368 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



tapping of two pieces of wood together, or by rapidly 

 striking the tongue against the palate. A Common 

 Snipe or two were seen, and heard drumming overhead 

 at the same place. 



To-day I shot a Eed-throated Pipit perched high up on 

 a willow. This is the second time we have seen the 

 Eed-throated Pipit perch (see p. 330). This goes far 

 to prove the other perching Pipits to be the young of this 

 species. 



I identified and fired at a female Shoveller to-day as 

 she passed close overhead. 



Piottuch has just skinned the Temminck's Stint I shot, 

 and by dissection, which I verified, it is a male. 



In the evening we brought-to the boat, within a verst 

 of Pustozersk, inside the entrance to the circular sandy 

 bay at the head of which stands the town. 



We did not go to the town, but landed and searched a 

 range of sand-hills and hollows for eggs. 



June 18. 



We remained out all night until 4 a.m. in the morning 

 of Friday, the 18th of June. 



We found a nest of Terek Sandpipers with four eggs. 

 As is often the case with the nests of this species, it was 

 placed between two small pieces of drift-wood, doubtless 

 as a protection from the drifting sand which surrounded 

 it. We shot the bird, which feigned lameness to draw 

 our attention from the nest. 



We found a place frequented by a small colony of 

 Sand Martins, five or six pairs, with freshly-made and 

 unfinished nest-holes, in a low, crumbly sand-bank. We 

 shot a bird, and we remarked the extremely dar'k colour 

 as compared with ours at home, which same very marked 

 difference Alston and I observed at Archangel in 1872. 



Temminck's Stints were plentiful, not yet breeding. 



