BIRDS ON THE MUONIO RIVER. 33 i 



one which had been dead some time, the remains of an Arctic 

 Hare, and a Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail. One of the parent 

 birds kept circling high above us while we examined the nest, 

 uttering her mewing cry, which was answered by the sharper 

 whistle of the young bird. This bird, which I now have at home 

 in Surrey, escaped, but returned after two days, when I succeeded 

 in whistling it down to alight on my hand. 



The Great Grey Shrike occurs, but we only observed it once, 

 and the Swift is said to occur on migration only, and then but 

 rarely. 



Both the Golden and White-tailed Eagles and the Osprey are 

 said to have greatly decreased in numbers of late, but the former 

 are of course more plentiful in " Lemming years." 



We came upon a brood of Lesser White-fronted Geese on 

 July 2nd in travelling down the rapids. The goslings were very 

 tame, pecking at the mosquitoes on our hands. The old birds flew 

 round and round in great excitement, uttering a harsh croaking. 

 The Bean Goose (called by the Finns "Mountain Goose") occurs 

 on the higher ground, as does also the Whooper (Cygnusferus). 



The Mallard is very rare, and we only saw one pair on 

 June 30th. 



The Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)is sometimes seen on migration. 



The Pintail (Dafila acuta) is fairly common, and we caught some 

 full-grown young ones on July 12th, easily distinguished by their 

 long, graceful necks. 



The Wigeon is one of the most abundant of ducks. It is an 

 early breeder, and we began to see flights towards the end of our 

 time. The Teal (Querqedula crecca) is nearly as common. We were 

 surprised to find the Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata) as common 

 as it was; we saw quite a number of broods, and obtained a clutch 

 of eggs from Kittainen. Below Kaaresuando the Scaup (F. 

 marila) was fairly common, preferring small lakes with rocky 

 shores to the river swamps. The flappers of this species may be 

 distinguished by the broad bill with well-developed white nail, 

 the yellow irides, and the greenish legs with black toes. The 

 down plumage is much like that of a gosling. 



Goldeneyes were very plentiful, especially lower down the 

 river, where the Finns have put up numerous nesting-boxes for 

 them to lay in. 



We found the Long-tailed Duck (Harelda glacialis) fairly 



