3io TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



with water. Sometimes the men had to go ahead to see 

 if the ice was safe before taking the horses over. 



The road, formerly a hollow (or level, in places, with 

 the surface) now looked like a liliputian chain of moun- 

 tains, crossing the Petchora, and winding up the course of 

 the Zylma, and instead of bumping over its uneven 

 course we crossed and recrossed it searching for firm ice. 



The river certainly looked bad, but then M. Znaminsky 

 had provisioned himself for ten days' shooting, so he at 

 least could not suspect an early break-up ; not having 

 sufficient experience in ice, and its nature ourselves, we 

 naturally trusted in theirs. 



We arrived at the house at 3 a.m., and after a couple of 

 hours' sleep I went out to the left of the house down the 

 river Zylma. I shot two $ Lapland Buntings which 

 were in company with Shore Larks and two Meadow 

 Pipits, the latter whilst perched in alder and willow trees. 

 They were perching freely in the trees birches, alder, 

 and less frequently the willow: both flying up from the 

 ground, or from tree to tree, or rising in the air and 

 singing like a Tree Pipit, descending again in exactly the 

 same manner as practised by the latter bird. Seebohrn, 

 who went in another direction, witnessed the same thing, 

 and shot two in the act also. We are equally surprised, 

 as when we first saw the Buntings perching, but the 

 habit appears to be perfectly well known to Piottuch, 

 who, previous to our shooting them, had told us of the 

 habit. We have since come to the conclusion that these 

 Pipits are not true Anthuspratensis, but the young of last 

 year of A. cervinus.* 



* On the examination at Sheffield in September, 1875, of our collec- 

 tions, made by Messrs. H. E. Dresser, Howard Saunders, and H. 

 Seebohm, these tree-perching Meadow Pipits were considered not to 

 be Anthus cervinus. 



Hancock (' Cat. of Birds of Northumberland and Durham,' p. 59) 



