224 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[OCTOBKR, ly02. 



away fishing,' on the Miinnan coast, but tho peojile who 

 wcri' loft w<M-e very nice, and a great contrast to tlic peasants 

 of Kaiidaliix. They secniotl to be hii]ipily inlliieiiced l)y 

 their jiroximity witli Norway. A little boy t.> wliom I 

 gave a eopek for bringing nie a telograui, took of his hat 

 and shook my hand in true Norwegian fashion. 



T shindd not dan; to boast of my own culinary efforts, 

 but my companion had for a month jiroved himself an 

 excellent chef. Nevertheless, it mnst be ac-knowledgi <l 

 that on boarding the steamer which was to take us to the 

 coast, we took a very great interest in the wonderful dishes 

 put before us (and not in vain) at the first few meals. 



We had determined to work in the neighbourhood ol 

 the coast for a week, so we disembarked at Ekaterina— a 

 remarkable place at the mouth of the Kola Fjord. Thi' 

 harbour of Ekaterina is practically land locked, and thus 

 well protected from all winds. Moreover, by the kindly 

 inllueuce exerted by the G\df Stream it is the most easterly 

 harbour in the north of Eurojie which is free from ice at 

 all seasons, and is thus the only northern port possessed 

 by Eussia which remains unfrozen in the winter. Though 

 the water is deep the harbour is small, being only about 

 a quarter of a mile wide. It would not, therefore, be 

 convenient for large war vessels which could not easily 

 turn in it. Nevertheless, the Russian G-overnment have 

 here built a small dry dock, and at great cost have cou- 

 structed a tine road up the rocky slope which descends 

 abruptly to the water's edge. The road leads to the only 

 level piece of ground on the hills round the harbour. This 

 was a small marsh, but has now been drained, and some 

 fifty wooden buildings forming the new town of Ekaterina 

 have been erected upon it. These buildings were all made 

 in Archangel, and brought thence in parts. They include 

 a fine church, a custom house, a school, and other jiublic 

 offices. During «ur journey through Lapland, Ekaterina 

 had j\ist been completed, and had been opened oHicially 

 with great ceremony. 



We spent a most enjoyable week here, being most 

 hospitably entertained by a party of Russian marine 

 biologists, who were installed in a well-fitted laboratory. 

 Although the weather was wretched we much enjoyed the 

 bracing air of the coast after the muggy atmosphere of 

 the interior. We were able to add considerably to our 

 collection. The most remarkable point about the birds 

 on this rocky northern coast was the fact that many of 

 them still had nests with fresh eggs, although the winter 

 was coming on apace Mealy redpolls* were common 

 amongst the stunted birch trees, which struggled for an 

 existeni-e in the dells amongst the rocks, where tliev were 

 more or less protected from the winds. Most of the red- 

 polls had fresh eggs in their beautiful little nests, and I 

 feel sure that these were first broods, for I saw no young 

 birds about. One nest contained a dead bird sitting on 

 two eggs. On dissecting this bird it was evident that it 

 had died " egg-bound." which I fancy must be a rare 

 occurrence amongst wild birds. 



One day we saw a diver flying over a hill. As we 

 watched, it began to circle, and eventually flew down behind 

 the hill. We crept over the slope, and found a small tarn 

 on the other side, and seeing no bird about we concluded 

 that it had gone on to its nest. So we separated and walked 

 carefully round the small lake. I had not gone far before 

 a large bird slid silently off the bank into the water. 

 Swimming raindly for a short distance, it suddenly raised 

 its liody perpendicularly in the water, and flapping its 

 wings began to croak loudly. As I wanted the bird I did 

 not delay long in shooting it, knowing well from expe- 

 rience that when once these birds begin diving it is next 



to impossible to get them. Tho bird proved to be a red- 

 throated diver.* On the bank from which it had slid 

 were two fresh eggs, jdaced in a depression in the wet 

 moss \nthin a foot of thf edge of the tarn. F'Vom the tn-st 

 to the water was a shallow trough worn in the moss by 

 the bird which was accustomed to slide from its eggs 

 down into the water. My friend and I waited patiently 



^ Znnota linaria. 



Fift. 7. — Rcd-tliroateil Diver on Nest. 



in turns for mauv hours well hidden near the nest, hoping 

 that the otther bird would come to the nest. But it never 

 appeared, although its mate which we had shot itroved to 

 be the male. The photograph here reproduced is one of 

 the dead bird on the nest, and was taken in the pouring 

 rain. 



Bidding adieu to our kind Russian hosts we sailed for 

 Vardoe. Here we had to wait six hours for a steamer 

 to take us south, and during that time \ve employed our- 

 selves most profitably in collecting birds. We found a 

 number of interesting species congregated in a field 

 attached to a small fort. On one side some soldiers were 

 drilling, on the other a sentry was pacing up and down. 

 Still we were determined to have those birds, and 

 accordingly climbed over the fence and proceeded to get 

 them. In our eagerness we had soon forgotten the sentry, 

 and were surprised after shooting some six or eight birds 

 to see him buckling on his sword and running towards us. 

 Pocketing the birds, as well as the little poaching gun 

 which we had been using, and climbing out of the field, 

 we went to meet the little man in the most innocent way. 

 However, he received us with an awfid toi-rent of what 

 sounded like abtise. We were both most ignorant of the 

 Norwegian language, and the only exjiression I could 

 tliink of as at all benefiting the occasion was a word 

 sounding like " umflelardles," and signifying " I beg vour 

 pardon." Accordingly I repeated this word many times 

 in the suavest jHissible way, and then we walked rapidly 

 away to our boat, leaving- the soldier in a most indignant 

 rage. Unluckily some boys had seen and heard the whole 

 of the fun, and they followed us through the town shouting 

 out the tale, and repeating some of the sentry's choicest 

 expn'ssions. as well as my apology, which seemed to cause 

 the inhabitants great amusement. We were well able to 

 join in the laugh, because our hare pockets bulged con- 

 spicuously with a rich booty. 



* Colymbw) septenirionali*. 



