PETCHORA 365 



obtained. It is a great deal larger. Is it possible this 

 could have been Sylvia coronata of Meves ? * 



The note of the $ Yellow-headed Wagtail closely 

 resembles that of the Blue-headed species. 



The Sedge Warblers seem to have a much fuller and 

 richer and more varied song here than ours have. 



One Great Snipe was fired at. It may be added to 

 yesterday's list of the birds found in the low willow- and 

 alder-covered islands, and so also may the Common 

 Snipe, which was heard drumming, and was also seen. 



We arrived at Viska, or Veeska, where there is a 

 merchant. Veeska is the last place where we can buy 

 necessaries or luxuries, so we laid in a store of white 

 flour, some pounds of tobacco to mix with our Virginia, 

 some pounds of figs, and sundries. The people of Veeska 

 are said to be wealthy, and there is one peasant, owner of 

 10,000 Reindeer, which are worth about seven roubles (or 

 .1 sterling) each. How very well a little of this wealth 

 might be expended in keeping the village sweet and clean. 

 If Ust Zylma was worthy of the name of one large dry 

 dung-hill, Veeska is a collection of a hundred, with 

 stagnant green pools between. Approaching it in a 

 boat, Seebohm said it looked like a small Venice. All 

 the surrounding land and islands is almost a dead level, 

 and the town seen from the water, with its irregularly- 

 disposed houses and handsome church, cuts clear against 

 the sky. A large green meadow lies below the town 

 (which stands a few feet higher upon the dung-heap), 

 skirted beyond by the usual alder and willow thickets. 



* On the examination of our skins at Sheffield after our return by 

 Messrs. H. E. Dresser, Howard Saunders, and H. Seebohm, the notes 

 sent by the last-named to me (dated the 20th of September, 1875), 

 were as follows : 



' S. tussock is not yet identified : it is i not S. trochilus.' 

 4 Large and Small Willow Wrens : there may be one or two 

 species ; we cannot yet tell.' 



