122 KAMSCHATKA. [chap. 



the south. Corvine birds are abundant wherever there are fish, 

 and large flocks of the common crow (C. corone) are always to be 

 found perched on the trees in the vicinity of the rivers, or pecking 

 at the piles of dead fish rotting on the banks. The familiar chatter 

 of a magpie, which differs but slightly from our own bird, is as 

 common a sound in Kamschatka as it is in England, and the 

 rigours of an Arctic winter appear to have had no sobering effect 

 upon his character.-^ Eavens too are here, and by the side of the 

 stream runs the "Wood Sandpiper (T. glareola), almost the only bird 

 of this genus that we noticed on our journey. The surface of the 

 water is dotted with various species of duck, of which mallard and 

 teal ^ are perhaps the commonest. Like everything else, they too 

 seem to regard the dead salmon as a source of food, for in many of 

 those we shot the crop was full of maggots. 



We halted for our mid-day meal on the banks of a little stream 

 a few versts beyond Puschina, and while engaged in discussing our 

 wonted dish of cold grouse a fine eagle flew over us, which we were 

 fortunate enough to secure. It was only winged by the shot, and 

 made such a determined resistance to our efforts to secure it, that 

 we eventually had to give it the contents of another barrel. It 

 proved to be a female Erne {Haliaetus albicillci) in not quite mature 

 plumage, measuring six feet eight inches across the wings. The crop 

 contained the remains of salmon, and the bird smelt so atrociously 

 from its prolonged fish diet, and was so fat, that the operation 

 of skinning it was anything but a pleasant one. It was the first 

 example we had obtained, but we afterwards found the species 

 common towards the lower part of the Kamschatka Eiver. The 

 magnificent Pallas's Eagle {Thalassaetus ijelagicus) we did not meet 

 with until we had reached the neighbourhood of the great volcanoes. 



While we ate our meal we watched Verglaski, slow-moving 



^ This species is another instance of the tendency to white in the birds of this 

 region. It has the extension of that colour on the wings characteristic of the Central 

 Asian Magpie (P. Icucoptera, Gould), but even more developed. 



2 The Teal were of two species — Q. crecca, and another, of which we did not 

 preserve any specimens. It is, I believe, Q. foJcata of Pallas. 



