212 



SIBERIA IN EUROPE. 



CHAP. XVIII. 



were eight eggs in it and a good supply of down. It was 

 placed under a dwarf birch, far from any lake or water. 

 We shot three willow-grouse and caught three young birds 

 in down. While we were seeking for them the male fre- 

 quently flew past within easy shot, and the female ran about 

 with head depressed and wings drooping, coming sometimes 

 within two or three yards of us. We saw two pairs of wood 

 sandpipers, who had established themselves in a small space 

 of marshy ground. They evidently had young, for they 

 were continually flying round and alighting upon the willows. 

 To search for young in down, through long grass, wearing 

 mosquito- veils, must prove a vain quest, and we did not long 

 pursue it. We caught the young of the Lapland bunting, 

 and shot one of this year's shore-larks, a very pretty bird. 

 We saw a few divers, a large harrier or eagle, and on the 

 shore of the Petchora we watched a flock of Siberian herring- 

 gulls stealing fish from the nets of the Samoyedes, and as 

 we went down river we came on another flock similarly 

 employed. We saw no swans on the tundra, but they 

 were common on the islands in the river ; one or two pairs 

 were frequently in sight, and still there continued to fly 

 overhead flocks of migratory ducks, always going north. 



very closely allied as to be only just 

 specifically separable. In the British 

 Islands it is a winter visitant, possibly 

 occasionally breeding in Scotland. Its 

 breeding range extends north of the 

 Arctic circle, as far as the limit of forest 

 growth. In winter it is found in various 

 parts of Central and Southern Europe, 



occasionally crossing the Mediterranean. 

 Eastwards it winters in China and in 

 Japan, in which latter country the 

 American form (CEdemia velvetena, 

 Cass.) is also found. In the valley of 

 the Petchora we did not observe it 

 farther north than latitude 68. 



