BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 65 



a record of eggs, kept by himself, his father, and his grandfather. It 

 is on occasions like this that a little cherry-brandy, preserved fruit, 

 &c., are useful. 



As the wind seemed to have lessened, we left soon after 3 p.m. 

 (Kildin time is 2 h. 17 m. 26 s. fast of Greenwich), but as soon as we 

 were clear from the shelter of the island the vessel rolled and tossed 

 so much we were only able to cook some soup for dinner and that 

 with great difficulty. There was more snow in the evening ; the sea 

 however went down at night, and when I went on deck at 4 a.m. the 

 morning was beautiful, with every promise of better weather. 



May list. — As our old anchorage of 1895 behind Sviatoi Nos 

 was the nearest good harbour on this coast to Kanin Nos, I decided 

 to go there until the weather appeared favourable for crossing the 

 White Sea; and we dropped anchor behind Medveji island (so spelt 

 on the Admiralty chart, but Medvyezhi in the Arctic Pilot, 1898, 

 published by the Admiralty) at 10.20 a.m., after a run of nineteen 

 hours from Kildin island. Local time here is 2 h. 40 m. (within a 

 few seconds) fast of Greenwich. This proved to be the first fine day 

 since we left Tromso on the 20th, free from snow or rain, and a bright 

 sun throughout, making it really hot for walking. We landed on the 

 island after breakfast and spent some hours in exploring it, but found 

 very few birds compared with those seen during our visit on June 2 1 , 

 1895. Not a twentieth part of the Black Guillemots had arrived yet, 

 and there was no sign of their having commenced to lay their eggs. 

 A few Great Black-backed, Herring, Common, and three Glaucous 

 Gulls were about the north end of the island. We also saw two 

 Richardson's Skuas, two or three White Wagtails and Meadow-Pipits ; 

 and a few Cormorants, Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks on the sea. A 

 pair of Ravens had a nest on a cliif over the sea, containing two young 

 whose wing-feathers were just showing, the rest of their bodies having 

 only down on. On June 6th — only six days after — these birds had 

 their bodies covered with feathers ; young birds, large and small, 

 mature with wonderful rapidity in the north. The whole island had 



