572 Mr. S. A. Buturlin on the Breeding-habits of the 
according to the distance. When near they are tremulous 
booming sounds something like the notes of a frog, and end 
in clear sounds lke those caused by the bursting of water- 
bubbles in a copper vessel. I tried on the spot to reproduce 
this sound as ‘‘khrrrrrr-poo.’ At a distance it appears 
louder, resembling a harsh ‘‘ kokdk, kokok, dooi, doot, door, 
dooi,” or a growling “ kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa,” or, again, a hollow 
and tremulous “ kvorod-koorod-koorod-koorvd.” At a greater 
distance the first harsh notes are inaudible, and only the final, 
clearer, notes are heard, resembling the syllables “ dood-dood- 
dood-dood,” or simply “‘doo-doo-doo-doo-dov,” which reminded 
me of the sound made by a horse when stamping on the 
ground. 
After the 4th of June the Pectoral Sandpipers disappeared 
from the neighbourhood of Pokhodskoe and scattered them- 
selves over the open tundra, occupying the low flat parts of 
the western side of the valley as well as the gher eastern 
portion. In the first week of July I observed many in grassy 
places near the Gullery with various other Waders, but 
of these Tringa maculata was by far the most numerous. 
I did not, however, succeed in finding any of the nests, and 
evidently the birds had all hatched their eggs, as the young 
were about, accompanied only by the females. When 
approached the breeding-ground the old birds flew to meet 
me, one after another, and wheeled around uttering low 
tremulous notes of various kinds. 
These calls were evidently meant for the young, and had 
different meanings. When the female is with them (and 
you must sit watching for an hour or more to observe this), 
the little ones are somewhat shy and take refuge under her. 
If you make the slightest movement she flies up, uttering 
the usual Airip, and kicks the young forwards, never back- 
wards, until they tumble head over heels five or six inches 
away. There they he as if dead, but with open eyes, and 
the mother flies around uttering a low tremulous “ kirip, 
kirip, trip, trrrrrr,” evidently meaning “lie quite still.” Then 
she alights near the young and runs about feigning lameness, 
while trying in every way to make you attempt to capture 
