Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1981, Blaðsíða 144

152
The Collection of Wild Birds’ Eggs and Nestlings in Sweden
of form, even in details, we have to assume a genetic context for
this device. It is mainly associated with the enormous belt of conifer
forest which covers north-eastern Europe and which also shows
great homogeneity in other respects. There is special reason to recall
in this connection the ancient custom of keeping forest bees, which
shows technical similarities with intensive egg-collecting. Finally,
there may be reason to emphasize that there are strong arguments
for thinking that the name of the nesting-box in the Finno-Ugrian
languages must obviously be ancient and is common not only to
Finnish and Lapp but also to Ostyak (Vilkuna, 1937, pp. 146 f.;
Wichman, 1965, pp. 506 f.).
NOTES
1 Cf., however, Dahl, 1958. Bird-trapping on the Faeroe Islands has recently
been described in detail by Nørrevang, 1978.
2 As regards Orkney and Shetland, Fenton, 1978, and as regards Norway,
Munch, 1972—75, and Kolsrud, 1976.
3 Almost 50 years ago, I discussed these questions in a paper in Swedish
entitled “Northern Scandinavian and Northern European ” (Berg, 1933). In
the following year, F. Leinbock (Linnus) produced a detailed account of
egg-collecting in Estonia (Leinbock, 1932; printed in 1934). Later, the corre-
sponding conditions in Finland were described by Toivo Itkonen (Itkonen, 1934),
Sven Andersson (Andersson, 1942 and 1945) and Nils Stora (Stora, 1966).
Finally, Bela Gunda thoroughly discussed egg-collecting in Hungary (Gunda,
1974). A good deal of comparative material was produced in these papers. The
varying methods have also been commented on in several, more general, ethno-
iogical accounts.
Reports from different parts of Sweden are to be found in the Swedish
ethnological archives, particularly at the Nordic Museum (E. u.) and the Institute
of Dialectology and Folklore Research in Uppsala. Among those who helped me
in my study of egg-collecting, I wish to mention particularly Dr. Albert Eskerðd,
the late Dr. Nils Tiberg and the late Dr. P. G. Vejde. The terminology follows
that given in Vara faglar 1—4 (Curry-Lindahl, 1959—61).
1 Bertil Hanstrom states that, as long as the red curlew abounded on Dland,
its eggs were used for making pancakes and as pig food. According to Professor
Gerda Boethius (personal communication in 1947), her mother, who was born
in 1859 and grew up near Lake Hastefjorden in the parish of Frandefors in
Dalsland, said that there the eggs of crows (Corvus corvi) were collected and
calves were reared on them. The calves grew fat, but their meat was black!