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222 GENERAL REMARKS
In Finmark and throughout Norway are found immenfe num-
bers of mice, called by the Laplanders /emmick, which are the prey
of both birds and beafts. It is a received opinion amongft the Lap-
landers, that thefe mice drop down from the clouds; a falfe no-
tion, which appears to have been conceived from the circumftance
of many having been obferved to fall from on high, no doubt car-
ried off by birds which have been forced to loofe them from their
claws, owing to the vivacity of the little animal’s ftruggles to ob-
tain its liberty.
Notwithftanding the rigour of this climate, it is obfervable that
animals, wild as well as tame, are here remarkably prolific. The
ewes often bring twins twice a year, and the fhe-goats produce
conftantly two kids, and fometimes three at a birth.
Many birds are to be met with in Lapland, which have not yet
been difcovered elfewhere, hence the epithet Lapponicus generally
denotes fome rare fpecies peculiar only to that part of the world.
Of this defcription is the ,co/opex Lapponicus, or the Lapland wood-
cock, which hasa beak turned up at the end. It is pretty com-
mon in the bogs of Lapland, though it is not known to inhabit,
or to vifit other countries: yet it is certain, that this bird is only
there during the fummer, and that it migrates to fome other cli-
mate in the winter; but where that is, remains a problem. The .
hiftorical part of ornithology is ftill very imperfect, nor can it be
expected to advance rapidly, as the information mutt be collected
by degrees, and abftra@ted from accidental obfervations. ‘‘ It would
“ be neceffary,” fays Buffon, “ to follow the birds every where,
“ and
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