THE YORSA RIVER 123 



the east bank of the river I found for the first time the 

 sedge- warbler. On several occasions, especially at night, 

 we heard its harsh notes, but the bird kept very close, 

 and was very difficult to see. I shot two ; one was flying 

 out of a birch-tree, in which it had descended, singing 

 after the manner of the bluethroat. We also secured a 

 red-throated diver, the first added to our list. We saw a 

 rough-legged buzzard, the only one of the species we 

 clearly identified. It was sitting in a low willow-tree, 

 and we shot it, as we silently drifted past, about mid- 

 night. We stopped soon after, anchoring in a little 

 creek. A steady rain began to fall, which continued all 

 the following day ; we just managed to creep down to the 

 river Yorsa, where again we pulled up en route. We 

 saw very few birds, but in the evening we got on shore, 

 and a turn in the rain was not without result. We 

 seemed entangled in a network of willow swamps, lakes, 

 and kurias running out of the winding Yorsa. Here and 

 there rose a few taller willows and birches. After a 

 while we came upon a little house, the abode of the hay- 

 cutters in autumn, which our boatmen were now glad to 

 make use of for the night. All around it were long 

 straggling meadows, upon which the grass was just 

 beginning to come up. My companion shot a second 

 yellow-headed wagtail, a male ; he saw the female also, 

 but lost her. He also saw a small owl, probably Teng- 

 malm's owl. I secured a fine male goshawk, the only 

 one we identified on our journey. It was in a thick 

 alder-bush when I disturbed it, in the act of devouring a 

 female wigeon. In the same place I shot a short-eared 

 owl. Reed-buntings abounded. I took a nest containing 

 four eggs ; it was built inside an old fieldfare's nest, and 

 was nine feet from the ground, in a willow-tree. This is 

 another example of the manner in which birds accommo- 



