Cambridge Library Collection – Zoology: The Birds of Siberia: A Record of a Naturalist’s Visits to the Valleys of the Petchora and Yenesei

Henry Seebohm (1832-95) was a Yorkshire steel manufacturer and passionate amateur ornithologist. He travelled widely in Greece, Scandinavia, Turkey and South Africa studying birds in their native habitats. He served as secretary of the Royal Geological Society, was a fellow of the Linnean Society, and member of the British Ornithologists’ Union and of the Zoological Society. This volume, published in 1901, contains two books recounting his travels in Siberia. Siberia in Europe (1880) was the result of an expedition to the lower Pechora River valley in 1875 with zoologist J. A. Harvie-Brown, and also his study of bird migrations in Heligoland with ornithologist Heinrich Gatke. He located the breeding grounds of several visitors to Britain, including the grey plover and Bewick’s swan. Siberia in Asia (1882) was published after his 1877 journey with Arctic explorer Joseph Wiggins along the Yenisey River. There are numerous woodcuts illustrating birds and Siberian landscapes.