i6o TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



rest Alston and I took our stick-guns and repaired to the 

 woods. After three hours' ' chasse ' Alston brought in four 

 or five Little Buntings, and I the same number of that 

 species, also one Eustic Bunting (our second example), 

 one Garden Warbler, one young Double or Great Snipe, 

 and a Warbler similar to or the same as our AVillow 

 Warbler. We heard the low sweet warble of the Little 

 Bunting, and also its sharp call-note. I shot a male, and 

 the female came within three yards of me, flying so close 

 round that for quite half an hour I could not shoot for 

 fear of spoiling it. I saw also two Great Spotted or Pied 

 Woodpeckers, fired at them, but missed, and thereafter I 

 increased my charge of powder. 



A hunter, named Vassih (= William), brought in 

 young Willow Grouse (Kouropatki), young CapercaiUie, 

 and Black-game, and a basket of game. We bought the 

 young birds, or ' youngish,' as Nicholai calls them, in his 

 ' harbour English,' but none of the others. We engaged 

 Vassili at a rouble a day as long so we remain here. 

 This is evidently a good locality for small birds. 



Nicholai killed a nice Pike in the river with a stone, 

 and shot a male Bullfinch of the large race. 



For the rest of the day, all of us — including Carl — were 

 occupied skinning, and we added 25 to our previous list 

 of 135 before six o'clock. 



At 10.30 p.m. we started for Lake Ijma, a distance of 

 eight versts, through great forest much frequented by 

 Bears. Soon after we started I shot a young Hare. We 

 walked very fast all the way, doing the eight versts — 

 equivalent to six miles English — in an hour and a half. 



When close to the lake, where there is a small village 

 inhabited by members of a religious sect called ' Old 

 Believers ' (see Hepworth Dixon's ' Free Eussia '), 

 Piottuch pointing forward in a state of great excitement 

 said, ' Plus fit, monsieur, plus vit ! ' And Carl, who was 



