44 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
summer visits the high north. Like several other birds which 
appeared in spring with the first bare spots it disappeared in 
July. Perhaps it retired to the interior to breed in the bush, or,’ 
which is more probable, went farther north to the islands or 
continents not yet discovered by Europeans, which in all pro¬ 
bability connect Wrangel Land with the Franklin Archipelago. 
The higher animal forms which, along with the Polar traveller, 
dare to brave the cold and darkness of the Arctic night, exert 
on him a peculiar attraction. Kegarding these. Lieutenant 
Nordquist has given me the following notes :— 
The mammal most common in winter on the north coast of 
the Chukch peninsula is the hare. It differs from the fell hare 
[Lepiis horealis, Lillj.) by its larger size, and by the bones of its 
nose not tapering so rapidly. It is generally met with in flocks 
of five or six on the hills in the neighbourhood of the tents, 
which are covered only with a thin layer of snow, notwith¬ 
standing the large number of hungry dogs which wander about 
there. 
“ The mountain foxes ( Vuli^es lago'pus, L.) are very numerous. 
The common fox (Vidpes vulgaris, Gray) appears also to be 
common. A red fox, which Lieutenant Brusewitz shot from the 
vessel in October, differed considerably from the common fox, 
and approached the'mountain fox. The food of the fox appears 
in winter to consist of hares, ptarmigan, and lemmings. I have 
twice seen holes in the snow about a metre deep and at the 
mouth not more than thirty centimetres wide, which the 
Chukches said were excavated by foxes searching for lemmings. 
Of the lemming I have seen three varieties, viz. My odes 
ohensis, M. torquatus, and Arvieola oloseurus. There is found 
here, also, according to the statements of the Chukches, a little 
mouse, in all probability a Sorex. Myodes torquatus were got 
the first time on the 12th January, Ifyodes ohensis on the 13th 
February. Both species were afterwards frequently brought on 
board by Chukches, and during the winter lemmings were seen 
not unfrequently running on the snow. Myodes ohensis appeared 
to be more numerous than the other species. It is singular that 
all the nine specimens of Myodes torquatus I obtained during the 
winter were males. Differing from both these species, Arvieola 
ohscurus does not appear to show itself above the snow during 
winter. Of the latter I got eight specimens from the village 
