Norman Frederic Ticehurst and Claud Buchanan Ticehurst

“ Most of the nests contained young by June 26th, but the nest on the high fjeld had five fresh eggs on June 28th; this nest was absolutely on the ground, at the foot of a dwarf willow, and the bird was nearly trodden on by one of us before she flew off with loud chatterings. A few addled eggs were got from other nests. We found the Redwings every bit as noisy and bold when they had young as the Fieldfares, and though from their situation the nests were not quite so easy to find, by hunting where the birds made most noise they did not give much trouble. ”

“ 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 markings of dark brown. While so easy to find by marking the bird, the nest would be next to impossible to discover by merely searching the ground, so well do the eggs harmonise with the moss and dead leaves. We must therefore be accounted specially fortunate in finding another nest, which we did on July 8th, while walking over the fjeld; one of us nearly trod on the eggs before seeing them. ”

“ A nest found in a clearing in a wood on the far side of the fjeld on July 8th was probably of this species; it contained five well-grown young.
Red-throated Pipit (A. cervinus) .—We were much disappointed at finding so few of these birds. On the fjeld we found them in scattered pairs along the edge of the tree limit, and in the islands of scrub in the hollows. A patch of birch and willows a square mile or so in extent would contain perhaps as many as three pairs. The cocks, often accompanied by their mates, were to be seen taking long flights, high in the air, singing all the time. ”

“ The fjeld on either side above the level of the trees is quite bare, the only growth being Reindeer moss and creeping birch, with the small arctic plants and grasses. Here and there in the marshy hollows are a few scrub birches or willow, with rarely a larger patch of the same and a piece of tussocky bog. Of tarns there are very few, as a glance at the map indicates, until the region above and to the south of the lakes is reached ”

“ Both parents continually fed the young, bringing food from across the river about forty yards away. They were very wary, flying straight up to the young one whose turn it was with loud cries, to which the young responded, feeding him, and at once departing across the river for a further supply, the whole operation only taking a few seconds. ”

“ The Maskejok joins the Tana on its western side about four miles north of Seida, where the road from Tana mouth to Vadsö crosses the river and leaves the Tana Valley. The Maskejok Valley here widens out, and the river takes a very zigzag course, running into the main stream between high sand-banks, its mouth being guarded by a sand bar, which makes it very shallow, so much so, that when the river is low, canoes drawing only three or four inches have to be hauled across by hand. ”

“ There seemed about six young in each brood. One of these young ones was kept by one of the Finns, and reared by hand on bits of grass; it became quite tame, and throve well. One or two pairs of these Geese were seen by the side of the mountain tarns, but always flew away together when we approached, nor could we find any signs of other nests or young. Some of them were beginning to drop their primaries, a fact which was well known to the Finns, who remarked that they would now very soon be incapable of flight. ”

“ All the eggs were considerably incubated.
Dotterel (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. ”

“ They were a great nuisance to us on the fjeld, as they seemed to think our only object in coming up there was to find their young; they would fly all round us, and then settle on a tussock, piping the whole time, and each pair seemed to escort us a mile or more, until it could hand us over to the attentions of its neighbours. Several times flocks of six or eight were seen, and were possibly non-breeders, as they did not seem to affect any particular tract of country, though all were in full plumage. On July 4th we found a nest of four eggs, all on the point of hatching. ”

“ Willow-Grouse (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. ”

“ Now, although so far north as this, we never found more than three to four Fieldfares' nests together, and often they were nesting singly; we found that it was generally worth while to search the neighbouring trees, &c., and by so doing we several times found a Redwing's, Brambling's, or Redpoll's nest, which we otherwise might have missed. Most often, I think, we found a Fieldfare and a Redwing breeding in company. All the nests we found were in birches, and never more than ten feet up; in fact, nearly all could be reached without climbing at all. ”

“ Bluethroat (Cyanecula suecica) .—Met with constantly in the marshy willow scrub in the valley, and almost every marshy bottom on the high fjeld, if it contained willow scrub, held its pair or two of Bluethroats. Its song was constantly heard, and for variety and beauty beats any other song I have yet heard. Now and then we would hear some strange new song, and would spend some time carefully stalking the singer, only to find it was our little friend the Bluethroat again. When the young are hatched the cock, like our Nightingale, stops singing, and utters a harsh churring note. ”

“ With this exception the valley is quite uninhabited, but the numerous turf huts of all ages and in all stages of decay met with along the banks, show that parties of Finns occasionally visit the river to fish it, while others further away nearer the fjeld are evidently the remains of Fjeld Lapp encampments, as the remains of Reindeer and Wolves and the shed antlers on the fjeld testify. From the south side of the lake a tolerably well-marked foot-track leads across the fjeld to Polmak, on the Tana; this is used by parties of Finns with pack-horses, who come to net the lake. ”

“ Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) .—In the birch woods of the Maskejok Valley we now and again saw a pair or two of these birds, but we do not think we ever saw more than four nests together; from the majority of the nests the young had flown by June 25th, but we managed to get a good series of eggs, though several clutches were very hard-set, and two to three eggs in the clutch the rule; so that probably those we got were a second laying.
Nest of Fieldfare.
It is a well-known fact that where the Fieldfares breed in colonies, other birds often build in or on the outskirts of the colony ”

“ When incubating the old bird sits very tight, and on one occasion, the nest being favourably situated, we were able to take an excellent photograph of the old bird sitting at a distance of six feet, the whole operation of putting the camera together, &c., taking place in full view of the bird, not more than ten yards away. ”