CHAP. X. 



PIPITS. 



IOI 



about this time flock? of wild clucks began to fly up the 

 Petchora. So far as we could judge they seemed to be 

 principally pintail ducks, though we succeeded in shooting 

 a teal.* 



Pipits also began to arrive in great numbers. They were 

 wild and difficult to shoot, apparently all flying up wind ; 

 evidently eager to continue their journey and rarely 

 alighting on the ground. Both species were represented, 

 but they appeared to migrate in separate flocks ; and the red- 

 throated pipit f was much more abundant than the meadow 

 pipit.t We occasionally heard both species singing, but 

 they were by no means in full song, being evidently 



intent on migration. 



* The teal (Quert/uedula crecca, 

 Linn.) must be considered as a palce- 

 arctic species, being only occasionally- 

 found in Greenland and the eastern 

 coa'sts of North America. In the ne- 

 arctic region it is replaced by a very 

 closely allied species, Querquedula caro- 

 lincnsis (Gmel.). It is a resident in the 

 British Islands, though its numbers 

 are largely increased during the winter 

 season. There are very few countries 

 in Europe where it does not occasionally 

 breed, and in winter it has been found 

 as far south as Abyssinia. It breeds 

 throughout Siberia, and winters abun- 

 dantly in India, China, Formosa, and 

 Japan. In the valley of the Petchora 

 we did not find it north of the Arctic 

 circle. 



f The red-throated pipit (Anthxs 

 cervinus, Pall.) has been included in 



the British list, but apparently on 

 insufficient evidence. It breeds on the 

 tundras in the Arctic regions of both 

 Europe and Asia, wintering in South- 

 Eastern Europe, Algeria, Egypt, Nubia, 

 and Abyssinia, and eastwards in Persia, 

 India, China, and Japan. In the valley 

 of the Petchora we found it as far north 

 as we went on the mainland. 



% The meadow pipit (Anthus pr iten- 

 sis, Linn.) is common throughout Arctic 

 and temperate Europe, the birds in- 

 habiting the colder districts migrating 

 southwards to the basin of the Mediter- 

 ranean. The records of its occurrence 

 east of the Ural Mountains are very 

 questionable. In the valley of the 

 Petchora we found it a much rarer 

 bird than the red-throated pipit, ami 

 only once met with it breeding in about 

 latitude 68°. 



