14 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
a bit or two of birch bark (but very little), and covered 
outside with moss and lichen, and lined with willow-down 
—contained seven eggs. 
‘Now we entered a colony of fieldfares. The nests 
(low down in birch trees), of which I examined several, 
were in each case entirely composed of grasses and twigs 
kneaded in with mud; the lining entirely of soft grasses. 
They were deeper than those of the mistle thrush, and 
rather less untidy outside. I took clutches of six, five, 
and four eggs. The birds were shy; none of them 
mobbed us in the least. On the whole they kept away, 
only now and then a bird would come and scream, peer- 
ing through the bushes from about fifteen yards off. Of 
redwings we saw none. 
‘On the shore near two houses were the remains of a 
stranded whale. It was thoroughly well used up. The 
pelvis formed a seat, the ribs served as rollers for the 
boat, and the vertebral centra as tackle-blocks. 
‘Of the many flowers we saw I identified only 
Geranium sylvaticum, a yellow viola (V. b¢flora); dog 
violet; cloudberry; a ranunculus (Rk. acris), Caltha 
palustris ; yellow trollius and a potentilla (P. verna). 
‘Trout and salmon, as they seemed to be, were rising 
everywhere as we rowed back, and when I turned in at 
1 a.M. a band was playing, gaily dressed girls were 
rowing themselves about, people were fishing every- 
where, and there was a picnic party across the 
fjord.’ 
