observed on Kolyuev. 215 



of a dried tussock of coarse grass on the tundra, the upper 

 edge of the nest being level with the surface of the ground. 

 The outer part was always made of fine grass, and the inner 

 lining of the flufty down of the willow, bog-cotton, and 

 Nardosmia frigida. The birds generally sat very close, and 

 their colours harmonized well with the surroundings. We 

 never found more than four eggs in a nest. 



-t7. Nyctea scANDiACA. Suowy Owl. 



We shot a very fine old male of this species with almost 

 pure white plumage, but could find no trace of his having a 

 mate; we thought it possible he was too old to migrate 

 northward for the summer. He was the only specimen 

 seen on the island, 



8. Anser, sp. inc. Grey Goose. 



Several of these Geese were observed and thought to be 

 Bean, but, as none were shot, we could not identify them 

 positively. They had goslings in down with them ; one was 

 caught and appeai'ed to correspond with the Bean gosling 

 taken at Lutni. 



9. Cygnus bewicki. Bewick's Swan. 



The Gobista River runs through an enormous series of 

 glacio-marine beds, which are being constantly denuded by the 

 joint action of spring floods, frosts, and snow, so that the river 

 has formed a long series of bays in its course one to three 

 miles across. These bays are now chiefly marshes, inter- 

 spersed with lakes and tarns, some of them evidently portions 

 of a former bed of the river; between these bays are head- 

 lands of the tundra. On crossing one of the latter we saw 

 two Swans feeding in the marsh below us, and, with the help 

 of glasses, discovered that they had young in down with 

 them. Then at once began a mad race over snow, bogs, &c. ; 

 it ended in a dead heat at the edge of the lake. Slater shot 

 the old female and one young one, and two other young 

 were captured by Feilden, but it took two of us to pull him 

 out of the mud after he had secured the second, some yards 

 from shore ! ! Great was the rejoicing when we examined 

 our prizes, for they proved to be Bewick's Swans. We 



q2 



