130 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEl 



on I obtained a young bird in the bufF-breasted plumage 

 of the first autumn. The nestlings have a black bill 

 and legs and chestnut down which is almost indistin- 

 guishable from that of the little stint and dunlin, but 

 there is a rufous tinge on the breast which is recognis- 

 able even at this early stage. How curious it is — this 

 red breeding plumage of so many of these arctic wading 

 birds ! We find it also in the knot, sanderliug, bar-tailed 

 godwit, and phalarope ; and to prove that it has its 

 origin far down the stem of the race, we see the same 

 tint in the russet plumage of the ruff's of the year, and 

 in the bib of the mature little stint. 



As soon as the young curlew-sandpipers are strong 

 upon the wing, they and their parents disappear. The 

 stints and the golden plover linger on until the end of 

 August, but the sandpipers vanish early in the month. 

 The tundra is the sadder for their going. You may 

 walk for miles and not see a bird, except a plover or two 

 or a moulting bunting in the whortles. 



The most charming birds were the grey phalaropes. 

 I saw them first of all on 1st July, when a little party, 

 both males and females, were feeding together in the 

 frozen marshes. With their brilliant chestnut plumage, 

 they looked more like passerine birds from some tropical 

 region than waders on the northern ice. You may 

 only speak of the male and female phalaropes by con- 

 vention. You should, to be exact, say the female and 

 the male, for in this species the lady is entirely the 

 managing partner. She woos the mate of her choice 

 shamelessly, and later allows him to incubate the 

 eggs and take charge of the young. We wonder what 



