24 THE ANIMAL LIFE OF SIBERIA 



false, regarding this animal, that our notice here may well be brief. Although 

 undoubtedly voracious, it does not appear to be so gluttonous as has been asserted. 

 Neither does it attack reindeer, unless they be sick or wounded, devoting its atten- 

 tion to foxes and other mammals of a size more suited to its powers. In addition 

 to feeding on carrion, it is active enough to catch hares and many kinds of birds. 

 If it comes across the carcase of a deer left by hunters it will not touch the 

 inviting banquet the first night, but revisits the kill the second night, when it 

 3 its fill, burying in the ground what it cannot eat. So partial indeed are 

 wolverines to carcases, that they will gnaw through thick wood, or even dig a 

 hole several feet into the ground in order to get at a slain deer. 



Of other Carnivora, the badger is widely distributed in Siberia, ranging as 

 far east as the river Lena ; while the otter is found over almost the whole area, 

 its northern limits nearly reaching the Arctic Circle. 



tosectivora and Of the insect-eating mammals, the hedgehog ranges as far east 



Bats. as Anmrland ; while the shrews are represented in Siberia by the 



common shrew and the pigmy shrew throughout the country from east to west. 

 The water-shrew is spread along the south of the tract, and the spider musk-shrew 

 ranges into the north-eastern districts. The northern limits of the mole extend 

 to some portion of the valle}^ of the Lena. A large number of bats inhabit 

 smaller or larger areas in Siberia, but as all these are essentially southern types 

 they can in no sense be regarded as characteristic of this vast tract. 



Arctic Blue- The Siberian area is much richer in birds than the Arctic 



Throat and region ; the perching-birds, which are there so scarce, being repre- 



Ruby Throat. sente( j j^ q U i te a num ber of species. One of the Siberian songsters 



is the Arctic blue-throat (Cyanecula succica), which breeds also in northern 



Sc mdinavia and northern Russia, and seems to be the onhy blue-throat of northern 



Asia. It appears in Germany on migration, but so seldom, that in travelling 



during the night it would seem to take about nine hours to fly from the German 



t to Egypt. In Siberia, where it nests in great numbers, it is found as far east 



i- Kamchatka This bird, which has a light ej^e-stripe, is distinguished from the 



central European blue-throat b} T a red in place of a white spot on the throat. An 



allied species, the ruby -throat (Calliope camchatkensis), on its return from winter- 



quarters in India, southern China, and the Philippines, appears in southern 



Siberia in April, although it does not visit the tundra before the snows have 



melted. Thickets and underwood are the haunts of this shy, solitary bird, whose 



song much superior to that of the blue-throat— resembles the music of the 



nightingale. The silky plumage of the male is of uniform olive-brown above, 



with the chin and throat of a brilliant scarlet-red, the breast grey, and the cheeks 



in-] eye-stripe white. The wheatear is as common in the north of Asia as in the 



north of Europe, and so is the dipper. 



Thrush Tribe ^ *" ne thrush tribe, the rock-thrush, although local, is abundant 



in Siberia, while the fieldfare, missel-thrush, song-thrush, and 



redwing abound every where in summer. On the other hand, the red-tailed fieldfare 



( Twrdua naumanni) and red-necked thrush (T. ruficollis), which inhabit northern 



'•1 central Asia, are species equally common, but unknown in Europe. From the 



