240 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



the bird-life of the sea, so far as ordinary observa- 

 tion goes. 



Bewick's Swan reaches its Arctic summer haunts 

 towards the end of May. Although its eggs have 

 been obtained on the islands in the deltas of the 

 Petchora and the Yenesay, these were taken by 

 unscientific observers. Mr. Trevor- Battye, so far 

 as I know, was the first naturalist to see the nest 

 and take the eggs of Bewick's Swan, on the island 

 of Kolguev. This nest of which he gives a 

 beautiful figure* he describes as a mound, about 

 two and a-half feet high, and four and a-half feet 

 in diameter at the base, perfectly smooth, and 

 tapering to the circular top, which was not more 

 than two feet across. It was made of little bunches 

 of green moss, with a few scraps of lichen, and a 

 little dry grass pulled up with the moss. The 

 cavity at the top was lined with dead grass, mixed 

 with a little down. This nest contained three eggs. 

 These are smaller and whiter than those of the 

 Hooper. 



* Icebound on Kolguev, p. 43. 



