48 BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



we found this aiorning the footprints of a large grey wolf that had 

 followed our track home last night to within 300 yards of the tents. 

 His marks were sharp and clear in the wet sand, and from their size 

 he must have been a fine beast. Ivan says bears are also common 

 here, and we certainly came across their traces many times every 

 day, where they had been digging out the Voles Microtus agrestis, 

 which were very numerous ; too much so in fact, for one came into 

 the tent and bit two or three large holes through my pyjamas ! 



At first we were much surprised to find this almost uninhabited 

 country intersected by several well-worn paths, but the explanation 

 was soon forthcoming, for each of them led from one fishing station 

 to another, and nothing would induce Ivan to diverge from them a 

 foot in going to the various lakes, if he could avoid it. When we 

 insisted on striking across fresh country away from these sacred paths, 

 he would follow sulkily, and make no effort to show us the best way. 

 In this country where vegetation grows so slowly, very little traffic 

 will produce well-defined tracks, and they are doubtless important to 

 a people often obliged to traverse it in fog ; so Ivan considered it our 

 bounden duty to help to maintain them, and we did — on the home- 

 ward journey, for they always followed the easiest line of country. 



The next nest was a Rough-legged Buzzard's in a Scotch fir, 

 which contained three young in down with quills just showing. 

 Then a Brambling's, with seven of the best marked eggs obtained 

 this season; but just as Charles was handing down the nest, he 

 tumbled out of the tree, missing me by six inches ; and those eggs 

 were broken. On the return journey Ivan left us to inspect the nets 

 at another of his numerous huts. Here he found a Red-breasted 

 Merganser in possession, sitting on seven eggs slightly incubated; 

 he caught her and turned her out of doors, bringing us the seven 

 eggs with the down, tied up in his pocket-handkerchief. A strange 

 character this dirty old Ivan, with his numerous country-houses, and 

 over a hundred reindeer now pasturing at Zip-Navolok on the Ribatchi 

 peninsula; for although past sixty he can do quite as long a day's 



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