178 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. xv. 



just a little disappointed with the results of our trip. July- 

 would soon be upon us, and we had not solved yet one of the 

 six problems that we had proposed to ourselves as the main 

 objects of our journey. We had not seen the least trace 

 of the knot, the curlew sandpiper, the sanderling, or the 

 grey plover. Some birds that we had at first fancied 

 might be little stints in full breeding plumage, we were now 

 thoroughly convinced were nothing but Temminck's stints, 

 and as we had hitherto met with but one species of swan, we 

 had reluctantly come to the conclusion that we had not yet 

 seen Bewick's swan. We congratulated ourselves that our 

 observations on the arrival of migratory birds at TJst- 

 Zylma were not without interest. We T/ere much pleased 

 tbat we had shot one specimen of the Arctic willow-warbler. 

 The abundance of yellow-headed wagtails, and the prospect 

 of bringing home many of the eggs of this rare bird, was a 

 source of considerable satisfaction to us. Our two best 

 things were undoubtedly the new pipit and the Siberian 

 chiff-chaff. We hoped both these birds might be new, but 

 our acquaintance with the various Indian species that might 

 possibly migrate into this region was not sufScient to warrant 

 us in entertaining more than a hope. We therefore looked 

 forward to our first day on the tundra with more than usual 

 anxiety and interest. 



The tundra forms the east bank of the Petchora, and we 

 anchored our boat under a steep cliff, perhaps sixty feet high, 

 a crumbling slope of clay, earth, sand, gravel, turf, but no 

 rock. We looked over a gently rolling prairie country, 

 stretching away to a flat plain, beyond which was a range of 



