CHAP. ii. ST. PETERSBURG TO VOLOGDA. 9 



birds and game, heaps of capercailzie, black grouse, hazel 

 grouse (the rdbchik of the Kussians), willow grouse (the 

 koropatki of the Russians), &c., stacks of white hares, and 

 baskets full of small birds. Amongst the latter we were 

 anxious to secure some Bohemian waxwings, in order, if 

 possible, to throw some light upon the vexed question of the 

 difference between the sexes of their species. We bought 

 a dozen of the most perfect skins for eighty kopecks. There 

 were not many waxwings in the market, and all those we 

 bought proved, on dissection, to be males. In winter these 

 birds go in flocks, and it would seem that the sexes flock 

 separately, as is known to be the case with many other 

 species. 



On the evening of the 10th of March we left St. Peters- 

 burg, and travelled by rail all night to Moscow, where we 

 spent a day. In the frozen market there we were told that 

 waxwings were seen only in autumn. Jackdaws and hooded 

 crows we found very abundant in Moscow. We left in the 

 evening, and travelled per rail all night and the whole of the 

 next day, reaching Vologda at midnight. 



We had previously written to the English consul in Arch- 

 angel, and he was kind enough to buy fur dresses for us, and 

 send them on to St. Petersburg. He also commissioned 

 M. Verakin, a Russian merchant in Vologda, to furnish us 

 \\ith a sledge and provisions for the journey. M. Verakin 

 treated us most hospitably, would not hear of our going 

 to an hotel, and gave us every assistance in his power. 

 Unfortunately, he spoke only his native Russ, but at last he 

 found us an interpreter in the person of the German servant 



