424 Dr. E. Hartert on Birds from 



to be nesting. 11 rose and dropped some ten yards away, 

 and continued to do so when followed, trying to delude us 

 by pretending to have a broken wing.] 



\7 . Crymophilus fulicarius (L.). 



Tringa fulicaria Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. \. p. 148 (1758: 

 " Habitat in America." Ex Edwards, pi. 142). 



£ ad. Lena River mouth, 12. vii. 1903. "Bill rich 

 deep yellow, blending into dark brown towards the tip. 

 Legs pale bluish, lobes yellowish." (No. 276.) The crown 

 is striped with buffv edges to the feathers. Why is the 

 crown uniform slate-grey in some examples, more or less 

 striped in others, apparently equally adult ? 



18. AXSER SERRIROSTRIS Switlh. 



Anser segetum var. serrirostris Swinhoe, P. Z. 8. 1871, 

 p. 417 (winter visitor in China : Amoy, Shanghai, Wanchow 

 — also Trans-Baikalia). 



o* ? . Miankiaria River, Lena River, 22, 23. vii. 1903. 

 " Bill black, with subterminal orange band ; legs orange : 

 iris brown ; nails black." 



1 suppose that this form is an eastern subspecies of Anser 

 anser Bodd. 



[Only in one place did I learn of a nesting-ground, and then 

 the season was concluding. It was just within the mouth of 

 the River Miankiaria, a tributary of the Lena, near its 

 mouth. We approached a dozen birds preening their feathers 

 upon the near bank. Quickly entering the river they swam 

 and dived away. The head and part of the neck alone 

 were above the water when floating. The process of moult 

 shewed a new series of wing-quills still very short. As 

 soon as a second flock sighted our approaching steamer they 

 commenced running rapidly along the bank upon which 

 they had been resting. When close enough, a boat was 

 lowered with a pursuing party, but the stern chase proved to 

 be long. Eventually two individuals sought the bushes on 

 the beach, while the main body escaped by means of the water. 

 One of the hiding birds had its neck close to the ground and 

 extended in a sinuous way, hoping thus to escape. Further 



