Birds of the Upper Muonio River. 71 



Finnish name of " Willow-Grouse bird." We did not come 

 across Eversmann's Warbler (P. borealis), which occurs on 

 the Porsanger Fjord in Norway. 



Cinclus melanogaster. Black- bellied Dipper. 



This Dipper was very sparingly distributed ; its scarceness 

 was probably due to the fact that there were very few suitable 

 nesting-sites for it on the Kongama. Such places as were 

 suitable were invariably occupied, and the nest, a large 

 domed structure with a neat cup of grass-bents, was placed 

 in an exposed position with no attempt at concealment, so 

 close iudeed to the water that in three cases noticed it was 

 washed away by the heavy floods. Once we found an 

 unlined " cock's nest " placed immediately above the nest 

 proper. This species is one of the few that remain all the 

 year round in the neighbourhood, frequenting the rapids, 

 which are open even in the depth of winter. 



Parus sibiricus. Lapp Tit. 



This species is very sparingly distributed, but is most 

 common in the fir-region. It is resident, but apparently 

 subject to local migrations, as is the case with the Wood- 

 peckers. It is very inconspicuous and silent. The nests 

 were excavated, apparently by the bird itself, in birch-stumps, 

 and were lined with lemming-fur. This was the only species 

 of Tit that we met with. 



Motacilla alba. White Wagtail. 



Every house had a pair or two of these birds round it, but 

 as there were barely a dozen houses in the whole district 

 they cannot be called common. The nests were usually 

 built in the cow-byres. This species was one of the first to 

 arrive (on the 27th of April), and very miserable the birds 

 looked huddling together for shelter in the old Martins' nests 

 under the eaves in the intense cold which prevailed at the 

 beginning of May. They began nesting on the 24th of 

 May, and the first egg was found on the 5th of June. 



Budytes viRinis. Yellow Wagtail. 



Very common throughout the district, breeding in the 

 same localities as the Bluethroat. The nest is very difficult 



