On the Birds of the Lower Petchora. 215 



XX. — Notes on the Birds of the Lower Petchora. By Henry 



SeebohM; F.Z.S., and John A. Harvie Brown. 



[Continued from page 126.] 



(Plate V.) 



RUTICILLA PHffiNICURA (L.) . 



We shot the fii'st Redstart on 12th May, in the streets of 

 Ust Zylma. We afterwards found it sparingly on the out- 

 skirts of the birch-forests both near Ust Zylma and Habariki ; 

 but we did not meet with it further north. We found it to 

 be one of the shyest of the small bii'ds of the district. 



Saxicola cenanthe (L.). 



We saw the first Wheatear on 21st May, at Ust Zylma. 

 It afterwards became rather common there. Further north 

 it was rarer, but we saw it as far as Dvoinik. 



Pratincola rubicola (L.). 



The Asiatic form of the Stonechat, with white upper tail- 

 coverts, was not uncommon in suitable localities near Ust 

 Zylma and Habariki; but we did not meet with it further 

 north. 



Phylloscopus trochilus (L.). 



The Willow-Wren is by far the commonest Warbler in the 

 extreme north of Europe. Seebohm found it abundant on the 

 fjelds of Norway from the North Cape to the Varanger fjord. 

 Harvie Brown and Alston found it equally common at Arch- 

 angel. In their paper in 'The Ibis' (Jan. 1873), P. evers- 

 manni* only was mentioned ; but a re-examination of the skins 

 proves that P. trochilus is the commoner bird. In the valley 

 of the Petchora we found it common, both in the forests of Ust 

 Zylma and the willow-swamps on the islands of the delta and 

 the tundra. As we proceeded far north it became somewhat 

 rarer; but we found it among the dwarf willows at Dvoinik, 

 the most northerly point on the tundra which we visited. 

 We never before so thoroughly realized its right to the name 

 of Willow- War bier. We first heard the familiar note of this 



* P. eversmamii (Midd. nee Bp.) will probably rank as a synonym of 

 P. hnrealis (Blasius). 



