■I 60 



SIBERIA IN EUROPE. 



CHAP. XIV. 



fouad six ducks' nests, most of which were those of the 

 widgeon. In one of those dense willow swamps, lining the 

 east bank of the river I found for the first time the sedge- 

 warbler.* On several occasions, especially at night, we heard 

 its harsh notes ; but the bird kept very close, and was very 

 difficult to see. I shot two ; one was flying out of a birch- 

 tree, in which it had descended, singing after the manner 

 of the blue-throat. We also secured a red-throated diver,t 

 the first added to our list. We saw a rough-legged buzzard, J 

 the only one of the species we clearly identified. It was 

 sitting in a low willow-tree ; we shot it, as we silently drifted 

 past, about midnight. We lay to, soon after, aachoring in a 



visits the British Islands only in winter. 

 Its breeding range extends up to the 

 limits of forest growth, and southwards 

 in Europe throughout Scandinavia. It 

 winters throughout temperate Europe 

 and North Africa. It has not been 

 recorded from Turkestan or Persia, but 

 is mentioned as a very rare winter 

 visitant to India, and is found in great 

 numbers during the cold season in 

 Japan. In the valley of the Petchora 

 we found it as far north as latitude 

 6S°. 



* The sedge-warbler (Acrocephalus 

 schjsnobcenus^ Linn.) is a common sum- 

 mer visitant to the British Islands, 

 breeding throughout Europe and Sibe- 

 ria as far east as the valley of the 

 Yenesay, and wintering in South Africa. 

 In the valley of the Petchora we found 

 it as far north as latitude 68°- 



t The red-throated driver {Colyrribus 

 septentrionalis, Linn.) is a still more 



widely-distributed bird than the black- 

 throated species, being found, like it, 

 in the breeding season in the northera 

 portions of both hemispheres, wintering 

 on the shores of the British Islands, 

 the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas, 

 sparingly in the Mediterranean, on the 

 coast of China, Japan, Formosa, and on 

 the American continent in California 

 and the coast of New Brunswick. In 

 the valley of the Petchora it was ce]^- 

 tainly the least abundant of the two 

 species. 



J The rough-legged buzzard {Archi- 

 buteo lagopiis, Gmel.) is an irregular 

 winter visitant to the British Islands. 

 It breeds in Arctic Europe and Asia as 

 far east as the watershed of the Yene- 

 say and Lena. It winters in various 

 parts of South Europe and Turkestan. 

 This was the only occasion on which 

 we were able to identify this bird in 

 the valley of the Petchora. 



