ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLOEATIONS. 



309 



I860.— iVeniMm rufilata Swinh., Ibis, 1860, p. 54 {nee B.ODGS.).—Ianthia r. Id., ibid., 

 1861, p. 1861, p.329.— 7d., ibid., 1862, pp. 261, 264.— Id., P. Z. S., 1862, p. 316. 



Oue of the rarest stragglers which the " bird-wave" forced over to the 

 inhospitable shores of Bering Island was a specimen of this delicately- 

 built and exquisitely-colored species. It was secured during my ab- 

 sence in Petropaulski and prepared by my faithful native assistant, 

 Nikanor, or " the professor," as he was usually styled. The determi- 

 nation of the sex (by dissection) and the measurement of the total 

 length were also made by him. 



Even in Kamtschatka the Bluestart is a rare bird, and I believe that 

 this is the first record of it having been taken there. One hot day in 

 July, 1882, when seeking the shades of the birches on the hillock oppo- 

 site Petropaulski, I met a splendid male of this lovely bird, the only 

 one I have ever seen alive. I had just laid down for a moment's rest 

 in the dense grove when he perched on a branch right over my head, 

 wagging his sky-blue tail rapidly up and down. I did not dare wait 

 until I could get a longer shot, for if he took to the wing he would have 

 been gone forever. So, feverish with excitement, I lifted my gun, but 

 aimed nevertheless too well. When at last I found the mutilated body, 

 literally without head and tail, I could have cried at my misfortune 

 but for the hope that another might soon get within range of my cane- 

 gun. But the other did not come, and the chirping titlarks found me 

 on several succeeding days posted in vain at the same spot. The re- 

 mains, however, were sufiQcient for identification. 



Dimensions of specimen collected. 



140. Melodes calUope (Pall.). 



1776.— Motaoilla calliope Pall., Reise Russ. Reich., Ill (p. 697).— Lusciola c. Temm. &. 

 SCHLEG., Faun. Jap. Aves (p. 57) (1847).— Sylvia c. Kittl., Denkw., I, p. 

 314, II, p. 199 (lS'y8).— Melodes c. Blasius, List B. Eur., p. 10 (1862).— 

 Erithacus c. Blakist., Amend. List B.Jap., p. 58 (1884). 



