114 Messrs. H. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie Brown on 



incubation they are very retiring and silent, frequenting the 

 thickest parts of the forests, except when engaged in feeding, 

 when they may be seen on the roads or at the forest station- 

 houses. After the young can fly, the parents become bolder 

 and more noisy, and show themselves more freely. We did 

 not meet with the species north of Habariki. A nest and 

 eggs were brought to us at Ust Zylma on the 27th April ; 

 and we obtained young birds well grown in the beginning of 

 June, at which time the old birds are moulting their wing- 

 and tail-feathers. 



Passer domesticus (L.). 



The distribution of the House-Sparrow in North Russia is 

 somewhat curious, it being generally confined to the larger 

 towns. In the neighbourhood of Archangel, however, it ap- 

 pears to be quite as abundant in the villages of the delta of 

 the Dvina as it is in the town itself, and almost entirely sup- 

 plants the next species. Eastward we did not meet with it 

 until we reached Ust Zylma, where we first obtained it on the 

 18th May, though its presence was suspected in smaller num- 

 bers at the time of our arrival on the 15th April. About the 

 middle of May there must have been a considerable accession 

 to their numbers, though they apparently confined them- 

 selves to the vicinity of a part of the town occupied by the 

 houses of the richer inhabitants, the House-Sparrow being 

 rather fond of good living. Northwards it is plentiful at 

 Kuya, and apparently as numerous as the next species. Only 

 stragglers were obtained further north, at Alexievka, which 

 was the northernmost point where we found them. 



The extremely bright colouring of the males as compared 

 with all other specimens we have seen, is deserving of pass- 

 ing notice. 



Passer montanus (L.). 



The distribution of the Ti'ee- Sparrow is almost the converse 

 of that of the House-Sparrow, it being found for the most part 

 in the smaller villages, almost to the exclusion of the other 

 species. Curiously enough, however, it appears to be quite 

 absent from the small villages of the delta of the Dvina, 



