3''5S RecciUlij published Ornilholorjicul IForks. 



at tlic gun-room table/^ besides numerous other referenees to 

 Polar Ijird-life. We extract a few sentences on the birds of 

 " Gooseland/^ which appear to be also of special interest : — 

 " Gooseland is a low stretch of coast, occupied by grassy flats 

 and innumerable small lakes, which projects from the mainland 

 of Novaya Zemlya between 72° 10' and 71° 30' N. lat. The 

 name is a translation of the Russian Gusinnaja Semlja, and 

 arises from the large number of Geese and Swans [Cyrjitus 

 bewickii, Yai'r.) which breed in that region. The Geese 

 commonly place their exceedingly inconsiderable nests on 

 little hillocks near the small lakes which are scattered over 

 the Avhole of Gooseland ; the powerful Swans, which are very 

 difficult of approach by the hunter, on the other hand, breed 

 on the open plain. The Swans' nests are so large that they 

 may be seen at a great distance. The building-material is 

 moss, which is plucked from the ground within a distance of 

 two metres from the nest, which, by the excavation which is 

 thus produced, is surrounded by a sort of moat. The nest 

 itself forms a truncated cone, 0*6 metre high and 2'4- metres 

 in diameter at the bottom. In its upper part there is a cavity, 

 0*2 metre deep and 0*6 metre broad, in which the four large 

 greyish-white eggs of the birds are laid. The female hatches 

 the eggs ; but the male also remains in the neighbourhood of 

 the nest. Along with the Swans and Geese, a large number 

 of Waders, a couple of species of Lestris, an Owl, and other 

 birds breed on the plains of Gooseland, and a few Guillemots 

 or Gulls upon the summits of the strand -clifl's. The avifauna 

 along the coast here is besides rather poor.''' 



42. Oates on the Birds of British Burma. 



[The Ornithology of British Burma. By Eiigeue W. Oates. British 

 Burma Gazetteer. Vol. i. p. 56l».] 



The first volume of the new Gazeteer of British Burma 

 contains some excellent general remarks on the rich avifauna 

 of that region by Mr. E. W. Oates, to which is added a no- 

 minal list of the species (771 in all). Mr, Oates very appo- 

 sitely observes : — 



" With a considerable portion of the counti y situated within 



