146 



SIBERIA IN EUROPE. 



CHAP, XIII. 



much deeper in tone, and much more sharply defined. The 

 bar of yellow on the tail was much broader. The wax ap- 

 pendages larger, and there were more of them. The yellow 

 on the primaries was more brilliant, and the white in the 

 secondaries and on the wing-coverts larger. Finally, the 

 chestnut on the undertail coverts was of a decidedly darker 

 shade. 



We saw one solitary barn-swallow, and shot it. 



We came upon many droppings of the capercailzie, but did 

 not see the bird. Several traps were set in the forest to 

 catch the hen, for the cock is not eaten. The peasants call 

 the latter gloo-khah', and the female ty-tyoh'-ra. Willow- 

 grouse and hazel-grouse, we were told, were abundant in 

 some seasons. 



We saw one pair of golden-plover on the newly-sown corn- 

 fields behind the village. We noticed two or three pairs of 

 ringed plover frequenting the ploughed landTaelow Habariki, 

 and the grassy banks of a little stream running out of the 

 Petchora. We rose a pair of double snipe* from the 

 young wood rising on the sandy ground beyond the fields ; 

 and we bagged one. These were the first examples we 

 had yet seen of the species. 



* The great snipe (GalUnago major, 

 Gmel.) appears to be confined to the 

 eastern hemisphere, but is only an 

 accidental straggler to the British 

 Islands, principally in the autumn 

 migration. It breeds in Scandinavia, 

 Central Russia, and Northern Siberia 

 as far east as the Yenesay, passing 



through Southern Europe and Persia 

 on migration, and wintering in South 

 Africa. In the valley of the Petchora 

 we only found it as far north as lati- 

 tude 67J°, from which we conclude 

 that its northern breeding range does 

 not extend beyond the limit of forest 

 growth. 



