58 Dr. O. FinscVs Ornithological Letter's. 



swampy ground prevail ; such localities are also occupied by 

 Motacilla citreola, which we observed after leaving Tachty, a 

 few stations below Obdorsk, and GaUinayo media. As we de- 

 scended the river the larger it became, the banks being some- 

 times out of sight. Waterfowl increased in number. Just 

 before reaching Obdorsk we found a small colony of Larus 

 marinus breeding. The Polui river, on which Obdorsk is 

 situated, swarmed with Ducks, among them (Eclemia nigra and 

 (E. fusca ; Colymbus septentrionalis was also very common. 



After having engaged five men, furnished with provisions, 

 we left Obdorsk on the moriiing of the 16th of July, bound 

 for the Schtschutschja river, which we intended to ascend as 

 far as possible, and thence to thePodarata river and the Kara 

 Bay, these parts, lying between the Ob river and the Ural 

 Mountains, never having been before visited by any zoologist. 



We reached Janburri, an Ostiakian yurt-place to the east 

 of the mouth of the Schtschutschja river, on the 18th of July, 

 and with difficulty obtained two Saraojeds to act as pilots up 

 the river, as no one was acquainted with this part of the 

 country, which is only visited by nomad Ostiaks and Samo- 

 jeds and their herds of Reindeer. At Kiochat, a fishing- 

 place on the right bank of the Ob, Lai^us marinus was plen- 

 tiful, engaged in stealing fish from the nets. I here ob- 

 served their singular habit of perching on dead branches of 

 high trees. As soon as we reached the left bank we came to 

 low flooded land, cut into many silent channels, bordered 

 with low willow-scrub. Here Motacilla citreola was not 

 uncommon, as also even Phalaropus cinereus. At Janburri 

 Dr. Brehm shot Anthus seebohmi, discovered last year by Mr. 

 Seebohm on the Pctchora river, and of which new species I 

 had been kindly provided with a description by my friend Mr. 

 Dresser. A little above Janburri I got a species of Calamo- 

 herpe, peculiar in its manner and song, the latter being very 

 sweet. As soon as we entered the Schtschutschja river we 

 came into the tundra-region, except on the right bank, which 

 is still covered more or less Avith woods. We observed Otiis 

 brachyotus and, for the first time, Lagopus albus, not yet in 

 full summer plumage. Tot anus glareola was the most com- 



