i6 BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



before drinking, not into the cup as our custom is. If the men 

 were Russians, as they stated, they were far the dirtiest specimens I 

 ever saw. 



There was a great change since our last visit four days ago ; the 

 snow-drifts were now melting rapidly, and the ground was thawing, 

 while large pools of water were forming in many places, but the lake 

 was still covered with ice. Dunlins were busy in all directions, and 

 crept about through the grass like mice within a few yards of us ; a 

 careful search only revealed nests hollowed out, but none lined as yet. 

 The Puffins had now commenced to lay in earnest, and were here in 

 thousands on sea and land. I have little doubt these are the " ducks 

 with bills of an obtuse formation, called Tupik," described in the 

 Arctic Pilot ; while the " blackberries " are multebser, which grow very 

 plentifully here. We saw a number of Razorbills Aha torda, over the 

 island, who appeared to be nesting in holes like the Puffins, but did 

 not succeed in finding any of their eggs. 



New birds seen to-day were a Ruff Machetes jpugnax, a pair of 

 Wigeon Mareca penelope, and some Ringed Plover JEgialitis hiaticola ; 

 the first Qgg of Richardson's Skua this season was found near the 

 shore among crowberry. 



In the evening we steamed over to Pechenga gulf, and rejoiced to 

 see large quantities of ice coming out to sea. There was still a con- 

 siderable amount of ice in the upper portion of the fjord, but it was 

 now so rotten and broken up we forced the ship through without 

 much difficulty, and at last were safely anchored off the mouth of the 

 Triphona river (Trifonovka River on Admiralty chart), the highest 

 point to which a ship can go. At high tide this anchorage is quite 

 I J miles from the head of the fjord, but the whole of that distance is 

 filled up with detritus brought down by the river Pechenga, and is 

 only navigable for small boats from half to full tide. We were the 

 first to reach the top of the fjord by sea this year. The day had been 

 cloudy, with slight rain ; but in the evening the weather cleared, soon 

 after midnight the sun was again shining, and the air was full of the 



