THE IBIS 



SEVENTH SERIES. 



No. XIV. APRIL 1898. 



XVI. — Notes on the Birds observed on Waigats, Novaya 

 Zemlya, and Dolgoi Island, in 1897. By Henry J. Pearson. 



The north-east corner of European Russia, lyii^g between 

 the River Petchora and the Yugor Straits, called the Great 

 Tundra, is a country of which so little is known ornitho- 

 logically that I determined to visit it last summer. The 

 parts specially intended for exploration were the valleys 

 drained by the Karataikha and Khapidira Rivers, which flow 

 into Khapidirsh Bay. The charts represent the whole of this 

 bay and adjoining shores as being bordered by large mud- 

 flats, which are bare at low tide ; and, according to the few 

 available descriptions of the country near the coast, it consists 

 of extensive marshes thickly studded with lakes and tarns, 

 interspersed with tracts of rolling tundra — in fact a perfect 

 paradise for Waders, Ducks, and Geese. Again, the range 

 of hills running from west to east within ten miles of the 

 head of the bay, and reaching an altitude of 400 or 500 feet, 

 ought to vary the character of the breeding-ground, and, 

 together with the lowlands, provide suitable nesting-spots 

 for many of the arctic species. 



The chief line of spring migration to this district is pro- 

 bably up the valley of the Volga ; but smaller streams of 

 birds doubtless come from the West of Europe, and a few 



SER, VII. — VOL. IV. O 



