124 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[June, 1902. 



heard iit midnifj^ht, and Siberian jays* would wake lis up 

 witli Ihoir harsh cries at one or two in the ninmiuf;. These 

 javs were not so large or so brij^htly coloured as tlie birds 

 which worry our ^ame-keejiers at home, but tln'V were 

 most amusing. They used to come round our tent door 

 while we were asleep and fight over the carcases of birds 

 whicli had been skinned. Like English jays they were 

 fond of imitating the notes of other birds, and one night 



Sketch Map, showing route across Russian Lapland from 

 Kandalai to Ekaterina Harboui'. 



we were waked up by a loud cry like a hawk. My friend 

 snatched ujj his gun and, creeping to the tent door, shot 

 the bird. Regardless of mosquitoes he went out with 

 bare feet to pick up the " hawk." The mosquitoes drove 

 him back at a run in no peaceful state of mind. " What 



• Perisoreut infaustus. 



was it," said I. " Jay," said he rubbing himself all over 

 and beating the mosquitoes out of the tent with a towel. 

 AVhcn the tent was clear and the mos(|uito curtain 

 adjusted, I endeavoured to console my friend with the 

 suggestion that the jay had fully atoned for its misplaced 

 facetiousness. 



As already explained we were forced to hurry through 

 the country rather more quickly than we had wshed 

 owing to the difficulty of transporting and obtaining food. 

 Had we not set our men to work to fish on everj' possible 

 occasion, and had we not shot every eatable bird we could 

 find our time would have been considerably shortened. 



Luckily for us a certain amount of fish was always 

 obtainable, and we made many a meal off salmon and 

 salmon trout. It will shock the scientific fisherman to 

 bear how we caught our fish, but we were not ashamed of 

 poaching tricks because our time was fully occupied with 

 collecting birds, and when we fished food was our only 

 object and the c^uicker it was obtained the better. For 

 instance, there were a fine lot of salmon in the little lake 

 by which we first pitched our tent. As we rowed along 

 this lake on our way north a line with a minnow at the 

 end was let out. We soon had a 15 lb. salmon on, and 

 he was quickly hauled alongside. We had no gaff handy, 

 but a sheath-knife answered the purpose, and certainly the 

 fish tasted very well when we fried him a few hours 

 afterwards. 



At the other side of the lake the river, swollen by melting 

 snow and ice, was rushing down in a torrent so that we 

 had to land and walk. While our men were loading up 

 we found a lovely little dome-shaped nest of a willow-wren,* 

 which is familiar in England as a summer resident, and 

 is a great traveller for so small and slender a bird. The 

 track, which led through very marshy ground, was com- 

 posed of wooden " trottoirs," made of split logs laid down 

 side by side. Wherever there was a track across boggy 

 land in this covintry it was always made in this way, and 

 when the logs were new walking was easy, but as often as 

 not the logs were rotten or insecure. A loose log was 

 annoying, aud difficult to walk along gracefully, because 

 the rounded side was laid on the ground, and an incautious 

 step made it turn, and then there was disaster, especially 

 when the bog was deep. At first we were always coming 

 to grief on these " trottoirs," and our heavily loaded 

 carriers disliked them exceedingly, although they were 

 always quick to make merry over the misfortunes of others. 

 However, experience teaches one even to walk along 

 rounded planks over a marsh in safety, and in any case 

 we consoled ourselves with the idea that these bogs were 

 frozen not far below the surface. That such was the case 

 we doubted afterwards, when several places had been 

 tested uninteutionaUy, and no bottom could be discovered. 



During our first little walk over these " trottoirs " we 

 saw many bramblingsf in the birch trees about the track. 

 These birds are only known in England in the winter, but 

 in the north they may be said to represent the chaffinch, 

 being very much like that bird in form and size, as 

 well as in habits. The nests of the birds are almost 

 identical, although perhaps the brambling's is not quite 

 so neat as that of the chaffinch, while their notes are much 

 alike. Another bird which continually reminded us of 

 England was the red-spotted blue-throat. J: This bird 

 takes the place in these regions of our robin, to which it 

 is nearly allied. It is very robin-like in its attitudes and 

 movements, but instead of the red breast it has a shining 

 blue throat with a red spot in the middle of the blue. 

 This red sjjot distinguishes the northern blue-throat from 



• Phylloscopus (rochilus. f Fringilla mQiitifringilla. 



X Ct/anecula s«(ci(a. 



