Mr. R. CoUett on Phylloscopus borealis. 219 



in woods of Pinus cembra and Pinus pichta ; and he describes 

 the nest in the following terms (Journ. f. Ornith. 1872^ 

 p. 359) : — " Er macht es in der Form einer Hiitte, indem er 

 dem vorhandenen Grase oder Moose die Gestalt eines Gewol- 

 bes giebt. Das letzte hebt er von der Erde etwas in die Hohe 

 und glattet es aus, und erst unter diesem natiirlichen Gewolbe 

 macht er ein Lager von lauter trockenen Zirbelbaumnadeln 

 (P. cembra). Auf diese Weise hat er eigentlich kein Nest^ es 

 ist nur ein natiirliches Gewolbe und ein Lager." It will be 

 seen that none of the nests described below exhibited a trace 

 of the peculiarity of construction described by Dybowski. 



On July 6, 1877, at Egaska, on the Yenesei, a little north 

 of the Arctic Circle {67°) , Mr. Seebohm found a nest with 

 five fresh eggs (which were rather larger than those of P. 

 trochilus) of a white colour, with very pale r^d spots. The 

 nest was built on the ground in a rather open wood, ou the 

 side of a tussock, between grass and other plants, and was 

 semidomed and composed only of dry straws, without feathers 

 or moss (' Ibis,' 1879, p. 9). * 



As my sojourn in Finmark in 1885 was just in the districts 

 where this species is found more or less frequently, I did my 

 best to trace out its breeding-habits in our country; and 

 my efforts were at least partially successful. 



At Matsjok, the last large tributary of the Tana river 

 before its outlet to the sea, I met with the first specimen on 

 June 22nd, and they were then evidently just arrived, as the 

 season was unusually little advanced. The next day it was 

 heard to sing for the first time. In a female shot on the 

 26th (at Polmak) the eggs in the ovary were but little deve- 

 loped, scarcely so large as hemp seeds ; and when on June 30th 

 I left the valley for some time, the breeding-season had not 

 commenced, although it was evident that the birds had 

 paired and had probably commenced to build. 



When, on July 11th, in company with my friend Mr. 

 Landmark, a zealous oologist, I arrived at the Pasvig river 

 in South Varanger, P. borealis appeared to be just in the 

 middle of its breeding-season ; but during the few days we 

 spent in that locality we did not succeed, although we spared 



r2 



