The birds of Pasvik / E. I. Khlebosolov, O. A. Makarova, O. A. Khlebosolova [et al. ; English transl. Nikita Chernetsov]. - Ryazan : Golosgubernii, 2007. - 175 с. : ил., портр.

A large contribution to this task was made by the Norwegian researcher Hans Schaanning. He moved to this area in 1900, together with his assistant and friend Johan Koren. Both young men were keen sportsmen and made long trips in search for game-rich areas. They were told that northeastern Norway was rich in fowl and decided to move to Pasvik. They indeed found an avian El D orado there, so that their dream came true. The two friends were hunting there during several years, prepared specimens, collected eggs and made their living by selling eggs and specimens to museums and private collectors. Materials that they collected in Pasvik appeared not only in Norway but also in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, and the United States. During this time Hans Schaanning m arried and had children. He built a house in Noatun that was his lab, hunting hut and bird observatory. Then he moved to Stavanger. Apart from hunting, Schaanning made a checklist o f birds o f Pasvik which he published in 1907 in his book “ Bird fauna o f East F innm ark ” (Schaanning 1907). The list includes 172 species collected at the river and in its vicin­ ity. This review contains the most complete list o f birds o f Pasvik at the beginning o f the 20th century. It also includes brief data on the ecology o f the birds living there. This book by Schaanning has not lost its im portance until now. It was the basis for new research at the end o f the 20th century. During the past century, in spite o f a strong anthropogenic impact, i.e. wars, construction o f metallurgic factories, power dams, lumbering, the number o f avian species has slightly increased. This has led to the idea to organize a nature reserve (zapovednik) that would help conserve the avian diversity o f Pasvik. After Schaanning, many researchers have contributed to the list o f local birds. In 1916, V.L. Bianchi summarised the faunistic studies in northwestern European Russia from the Barents Sea to the central regions (Bianchi 1922). His list included 202 bird species. He used the new data o f Russian and foreign researchers. It is worth noting that the author divided his study region into several ornithogeographic provinces, so that the Arctic coast and adjacent northern Lapland were called Tundra Lapland province, and the southern Kola Peninsula was included into Forest Lapland province. V.L. Bianchi referred to the work o f a Finnish ornithologist Mela-K ivirikko 36