al the Muuth of Iha Yenesci River. 399 



(Ibis, 1897, p. 93) meutious that Le also saw young Blue- 

 throats at Golchika in August, 



My observations at Nosonovsky Ostrov vveie very dis- 

 connected, and are consequently of little value. On 

 September 5 I saw numbers of Wheatears on the fore- 

 shore, also some Lapland Buntings and a few Mountain 

 Accentors (^Accentor montanelhis Dresser). I believe that 

 Breokoffsky is the most northerly point of the range of 

 this bird on the Yenesei. Four days later all the Accentors 

 and most of the Buntings and Wheatears had gone ; and in 

 subsequent visits ashore I saw no small birds at all, except 

 a few Ringed Plovers and two Wheatears on the 12th. The 

 absence of Waders surprised me a good deal, for the broad 

 sandy beaches looked like an ideal feeding-ground ; but 

 I saw none but one BufF, which flew past the ship on 

 the 14th. Geese continually flew southward in small 

 parties, and occasionally I saw Swans and Divers. On 

 shore the Willow-Grouse {Lagopus albus) was frequent. 

 The Siberians said that it often lingered until October. 

 Gulls [Larus fuscus untelius) remained common until my 

 departure on September 19, and a few accompanied the 

 ship as far north as Dickson Island. 



With regard to the direction of migration on the Yenesei, 

 tliere can be little doubt that on the lower reaches, at any 

 rate, both for geographical and also for climatic reasons, the 

 principal movement is from north to south along the coasts 

 of the great river. However, I do not think that, even if 

 we knew as much of the bird-movements in those regions as 

 Ave do of those in our own country, that we could write of 

 them otherwise than with reserve, for the reason that in 

 those latitudes life of all kinds is dependent on climatic 

 conditions to a degree unknown in the south. Any acce- 

 leration or delay in the annual shrinkage of the Polar 

 ice-cap must react temporarily on the distribution of the 

 birds of the country, to the extent of two or three hundred 

 miles perhaps in the restriction or extension of the summer 

 range of a species, and consequently produce an effect on 

 its miirratorv movements for that season. 



