2 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 



the black on the head extending far down the back. I can- 

 not distinguish a Yeii-e-say' skin from others from Irkutsk 

 and Archangel. It seems to me impossible to allow specific 

 rank to the arctic and subarctic forms of P. palustris, and I 

 think they ought to figure as subspecies only P. palustris , 

 subspecies borealis, and P. palustris, subspecies camt- 

 chatkensis. 



PARUS CINCTUS, Bcdd., subsp. grisescens, Sharpe et Dresser. 



I found the Lapp Tit tolerably common in the forests on 

 our arrival on the Arctic circle. It was seldom that I made 

 a round on snow-shoes in the forest without falling in with 

 a small flock of these birds. I did not, however, observe 

 them further north. I brought home a very large series. 

 They agree with skins from Lake Baical in being much less 

 rusty on the flanks than specimens from Europe usually are. 

 They vary considerably inter se ; and it would be easy to make 

 a series from the Norwegian bird, through Archangel and 

 Petchora skins, to the extreme Siberian form. My Yen-e- 

 say' skins certainly belong to the Parus grisescens of Sharpe 

 and Dresser ; but the authors of that title would now, I believe, 

 scarcely claim specific rank for the bird they described. 



TURDUS PILARIS, Linn. 



The Fieldfare arrived at the Arctic circle on the 8th of 

 June, and soon became very abundant. I took several nests 

 with eggs during the first week in July. It seemed to be 

 generally distributed over the country, breeding alone or in 

 small parties, and not in the large colonies which are so fre- 

 quently met with in Norway. The call-note of this bird, a 

 loose tsik-tsak, was almost constantly to be heard ; but the 

 song seemed to be confined to the pairing-season. It is a 

 low and not particularly melodious warble, and is generally 

 commenced when the bird is on the wing. The last nest of 

 the Fieldfare which I found was in lat. 69, on the tundra. 

 Here the bird was breeding on the ground under the edge 

 of a cliff, in a situation such as a Ring-Ouzel might have 

 chosen. I did not see the Fieldfare further north than lat. 

 70i; but I shot them as far south as Yen-e-saisk', in lat. 58, 



