498 



RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 



did not solve the problems which our expedition to 

 the Petchora left open. It is very seldom that the 

 first expedition to a strange land is successful. The 

 pioneer can do little more than discover the localities 

 where future researches may be successfully made. My 

 great mistake was that I wintered too far north. Had I 

 waited the arrival of the migratory birds at Yeneseisk 

 instead of on the Arctic Circle, my ornithological bag 

 would have been increased fourfold in value. On my 

 return journey my time was necessarily 

 very limited, and I was obliged to hus- 

 band my ammunition. It was also the 

 most unfavourable time of the whole 

 year for making ornithological observa- 

 tions. During the breeding season many 

 birds forsake the neighbourhood of the 

 villages and the cultivated land and 

 scatter themselves through the forests. 

 And whilst they are moulting in the 

 autumn they seem to be fully aware that 

 their powers of flight are limited, and that, 

 consequently, they are an easy prey to 

 their raptorial enemies, and therefore 

 they seem afraid to trust themselves on the wing. For 

 the most part they are silent at this season, and skulk 

 amongst the underwood, and it is only by chance that 

 one can obtain a shot at them. My plans were also 

 considerably disarranged by the two shipwrecks, which 

 did not form a part of my original programme. 



The pioneer of Siberian ornithology was Pallas.* 

 Pallas was a very keen observer, and finding that 



BRONZE CELT FROM 



ANCIENT GRAVE 

 NEAR KRASNOYARSK 



* Pallas's " Zoographia Russo-Asiatica " was written in 1806, though, in 

 consequence of the Napoleonic wars it was not printed till 1809, only published 

 in 1826, and scarcely known until the re-issue in 1831. 



