a day here must consider himself fairly lucky.

The white grouse may be called the national bird of Norway there are two species, the fjeld-rype, or mountain-grouse, and the dal-rype, or valley-grouse. There is but little difference between the two; the dal-rype is rather larger than the fjeld-rype, while the latter has a black line across the eye. These birds change the colour of their plumage from summer to winter. In summer they have a red-brown tinge on the head, neck, and breast; in winter their plumage is snowwhite. The red grouse (Lagopus Scoticus) is not to be found in Norway.

The hazel-grouse (Tetrao bonasia) is called Hjerpe in Norway, and is more common in the central parts than anywhere else; it breeds, however, on Næsodon, a peninsula running into the fjord near Christiania. The flesh of this bird is held in great estimation by the Norwegians in general, and Pontoppidan, speaking of the hjerpe a century ago, says-" Caro hujus avis laudatissima est, facilis concoctionis, nutrimenti multi et optimi, primum dignitatis gradum apud veteres obtinuit."

The pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is not found in this country. The partridge (Perdix cinerea) is occasionally seen in the southern parts, especially in the neighbourhood of Christiania and near Christiansand.

The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is common wherever there are pine-woods. The English working classes at Christiania call it the "turpentine bird," no doubt because in the spring it feeds on the budding shoots of the pine.

The black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) may be shot in Nordland, Gudbrandsdal, Österdal, and on the Dovrefjeld.

The woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) breeds in the central districts of Norway. It arrives as early as the end of March, and migrates as late as November.

The common snipe (Scolopax gallinago) is to be found in all marshy places, even in Finmark. It is common near Lake Oieren, within a reasonable distance of Christiania, as well as in the west.

GAME-LAWS RESPECTING BIRDS.

The capercaillie and black-cock may be shot from August 15 to June 1 inclusive; female capercaillie, grey hen, from August 15 to March 15 inclusive; hazel-grouse (hjerpe) and eider-duck from August 15 to June 1 inclusive.

Partridges, from September 1 to January 1 inclusive.

The penalty in all cases for shooting a bird out of season is 1 sp. dollar.

The rype is not preserved by law.

The N.W. coast of Norway abounds with innumerable sea-birds. It is even stated that the ground on some of the islands off the N.W. coast is so covered with birds' nests, that it would be impossible to walk about among them without treading on the eggs; while the myriads of gulls, auks, guillemots, puffins, et hoc genus omne, at times appear to darken the air.

The common eider (Somateria mollissima) is found off the west of Finmark, as well as on the Porsangerfjord in East Finmark. Innumerable flocks of this species breed in these localities; and here the eider-down of commerce is to be obtained. The female eider plucks the feathers from her own breast to line her nest with them. She is a very tame bird, and during the season of incubation will allow any person to remove her from the nest. The elasticity of the down depends on whether it is plucked off her breast by the bird itself; if the feathers are removed from the breast of a dead bird, they have no elasticity.

The wild duck (Anas boschas) is common in all parts of Norway. It does not frequent the coasts, but is generally to be found on the mountain lakes. There is good wild-duck shooting on Lake Oieren, near Christiania. The golden eye (Fuligula clangula) breeds in Finmark, and on the Trondhjem-fjord. It sometimes builds its nest in the hole of a tree, and when the ducklings are hatched, conveys them to the water, one at a time, by holding them in her mouth. The longailed hareld (Fuligula glacialis) also breeds in Fin