CHAP. VI. 



OUR FIRST NEST. 61 



was covered with a layer of white powder, dry as dust, and 

 white as (the only possible comparison) white as itself. At 

 night the effect was still more striking. The snow on the 

 railings, on the house tops, and wherever it had been dis- 

 turbed by footmarks, was white, and all the rest was a pale 

 delicate cobalt-blue. 



On Tuesday, 28th April, we got our first nest. It was 

 brought in by some peasants. It was the nest of a Siberian 

 jay, and contained four eggs. This bird is probably the 

 earliest breeder in these parts, and no doubt winters in the 

 Petchora district. The nest was not so flat as we expected, 

 composed almost entirely of lichens, with a few pieces of mat- 

 tino-, hair, and feathers. The foundation was made of slender 

 pine twigs, and the inside was profusely lined with feathers. 

 The snowstorm having now ceased, we made an excursion 

 on snow-shoes to an island in the Petchora, and afterwards 

 visited the opposite bank of the river, V autre cote, as Piottuch 

 called it. It was remarkable how veiy few birds we saw. I 

 twice came across a flock of bullfinches, all males, and shot 

 three of them. I also saw and shot a solitary tit, very nearly 

 allied to our marsh tit.* It is a greyer bird than ours, with 



* The marsh tit (Parus borealis, 

 Selys.) appears to be a resident bird 

 throughout Europe and Northern and 

 Central Asia, being replaced on the 

 American continent by a nearly allied 

 species, Parus atricapillus (Lath.). It 

 is subject to considerable variation in 

 colour, which has given rise to its being 

 divided into several species, which are 

 generally admitted now to be only 



deserving of subspecific rank. The 

 British form, which is very brown on 

 the back, and has the black of the head 

 only extending to the nape, is also 

 found in South Europe and, curiously 

 enough, in China. In Scandinavia the 

 subspecies borealis (Selys.) occurs, 

 having the back much greyer. The 

 form which we found in the valley of 

 the Petchora, which extends eastwards 



