202 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



hop, or a double H-eep, but the note that I heard on 

 the Golchika was distinctly three syllabled. When the 

 nest is approached, the bird has a way of dashing 

 violently down from a height, and then whizzing 

 aside, which is very reminiscent of the lapwing's aerial 

 antics over our English water meadows. At other 

 times the flight, although rapid, seems heavier and 

 less graceful than that of the golden plover, but 

 this may be only the effect of the bird's more solid 

 build, and conspicuous colouring. On the wing, indeed, 

 the grey plover, with its violent rushing flight and 

 pied plumage, frequently reminded me of a domestic 

 pigeon. 



After this success, we turned homewards. We were 

 all very cold by this time, and as I watched my followers 

 refreshing themselves with a drink of the Worcester- 

 sauce-and-alcohol beverage, I almost envied them, for 

 at least the mixture must have felt hot inside. As it 

 was, we had no wood to make a fire, and even if we 

 had, we could not have made tea, because as all other 

 receptacles, including the camera case, had been filled 

 with our previous prizes, the plover's eggs were packed 

 away in the kettle ! 



So ended an interesting and not unprofitable night's 

 work. The only fly in the ointment was that the 

 clutches of both geese and plover were so far incubated 

 that in the case of the latter at any rate it was not 

 possible to blow them properly. This, however, is 

 one of those drawbacks that must be reckoned 

 with in working in a place like Golchika where the 

 season is so short, and the difficulties of reaching 



