CHAP. ix. SADDLE OF BEAR. 89 



deserted. We shot a pair of marsh tits, heard the cry of a 

 great black woodpecker, and saw four wild geese flying over 

 our heads. On the island we fell in with a small flock of 

 shore-larks * and succeeded in shooting four, while feeding 

 upon the bare places on the banks of the island. We 

 also started a pair of wild geese and a large owl, probably 

 the snowy owl, which alighted on a heap of snow in the 

 middle of the Petchora. Its flight resembled that of the 

 glaucous gull, but it occasionally skimmed close to the snow 

 for some distance. 



We traced along the snow the footprints of a bear and its 

 cubs, about a day or two old. The traces of Bruin's presence 

 had an added interest to us, from the fact, that for the last 

 two days we had been breakfasting and dining on a saddle of 

 bear, and most excellent we had found it, much better than 

 beef. The animal, we had been feasting on, was about a 

 year old ; it had been turned out of its place of hybernation 

 by some woodcutters, who had cut down the tree at the root 

 of which it was sleeping. I bought the skin and had an 

 excellent hearth-rug made of it. 



Summer now seemed to have suddenly burst upon us in 

 all its strength, the sun was scorching, the snow in many 

 places melted so rapidly as to be almost impassable. The 

 mud banks of the Zylma were steaming from the heat. On 



* The shore-lark (Otocorys alpestris, \ the British Islands on migration, or 

 Linn.) is a circumpolar bird breeding | during winter. It winters in the south 



on the tundras beyond the limit of 

 forest growth, migrating southwards 

 in autumn and occasionally visiting 



of Europe, North China, and the south- 

 ern states of North America. 



