278 E. K. von Baer's Description of 



entrance of the White Sea, and even there is not frequently seen, the 

 Tcwjak, is said to cover its face with a cap : it is therefore probably the 

 Klappraiits of the Dutch, or Phoca cristata, Erxl., Cystophora borealis, 

 Nilsson. 



Of Cetacea this sea contains in the first place a species of whale of 

 the sub-division of fin-fish (Balcenoptera), with very short whiskers, 

 which I saw in Archangel. They rarely appear in the vicinity of Nova 

 Zembla, and one never hears of their being stranded on this coast. 

 Nearer to the north coast of Lapland, where they are almost yearly 

 thrown on shore in the Motowsker bay, they are so frequent that I 

 much wonder why the earlier attempts for the regular pursuit of this 

 animal, difficult it is true to slay, have not been renewed and perse- 

 veringly carried on. It is worthy of remark that the Greenland whale 

 never appears to stray into the district of Nova Zembla. For this 

 reason we must believe that the whale-fishery which the Northmen 

 carried on, according to Ohthere's testimony*, in the ninth century, 

 in the neighbourhood of the North Cape, was for this very fin-fish. 

 Far more rare is the Narwal (Monodon Monoceros) : and only in the 

 neighbourhood of ice. Of Dolphins, this sea contains, besides Delphi- 

 nus Leucas, Delphinus Orca (Kossatka), and a small species which the 

 Russians call Morskaja Swinja; but I have not been able to leam whe- 

 ther this is Delphinus Delphis, or Delph. Phoccena. 



The sea MammaUa in Nova Zembla would therefore be exactly the 

 same as those known in the Spitzbergen-Greenland sea, if the Green- 

 land whale reached as far. 



On the other hand, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla are strikingly 

 different in their winged inhabitants. The latter country indicates 

 by its birds the vicinity of the continent. It is richer in species, but 

 less interesting to the naturalist ; for many of these species are none 

 other than those which yearly pass through our country, and indeed 

 in part remain with us ; whilst another part of them go as far as Nova 

 Zembla, in order to devote themselves to the business of brooding 

 where they may be undisturbed. Of land birds we found the Snowy 

 Owl (Stryx Nyctia), which indeed passes the winter there ; the Snow 

 Bunting ( Plectrophanes nivalis), Strepsilas collaris, Tringa maritima, and 

 a Falcon, which was not very rare in Kostin-Schar, but which could 

 not be shot and more closely examined. Earlier accounts also make 

 mention of an Eagle, but the Walrus-catchers whom I questioned said 

 they knew nothing of it. Perhaps however it is the same as the 

 Falcon. 



* See King Alfred's Translation of Orosius, ed. Barrington, p. 241, Forster's note at 

 the end. 



