Birds of the Upper Muonio River. 83 



Tringa temmincki. Temminck's Stint. 



Common. Arrived on May 25th. We found the first egg 

 on June 18th. The favourite breeding-places were grass- 

 meadows, especially those on islands, and a great many nests 

 were washed out by the heavy floods. The parents were very 

 noisy at the nest, flying round and round and soaring in 

 the air while uttering their chirruping breeding-song. 



Machetes pugnax. Ruff. 



Common. Many arrived on the 25th of May and imme- 

 diately started " hilling." They were still il hilling " on the 

 19th of June. A great number of nests were swamped 

 by the floods. We found the first eggs on the 13th of 

 June. 



Tringoides hypoleucus. Common Sandpiper. 



Very abundant throughout the district, where it arrived 

 on the 27th of May, the first eggs being found on the 16th of 

 June. Occasionally it breeds at some distance from the water, 

 and Mr. Stares found a nest quite half a mile away from the 

 nearest lake on the slopes of a low birch-clad hill. In this 

 case one of the birds flew off the nest, but they were usually 

 very wary and left long before we approached. They prefer 

 islands, and the nest is usually under the shelter of a stump 

 or branch. 



Totanus glareola. Wood- Sandpiper. 



Very common. It arrived on the 25th of May, and the 

 first eggs were found on the 16th of June. This species is very 

 noticeable in the nesting-season, owing to its breeding-note 

 " leero-leero-leero /' uttered as it soars on the wing. The 

 Finnish name is " Leero." The eggs are only to be found 

 by stumbling on them. I obtained one clutch from the old 

 nest of a Great Grey Shrike placed in the fork of a birch 

 some twenty feet from the ground; this bears out the 

 observations made by Mr. H. L. Popham on the Yenisei. 



Totanus calidris. Redshank. 



Rare. There were a few individuals, however, at the head 

 of the river, where we found one nest. 



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