CHAP. xin. YELLOW-HEADED WAGTAIL. 141 



scream of the woodpecker. During the season of incubation 

 the Siberian jay seemed shy and silent. 



A flock of tree-sparrows was always to be seen among the 

 few houses in the village, sometimes perched on the railings, 

 at other times gathered in a bunch on the roofs. We saw 

 no evidence of their having begun to think about building. 



The pine grosbeak was one of the commonest, if not the 

 commonest bird at Habariki. I shot a male, on the naked 

 trunk of a birch about nine feet from the ground ; it was 

 hopping round and round the stem, and when I aimed at it 

 I never dreamt of its being anything else than a small 

 spotted woodpecker. 



The mealy redpole also was common, 



The little bunting was not uncommon, but its shy and 

 retiring habits would often cause us to overlook it. We 

 rarely heard it sing, yet frequently noticed its quiet call-note. 

 We also often came upon it, feeding on the ground near the 

 swampy edge of the forest tarns, in company with yellow 

 wagtails, fieldfares, and bramblings. 



We saw several reed-buntings, and shot a male. They 

 usually frequented the willows on the edges of the marshes 

 and lakes. 



The green wagtail was common, and still kept together in 

 flocks ; we constantly saw them in trees. 



The yellow-headed wagtail* was a bird we had neither of 



* The yellow-headed wagtail (Bu- I apparently the westward limit of its 



dytes citrculus, Pall.) has never been 

 found in the British Islands, the valleys 

 of the Petchora and the Volga being 



range. It breeds in the Arctic regions, 

 extending northwards beyoud the limit 

 of forest growth, and in similar climates 



