PETCHORA 389 



and I remained a little above to shoot the birds if they 

 stooped, which both male and female did in succession. 

 First shot I hit the female bird hard, but she recovered 

 and went off. Then the male continued plunging, some- 

 times at Simeon sometimes at me, and offering, perhaps, 

 one of the most puzzling shots known. I missed three 

 shots taking him on the rise after the stoop, but the 

 fourth, as he came straight at me, almost perpendicularly , 

 stretched him dead on the grass. 



The nest contained three eggs, large and handsome. 

 This eyrie is not more than a mile distant from the other 

 one. 



On the tundra afterwards Simeon and I found several 

 nests of small birds, a Golden Plover's with four, the 

 bird being shot, a Black-throated Diver's and a Long- 

 tailed Duck's with eggs and down. Simeon distinctly 

 said, ' Neat chorna ootka ; malenkay.' I said, ' Neat 

 chorna,' pointing to some Black Scoters on a tarn, and 

 he repeated ' Neat, neat.' I then imitated the cry of the 

 Long-tailed Duck, ' cow, cow-wie,' and he said ' Da, da ; ' 

 grinned and nodded his head. 



The Long-tailed Duck appears to be quite the 

 commonest Duck on the tundra, and the only others seen 

 by me to-day were Black Scoters and one pair of Velvet 

 Scoters, the only ones we met with (see infra). 



Coming home I saw a pair of Arctic (Richardson's) 

 Skuas performing various curious antics on a level part of 

 the tundra, which told me the nest was close at hand. 

 The birds often alighted within fifteen yards of me, raised 

 the wings above the back when they did this the white 

 or dusky quills showed like a patch upon the raised wings 

 shammed lameness and sickness, and stood reeling from 

 side to side as if mortally wounded. If I followed them, 

 they continued to try and lead me off; but if I again 

 approached the nest, they flew boldly towards me, and 



VOL. n. 27 



