412 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



went on to her nest — again containing four eggs. These 

 eggs are much darker — olive almost, or olive-brown — and 

 the nest was the only one we found placed in the midst 

 of peat ground. It was near the top of a hummock, one 

 of a ridge composed of dark peaty loam. 



We have now three varieties of the Grey Plover's eggs. 

 What we want most now is to procure the young in down. 



It was trying work to-day, waiting to find these nests. 

 The mosquitoes swarmed over our hats, veil^ coats, and 

 trousers, and as we lay looking along the ridges and 

 across the hollows, they looked like a mist over the 

 tundra, and the unceasing humming of the legions 

 around us even dulled the sounds of the smaller bird- 

 voices at a distance. They did get inside our veils ; they 

 did creep up our cavalry gauntlets and bit our wrists ; 

 they punished my ankles ; they searched patiently and 

 laboriously for openings in the sewing of our gloves. 



If one attempted to smoke a papirosse outside one's 

 veil, they impertinently settled on the lips, or audaciously 

 perched on one's nose if it came in contact with the veil. 

 The ears suffered, and they found out rents in one's 

 clothes where rents are most likely to appear after clothes 

 have had rough usage and hard deal boards in contact 

 with them. They blinded us with their legions, deafened 

 us with their hum, and almost beat us off with their 

 force of character and determination. 



Therefore, brother ' Ibises ' and naturalists, think how 

 delicious is the flavour of an omelette of Grey Plover's 

 eggs ! But no omelettes were in store for us — only very 

 tender chickens, not quite large enough to roast or grill. 



One nest of eggs we succeeded in blowing ; the other — 

 the dark, handsome clutch — lies now swathed up in paper 

 circles and bandages until the contents shall become more 

 tender still. 



At the first nest found to-day, the birds were almost 



