306 Messrs. H. Secbohra and J. A. Harvie Brown on 



their young or eggs, a pair of BufFon^s Skuas, and a pair of 

 Arctic Terns/' [The BuflFon's Skuas, I may mention, each 

 carried off a Dunlin out of a flock, and, bearing them away 

 to the hummocky tundra opposite, proceeded to tear them to 

 pieces and devour them. This I watched them do through 

 my glass later.] " On arriving at a point on the river's bank 

 (neutral ground between tundra and meadow) almost im- 

 mediately opposite the place where Piottuch found the hfth nest 

 the day before yesterday, I saw a Little Stint fly up from its 

 feeding-ground and alight by the side of a small pool of water. 

 Afer ten minutes spent in preening its feathers, our little 

 friend flew up and again settled on the slope close to an iso- 

 lated bunch of wild leeks. Here it again preened its fea- 

 thers for a few seconds, and tlien, running down a little slope 

 towards me, disappeared behind a low ridge. I watched for 

 its reappearance for three or four minutes, and then walked 

 straight up (about forty yards) to the nest, flushing the bird 

 off when not more then ten yards from it. The nest con- 

 tained four eggs. The bird settled fifteen yards further ofl", 

 and then flew straight away, being, I believe, more alarmed 

 at the presence of the black dog, Isaac, which had accom- 

 panied me, than at mine. I waited by the side of the nest 

 for some time, seated on the end of a trunk of drift wood, and 

 at last got a shot at the bird and wounded her slightly. She was 

 very shy and evidently alarmed. After I wounded her she 

 flew away and did not return, though I waited quite an hour. 

 This nest (No. 6) was in quite difterent ground from the 

 others, and was hollowed out amongst loose half-sandy soil, 

 which was sparingly covered with short green grass. Fui'ther 

 inland were many plants of dwarf willow. The real tundra 

 was 150 yards distant from the nest. I took occasion to pace 

 the distance as I returned from gathering sphagnum where- 

 with to pack the eggs. Close to the nest was a quantity of 

 small drift wood, and one stem of considerable size, the 

 former scattered over the meadow, and a few small pieces 

 touching the edge of the nest. The nest was lined with dried 

 willow-leaves and bits of carex, and contained four eggs, 

 handsome dwarf Dunlin's, richly blotched at the large ends. 



