A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 123 



birds, who had hurried northwards at the first promise 

 of spring, were trapped and bound to make a living as 

 best they could, while they waited to proceed on their 

 journey to the river's mouth. The passions of the 

 season caught them unawares, with the double result 

 that the Golchika tundra was more than usually 

 populous that year, and a certain amateur ornithologist 

 was more than usually fortunate. 



This, of course, is nothing but a theory, but there is 

 some evidence that tends to confirm it. The Samoyedes 

 from the north reported that the lakes on the Taimyr 

 never thawed, and that snow was lying on the tundra 

 all the summer. When I first reached Golchika, grey 

 phalaropes were common on the island for three or four 

 days. I shot several hen birds and found that they 

 were about to lay. Then the wind changed, and with 

 the warm spell most of the phalaropes disappeared. 

 Undoubtedly they had migrated farther north. But if 

 the cold weather had continued for another three or four 

 days, there is no doubt but that they would have bred in 

 the marshes. As it was, a few were caught, for I was 

 lucky enough to find five nests and take a young one 

 in down, whereas the other three expeditions had 

 recorded only one nest — in 1895. And next year there 

 may not be a single bird to be seen ! 



The great prize of my bird's-nesting at Golchika 

 was a nest of the curlew-sandpiper. This bird is 

 especially interesting to ornithologists, because, although 

 well known throughout Europe and Asia on migration, 

 its breeding-grounds remained a mystery for so many 

 years. The naturalist, Severtzoff", even suggested that 



