CHAP. XXL GEESE. 277 



at our feet. Their behaviour plainly showed that they were 

 breeding ; they circled round us wildly, uttering their usual 

 cry. We secured three young in down, only recently 

 hatched. 



We spent another hour on the banks of a large lake, upon 

 which swam two pairs of long-tailed ducks, each with its 

 brood. After waiting and watching and stalking, we got 

 hold of two old birds, two of the young in down of one 

 brood, and six more grown-up young of the other. On the 

 sandy margin of another lake, white with the seeds of the 

 cotton-grass, we saw several ringed plover, and shot one little 

 stint. We came upon a few Buffon's ' skuas, and on their 

 ground we found the grey plover abundant as usual. 

 Eeturning home, I chose the lee shore for my route, and 

 watched as I came along several glaucous and herring gulls, 

 saw a pair of wheatears, and shot a shore-lark. 



Meanwhile our Samoyede and our half-bred had made a 

 long excursion into the tundra by the banks of the rivers 

 Erisvanka and Eevka. They described the country as exactly 

 the same as that which we already knew — moor, swamp, and 

 bog, with plenty of lakes, large and small. They had met 

 nothing of interest, except ducks, geese, and swans. These 

 birds were now evidently leaving their breeding haunts and 

 retiring into the tundra to moult. During that period of com- 

 parative helplessness and inability to fly, they are attacked 

 by the Samoyedes on their way back from Varandai and 

 the Bolshai Tundra. These Samoyedes will have grand 

 battues amongst the geese, and will return to the Petchora 

 laden with feathers and down, which they will sell at the 



