Quadrupeds, fyc. 2257 



" The common fox is very abundant ; and its fur, from its great length and thick- 

 ness, is much prized as a lining for ladies' cloaks,— fifty pounds being the usual price 

 for a set of skins. It is not followed as a beast of chase, excepting in the neighbour- 

 hood of St. Petersburg, where a subscription pack of hounds is kept up by some of 

 the English merchants ; but their success has been very partial, and the only good run 

 which I believe they have on record is one they had with a wolf, which was fairly run 

 into the open country, after a two hours' burst without a check. The shortness of the 

 season, and the abominable marshy country which they have to traverse, readily ac- 

 counts for the short register of deaths. 



" The white hare, and a large variety of the common species, are very abundant. 

 The former, which is, during the summer months, of a whitish gray, does not assume 

 its winter garb till the end of October ; and even then some few specimens which 

 came under my notice retained some shade of their summer coat : it is, however, pro- 

 perly speaking, of a pure white, with a little black spot at the extremity of each ear. 

 The other variety I have alluded to stands remarkably high on its legs, which are 

 very fine and slender, and weighs as much as fifteen pounds. 



" The capercali, the hazel (Tetrao bonasia), and the willow grouse (Tetrao saliceti) 

 are extremely abundant; but the first is difficult of approach, and is rarely procured 

 except at the first dawn of day. The shooting season begins on the 1st of July, long 

 before the young broods are strong enough to afford legitimate sport. 



" Ducks and other water fowl afford some sport in the early spring, on their return 

 from the south ; but they do not form a prominent feature in the catalogue of sports. 



** To the naturalist, taking it in its full extent, this country is the richest field in 

 Europe in every branch of natural history ; but its very extent is a difficulty not to be 

 overcome. Specimens are not easily procured, excepting in ornithology ; and these 

 may be found in considerable variety in the bird market of St. Petersburg. T often 

 visit the spot for that purpose, and have picked up specimens which are remarkably 

 scarce in England ; but, though they are often sufficiently abundant, they are rarely 

 in a fit state to preserve. The great black woodpecker (Picus martius) is by no means 

 uncommon ; but it is invariably deprived of its bill, from some superstitious feeling of 

 the people; and the long-tailed duck (Anas glacialis) is always imperfect in its tail 

 feathers. The pine grosbeak (Loxia enucleator) I have bought, both alive and dead, 

 for two-pence, and I occasionally see the snowy owl (Strix nyctea), the passerine 

 (Strix passerina), the great-eared owl (Strix bubo), the hawk owl (Sirix funerea), the 

 crossbill (Loxia pityopsittacus), snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis), shore lark (Alanda 

 alpestris), blue-throated warbler (Sylvia suecica), and the Tetrao medius, a bird which 

 has been erroneously supposed to be a hybrid between the capercali and the black-cock. 



" At the commencement of the winter, I have found dead bullfinches and waxen 

 chatterers (I can never get this latter alive) exposed for sale in vast profusion as an 

 article of food much esteemed. The season makes no difference in the exposure of 

 birds in cages for sale ; and as a substitute for water, the drinking-troughs are kept 

 filled with snow. The Russians are particularly fond of birds, and having so few na- 

 tural songsters of their own in the northern districts, they are supplied by the Germans, 

 who bring, in the first ships on the opening of the navigation, myriads of larks and 

 canaries, which fill the air with their melody in the garden of the custom-house, where 

 they are exposed for sale." — p. 232. 



