Præcoces or nidifugæ are those birds which are more or less able to run about when hatched. They are born with their eyes open, with a covering of down, and with much of their yolk still unused. Examples are running birds, fowl, gulls, and ducks.
THE TUNDRA AND ITS ANIMAL LIFE.
In addition to Nordenskiöld’s voyage, and other works already cited, the following may be consulted by those who wish to amplify their picture of the Tundra and its life:—
Seebohm. Siberia in Asia (1882).
Jackson, F. G. The Great Frozen Land (Bolshaia Zemelskija Tundra). Narrative of a winter journey across the Tundras and a sojourn among the Samoyedes (ed. from the author’s journal by A. Montefiore, 8vo, London, 1895).
[Note 6] pp. 63 and 71.—The Tundra.
[Note 7] pp. 63 and 71.—The Tundra.
With Brehm’s picture of the Tundra, it is interesting to compare that given by Mr. Seebohm in his address to the Geographical Section of the British Association at Nottingham, 1893. (Scottish Geogr. Magazine, ix. (1893), pp. 505-23, with map.)
“In exposed situations, especially in the higher latitudes, the tundra does really merit its American name of Barren Ground, being little else than gravel beds interspersed with bare patches of peat or clay, and with scarcely a rush or a sedge to break the monotony. In Siberia, at least, this is very exceptional. By far the greater part of the tundra, both east and west of the Ural Mountains, is a gently undulating plain, full of lakes, rivers, swamps, and bogs. The lakes are diversified with patches of green water plants, amongst which ducks and swans float and dive; the little rivers flow between banks of rush and sedge; the swamps are masses of tall rushes and sedges of various species, where phalaropes and ruffs breed, and the bogs are brilliant with the white fluffy seeds of the cotton-grass. The groundwork of all this variegated scenery is more beautiful and varied still—lichens and moss of almost every conceivable colour, from the cream-coloured reindeer-moss to the scarlet-cupped trumpet-moss, interspersed with a brilliant alpine flora, gentians, anemones, saxifrages, and hundreds of plants, each a picture in itself, the tall aconites, both the blue and yellow species, the beautiful cloudberry, with its gay white blossom and amber fruit, the flagrant Ledum palustre and the delicate pink Andromeda polifolia. In the sheltered valleys and deep water-courses a few stunted birches, and sometimes large patches of willow scrub, survive the long severe winter, and serve as cover for willow-grouse or ptarmigan. The Lapland bunting and red-throated pipit are everywhere to be seen, and certain favoured places are the breeding grounds of plovers and sandpipers of many species. So far from meriting the name of Barren Ground, the tundra is for the most part a veritable paradise in summer. But it has one almost fatal drawback—it swarms with millions of mosquitoes.”
[Note 8] p. 72.—The Mammoth.