328 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Of Thrushes we observed only the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) 

 and the Redwing (T. ilacus). The Fieldfare all the way down 

 to Kaaresuando was very uncommon. Fir-trees do not occur 

 higher than lat. 68° 30' on this river, and it was not till we 

 reached the fir-woods that we saw a single bird of this species. 

 We only found one colony, and the natives all agree that upon 

 the upper Muonio the Redwing, whose song is to be heard every- 

 where, is far the commoner of the two. 



We did not find many Wheatears, and never saw a Whinchat. 



The Redstart is fairly common, and is known to the natives by a 

 name signifying " poor, or worthless, sort of a Bluethroat." It gene- 

 rally builds in deserted holes of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. 



The Willow Wren was the only species of warbler observed, 

 and this was very abundant. The Finns, who are nearly always 

 keen observers, could not tell me of any other species of warbler. 



The Bluethroat (Cyanecula suecica) was very abundant in the 

 willow-scrub ; its song continued all night, even when all other 

 birds were silent — i, e., from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. This bird has 

 marvellous powers of imitation, and the long continuous strain, 

 consisting of the songs and notes of other birds connected by little 

 passages of warbling, reminded us greatly of the Sedge Warbler. 



Of Tits, the Northern Marsh Tit (Parvus borealis) and the 

 Lapp Tit (P. ductus) were the only species observed, and these 

 were very uncommon, being seen only in the fir-growth. 



Around every house were one or two broods of White Wag- 

 tails ; but as there are only a dozen houses between the frontier 

 and Kaaresuando, a distance of seventy miles, they can only be 

 called proportionately plentiful. Blue-headed Yellow Wagtails 

 swarmed along the sides of the river, and in the marshier parts of 

 the "Uoma" or tundra-like moors. 



We found the Meadow Pipit (Anihus pratensis) in several 

 places; but the predominating species was always the Red- 

 throated Pipit (A. cervinus), one of the characteristic birds of the 

 Uoma. We discovered three nests : those found on June 28th 

 and 29th contained incubated eggs; but one found at Keinovuopio 

 on July 27th contained five fresh eggs. We did not observe the 

 Tree Pipit (-4. trivialis) or the Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa atrica- 

 pilla) ; the latter species was not recognised by any of the Finns 

 when I showed them my note-book in which I had made drawings 

 of all species which I thought likely to be met with* 



