Recently published Ornithological Works. 285 



47. Seebohm's ' Siberia in Europe* 



[Siberia in Europe : a Visit to the Valley of the Petchora, in North- 

 east Russia ; with descriptions of the Natural History, Migration of Birds, 

 &c. By Henry Seehohm, F.L.S. &c. 8vo. London, 1880. (John 

 Murray.)] 



No ornithologist can fail to read Mr. Seebohm's ' Siberia 

 in Europe ' with unflagging interest. Some of the passages 

 will be already familiar to readers of ' The Ibis,' but even 

 they will be glad to reperuse the narrative of his stirring 

 adventures and brilliant discoveries in a connected form. 

 The followiug extract gives a summary of the results of the 

 expedition : — 



" Of the half dozen British birds, the discovery of whose 

 breeding-grounds had baffled the efforts of our ornithologists 

 for so long, we succeeded in bringing home identified eggs 

 of three — the Grey Plover, the Little Stint, and Bewick^s 

 Swan. 



'^ Of the remaining three, two, the Sanderling and the 

 Knot, were found breeding by Captain Feilden, in lat. 82°, 

 during the Nares Arctic Expedition ; but the breeding- 

 grounds of the Curlew Sandpiper still remain a mystery. We 

 added several birds to the European list, which had either 

 never been found in Europe before, or only doubtfully so, 

 such as the Siberian Chiff-chaff, the Petchora Pipit, the Si- 

 berian Herring-Gull, the arctic forms of the Marsh-Tit, and 

 the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, the Yellow-headed Wagtail, 

 and the Asiatic Stonechat. We brought home careful records 

 of the dates of arrival of the migratory birds which breed in 

 these northern latitudes, besides numerous observations on 

 the habits of little-known birds. Our list of skins brought 

 home exceeded a thousand, and of eggs rather more than six 

 hundred." 



The understanding of the journey is much facilitated by an 

 excellent map of the route. The woodcuts are very nice, 

 especially those representing the nests, eggs, and young of 

 the Grey Plover and Little Stint. (These plates are only 

 given in a few presentation copies.) 



SER. IV. — VOL. v. X 



