SEDGE-WARBLERS 359 



more easily made in the early hours of morning imme- 

 diately following sunrise than at any other period of the 

 day. It requires some courage to turn out ere the day 

 has got properly aired, but an ornithologist is always well 

 rewarded for his trouble. Birds are on the feed and can 

 be easily approached, and in spring they are in full song. 

 I regarded my morning's work as amply repaid by two 

 important discoveries : first, that of the song of the Arctic 

 willow-warbler ; and second, the identification of the 

 sedge-warbler, which I had previously only partially 

 identified by its song. The bird I shot was, so far as I 

 then knew, the first sedge-warbler ever shot in Asia, but 

 I discovered on my return home that Severtzow had 

 met with it in Turkestan, though his identification was 

 doubted by many ornithologists. I afterwards found it 

 extremely common in suitable localities on the banks of 

 the Yenesei. Of course this bird is only a summer 

 visitant to Siberia, and a very interesting problem 

 presents itself for future ornithologists to solve : Where 

 do the Yenesei sedge-warblers winter, and by what route 

 do they migrate ? 



In the afternoon we had rain, but in the evening the 

 sun came out again very hot. I found this an excellent 

 time to pick up the small warblers on the banks of the 

 kuria, which forms almost an island in the summer. 

 In a couple of hours I had shot three Siberian chiffchaffs 

 and a couple of sedge-warblers. I also recognised the 

 redpoll-like notes of the Arctic willow- warbler, and secured 

 another bird. I shot a male shoveller duck, and found a 

 nest with four eggs in it, which I supposed to belong to 

 this species ; I kept the down in it, to assist its identifica- 

 tion. The female uttered a cry like pape as she flew 

 away. 



I was surprised to see several small-bodied long- 



