250 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
the young of a pair of white-fronted geese. Both the 
old birds protected their young. The gander flew right 
at the snowy.’ 
‘How do you mean a¢ the snowy?’ I asked, anxious 
to get the facts correctly. 
‘Well, sir, says Hyland, ‘he rose clean off the water 
and struck at the owl with his wings. After this the 
owl flew off.’ 
Although it seems that the snowy does not nest on 
our island, they come there much on migration; and a 
day scarcely passed now without our seeing one or more 
of these fine birds sitting on a hummock of the peat. 
As there are no lemmings or other small mammals here, 
it follows that the bird is obliged to make its dinner of 
fish and birds. 
In the evening I went for a long walk round by the 
lakes, and returned in a dense fog. 
We found our first young Lapland bunting to-day. I 
lay up for a long time by the big lake looking at the red- 
throated divers. There were seven of these birds on 
the lake, and they were all at play. 
We were now growing rather anxious about our 
water-supply. For the snow from which we got it was 
rapidly going. 
July 23rd.—Another horrid day. It was not in reality 
so very cold, for the thermometer rose at noon to 44° in 
the sun. But a gale from the north-east and a soaking 
