144 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



not further observed until the open tundra was reached in lat. 

 69^°, just beyond the limits of the growth of trees. Here the 

 pine-trees had disappeared, and the birch-trees had become no- 

 thing more than stunted bushes about a foot high ; but the alders 

 and the willows still grew luxuriantly on the banks of the great river. 

 The tundra here was hilly, full of lakes and swamps, covered with 

 mosses and lichens, here and there varied with bare patches of 

 pebble-strewn ground, and little plains where gay flowers and the 

 various fruits of the tundra flourished. A pair of Plovers soon 

 made their appearance, during an excursion on the 14th of July, 

 and after much fruitless watching one of them, the male, was 

 shot. The nest was found shortly afterwards amongst the moss 

 and lichen, containing the full complement of eggs. At Golcheeka 

 this Plover is very common, but unfortunately Mr. Seebohm was 

 too late for eggs (20th of July), and here only obtained a nestling. 

 The nest was merely a slight depression lined with broken stalks 

 of reindeer moss. The eggs are precisely similar to those of the 

 European Golden Plover, but are slightly smaller. Those obtained 

 varied from I'gz to 1-85 inch in length by i'32 to 1-27 inch in 

 breadth. Only one brood is reared in the year, and both parents 

 appear to assist in domestic duties. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Charadrius, with the rectrices 

 barred, and the axillaries smoke-gray. Length of wing, 6-o to 

 67 inches. Total length, 9 inches. 



