A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 121 



were the only ones seen at Golchika ; and yet, in 1895, 

 Mr. Popham records the species as numerous, and in 

 1914 I found it common both by the river and out on 

 the tundra. It is true that Seebohm visited Golchika 

 late in the season, but by 20th July, although the eggs 

 were hatched, the birds must have been feeding their 

 young, and must have been in evidence for some time 

 after that date. 



The only explanation is that the bird population of 

 those high latitudes is a very variable one, and depends 

 upon the climatic conditions to a far greater extent 

 than in the south. The yearly cycle of the tundra is 

 very remarkable. For nine months of the year the 

 whole land lies under four feet of snow, and nothing 

 moves over the lonely white plain. Then in June, the 

 river bursts its ice, and for three weeks or a month the 

 whole country rings from end to end with the tinkle of 

 running water. It seems as if a great pulse drove 

 warm blood through the body of the frozen, stifled land, 

 when hundreds of little transitory brooks flow down 

 from the tundra to join the great flood that old Yenesei 

 pours out to the north. Now, although the ice breaks 

 up with a fair amount of uniformity between, let us say, 

 for example, latitudes 62° and 72°, yet the snow in the 

 country round does not disappear by any means with 

 the same concurrence. As we ourselves saw, the banks 

 at Platina might be nearly free from snow, while the 

 coasts of Golchika were white. 



The birds migrate down the river, the bulk of them, 

 as Seebohm has recorded, probably arriving at the 

 Arctic Circle about the second week in June. Thence 



