FETCH OR A 343 



ground ; but is apparently totally absent from the dry, 

 sandy, open pine-covered ground. It is vain to attempt 

 to describe all its varied collection of songs. It is indeed 

 a true mocking-bird. We have even heard it (seen it 

 in the act) singing the rich melodious song of the Red- 

 wing, and the ' twirring ' of the first notes of the Wood 

 Sandpiper. It is fond of feeding on insects along the 

 margins of the pools in the marshy hollows of the 

 forest. 



Redstart. Only one was seen a male in the dry 

 open pine-ground. 



Wheatear. Not common. We found two or three 

 pairs on the open ground near the village, amongst old 

 tree-roots and stumps, where the forest has formerly been 

 cleared off. 



Stonechat. Not rare, but confined to the dry, sandy, 

 opener woods near the village. 



Willow Warbler. Common. We noticed an additional 

 note of this bird, which we did not remember ever 

 having heard before. Seebohm compares it to the spitting 

 of a cat. Perhaps it is best expressed by a succession of 

 z's, thus ' z-z-z-z-z,' or ' zh-zh-zh,' but it is difficult to 

 explain on paper. 



Siberian Cliiffcliaff. A few were seen and heard but 

 only one was shot. We should say that they are just as 

 rare here as in the smaller pine-forests at Ust Zylma. As 

 usual, they are also shy, active, and restless here, and 

 most difficult to get a shot at. The males, perched on the 

 tip-top of the highest larches, uttering their loud * chivet- 

 chivet-chivet,' or their rapid song, were wild, and seldom 

 allowed a nearer approach than a hundred yards, ever 

 flying on ahead from high larch top to high larch top. A 

 bird which perches so conspicuously and has a loud note, 

 cannot be otherwise than very rare, or we should see 

 them oftener, as we are constantly scrutinising the tops 



