240 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS 



Europe as if it were in the moon. This lasts for about two months, until 

 the floods in the rivei's Peza and Zylma, caused by the melting of the snow, 

 have sufficiently subsided to make it possible to row against stream. The 

 summer post between Mezen and Ust Zylma is by boat up the former river, 

 across the watershed (a distance of fifteen versts), and down the latter river. 

 The summer route is a very difficult one with much luggage, and would bring 

 the traveller to the Petchora too late for the breeding-time of many of the 

 most interesting birds. 



We left Archangel on the 6th of April, and reached Ust Zylma in eight 

 days. The ground was covered with from two to three feet of snow ; and no 

 continuous thaw set in until the 16th of May, when we suddenly plunged 

 into midsummer ; the snow thawed rapidly night and day ; the great river 

 rose thirty feet in height; and on the 21st of May the ice broke up and 

 marched past Ust Zylma in a stream a mile and a half wide, at the rate of 

 four miles an hour for ten days. The eight weeks which we were obliged to 

 spend in waiting for the short arctic summer were somewhat tedious ; but 

 they enabled us to make some interesting observations on the arrival of 

 migratory birds. 



The Snow-Bunting is probably the first bird of passage which visits the 

 Petchora. We found small flocks of these birds at Ust Zylma on our 

 arrival, and were told that they had preceded us by a fortnight. They were 

 feeding upon the droppings of the horses on the roads, in company with the 

 Lesser and Mealy Redpoles. We may therefore assume that these three 

 species of birds arrive about the 1st of April ; and for some weeks the streets 

 of Ust Zylma were quite lively with their presence. As soon as the peasants 

 began to cart their manure onto the land, they left the village for the 

 hillsides, where it had been deposited by the sledges ; but fresh falls of 

 snow drove them back again into the streets. 



In spite of the abundance of the Snow-Bunting, we could not help 

 looking upon it with all the interest attaching to a rare bird. The brilliant 



