434 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



probably those which have been lying on the feet. But they are birds 

 which fly straight off the nest with considerable flurry, whereas the 

 waders step off quietly.' By the end of July there were great numbers 

 of these birds swimming on the sea in lots thnt varied from eight to 

 twenty. 



Tringa alpina linn. Dunlin. 



P estrosoboy-pessotchnik (R.). Ya-i-bud-dy (S.). 



The dunlin was generally distributed. They were in pairs on 

 June 1 6, but not yet nesting. One bird obtained on the date con- 

 tained a half-formed egg. 'They were occupied in feeding and in 

 drumming like snipe, but with a more metallic sound (like a pea in a 

 tin whistle) evidently made by the voice.' On July 6 I took four eggs 

 ' hopelessly incubated.' On July 9 I found young ones. Hitherto 

 these birds (which principally affected those districts where the peat was 

 hummocky) had been seen in pairs ; now the males (?) began to get 

 together in lots of a dozen and more. And from July 1 1 till end of 

 August there were immense flocks on the mud-flats of the eastern 

 coast. On August 31 these birds were flying south. 



As in the case of the ringed-plover, the dunlin of Kolguev was the 

 smaller form. 



T. minuta leisler. Little Stint. 



The little stint was by far the most abundant wader on the island, 

 and next numerically was the dunlin. On June 16 they were in small 

 parties by the Kriva, chasing one another about, and none appeared 

 to be nesting. On July 27 we found a nest with four eggs. It was 

 a cup in the peat half filled with dead leaves of creeping birch only. 

 In the many nests I examined there were always dead leaves in the 

 bottom of a cup — leaves generally of the creeping birch (betula nana) 

 or, according to the surroundings, of vaccinium. Seldom had any 

 other material been used. But a nest found on July 9 was 'a deep 

 cup lined with dead birch leaves and a little dead grass.' We never 

 in any instance saw more than one bird at the nest, or with the young. 

 Out of seven birds secured under these circumstances, five were females, 



