FETCH OR A 343 



ground ; but is apparently totally absent from the dry, 

 sandy, open pine-covered ground. It is vain to attempt 

 to describe all its varied collection of songs. It is indeed 

 a true mocking-bird. AVe have even heard it (seen it 

 in the act) singing the rich melodious song of the Red- 

 wing, and the ' twirring ' of the first notes of the Wood 

 Sandpiper. It is fond of feeding on insects along the 

 margins of the pools in the marshy hollows of the 

 forest. 



Bedstart. — Only one was seen — a male — in the dry 

 open pine-ground. 



Wheatear. — Not common. We found two or three 

 pairs on the open ground near the village, amongst old 

 tree-roots and stumps, where the forest has formerly been 

 cleared off. 



Stonechat. — Not rare, but confined to the dry, sandy, 

 opener woods near the village. 



Willoiv Warbler. — Common. We noticed an additional 

 note of this bird, which we did not remember ever 

 having heard before. Seebohm compares it to the spitting 

 of a cat. Perhaps it is best expressed by a succession of 

 z's, thus — 'z-z-z-z-z,' or ' zh-zh-zh,' but it is difficult to 

 explain on paper. 



Siberian Chiffchaff. — A few were seen and heard but 

 only one was shot. We should say that they are just as 

 rare here as in the smaller pine-forests at Ust Zylma. As 

 usual, they are also shy, active, and restless here, and 

 most difficult to get a shot at. The males, perched on the 

 tip-top of the highest larches, uttering their loud ' chivet- 

 chivet-chivet,' or their rapid song, were wild, and seldom 

 allowed a nearer approach than a hundred yards, ever 

 flying on ahead from high larch top to high larch top. A 

 bird which perches so conspicuously and has a loud note, 

 cannot be otherwise than very rare, or we should see 

 them oftener, as we are constantly scrutinising the tops 



