ijA The Oologists' Record, December i, 1922. 



innumerable disappointments and heart-breaking delays, and may 

 find his whole season wrecked through no fault of his own. Needless 

 to say, it is an enormous advantage to know exactly what every one 

 has seen and done before one, and this can never be done satis- 

 factorily by the study of English works alone. Scandinavian, 

 German, and, in many cases, Russian literature must be carefully 

 digested and stored up for future use, and in practice one frequently 

 finds that little items of knowledge which appeared to be utterly 

 valueless at the time they were acquired, suddenly become deeply 

 significant, in view of new facts which gradually fill up the gaps 

 and lead to fresh discoveries. 



There are two factors in all work in the far north which tend 



greatly to simplify the work of the pioneer, namely, the shortness 



of the period during which it is possible for birds to breed, and the 



restricted amount of possible nesting ground. In temperate Europe 



the normal breeding season lasts for about seven months of the 



year, and there is no month in the year in which some species of 



bird has not been known to breed. One can open the season by 



marking down nests of Bearded Vulture in December or January, 



and go on steadily up to July, while late broods may be found 



through August and occasionally even later. But in the far north 



winter does not relax its grip till late in May, and few birds venture 



to lay before the end of May or early June, while by mid- July, 



the egg season is practically over. Then the interior, at any rate 



on the higher ground, is often covered by snow throughout the 



year, and it is only along the coastline, and in the lower and more 



sheltered valleys, and on islands, that any animal life can exist. 



As practically everything depends on the sea for food, the nesting 



sites are usually not far away. Other characteristics of the northern 



fauna are the tendency to breed in colonies or in close association 



with other species, and the very pronounced preference shown by 



breeders on low-lying ground for islands or peninsulas as a protection 



from the depredations of carnivorous mammals, such as the Arctic 



Fox. The paucity of species also greatly tends to simplify the 



work of the ornithologist and oologist, as one soon grows familiar 



with the appearance and notes of the very few birds which are 



really common. 



x\ll these circumstances favour the explorer, but there are many 

 others which weigh heavily in the scales on the other side. Cold 

 is not as a rule severe during the summer months, but when com- 



