407 
on the Trans-Siberian Railway Line . 
runs by night, as well as by day, the traveller misses about two 
hundred miles during the darkness out o£ every twenty-four 
hours* journey, in the month of June. As this article is 
devoted to the birds observed from the line, I have only 
mentioned in it such features of the landscape through which 
I passed as may serve for a setting to the avifauna, with the 
names of some of the more important towns, in order that 
those who care to do so may note roughly the region referred 
to from day to day. I do not pretend that even with the 
aid of good binoculars it is possible to identify all the species 
which are seen, and many, of course, must escape notice 
altogether. At the same time a fair acquaintance with 
the birds of the Palsearctic Region, and the assistance of 
Mr. Dresser's invaluable work on the subject, have enabled 
me to make sufficient notes to be, I venture to hope, of some 
utility. 
Nothing is more interesting than to notice the transition 
from the range of one species into that of another, so 
that in some cases, within an hour, it is possible to see the 
last of the one and the first of the other. Indeed, I think, 
from what 1 saw, that species tended to disappear suddenly 
at the limit of their area of distribution, as often as they did 
to gradually diminish in number, till they eventually vanished 
from the landscape altogether. 
On the afternoon of June 1st I left Vladivostok, and the 
line at first ran through badly cultivated country covered 
with low scrub and the remains of silver-birch forest, having 
an arm of the sea on the left-hand side. 
Carrion-Crows (Corvus corone) were much in evidence and 
by the shore Black-eared Kites ( Milvus melanotis) were not 
uncommon. The Tree - Sparrow (Passer montanus ) was 
abundant and apparently just as parasitic on man here as 
it is in China. The Eastern Common Swallow ( Hirundo 
gutturalis ), and the Nepalese Swallow ( H . striolata) were 
plentiful at all the stations, and the nests of both species 
often adorned the eaves of the same building. Apparently 
the Nepalese Swallow is here a later breeding bird than 
the other species, for none' of its nests appeared to be 
2e2 
