BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 73 



quarters. This one was painted in red, blue, and white; others in 

 green, &c. I think the man sitting behind the woman is her father ; 

 her husband is shown in Plate 35. Returning to the village after 

 lunch, I was busy photographing the sledge and reindeer (Plate 29) 

 when Kjeldsen said "We may have fog" — there was then a small 

 dark cloud to the north over the sea, not nearly so large as " a man's 

 hand." In twenty minutes the whole sky was covered with low 

 cloudy mist, and later in the afternoon fog shut out everything more 

 than half a mile away. As photographs were no longer possible, we 

 went to the lake above Lutni, visited on the ist. The Divers were 

 still there, but not a sign of any new nest ; nor did they afterwards 

 make one during our stay, so I expect they were using this lake till 

 some other, less disturbed, should be free from ice. I shot another 

 Wood- Sand piper (male) on the margin of the lake ; also a male Red- 

 spotted Blue-throat in some birch-scrub near. The latter was the 

 first seen or heard this year ; and as the males give you every 

 opportunity of hearing their beautiful song during most of the 

 twenty-four hours it is probable they had only just arrived. Another 

 fresh arrival was the Ringed Plover, three or four of which were on 

 the margin of the pool below the village ; none being there two days 

 before. 



During the day a large quantity of fresh-water ice has gone past 

 the ship, evidently from Lake Ukanskoe, as these are clear green 

 blocks which have had all their upper crust of snow knocked off in 

 their passage down the rapids of the river. After the beautifully fine 

 morning, we experienced a raw, cold, foggy evening, with the rigging 

 and everything on deck dripping, when a fire was not only comfortable 

 but necessary in the cabin. Such are the vicissitudes of an arctic 

 climate ! 



June ^th. — The fog still continued this morning, but cleared off 

 after noon, leaving the sun in undisputed possession for the remainder 

 of the day. I went through the scrub near our anchorage for an 

 hour, finding only two old Redwing nests. Several male Blue-throats 



