218 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap, xviii. 



had seen on the flat. The eggs were quite fresh, or nearly 

 so ; and the nest must have been made nearly a fortnight 

 later than those we had previously taken. During that 

 time the bogs had become much drier, so that we could 

 cross them without much difficulty ; and this would probably 

 be the reason why this nest was placed lower down. The 

 eggs had all the appearance of a second laying, being less 

 blotched than usual, one of them remarkably so. It is worth 

 noticing that whilst we were watching in our first position, 

 very near the nest, the birds were almost quite silent, and 

 did not call to each other as they usually do. 



After carefully packing the eggs, we walked on, and 

 speedily started another pair. This time we lay down 

 together, as nearly as we could tell, on the spot from which 

 the birds rose, which seems to be generally from forty to fifty 

 yards from the nest. The clouds of mosquitoes formed such 

 a mist on the tundra that we had some difficulty in marking 

 our birds ; but by raking the horizon with a binocular, and 

 getting well stung through our veils in the process, we soon 

 found the female, and watched her on to a ridge just opposite 

 to us. She soon settled down; and within a quarter of an 

 hour after we had lain down we were both perfectly satisfied 

 that she was on the nest. We gave her a few minutes' grace, 

 and then walked up to the nest, without making any effort 

 to shoot the bird, having perfectly identified her, and being 

 almost tired out by the mosquitoes. The eggs in this nest 

 were considerably incubated. The nest was placed, as before, 

 in a hollow on a ridge. The ground on this ridge was not so 

 mossv as usual, and there was much bare brown turf to be 

 seen. Whether this had anything to do with the colour of 



