the Birds of the Loiver Petchora. 109 



as well as the creeping birch. In the more sheltered hollows 

 dwarf-willow copses gave variety to the scene. 



The short arctic summer on the tundra must he a mil- 

 lennium for insect-eating birds. Mosquitoes abounded to such 

 an extent that life without a ' koraarnik/ or mosquito-veil, 

 would probably have been simply unbearable, if not impos- 

 sible. We were also obliged to wear cavalry-gauntlets to 

 23rotect our hands. Our gloves and veils were a complete 

 protection ; but we suffered very much from the heat and 

 closeness. Fortunately, however, we frequently had a few 

 days^ grace. A cold north-east wind came down from the 

 arctic ice ; the mosquitoes vanished like magic ; and we were 

 often compelled to put on our furs again. We were obliged to 

 take active exercise to keep ourselves warm ; but we were 

 only too glad that the plague of mosquitoes was for the time 

 stayed. 



We found most of the birds in the valley of the Petchora 

 to be somewhat local, though perhaps scarcely so much so as 

 they were observed to be in the valley of the Dwina by Alston 

 and Harvie Brown. Even on the comparatively monotonous 

 tundra we found this to be the case ; and we soon gave names 

 to the different sorts of ground. The dry grassy hills are the 

 Shore-Lark ground. The dead flat bog intersected with tus- 

 socky ridges is the Grey-Plover ground. The swampy marsh 

 covered with long grass is the Reeve-ground. If in the centre 

 of this there is any open water, it becomes Phalarope-ground. 

 If the grass is shorter and more tangled and knotted it be- 

 comes DuuHn-ground ; and if this short grassy swamp is 

 sprinkled over with tussocks of turf covered with moss and 

 flowers_, then it becomes Lapland- Bunting or Red-throated- 

 Pipit ground. When the tussocks are close together, and 

 the swampy ground is almost hidden, or traceable only by 

 rows of cotton-grass, then we called it Little-Stint ground. 

 If we came upon a thicket of dwarf willow on the tundra, we 

 expected to find a brace of Willow-Grouse or a pair of Wood- 

 Sandpipers. The sandy shoi'e of a lake was generally fre- 

 quented by Ring-Dotterel. The dense willow thickets on the 

 islands always swarmed with Yellow-headed Wagtails ; and if 



