148 STANAVIALACHTA 



lined with a leaf or two, a little dry grass, and a few 

 feathers. The next day we succeeded in shooting the 

 female peregrine on the first eyrie we had discovered, 

 then, after taking a sketch of the place, we set out for 

 Alexievka, visiting on our way a couple of islands on the 

 delta. The first on which we disembarked was very 

 marshy, and covered with small willows. On this island 

 the willow-warblers were rare, but we occasionally heard 

 the Siberian chiffchaff, and we noticed one almost inces- 

 santly repeating " chi-vii -che-vei! ." The yellow-headed 

 wagtail was common, the shore-lark had disappeared 

 altogether, the Lapland bunting was represented by a 

 solitary bird. Red-throated pipits were still numerous ; 

 but we did not see the meadow-pipit. The sedge-warbler 

 abounded. We also saw several Temminck's stints, 

 phalaropes, a flock of eight Buffon's skuas, and ducks 

 of various sorts. The other island was almost entirely 

 a grassy marsh, interspersed with spaces of open water. 

 A flock of Siberian herring-gulls hovered about a party 

 of fishermen, who were catching with a seine net a small 

 fish exactly resembling the herring. Temminck's stints 

 congregated in great numbers on the dry or drying mud, 

 but we could find no trace of their nests. Phalaropes 

 single and in flocks were common ; we took three of their 

 nests, also one of a tern. Ducks as usual abounded ; we 

 noticed among them a pair of shovellers, and carried off 

 a nest, containing three eggs and a little down, which 

 belonged to this bird. On the river we continually passed 

 flocks of scaup and black scoter. 



The sketch of Stanavialachta at the head of this 

 chapter was taken from one of the peregrines' eyries ; the 

 second eyrie was half-way down the point to the extreme 

 left. To the right in the distance is the eastern boundary of 

 Bolvanskaya Bay ; to the left, the outer islands of the delta. 



