414 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



a hundred yards from the nest at this time. I even 

 thought I saw the skin of his nose curl up /) 



The male, further, moves about near the nest much 

 less than the female does, and often stands on the same 

 hummock for a quarter of an hour at a time, generally at 

 a distance from the nest ; and when he considers the 

 female is safe from observation and finally settled on the 

 nest, he sometimes takes wing and flies away. 



The male appears darker to the eye, blacker-breasted, 

 and whiter over the eye ; but it does not do to trust to this 

 alone, unless the two birds are standing close together for 

 comparison. Some females are much darker than others, 

 and nearly as dark as some males. 



We saw to-day a large flock of Buffon's Skuas, prob- 

 ably the same which we saw at Bougre on the third 

 current (q.v.). We cannot discover where these birds 

 are breeding at present. 



July 11. 



Sunday, the llth of July we find it now rather 

 difficult to supply Piottuch with work. 



Seebohm, with the stick-gun, shot a number of 

 Budytes citreola and small birds, and three Terek 

 Sandpipers. 



We have occasionally met with the latter species here, 

 or heard its pretty musical trill ' tr-r-r-r-r whui,' or its 

 alarm note * kul-ik,' whence its name at the ponds and 

 among the thickets on the islands, but they are much 

 scarcer here than higher up the river. 



The Common Sandpiper we have never met with here. 



A nest of Shovellers' eggs was brought in to-day with 

 the down. They proved to be quite fresh. 



July 12. 



On Monday, the 12th of July, we had rain in the 

 morning, and east wind and rain about noon, when we 



