157. Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia, 
GaLLINaGco Magor (Gmelin). 
Six days after the arrival of the Pin-tailed Snipe the Double 
Snipefappeared in considerable numbers, and soon became by 
far the commonest species. In the evenings I used some- 
times to watch these birds through my binocular. With a 
little caution I found it easy to get very near them ; and fre- 
quently I have sat partially concealed between a couple of 
willow bushes attentively turning my glass on two or three 
pairs of these birds, all within fifteen or twenty yards of me. 
They used to stretch out their necks, throw back the head 
almost onto the back, and open and shut their beaks rapidly, 
uttering a curious noise, like running one’s finger along the 
edge of acomb. This was sometimes accompanied by a short 
flight or by the spreading of the wings and tail. The Double 
Snipe is by no means shy, and allows of a near approach. 
When it gets up from the ground it rises with a whirr of the 
wings like that of a Grouse, but not so loud. The Double 
Snipe probably breeds on the Arctic circle, as it still frequented 
the marshy ground near the Koo-ray’-i-ka when we weighed 
anchor in the ill-starred ‘ Thames’ on the 29th of June, and 
I found it still frequenting the same locality when I returned 
in the ‘ Yen-e-say’ on the 2nd of August. 
Cyenus musicus, Bechst. 
I did not succeed in identifying the common Wild Swan 
in the valley of the Yen-e-say’. Every skin which I had an 
opportunity of examining proved to be that of Bewick’s Swan ; 
every footprint in the sand which I measured was that of 
Bewick’s Swan; and all the eggs I obtained agreed in size 
with those of Bewick’s Swan which Harvie Brown and I 
obtained in the Petchora, and were too small for those of the 
larger species. Nevertheless there cannot be any doubt that 
Cygnus musicus is found in the valley of the Yen-e-say’, since 
Middendorff found it still further to the east, and it is com- 
mon on the Amur. I examined a number of skins at various 
stations between Tomsk and Tobolsk, and found both species 
‘represented in nearly equal numbers. 
[72] 
