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NOTKS ON THE LAPLAND HINTINd ON I'lIK 

 YENESEI UINKK. 



BY 



.MAID 1). H.WIJ.AXD. 



Thp:re is a polyglot Starling in this garden. Sometimes 

 he rehearses a recitation from memory. At other times 

 he improvises according to his fancy, and now and then 

 he hits an miexpected nail on the head Mith remarkable 

 success. Thus the other morning J awoke to a reiterated 

 whine, a long shrill splinter of sound, that gave me an 

 odd feeling of discomfort before I could follow the train 

 of memories that it lecalled. Then I remembered the 

 alarm note of the Lapland Bunting {Calcarius I. lap- 

 povinis) on the Lower Yenesei, and the Starling's chance 

 thistle brought up vividly the recollection of long 

 rambles over the tundra, of A\-hich it Mas so frequently 

 the accompaniment. 



I first met with the La])land Hujiting at Dudinka, at 

 the end of the forest growth, at the beginning of the 

 great estuary. It was the third Aveek in June, and the 

 birds, which were just beginning to build, were in full 

 song. At that time I had not read any description 

 of the song : in fact I had never thought of this species 

 as a songster at all, and Mas therefore able to form my 

 own opinion as to the merits of its music, which opinion 

 is here given for what it is Morth. I venture to think 

 that an ordinary observer need have less diffidence in 

 touching u])on the subject of bird-song than any other 

 point in ornithology. The descri])tions in most manuals 

 and text-books are quite unrecognizable, exce])t and when 

 the ornithologist leaves the set terms of " shrill chirps," 

 " ])leasing warbling *" and " trills of short duration '' 

 with which he obscures his subject and comes to repre- 

 sentation and the shifts of daily speech. The human 

 memory can visualize sights, but of so\nul it recalls not 



