io6 



SIBERIA IN EUROPE. 



CHAP. X. 



sometimes they filled the air like a swarm of bees. They 

 were very wild, but the old pollard willows gave excellent 

 opportunities for concealment, and a good shot would have 

 made a heavy bag in a short time. My companion shot 

 seven in about an hour ; six pintails * and one teal. 

 Nearly all these ducks were pintails ; we identified hundreds 

 through our glasses, and saw only a few teal. 



My companion identified a small flock of shovellers,! one 

 of which flew quite close to him. He also distinctly made 

 out a pair of golden-eyes,* which came within shot while 



* The pintail duck (Dajila acuta, 

 Linn.) is another species of duck breed- 

 ing in the Arctic regions of both hemi- 

 spheres. In the British Islands it is 

 a winter visitant, though a few may 

 remain to breed. Its range in summer 

 extends from the northern portion of 

 the temperate region to some distance 

 beyond the Arctic circle. It winters in 

 various parts of Europe and North 

 Africa, India, China, Japan, and Central 

 America. In the valley of the Petchora 

 we found this species abundant wherever 

 we went. 



■f The shoveller duck (Sj> vtula 

 clypeata, Linn.) is a circumpolar bird 

 tolerably common in the winter season 

 in Great Britain, a few remaining with 

 us to breed. Throughout Central and 

 Southern Europe, and Africa as far 

 south as Abyssinia, it appears to be a 

 resident species, though the numbers 

 in winter are largelj increased by birds 

 from the Arctic regions. In Asia its 

 southern limit during the breeding 

 seas"ii appears to be the mountain 



Cashmere. It winters in India, Ceylon. 

 South China, Formosa, and Japan. On 

 the American continent its winter 

 range extends almost to the equator. 

 We met with it in the valley of the 

 Petchora up to latitude 68°. 



J The golden-eye duck (Clanjula 

 glaucion, Linn.) is also a circumpolar- 

 bird, but is replaced in Greenland and 

 Iceland by Clarwjula islandica (Gmel.), 

 a species which is also met with 

 throughout the American polar region. 

 In the British Islands it is only known 

 as a winter visitant. From the pecu- 

 liarity of its breeding in hollow trees 

 it does not, of course, migrate beyond 

 the northern limit of forest growth, 

 and it is occasionally found breeding 

 south of the Arctic circle. In win- 

 ter it is found in various parts of 

 ( lentral and Southern Europe, some- 

 times crossing the Mediterranean. It 

 has not been recorded from Persia or 

 India, but in Eastern Asia it has been 

 found as far south as China in winter, 

 and in America in North Mexico 



