56 



THE PARADISE OF THE CHARADEIID^. 



Sudden 

 arrival of 

 birds. 



its deep red flowers. The Alpine rhododendron was replaced by a somewhat similar 

 shrub, Ledum palustre ; but the flora, on the whole, was that of the Engadine, brought 

 down to the level of the sea. 



Although the first rush of migratory birds across the Arctic Circle was almost 

 bewildering, every piece of open water and every patch of bare ground swarming with 

 them, a new species on an average arriving every two hours for several days, the period of 

 migration lasted more than a month. Very little migration was observable until about the 

 22nd of May, although a few stragglers arrived earlier, but during the next fortnight the 

 migration was prodigious. In addition to enormous numbers of Passerine birds, countless 





Arrival of 

 Plovers, 

 Snipes, and 

 Sandpipers. 



flocks of Geese, Swans, and Ducks arrived, together with a great many Gulls and Terns 

 and Birds of Prey. During the next fortnight, from the 5th to the 19th of June, fresh 

 species of Passerine birds continued to arrive, and the main migration of the species 

 belonging to the family Charadriidse took place. The Common and Pintailed Snipes 

 (Scotopax gallinago and stenura) were the first to arrive, in company with the Asiatic 

 Golden Plover (Charadrius fulvus), on the 5th. The Wood-Sandpiper (Totanus glareola) 

 and Temminck's Stint (Tringa temmincki) arrived on the 6th. The Golden Plover 

 (Charadrius pluvialis) arrived on the 7th, and the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) 

 with the Terek Sandpiper (Totanus terek) on the 8th. The Ruff (Totanus pugnase) and the 

 Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) arrived on the 9th, the Great Snipe (Scohpax major) on 

 the 11th, and the Common Sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucus) on the 12th. On the 15th the 

 Green Sandpiper [Totanus ochropus), the Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus hyperboreus), 

 and a solitary Curlew Sandpiper (Tringa subarquata) arrived. Although migration continued 

 until the end of the month, during which many new species of Passerine birds arrived, I 



