SIX NEW MIGRANTS 77 



to me to be exactly the same as that of the common and 

 Mediterranean herring-gulls. On the 12th a little detach- 

 ment of white wagtails came to the village, and we shot 

 six during the day. In each instance they were on the 

 roof of the houses. We also shot a redstart [Ruticilla 

 phcenicurus, Linn.) occupying the same position. Another 

 new arrival was the meadow-pipit, of which we shot a 

 solitary example. The shore-larks had already been 

 some days in Ust-Zylma, and by this time were in large 

 and small flocks in the fields on both sides of the town. 

 All those we shot proved to be males. Three or four 

 small hawks, probably merlins, were hovering about, and 

 a snowy owl was brought in to us, apparently just killed. 

 A white-tailed eagle, his white tail looking grey against 

 the snow, was perching on an ice-block in the Petchora^ 

 and at a little distance off we could distinctly see a raven 

 picking a bone. Morning and evening we watched the 

 gulls, without being able to get a shot at them. The 

 redpolls had disappeared altogether, and we saw the 

 snow-buntings only once or twice. The signs of coming 

 summer were surrounding us, small flies were on the 

 wing, twice we came upon a tortoiseshell butterfly ; we 

 visited the magpie's nest, which we had discovered some 

 days previously in a spruce, and found that it contained 

 seven eggs. But even the approach of summer has its 

 accompanying drawbacks : we had to give up at this 

 time all hope of more winter posts, and two months 

 might elapse before the summer ones would arrive. This 

 break in the communication with civilised Europe is 

 one of the trials to be endured by explorers in these 

 districts. 



The little spurt of mild weather, however, turned out 

 to be a delusion. Our six species of summer migrants 

 proved no more reliable than Sancho Panza's solitary 



