124 BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



ice appeared to be breaking away at the sides in places. That night 

 a large quantity of ice went past our house and the river rose con- 

 siderably. A number of Swans, Teal, Wigeon, Pintails, Godwits, and 

 Greenshanks were feeding on the Tuloma river in some large shallow 

 bays which were dry at low water, and afforded good feeding-ground 

 for many species. Musters hid behind some slight cover on a point, 

 and shot a female Bean-Goose. Its length from tip of bill to end of 

 tail was 29J inches ; bill and feet dull orange yellow, iris dark brown, 

 no black on breast. The drawing of the beak and head I made 

 at the time corresponds very closely with that which Mr. F. W. 

 Frohawk illustrated in the Field, October 4, 1902, as Anser arvensis 

 (see p. 144). 



More White Wagtails have arrived to-day ; and new birds seen were 

 Willow- Wren, Lapp-Titmouse Farus cinctus, Common Sandpiper, Com- 

 mon Redshank, Arctic Tern, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. On the 

 23rd we first noted Lapland-Buntings, Shore-Larks, Hazel-Grouse, 

 Ringed Plover, and Black-throated Divers. 



May 2^rd. — This not being a saint's day, we got our men to row 

 us again up the Tuloma to the hill visited on the 21st. Soon after 

 landing, we shot a male Hazel-Grouse, the first and only bird of this 

 species we saw. Mr. Witherby also only shot one, viz. near Lake 

 Imandra considerably farther south ; and Pleske considered its occur- 

 rence so far north as the Imandra uncertain, so the species is evidently 

 rare in this part of Russia. Stopped by rain and obliged to shelter 

 among the rocks for an hour, we got at last to the top of the hill and 

 climbed down to where I had seen the Gyr-Falcon, but it was some 

 time before we could make her come off. She fetched the male and 

 both flew round with very little noise. A careful examination showed 

 that the nesting- place was quite safe from all the members of our 

 party ; for it was on a ledge under a projecting mass of rock which 

 stood out ten feet and extended some distance on either side of it. 

 The rock was sheer from under this ledge to where we stood, without 

 the slightest foothold. Neither could the nest be approached from 



