224 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. CHAP. xvm. 



By this time we were pretty well tired with tramping the 

 tundra. The ceaseless persecution of the mosquitoes, and 

 the stifling feeling caused by having to wear a veil with the 

 thermometer above summer heat, had taxed our powers of 

 endurance almost to the utmost; and we turned our faces 

 resolutely towards our boat ; but a most anxious pair of 

 grey plovers were too great an attraction to us to be resisted. 

 We watched them for some time, during which a pair of 

 ringed plovers persisted in obtruding themselves imperti- 

 nently between us and the objects of our attention. This 

 pair of grey plovers also puzzled us, and we concluded that 

 they possibly had young, and consequently we gave up the 

 search. We had each marked a place where we thought 

 the nest might be ; and we each of us went to satisfy our- 

 selves that it was not there. The two places were about 

 fifty yards apart. The birds first went up to Harvie-Brown 

 and tried to attract him away by flying about and feigning 

 lameness. Then they came to me and did the same. They 

 were so demonstrative that I felt perfectly certain of finding 

 the nest, and shot at the female. She dropped in the middle 

 of a wet bog. I then shot the male, walked up to him, and 

 left him with my basket and gun to struggle through the bog 

 to pick up the female. Before I got up to her, I saw her 

 lying on the turf on her breast with her wings slightly ex- 

 panded. I was just preparing to stoop to pick her up, when she 

 rose and flew away, apparently unhurt. I must have missed 

 her altogether, as she was evidently only shamming to draw 

 me away. I returned to search for the nest, and was unable 

 to find it. Whilst I was looking for it Harvie-Brown came 

 up, and I gave up the search, and we again turned towards 



