BIRDS ON THE TUNDRA 397 



eggs of this species known in collections. I saw a small 

 hawk like a merlin, a pair of Siberian herring-gulls that 

 evidently had a nest in the neighbourhood, a number of 

 shore-larks and Lapland buntings, a few red-throated 

 pipits, and some redpolls. 



I went on board again in the afternoon. The gale still 

 continued, and squalls of rain frequently passed over us. 

 The captain decided that we must continue to lie at anchor 

 for the night, so I challenged one of the sailors named Bill 

 to spend the night with me on shore. We had no sooner 

 landed than a couple of peregrine falcons revealed their 

 nest to us by their loud cries. At a glance up the cliffs 

 we decided the place where it must be, at the top of a 

 steep mud promontory which stretched out to a sharp 

 ridge beyond and above the surrounding coast. I climbed 

 up a valley in which the snow was still lying, and came 

 straight along the ridge to the little hollow where four 

 red eggs were lying on a dozen small flakes of down. 

 Bill shot the female, but she fell amongst the willow and 

 alder bushes, and though we spent an hour in the search 

 we did not succeed in finding her. The time was not, 

 however, wasted. Whilst searching for the fallen pere- 

 grine we started a Siberian chiffchaff from an alder bush, 

 and had the good fortune to secure her nest with four 

 eggs. It was placed in the branches about four feet from 

 the ground, and was rather more carefully constructed 

 than the one I had previously found. It was composed 

 of dry grass, semi-domed, and lined with willow-grouse 

 feathers. The eggs were white, spotted with dark 

 purple, and large for the size of the bird. The Siberian 

 chiffchaff is evidently a much later breeder than the willow- 

 warbler, which is somewhat singular, as both birds 

 arrived together from the south. Our willow-warbler 

 was still there, but not common. 



