136 



THE WORLD OF LIFE 



CHAP. 



by covering his head with a copper kettle, they pierced it in 

 such countless numbers that their combined strength enabled 

 them to fly away with it ! 



Our best and most instructive writer on the wonderful 

 bird-migrations to the Arctic regions is the late Mr. Henry 

 Seebohm, who spent two seasons there, one in the north- 

 east of Russia, at Ust-Zylma, and at the mouth of the 



Fig. 13. 

 Shooting Wild Geese 

 on the Petchora River at Ust- 

 Zylma (May 14, 1875). 



Petchora River, far within the Arctic circle ; and another in 

 Northern Siberia, at the mouth of the Yenesay River. He 

 tells us, that — 



" Birds go to the Arctic regions to breed, not by thousands, but 

 by millions. The cause of this migration is to be found in the 

 lavish prodigality with which Nature has provided food. Seed or 

 fruit-eating birds find an immediate and abundant supply of cran- 

 berries, crowberries, and other ground fruit, which have remained 

 frozen during the long winter, and are accessible the moment the 

 snow has melted, while insect-eating birds have only to open their 

 mouths to fill them with mosquitoes." * 



Among the larger birds that come early to these regions 



1 Siberia in Europe, p. 296. 



