BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 5 



hours' walk through a quick succession of snowstorms, over ground 

 covered with snow, in which one constantly sank to the waist, may 

 well be called dreary. All we had for our walk was a sight of two 

 White-tailed Eagles at close quarters, and of a nest of young Ravens 

 CoTvus corax. 



We spent some hours at Hammerfest the next day, and then 

 steamed on to the Porsanger fjord, where we arrived early on the 27th. 

 The island of Stor Tamso was in a more backward state than any 

 place we had visited this year, being almost entirely covered with 

 great snow-drifts ; and the proprietor, Herr UUick, said that only 

 the Great Black-backed Gulls had commenced to lay. Yet several 

 pairs of White Wagtails Motacilla alia, had arrived and were searching 

 for food round the house. We saw these birds at all the places we 

 landed ; they are among the earliest to go north, and their arrival 

 seems to be little affected by the weather. 



Herr Ullick thought we should find less snow towards the head 

 of the fjord, so we moved up there, and landed to seek a pilot who 

 could show us an anchorage ; but not one of those we met spoke 

 Norwegian, and some dialect of the Finns seemed to be their only 

 language. One young woman, who was rather nervous at the 

 presence of so many strangers, relieved her feelings by pushing the 

 end of her nose in all directions as she endeavoured to talk ; some- 

 times it was on one cheek, sometimes on the other, then where the 

 bridge should have been. Nothing but the most flexible indiarubber 

 would give an adequate idea of that nose. It must not be imagined, 

 however, I describe this lady as a type of female beauty there 1 



May 28 th brought beautiful weather and really hot sunshine, 

 which we hoped would soon begin to affect the snow. Large numbers 

 of birds were on the sea, chiefly Long-tailed Ducks Hardda glacialis. 

 We saw to-day Scoters, Skuas, Arctic Terns Sterna macrura, Redshank 

 Totanus calidris, Willow Grouse Lagopus alius, and Fieldfares Turdus 

 pilaris, &c. The only nest was a Great Black-backed Gull's, with 

 five eggs. I think the explanation of this most unusual number 



