THE SIBERIAN JAY 33 



passed several of the chooms, or reindeer-skin tents, of 

 these curious people by the roadside. During the greater 

 part of the journey few birds were to be seen. In the 

 villages magpies were the commonest birds, and occa- 

 sionally we saw a few pigeons, hooded crows, and tree- 

 sparrows. On the banks of the river flocks of snow- 

 buntings were common. In the forests we saw a few 

 capercailzie. 



At Umskia, where we were fortunately detained six 

 hours for want of horses, there was an abundant supply 

 of birds. This station is a solitary house on the banks of 

 the Petchorski Pizhma, about fifty-four versts from Ust- 

 Zylma. The great attraction for birds in this place was 

 doubtless the hole in the ice of the river, which had to be 

 kept open to supply the station with water, and the dung 

 which the horses dropped during the few hours they fed 

 and rested outside the station. We shot five Siberian 

 jays (Perisoreus infaustus\ and had some opportunity of 

 watching their habits. They were not at all shy, and 

 were fond of perching upon or clinging to the trunks of 

 the pines, and sometimes we saw them run up the stems 

 like a woodpecker. Their song was by no means un- 

 musical, a low warble like that of the starling, but not so 

 harsh. These birds are early breeders, and the song is 

 probably discontinued soon after incubation has begun, as 

 we did not hear it afterwards, though we frequently came 

 across the birds. Out of the five birds which we shot 

 only one proved to be a female, with the ovary very 

 small. There were a few snow-buntings always to be 

 seen, but we did not think it worth while wasting powder 

 and shot upon them, as we had selected a score of hand- 

 some birds out of a lot brought to one of the stations by 

 a peasant who had snared them. We could have bought 

 almost any quantity alive or dead at ten kopecks the 



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