the Birds of the Lower Petchora. 305 



small river before mentioned. The turf was rather different 

 from that surrounding the first nest. The yellow sphagnum 

 was quite absent, though the arctic bramble was still present ; 

 and when the turf was cut out it was found to be a dark 

 peaty loam only thinly covered with vegetation,, whereas the 

 turf cut out with the first nest consists almost entirely of 

 Sphagnum, to the depth of four inches. This last nest was 

 lined with more leaves — dried dwarf willow [Salix glauca) and 

 arctic bramble, either gathered by the bird herself or drifted 

 into it by the wind. Piottuch told us that the bird had ap- 

 proached to within a gun^s length of the nest, near which 

 he was sitting, and had preened its feathers quite uncon- 

 cernedly. These eggs show another variety, and are inter- 

 mediate in colour between the other two sets. 



On the 26th we searched diligently over the old ground, 

 carefully following the lines of the natural trenches, and miss- 

 ing as little ground as possible ; and after some hours spent 

 in this way, we somewhat unwillingly came to the conclusion 

 that there were no more nests to be found at that place, and 

 that new ground must be visited. 



On the 27th Harvie Brown rose at 5 a.m. with the inten- 

 tion of reaching the far side of the inland sea, beyond the 

 little river, and of finding out, if possible, the source of the 

 latter, and also to institute a careful search for more Little 

 Stint's nests. As notes taken on the spot are usually more 

 exact than after-recollections, we make no apology for again 

 quoting from his journal : — 



" I struck across the tundra, passed the lakes whence we 

 believed the little river flows, and descended from the higher 

 tundra to a low marshy tract studded with pools, and dis- 

 covered the source of the river, which appears to run under- 

 neath the ground for some part of its course before appear- 

 ing on the surface. In all this stretch of tundra and bog I 

 only saw a solitary Willow-Grouse, a few Red-throated Pipits, 

 Lapland Buntings, a pair or two of Grey Plovers, and a soli- 

 tary Red-necked Phalarope. The banks of the river were 

 equally destitute of bird-life until they neared the inland 

 sea. There I saw a few Temminck's Stints hovering over 



