352 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



breeding there. About Liddes there were many Ring Ouzels and Wheat- 

 ears, at an elevation of more than 4000 ft.— (Rev.) Charles W. Benson, 

 LL.D. (Rathmines School, Dublin). 



The Scandinavian Pipits. —I was greatly interested in Mr. Aplin's 

 remarks (pp. 300-302) on Anthus cervinus and A. rupestris, specially in his 

 reference to the figures of the Scandinavian Rock Pipit (A. rupestris) in 

 Mr. Booth's ' Rough Notes,' being in his opinion referable to the Alpine or 

 Water Pipit [A. spipoletta). The question naturally arises, is the latter 

 found in Scandinavia? Recently, in August this year, when at Vadso on 

 the Varanger Fjord, for the eclipse of the sun on August 9th, I had oppor- 

 tunities of making short excursions into the surrounding district, and on 

 the 8th visited the whaling station in the Jarfjord, within a few kilos of 

 the Russian frontier. To me this place proved a perfect paradise for Arctic 

 flowers and birds. At the back of the flensing and boiling-down houses 

 there is a considerable track of swampy ground overgrown with dense 

 thickets of low-growing scrub (Salix glauca and S. lanata) ; between this 

 and the back of the boiling-sheds were some pits or excavations filled with 

 the odorous refuse of the place. This place literally swarmed with small 

 birds, chiefly Pipits and Wagtails, attracted by innumerable forms of 

 insect-life brought into existence by the unsavoury nature of the locality. 

 In a few minutes I recognised old and young Blue-throats, Lapp Buntings, 

 White Wagtails, Meadow and Red-throated Pipits, and numbers of Anthus 

 rupestris. Here also were some Pipits which at the time I unhesitatingly 

 referred to A. spipoletta, and entered as such in my note-book, also in that 

 of a lady who was making a list of birds seen during the expedition. 

 Subsequently, on consulting the books I had on board the steamer, I erased 

 A. spipoletta as not being found in Scandinavia; at the same time I was 

 by no means satisfied that I had done right. The Pipits in question were 

 almost pure white or huffish underneath, without visible streaks, and a pure 

 slate-grey above with very indistinct centre-feather markings on the back, 

 also a very distinct buff eye-streak. None of us had a gun, so without a 

 skin I am unable to speak positively as to the markings on the outer pair 

 of tail-feathers. The late Mr. Seebohm, in his remarks on Anthus obscurus 

 (' British Birds,' vol. ii. p. 247), which he treats with A. rupestris as one 

 and the same species, says : — " In addition to the form, the summer plumage 

 of which has already been described, with the streaked sandy-buff under 

 parts, two others occasionally occur : one of these, which I found together 

 with the typical form in the Varanger Fjord, has the ground-colour of the 

 under parts almost pure white, possibly the effect of continuous daylight ; 

 the other, which is connected by a series of intermediate examples with the 

 typical form, has the under parts scarcely differing from those of A. spipo- 

 letta, the streaks being nearly obsolete, and the colour of the breast pale 

 chestnut-buff." The Arctic form of A. rupestris may probably be the one 



