BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 107 



After breakfast I called on the Norwegian mentioned on our 

 previous visit, and showed him coloured drawings of the birds which 

 might be found here. He said he had seen a Smew here this year 

 for the first time ; he did not know the Red-breasted Goose or the 

 Yellow-headed Wagtail (M. citreola), nor was he clear upon the differ- 

 ences between the various grey geese. He had not found the Glaucous 

 Gull breeding on this coast. He knew little about the smaller birds ; 

 I have never met a native in these northern latitudes who did, the 

 only birds which interest them are those available for food. As a 

 proof that natives must not always be relied on, my host produced 

 three duck's eggs which he was quite certain were those of the Velvet 

 Scoter ; he said he had taken them yesterday and shot the old bird 

 near, but I was equally certain they were Merganser's, for they did not 

 agree in size or colour with those of the Velvet Scoter. This man, with 

 his eight sons and four daughters, was an example — rather rare in the 

 twentieth century — of " blessed is the man who hath his quiver full of 

 them." Coming to this island some twenty years ago, he has, with 

 the help of his children, gradually built up a comfortable home, well 

 supplied with all the necessaries of life. But I am omitting the chief 

 factor of his success, a very stout and most capable wife, who took a 

 large share in the conversation. I asked her what they did w^hen 

 they wanted a doctor, to which she replied '' they never had wanted 

 one during the last twenty years. One of the girls had been a 

 little sick lately, but was better now." Think of that, ye victims of 

 a crowded civilisation ! All the family whom I saw fully bore out the 

 mother's statement. 



Three or four Pomatorhine Skuas were feeding on the offal of the 

 seals' carcasses near the house, and when I returned in the afternoon 

 two of them had fallen victims to a pea-rifle owned by one of the 

 sons. One bird was a tine young specimen of the melanic type ; and 

 as it was the first I had seen of this species, I bought it for skinning. 

 This Skua in the adult stage is so common during the whole summer 

 on the Murman coast that I am convinced some fortunate ornitholos^ist 



