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428 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS.
foft, is efteemed no lefs by foreigners than natives ; it is alfo known, and very much in
vogue, in the courts of princes. ‘This bird lays eggs the fize of {mall goofe eggs, of a
grey colour, turning to a bluifh, the yolks of which, though reddith, are not ill-flavoured.
Tt builds its neit in common among ‘the twigs, fometimes ¢ among the fea-weeds that are
dry on the fhore. So carefully and faithfully does it fit upon its eggs, that at the ap-
proach of man it wall fcareely defert them; and though it furpaffes the crow in fize,
yet it is not a match for the crow, when plundering the neft and eggs. ‘The flefh of
thefe birds is of a very unfavory tate.
On the fhores of Finmark, as on the reft of the Norwegian coaft, extending into the
fea, is found a bird, which is calledin Norwegian Imber, black feather s, with fome white,
a long and fharp beak, feet turned in, a difmal and terrific voice, by which the vulgar
believes that a violent ftorm of the-fouth wind immediately coming on is portended ; it
is ofa very large fize, as weighing eleven pounds, but not of equal goodnefs and flavour,
One may always fee “this bird, never flying, but fwimming on the water, and indeed fo
deeply funk, that no part, except the head and neck, appears above it: and as the
wings do not correfpond to the fize of the body, it raifes itfelf with difficulty ; whence,
at the voice and appearance of man, it fecures itfelf, not by flying, but by diving. You
may meet one frequently ; feldom or ever fee two together. Such is its voracity, that
it can devour at once a whole fifh of no moderate fize.
A bird, known through all Norway as far as it extends, called in Norwegian lan-
guage Loom, in Lapland Gakkor, or Gakatte, is found alfo in Finmark. It is a
little larger than a duck, lefs than a goofe; it has a long and fharp beak, a f{trange but
{trong voice; the neck, as well as the reft of the body, is long and graceful ; it has not
much power in running, but is very {trong on the wing: it brings forth its eggs in the
little iflands and rocks, fituated in lakes and on mountains. :
The bird which is called in the Norwegian, Starv, is called in Latin Corvus Marinus,
fea-crow, here, as elfewhere, is feen about the Norwegian coaft. It refembles the
pigeon, which it furpafles, in fize, by a long and fharp beak. The colour of this kind of
birds is moftly the fame, being black all over the body, with fome white fpots under the
belly, the reft being all black. ‘The nature of fea-crows is this, that they {wim by turns
in the fea, and take up their reft on the rocksin great numbers, with their wings ex-
panded, that they may be the fooner dried in the fun. When going to fly from the
rock where they were, they all precipitate themfelves into the fea, with a great noife of
the water, to the purpofe that when their wings are made wet, they may become fitter
for flying. [hey are incredibly voracious, for they eafily {wallow down whole fifhes,
and thofe ofno moderate fize, by which the flefh of this bird always taftes of the fith,
that is its con{tant food, and on that account lefs delicate ; for which reafon, if it is boiled
with peas, remitting a great deal of that bad tatfte, it is tolerable food. ‘Thefe birds lay
their eggs and hatch their young among heaps of {tones.
In the fea about Finmark is a bird, called in Norwegian Hav-he/?, that is, the fea-
horfe. It is difcerned at a diftance from the fhore, ufually in the open fea ; nor does it
come to fhore but in a cloudy fky, arifing in conjunction with a horrid tempeft. It
is fuppofed to lay its eggs on the coaft of Iceland ; in colour and fize it refembles a cor-
morant, except ihat the colour inclines a little to white, with certain dark feathers in-
terlperfed | here and there. ‘The beak is divided into certain departments, each depart-
ment diltinguifhed by a different colour. The voice is fhrill, and is brought out with
acertain {norting. It {mells of the oil got from the fat of fifh. It has its wings dif-
tended and {tiff whem flying. It fleeps in the waters, and is feen fometimes moving
through them with an. ambling pace, a fign that a ftorm is fhortly coming on; on the
ic other
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