BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 133 



cut in the side facing the river, one two feet below the other. When 

 the bottom of the cavity sinks through decay of the wood, so that the 

 men cannot reach the eggs, they cut a new hole lower down the trunk. 

 We were much pleased to find eleven eggs of the Goldeneye with a 

 good quantity of down. The eggs were fresh, so we took them home 

 unblown to make their contents into " buttered eggs " for breakfast. 



May 2>^th. — We first went down near the river searching for 

 hollow trees, but not one could we find suitable for a duck. Several 

 Siberian Jays came round us with their usual curiosity, and we heard 

 a Cuckoo for the first time. Fresh birds seen here were Dipper (sp. ?), 

 Willow- Wren, Great Grey Shrike Lanius excuhitor^ Willow- Grouse, 

 Red-breasted Merganser, Whimbrel, Arctic Tern, and Common Gull. 

 Mr. Witherby also saw Dippers at this place in 1899, so they are 

 resident here. Redstarts were courting still. We were struck by the 

 number of pine-trees in all directions, in which Woodpeckers had 

 bored holes, yet we had not seen a bird ; but these trees last so many 

 years, even when partly decayed, that the results of nearly a cen- 

 tury's work may be seen. We then turned to the east, and climbed a 

 hill whence we obtained a view over much of the surrounding country. 

 Many lakes were in sight ; and the Kitsa, which runs through a broad 

 flat valley for some five miles before commencing its tumultuous 

 descent into the Kola, had overflowed its banks and converted the 

 valley into one great sheet of water. The remainder of the country 

 was undulating and wooded. 



Soon after our return to the hut, a man was seen on the opposite 

 side of the Kitsa, so Musters crossed in a small flat-bottomed boat, 

 and brought him over. He turned out to be one of the station men 

 who ought to have been here awaiting our arrival. After much talk 

 he went back, promising to bring his son the next day, and help to 

 carry the remaining luggage from Tschongai. But when the morrow 

 came he arrived without his son, and declined to assist the other men 

 at all, saying his station was only from Kitsa to Pulozero, a pro- 

 ceeding he did not find profitable in the end. 



