46o TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



She never returned, though I waited quite an hour. 



This nest was on quite different ground from the others, 

 and is hollowed out amongst loose half-sand}' soil sparingly 

 covered with short green grass. Sprinkled over this were 

 a few isolated plants of the fleshy leaved [?]* and 

 further inland were many bushes of dwarf willow. 



The real tundra was 150 yards from the nest, and I 

 took occasion to pace the distance as I returned from 

 gathering sphagnum wherewith to pack the eggs. 



I managed to dig out the nest and loose turf in which 

 it was placed, but it is of little interest as compared with 

 our previous nests. Close to the nest was a quantity of 

 driftwood scattered over the turf, and a few small frag- 

 ments lay touching the edges of the nest. The nest was 

 lined with dried willow leaves and bits of grass, and 

 contained four eggs, handsome dwarf Dunlins, richly 

 blotched at the large ends. 



While I sat at the nest a Red-breasted Merganser flew 

 down the river and alighted almost within shot, but con- 

 cealed from my view by the round bend of the river-bank. 

 I went forward but the bird rose full forty yards below 

 me. I fired and hit her hard, but not sufficiently hard to 

 stop her flight or impair her powers of diving afterwards. 



I had a long chase, but though constantly in range, I 

 never got a shot, as her movements in the water more 

 resembled the rising of a trout than the diving of a bird. 



During the chase I dropped my binoculars, and spent 

 quite another hour in the search for them, and found 

 them lying within a foot of the water's edge. 



Two Buffon's Skuas also made short work of a couple 

 of Dunlins, one picking one up from the ground, and the 

 other seizing the other Dunlin as it rose, the one Skua 

 acting like a Hen Harrier, the other seizing its prey like 



* Not named in my Journals nor in our paper in the ' Ibis,' but 

 probably the leaves of Sedum and Dryas. 



