142 BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



long narrow piece of water witli many islets. A pair of Red-breasted 

 Mergansers settled near me, and a few Teal were feeding, while two 

 Divers rose in the distance ; but there was no boat on any of the lakes, 

 so we could not explore the islets. We saw one or two Spotted Red- 

 shanks, and heard their very distinct note repeatedly. Some Golden 

 Plover were near both lakes, but did not seem to have paired yet ; 

 very few of the small birds had arrived, and we only noted Meadow- 

 Pipits and Willow- Wrens near the lakes. 



The homeward way was not only through deep marshes, but also 

 over a district which had been devastated by fire some fifteen to 

 twenty years before, judging from the size of the young trees. Birds 

 were remarkably scarce, even for these woods, a fact we noticed on 

 several other occasions in large burnt tracts. I think it is probably 

 due to the complete destruction of insect-life by the fire ; for plants 

 and insects are very slow in re-occupying their ground in these arctic 

 regions compared with tropical countries. I never saw a fresh Wood- 

 pecker's hole in any partially burnt pine-tree, and I must have examined 

 many hundreds and almost thousands of trees, during our stay in the 

 country. 



The only eggs seen during the day were a clutch of five Field- 

 fare's in a nest on the top of a pine stump three feet high. The 

 nest and tree were the same diameter, and although a mass of woven 

 grass-bents might be thought to form a conspicuous object in such a 

 position, it was not so easily seen. Nearly a week of " summer " had 

 already passed, yet we noticed flowers for the first time to-day, a few 

 white multiboer on sunny spots in the drier parts of the marshes. 



June 6th. — The weather yesterday had been splendid with a 

 warm bright sun that made us think summer was really coming, but 

 to-day was cold and dull with a strong north wind. We crossed the 

 river to the west side, in the vain hope that birds might be more 

 plentiful there. A few Bramblings, one or two Willow-Wrens, a pair 

 of Wheateai's (the first seen at Pulozero), a Greenshank, and a 

 Spotted Redshank, formed the chief items. The only nest found was 



