153 



On June 30 I found the nest, containing four eggs, the male 

 flying or rather fluttering from it. In doing this, it remained quite 

 near the ground, simulated lameness, often cowered down, and, 

 uttering uneasy cries, tried to lure me away from the nest in a 

 strange manner. When one wanted to catch it, it always remained 

 so much ahead that this was impossible. To draw my attention 

 it raised one wing at a time straight up in the air, running on 

 like this for a moment. This is also done by birds not breeding 

 but not so often, as I found later on. When I was at a safe dis- 

 tance from the nest, it rose into the air and sang. 



The male is much less conspicuously coloured than the female, 

 because it breeds. Moreover the female is somewhat larger. The 

 male is very well protected hy its colours; it resembles its sur- 

 roundings so much that I often had great difficulty in discovering 

 it on its nest though I knew the exact spot. It sat very quietly 

 on the nest, in a somewhat crouching position. 



The first days, after I had found the nest, the male mostly soon 

 flew from it on my approaching, but after some days it grew accustomed 

 to my presence and remained quiet. On June 17 it was still incubating, 

 on June 19, so probably after twenty one days, the young were 

 out, as well as many others in the same tundra. I did not pay 

 particulai attention to the female during the first part of the incu- 

 bation-period, but Huxley, who visited a nest daily on Prince Charles 

 Foreland, informed me that on several occasions the female was 

 close by, perched some 20 or 30 yards away. 



The cf behaved quite differently after the young were out. Again 

 it simulated lameness, and tried to lure me away from the nest 

 in the way described. Sometimes it flew quite near me, approached 

 me at arm's length and uttered many cries of fear. The female 

 was in the neighbourhood of the nest, but always remained at a safe 

 distance from me, kept quiet and never attacked me. 



The young showed an extremely marked mimicry. When I came 

 near the nest, I found two somewhat wet, downy chickens in it, 

 which I photographed. When I was going back, I discovered the 

 two other young ones at a foot's distance: I had not seen them, 

 though I had looked for them! These two young ones I placed in- 

 to the nest and then something remarkable happened : the male 

 approached and sat down to cover its young at a distance of about 

 three feet! Now I could photograph it easüy (flg. 4, plate I). 



On July 20 I saw the same (?) male at some distance from the 



