14 



$lp 3$arbU>r 



Walrus Herd on the Ice, August 3, 1909 



not hurry, but began at once thoroughly to investigate those kinds of locali- 

 ties that looked good to me. 



But it certainly was not to be a picnic. I had dressed light for the 

 long walk and was therefore soon chilled right through by the wind and 

 cold rain. But I cheered up some when observing a family of Black-bellied 

 Plovers, and when I on my hunt for these birds in the very same locality 

 stumbled over a Spoonbill Sandpiper for the first time in my life, and with young, 

 too, I felt my blood circulate a good deal better at once. 



But of the young ones of these two species I tried in vain to get a 

 glimpse. I had all odds against me. The youngsters were evidently old 

 enough to move very quickly through the grass and mosses and in that way 

 keep themselves a safe distance from my person. Especially the young 

 Black-bellied Plovers. I could hear how fast they could run by their "piping" 

 when I kept still. But as soon as I moved toward the spot where I heard 

 one calling it immediately became silent, and ran away with a speed like 

 that of a rat, and I next heard it away off in a different direction. The 

 worst hindering, however, to locate any of the species, and especially the 

 young Spoonbills who gave no sound that reached my ears, was the heavy fog. 

 Even the old Spoonbill Sandpiper I could only see a few yards distant ' when 

 it was running between the stones and mosses on the dark ground. I tried 

 hard to keep watching this species and had surely the youngsters at 

 close quarters many a time, but never once did I get a glimpse of these 

 small runners. And after a couple of hours spent in this way, mostly by 

 lying flat on the clamp ground, I was so numb and chilled right through 

 that I had to give it up, and left for the newly discovered bay with the in- 

 tention to return to the place as soon as the weather would brighten up 



