THE PEREGRINES' EYRIES 229 



upon it, the bonnie bright Arctic blossoms that deck for 

 a few weeks that region of ice. We shot an immature 

 gull, and loafed about, feeling that we had exhausted the 

 place, and hoping for the arrival of the steamer. A 

 flock of what we took to be sandpipers, flying wildly 

 overhead and uttering a note like that of the knot, roused 

 our curiosity. When we at last succeeded in shooting one, 

 the bird turned out to be a reeve. Another incident in this, 

 our last day, was tracing the footprints of a swan in the 

 mud, and identifying them as those of a Bewick's swan. 



At two o'clock the following morning I was on our 

 wreck's deck, chatting with Cocksure, when on the 

 horizon we caught sight of the steamer. All our com- 

 panions were asleep, except the half-breed, but five 

 minutes later all were up and hard at work packing. 

 By five o'clock we were on board, steaming over a sea 

 smooth as glass towards Bolvanski Nos. At eight we 

 went on shore at Stanavialachta to visit the peregrine's 

 nest, where we expected to find a new lot of eggs. From 

 a distance we could see the male bird sitting on the spot. 

 He allowed us to approach to within ten or twelve yards, 

 when suddenly he took the alarm and rose. We fired 

 and dropped him on the beach below. There were no 

 eggs in the nest. Probably the female bird was sitting 

 on the other eyrie ; but we were dead-beat with fatigue, 

 and the hillsides swarmed with mosquitoes, so we made 

 our way back at once to the steamer, shooting a willow- 

 grouse as we went, a male in fine summer plumage. The 

 flowers on this part of the tundra were very beautiful, 

 vividly coloured, and abundant ; especially lovely was a 

 tall monkshood and a species of pink. On board the 

 steamer we stretched ourselves on the sofa in the cabin 

 and fell asleep, only to awake when the vessel stopped 

 at Alexievka about noon. 



