3 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 
where they appeared to have been breeding, as it was only 
the middle of August. 
Turpus tiracus, Linn. 
I shot the first Redwing on the 5th of June. It appears 
to arrive earlier than the Fieldfare, and to go further north. 
On the Arctic circle it built its nest in the willows and birches, 
but generally nearer the ground than the Fieldfare usually 
does. In lat. 71° the Redwing was still common and breed- 
ing on the ground, generally on a sloping bank. I did not 
see it further north. 
Turpus puBius, Bechst. 
The first Thrush to arrive at the Arctic circle was this 
species—the Dusky Thrush (7. fuscatus of Pallas). Small 
parties of it arrived on the 4th of June, and were to be found 
feeding on the steep banks where the sun had melted the 
snow. ‘Their call-note reminded me of that of the Redwing. 
During the next week they were very plentiful, and I began 
anxiously to look out for their nests; but within a fortnight 
after their arrival they had all disappeared, and I saw no 
more of them until the 12th of July, during our voyage down 
the river. On this day we cast anchor for a few hours in 
lat. 69°, and I went on shore to explore for the first time a 
Siberian tundra. I climbed up the steep bank, and found 
myself in a wild desolate-looking country, full of lakes, 
swamps, and rivers, in some places a dead flat, in others un- 
dulating, and even hilly, briluant with gay flowers, swarming 
with mosquitoes, and full of birds. In sheltered places dwarf 
willows and creeping-birches were growing, and (because we 
were only some fifty versts from the forests) here and there 
a few stunted larches. Winding through the tundra was the 
bed of a river, now nothing but a small deep valley, forming 
a chain of isolated lakes and pools. This river-bed bears the 
name of the dried-up Doo-din’-ka, and is about fifty versts 
to the north-west of the real river Doo-din’-ka. On some of 
the northern slopes large patches of snow were still lying. 
Most of the birds evidently had young. I found myself 
generally the centre of attraction of a little crowd of birds 
[46] 
