132 



SIBERIA IN EUROPE. 



CHAP. XII. 



swainp thickly studded over with willows, birch, and fir, I 

 heard a soag quite new to me. It closely resembled that of 

 the yellow-hammer, whose note is popularly supposed to say 

 " lit, lit, lit, little bread and no cheese." This bird cried 

 " lit, lit, lit, in as tay." I shot the strange songster, and 

 brought down my first little bunting.* Twice during the 

 day we visited the marshy spot, upon which forty-eight 

 hours previously the red-throated pipits had swarmed, but we 

 found it utterly deserted. The flock we had come upon was 

 one evidently rooting after a long stage of migration, and 

 that had now resumed its northward progress. 



The next day a second visit to the same spot brought the 

 same result ; not a red-throated pipit was to be seen upon it. 

 On the 1st of June I saw a black scoter f for the first time, 

 flying down the Petchora close past Sideroffs steamer. I 



* The little bunting (Einheriza 

 pusilla. Pall.) can only be considered 

 as an accidental visitor to the British 

 Islands, breeding at or near the northern 

 limit of the pine region from the valley 

 of the Dvina eastwards to the Pacific, 

 it is a comparatively rare visitor in 

 winter to South-Easteru Europe, migra- 

 ting prmcipally into India and China. 

 We did not sncceed in obtaining its 

 eggs, which are almost unknown in 

 collections, and it was not until I 

 visited the valley of the Venesay in 

 1877 that authentic eggs of this bird 

 were brought to this country. We 

 observed it as far north as latitude 

 68°, where, however, it had become 

 extremely rare. 



I The black scoter {(Edefnia nigra. 



Linn.) is confined to the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, although it is replaced on the 

 American continent by a very closely 

 allied species, (Edemia american i 

 (Swains.). It breeds abundantly in 

 many parts of Scotland, and is a regu- 

 lar winter visitant to Ireland and 

 England. Its breeding-range may be 

 said to extend from the Arctic circle to 

 beyond the northern limit of forest 

 growth. In winter it is found in various 

 parts of Europe, occasionally crossing 

 the Mediterranean, whilst in Asia it 

 has been recorded at that season of the 

 year from the Caspian Sea and Japan, 

 the American form only apparently 

 migrating farther south to China. In 

 the valley of the Petchora we observed 

 this bird as far as the coast. 



