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REPORT

UPON

NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS

MADE IN

ALAS KA

BETWHEHN THE YEARS 1877 AND 1881

BY

EDWARD W. NELSON.

EDITED BY HENRY W. HENSHAW.

PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER.

No. IT.

ARCTIC SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS ISSUED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SIGNAL SERVICE, U. 8. ARMY.
WITH 21 PLATES.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1887.
 

No.

ARCTIC SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS

ISSUED IN CONNECTION WITIL

THE SIGNAL SERVICE, U. 8. ARMY.

I.—Report of the Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. By Linur. P. H. Ray. 1880.
II.—Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska. By L. M. TurNER. 1886.

. IIL.—Report upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska in the years 1877-1881. By
FE. W. NELSON. 1887.

No. 1V.—Report of the Expedition to Lady Frauklin Bay. By Lizur. A. W. GREELY. 1887.

. V.—Report of Observations made in Ungava and Labrador. By L. M. TURNER. 188-.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL BY H. W. BENSHAW..-2.. 22-20. cece e cee eee cee eee ee Seduicsivs : seeks seek eaeeiey se 9
NARRATIVE BY i Wi. NEESON a sanjemisidigiae ages W wicichis niet se dlawieumasiaeaeterauen aes ws hdd sake aeeREE See eee nei il
Part I. Birds of Alaska, with a Partial Bibliography of Alaskan Ornitbology, by E. W. Nelson...........--. 19
II. Mammals of Northern Alaska, by E. W. Nelson and F. W. True......-... 022. .20- 0222 cece eee eens 227

Il. Field-notes on Alaskan Fishes, by E. W. Nelson, with additional notes by Tarleton H. Bean.......... 295
IV. Report upon the Diurnal Lepidoptera collected in Alaska by E. W. Nelson, by W. H. Edwards, with

an introduction by: EB. W.. Nelson = ccccovessisses meme sees 4 eenee ewes ceeeeciy soe eis aecie bebaleseecees 323

5
Plate I.
II.

IIL.
IV.
. Fig. 1. Spectacled Eider (Arctonetia fischeri).

VI.
VI.

VIII.
IX.
XI.

XII.

XII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.
XIX.

XX.

XXI.

LIST OF PLATES.

BIRDS.

Kittlita’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus hittlilzis).
Fig. 1. Pacific Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla pollicaris).
2. Rodgers’s Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis).
3. White-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax dilophus cincinatus).
4. Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata).
5. Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata).
Ross’s Gull (Rhodestethia rosea).
Emperor Goose (Philacte canagica).

2. Pacific Eider (Somateria v-nigra).

3. Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus).
4, American Scoter (Oidemia americana).
5. Surf Scoter (Oidemia perspicillata).
Aleutian Sandpiper (Zringa cousci).
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Zringa acuminata).
Pectoral Sandpiper (Tringa maculata).

Bristle-thighed Curlew (Numenius tahitiensis).

. Nelson’s Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris nelsoni).

Alaskan Jay (Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons).
Fig. 1. Red-spotted Blue Throat (Cyanecula suecica).
2. Kennicott’s Willow Warbler (Phyllopseustes borealis),

FISHES.

Alaskan Plaice (Parophrys ischyrus).
Fig. 1. Butter-fish (Murenoides ruberrimus).
2. Burbot (Lota maculosa).
.1. Wolf-fish (Anarrhichas lepturus).
2. Tufted Blenny (Chirolophus polyactocephalus).
Fig. 1. Angled Sturgeon-fish (Brachyopsis dodecaédrus).
2. Northern Sculpin (Cottus axillaris).
Fig. 1. Dusky Sculpin (Cottus niger).

2. Four-spined Sculpin (Cottus quadricornis).
Crested Sculpin (Cottus quadrijilis).
Green-fish (Hexagrammus ordinatus).
Nelson’s White-fish (Coregonus nelsoni).
King Salmon (Oncorynchus chouicha).

Fig

>
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

WASHINGTON, March 11, 1887.

GENERAL: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report upon the Natural History Col-
lections made in Alaska by Mr. E. W. Nelson, during the years 1877 to 1881, intended to form
No. IIL of the Arctic Series of Publications of the Signal Office.

It seems proper to add a brief statement of the manner in which the volume has been pre-
pared and my own connection with it.

Upon his return from Alaska in 1881, Mr. Nelson at once evan work upon the ornithological
portion of the present volume, intending Tater to take up reports upon his collections of Mammals
and Fishes. The ornithological report was well advanced towards completion when failing health,
directly traceable to exposure in the North, compelled an abrupt cessation of labor and an imme-
diate departure of Mr. Nelson for the West, where he has since resided. Meantime the entire
subject of the nomenclature of North American Birds has been revised, and a check list issued
by the American Ornithological Union. In addition a number of reports upon, and partial lists
of, Alaska birds have been issued. It thus seemed very desirable, that Mr. Nelson’s report upon
Alaskan birds, covering, as was intended, the whole territory, should be revised and brought up
to date.

At Mr. Nelson’s request, and in accordance with the wishes of the Chief Signal Officer, the
writer has undertaken to do this, and in addition to supervise editorially the whole volume.
The chapters on Mammals and Fishes have been prepared by Mr. Frederick W. True and Dr. Tarle-
ton H. Bean, both well known authorities upon their respective subjects, Mr. Nelson furnishing
the field-notes in both cases. Mr. W. H. Edwards has added a chapter upon the Diurnal Lepidoptera
collected by Mr. Nelson, an introduction to which is furnished by the latter.

The results of Mr. Nelson’s investigation embodied in the present volume will prove, it is
believed, a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the natural history of Alaska, both on
account of the extent of his collections and the able and faithful manner in which his field obser-
vations were made.

It is greatly to be regretted that Mr. Nelson was unable to complete his reports as he intended,
and to give the manuscript the final finishing touches, for the lack of which no editorial super-
vision, however careful, can fully compensate. Acting in his editorial capacity, the present writer
has not hesitated to amend and change in the ornithological chapter wherever later and fuller
information required, and thus he shares to a considerable extent the responsibility of authorship.
The field observations and the general deductions have been left practically as Mr. Nelson wrote
them.

H. W. HENSHAW.

CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, U. S. ARMY,

Washington, D. C.

8. Mis. 156——2 9
NARRATIVE

On April 25, 1877, the writer embarked, at San Francisco, upon the Alaska Commercial Com-
pany’s steamer St. Paul for Alaska. His instructions from the Chief Signal Officer were to pro-
ceed to Saint Michaels, in Norton Sound, and take charge of the signal station at that point. The
first object of the trip was to secure an unbroken series of meteorologic observations, and, in
addition, to obtain all the information possible concerning the geography, ethnology, and zoology
of the surrounding region.

After a stormy passage of twelve days across the North Pacific, the Aleutian Islands were
reached. The night before arrival a vague glimpse was caught of the islands just as darkness
closed about. All night we moved slowly ahead at reduced speed, and at daybreak every one
was on deck eager for the sight of land.

We were well repaid; ‘the sun arose and revealed the line of islands extending away to the
horizon on either hand in massive grandeur.

Not a breath of air fanned the glassy surface of the sea, which was only broken by the wake
of the steamer and the circling ripples from the breasts of thousands of water-fowl. About the
ship whirred and circled auks, gulls, and fulmars, as we moved through the pass of Akoutan to
Unalaska Harbor. On both sides of the pass the barren, wind-swept, rocky slopes, marked in
places by great patches of snow, came down to the sea in series of cliffs and sharp declivities.
The seaward faces of the islands appeared desolate and gloomy enough, save where great flights
of water-fowl clustered about some jagged point, or a picturesque waterfall formed a line of silvery
spray down the face of a cliff on its-way to the sea.

We were soon steaming by the rocky pillar called the “ Priest,” that guards the entrance of
Unalaska Bay, and, passing a small fleet of .Aleuts in their kyaks, cod-fishing, ran alongside the
wharf at the village of Unalaska early in the morning. This town has been the central depot
for the sea-otter trade and a general supply station ever since the Russians first located in the
Territory. Itisasmall village, consisting of a score or so of native huts and the modern buildings
of the fur company. It is built close to the water, on a sand-spit, at the head of the bay, and
possesses one of the most disagreeable climates in the world. Here I passed a few weeks explor-
ing the neighborhood while awaiting the departure of a vessel for Saint Michaels. During this
time I accepted the opportunity for making a visit to Sanak Island, lying about 100 miles to the
eastward of Unalaska. Thisisland is the center of the most productive sea-otter-hunting-grounds
in the Territory, and here thousands of the beautiful Emperor Geese pass the winter.

My excursion was made in a small schooner manned by a captain and two Aleut sailors. The
hold was filled with Aleut hunters and their kyaks, on their way to the hunting-ground. We
were scarcely clear of Unalaska Island when a violent gale overtook us and we ran for Akoutan
Bay. For nearly half a day we beat back and forth under the storm-lashed cliffs, and were una-
ble to bring the vessel about promptly enough, at the turn, to clear the reefs and gain the desired
shelter.

The small crew was powerless to work the sails, and some of the Aleut passengers were called
on deck to assist. They soon became so terrified by the tempest and the water that was shipped
every few moments that they returned to the hold and refused to work. Fortune favored us at
length, and a squall striking us just at the right moment carried us safely by the headland, so close

il
12 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

that a hat might have been tossed against the cliff, and a few minutes later we were lying under
the shelter of the shore at the head of the bay. When the wind abated a little I went ashore for a
short tramp along the beach. is

I was surprised to hear the sweet notes of the Aleutian Wren rising cheerfully in the face of
the storm. ,

A little later the notes of the Rock Grouse (Lagopus rupestris nelsoni) were heard; so it appears
that in these storm-beaten islands a gale of sufficient power to drive to shelter every feathered
inhabitant of more genial climates does not interrupt the ordinary course of life among the hardy
land birds.

The next morning a fair breeze carried us speedily to our destination.

Sanak Island proved to be a low, wind-swept islet, surrounded by the numerous reefs and out-
lying rocks about which the sea otter passes much of its time. A single fur trader was stationed
here to gather-the skins and to supply the hunters with a few necessary articles. None of
the hunters are permanent residents, but live on other islands, some of them nearly a thousand
miles to the westward, and are brought here in the small trading vessels by the fur companies.
After a half a day passed in rambling over the island I went on board again and we returned to
Unalaska. :

Soon after my return I sailed on another small trading schooner for my final destination, Saint
Michaels. We passed througha belt of dense fog which hung about the seal islands, and but for
the great numbers of far seals that swam playfully about us and the thousands of murres we should
not have been aware of our proximity to this group. Thence on for nearly two weeks we were
at the mercy of a series of vexatious calms. Off the Yukon mouth the sea was very muddy, and
fragments of drift-wood, green pine branches, and blades of grass were plentiful more than 100 miles
from the delta.

While lying from 30 to 40 miles off the mouths of this river we were in from 24 to 4 fathoms
of water, and the sea gradually becomes more shallow toward shore, until a vessel may easily run
aground at low tide and yet not be within sight of land.

While we were becalmed in this shallow water we found that a strong offshore current with
a heavy swell running in made a very disagreeable combination. The swell became extremely
heavy and our little vessel pitched about in a most extraordinary manner, until it seemed that
the masts must be snapped off at the deck. At times walking on deck became an impossibility,
unless one could hold on by a rope or the rail.

At length a breeze arose, and during the pale twilight of the next midnight we forced a pas.
sage through a scattered ice-pack. During all of my later experience in this region I never saw
equaled the gorgeous coloring exhibited on this night by sea and sky. Along the northern hor-
izon, where the sun crept just out of sight, lay a bank of broken clouds tinged fiery red and edged
with golden and purple shades. Floating about us in stately array were the fantastic forms of
the sea ice, exhibiting the most intense shades of green and blue, and the sea, for a time nearly
black, slowly became a sullen green, on which the white caps chased one another in quick succes-
sion. As the sun neared the horizon the rosy flush spread from the clouds to the sky all around
and a purple tint touched the sea and ice into the most gorgeous coloring, which lasted for an hour.
The rush of the waves among the fragments of ice and the grinding of the pieces among them-
selves and along the side of the vessel made a strange monotone that blended harmoniously with
the mysterious brooding twilight and the rare coloring of sea and sky.

In a few hours we were clear of the ice and sailed into Saint Michael’s Bay, where a joyful
salute from some ancient ship cannons, relics of the Russian régime, and dating back to the end
of the last century, expressed the feelings of the handful of white men who had been cut off
from the civilized world for the preceding ten or eleven months.

Saint Michaels, one of the old Russian trading posts, is located about 65 miles north of the
Yukon delta and nearly 200 miles south, by coast, from Bering Straits. It consists at present of
six or eight buildings, forming a rectangle, and serving as the warehouses and other buildings of
the Alaska Commercial Company’s principal depot for the fur trade of the Yukon River district.

From June 17, 1877, the date of my arrival there, until the last of June, 1881, this place was
my headquarters, and here I passed the greater part of my time. The chief object of my stay—
NARRATIVE. 13

to secure an unbroken, meteorologic record, was fully accomplished, and a record of nearly
twelve. thousand observations was brought back. During my residence as the guest of the
Alaska Commercial Company the agents of this company very kindly volunteered to take my
observations during various periods, thus enabling me to make a number of expeditions in differ-
ent directions, by means of dog-sledges in winter and by kyaks in summer.

A few days after my arrival at Saint Michaels the fur traders from the Yukon arrived with
their annual supply of furs from that region. These traders are of various nationalities, and are,
as a rule, very hospitable and obliging in every way, as I had ample opportunity to Jearn.

The stations, or trading posts, on the Yukon extend from Kotlik, in the Yukon delta, to Fort
Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, close to the British boundary, and about 1,500 miles from the sea-
coast. There are eight trading posts in this distance, with one white man at each. The traders
select their stock of goods at Saint Michaels each spring after the arrival of the annual supply
vessel, and having loaded them into barges the latter are towed to their respective stations by a
small steamer. The year is then passed in trading with the natives, and the succeeding spring
they return to Saint Michaels with their boats laden with furs. As each trader brings a crew of
natives from his station, all dressed in holiday finery, and the coast traders bring in their Eskimo
employés, Saint Michaels becomes the center of an extremely picturesque and animated gathering
for a few weeks during the last of June and first of July. After true Indian custom the representa-
tives of each Indian tribe try to outdo their rivals in wrestling or other pastimes, and the period
covered by these visits is a very animated one and full of inter. st even to the casual observer.

The brief holiday season is soon gone, the vessel leaves for San Francisco and the traders for
their stations, and Saint Michaels is left to itself and the permanent residents. These latter,
durilig my stay, consisted, besides myself, of from two to three agents of the fur company and
the Russian workingman, who cared for the dogs and kept us supplied with fire-wood from the
drift along the beach. From time to time the arrival of a party of Eskimos, on a trading expe-
dition, and im winter an occasional fur trader from the stations within a few hundred miles,
afforded the only breaks in the sameness, except such amusements as we contrived to devise our-
selves.

During the first year I explored the district lying immediately about Saint Michaels, and
secured a considerable series of zoologic and ethnologic specimens in addition to the meteorologic
work. The next year my investigations were extended over a wider field, and the Ist of De-
cember, 1878, in company with Charles Petersen, a fur trader, I left Saint Michaels with a sledge
and team of eight Eskimo dogs. We traveled along the coast to the mouth of the Yukon, and up
that stream to Andreovski, Petersen’s Station, and the second trading post from the sea. Thence
we proceeded southwest across the upper end of the Yukon delta, by the eastern base of the
Kuslevak Mountains, and reached the sea-coast just south of Cape Romanzoff at a previously un-
known shallow bay, which I have named in honor of Capt. C. L. Hooper, U.S. R. M. From this
point we proceeded south along the coast, or near it, to Cape Vancouver. Just north of this cape
lies a large shallow bay, previously unknown, which I named in honor of General W. B. Hazen,
Chief Signal Officer. A high mountain capping the short range which extends out on Cape Van-
couver I named Mount Robert Lincoln, and a large inlet back of the island upon which is situated
Cape Vancouver I named in honor of Prof. 8. F. Baird.

Theisland upon which Cape Vancouver and Mount Robert Lincoln are situated hasbeen named
in honor of the discoverer by the Chief of the Geographical Division of the Census Bureau, to
whom these discoveries were first submitted.

A large shallow lake near the head of Baird Inlet I named in honor of Mr. W. H. Dall, of the
Coast Survey, whose extensive investigations in this region are well known.

The second day beyond Cape Vancouver, Petersen, who had accompanied me thus far, said
that the weather was too bad to travel further and turned back. From that point I proceeded,
accompanied by an Eskimo, to the mouth of the Kuskoquim River. After traveling about 90
miles up its course we turned back toward the Yukon, which we struck about 100 miles above
Andreovski. Turning up the river I then continued the journey to Paimut Village, the last Eskimo
settiement on the Yukon. A few miles above this point is the first settlement of pure-blooded
Indians, or Tinné. At Paimut I turned back again and retraced my steps down the river to the
sea-coast and along the coast to Saint Michaels.
14 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

This expedition thus completed a very successful reconnaissance of a region previously un-
known both as regards its geographic and ethnographic features. A very fine series of ethnologic
specimens was secured from the natives over the entire route traversed. Some of their cnrious
winter festivals were witnessed and several vocabularies secured in addition to a tolerably correct
sketch map of the district made from compass bearings taken each day. The winter fauna of the
district was noted as carefully as possible during the expedition, and I reached Saint Michaels
safely after an absence of about two months. The usual discomforts of Arctic winter travel were
greatly heightened during this expedition by the unusually inclement weather.

The country in the region between the mouths of the Yukon and Kuskoquim is principally low
and marshy, and during two weeks of the time spent in traversing it violent storms of snow, rain,
and sleet accompanied by high winds prevailed. During this time my bedding became saturated
with moisture, as did also my clothing, and day after day forced marches were made over a country
covered with slush and water. At night a miserable shelter was improvised from our sledges or
found in the underground huts of the natives. These were reeking with moisture and decaying
filth which the warm weather had thawed out, so that the floor, forming our resting-place, was a
soft mass of decaying filth of all descriptions and varying in depth from an inch or two to six inches.
Each night I gave my gloves and socks with some of my outer garments to various members of the
family present, and these, for asmall present of tobacco, slept in the wet garments and partly dried
them by the heat of their bodies ere morning. These storms finally culminated in a terrific gale
as Lapproached the sea-coast south of Cape Vancouver, and just at sunset, by great good fortune,
I reached a couple of huts built on a knoll about 5 miles from the coast. The best of them
was flooded with water, leaving a space about 3 feet wide of bare ground around the sides, but
in going out and in we were forced to wade through a foot of water all along the entrance passage.
Here my interpreter and myself crouched against the wall in silent misery for two days, while one
of the mast violent tempests I ever witnessed swept over the desolate tundra. This wind was accom-
panied by a dense fog and, after two days, when we continued our journey to the coast, we found
that the gale had caused an extraordinary high tide the previous day, and the rising sea, bearing a
massive sheet of ice, had swept over all the low coast lands to the base of the small knolls where
we had found shelter. Had we been delayed half an hour in reaching these knolls on the night of
our arrival we must inevitably have missed them and been lost in the overwhelming mass of ice
that covered the low land of all this district.

Such floods, covering the region along the Lower Kuskoquim at intervals of three or four years,
usually raze sume of the native villages, and in some cases people and all have been swept
away. The last day of this expedition found me camped at Pastolik Village, at the Yukon mouth,
and 60 miles from Saint Michaels. The incessant exposure of the preceding two months began to
have effect, and I found it impossible to sleep, owing to a feverish condition, which the stifling
atmosphere of the overcrowded room seemed to increase. About midnight I aroused my
interpreter and a guide I had engaged the previous evening, and after making tea we loaded up
and left the village at 1 a.m. We soon struck the sea ice, and at daybreak were over 30 miles
on our way. At 10 a.m. we stopped at Cape Romanzoff for a meal made up of tea and dried
fish with a few scraps that still remained in our bread-bag. Leaving this point we made slow
progress, as the dogs began to show signs of weariness, but by continual urging and some push.
ing on the heavily-laden sledges upon our part we managed to reach Saint Michaels at 9 p. m.,
having made the 60 miles in about twenty hours of continued exertion.

As already noted, the results of this expedition were very valuable, but as a consequence of
the attendant exposure, I suffered from an attack of pneumonia, after my return, the effects of
which troubled me long afterwards. This expedition extended over about 1,200 miles in a nearly
or quite unknown country.

On May 9, 1879, I started from Saint Michaels, with my workman, Alexai (who afterwards per
ished with De Long in the Lena delta), aud a dog-sledge, over the sea ice for the Ynkon delta. This
expedition was for the purpose of learning the habits of the breeding water-fowl in that district,
particularly of the Emperor Goose. After spending a few days at Kotlik, near the northern
border of the delta, I secured a large three-man kyak and hired a native sledge driver to take
us to the middle of the delta. We made camp just above high-water mark on a low island situ-
NARRATIVE. 15

ated about midway on the seaward face of the delta. The driver was then sent back to Kotlik
with the sledge, leaving us in camp with the kyak. Soon after this the ice became unsafe to
venture upon in the network of channels that surrounded us and we were imprisoned upon our
islet. Then followed abou’ two weeks of the greatest misery it was my fortune to endure while
in the north. Day after day the wind blew a gale from the ice-covered sea, and was accompanied
by alternate fog, sleet, and snow. Without a fire, and with no shelter but a small light tent
made of thin drilling and pitched on a bare marsh facing the sea, the Eskimo and myself crouched
in our scanty supply of blankets, benumbed with cold, and unable to better our condition.
Finally, the weather moderated, and the geese, ducks, and other water-fowl flocked to their breed-
ing-ground. In a short time a fine series of skins and eggs of the Emperor Goose and other birds
was secured, and as soon as the ice left the river we hired a native, who chanced along in his kyak,
and, lashing his kyak firmly alongside of ours, we piled upon the deck thus improvised our
boxes of specimens and camp equipage and returned to Kotlik. Leaving the specimens there to
be brought to Saint Michaels by the fur trader, and hiring a second man to paddle, I started up
the coast for Saint Michaels, about 70 miles distant. We had been unable to provide ourselves
with gut-skin shirts to keep out the water, and after passing Cape Romanzoff, on the second day,
the wind began to freshen to a gale. In a short time the sea became covered with white caps,
that developed into huge rollers near shore and forbade our trying to land. We made for the
mouth of the Pikmiktalik River, about 10 miles up the coast, with the hope that we could reach
there before the boat swamped.

The water was icy cold, and as nearly every wave dashed over us and added to the water in
the kyak, we were soon wet to the skin and sitting in water constantly increasing in the bottom
of the boat. All three worked desperately at the paddles, and just as I began to despair of our
reaching the river in time a welcome break in the shore line showed its vicinity. The kyak
was at once headed for this opening, and we were soon among the breakers. As we neared the
mouth the breakers: became heavier, until one huge roller caught the stern of the kyak and lifted
it high in the air, while the bow cut the water in the trough of the swell advancing at terrific speed.
The faithful Alexai dug his paddle into the water and strained every sinew to keep the boat
head-on, but the cowardly fellow in the stern-hole lost his wits and with a cry dropped his paddle.
Alexai ond myself were barely able to prevent the boat broaching-to, and a few seconds later the
roller broke with a roar behind us and we were safe in the smooth water of the river. The boat was
run ashore among a large bed of drift-wood, and upon trying to get out I found that sitting in the
icy water, which had covered my legs and hips for several hours, had deprived my lower limbs of
the power of motion and of sensation. The men dragged me out and built a huge fire, before
which I slowly thawed out and restored my circulation. The following day we reached Saint
Michaels safely. The remainder of the year was occupied in continuing investigations about this
place. :

On February 9, 1880, in company with a fur trader aud two Eskimos, I left Saint Michaels with
two sledges. We proceeded up the coast of Norton Sound, and on the second and third day
traveled in the face of a high wind with a temperature of — 35° Fahr. The cold was very intense
for the next two weeks, and for several days while we remained at the head of Norton Bay the
mercury was frozen. The night of February 13 we stopped in a miserable little hut occupied by
three families of Eskimos. This hut was not over 10 by 12 feet and 5h feet high. Heresixteen people
slept that night, including ourselves. The air was extremely bad, so much so that the candle I
lit to write my journal by went out in a few moments, and matches when lit would flare up and
go out as if dipped in water. Even our pipes would not stay lit, and we were soon in total dark-
ness. I asked the owner of the house to remove the gut-skin cover from one corner of the smoke-
hole in the roof, but he refused, saying it was too cold. When I finally threatened to remove the

_entire cover he complied and we managed to secure a good night’s rest.

Following the coast line we passed around Norton Bay and thence past Goloviva Bay, and
around the coast to Sledge Island, situated just south of Bering Straits. We found the people on
the point of starvation in all this district, and most of the dogs were already dead, while the others
were fast becoming skeletons. We were the first white winter visitors to Sledge Island, and our
arrival created considerable excitement. The lack of dog-feed made us hesitate to stop, but the
16 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

chief man of the village told us that they would try to gather a little food for the dogs and would
give a dance in our honor that night if we would remain. We did so and the dog-food was forth-
coming. The dance proved a very interesting one, performed mainly by the women. Here a fine
series of ethnologic objects was secured, and our return trip began, as we learned from the natives
that there was absolutely no dog-food to be bad farther north. The return trip along the route
followed in going was a very laborious one, owing to the condition of our dogs and the nearly
incessant storms of wind and snow that prevailed, and the heavy loads of furs and ethnologica
we were carrying. We finally reached Saint Michaels April 3, after having worn out three sets
of dogs. Those in harness at the time of our arrival were barely able to crawl along, and left
bloody footprints on the ice at nearly every step. The results of this expedition consisted of a fine
series of ethnologic specimens from all the coast visited and vocabularies of four Eskimo dialects,
besides geographic and other information of much value.

November 16, 1880, in company with a fur trader, Fredricks, I left Saint Michaels, and between
that time and January 19, 1881, we crossed the mountains to the head of the Anvik River, down
which we traveled toits junction with the Yukon. At this point is located the fur-trading station
of Anvik, which is in charge of Fredricks. Bad weather delayed us here some days, but we
finally got away, and traveling up the Yukon we crossed Shageluk Island and explored the coun-
try about the head of the Innoko River, returning thence to Anvik, and down the Yukon back to
Saint Michaels. On the way I stopped and witnessed one of the great Eskimo festivals, in honor
of the dead, at Rasboinsky. As was the case with the other sledge journeys mentioned, the main
object in view was to study the ethnology of the districts visited, but the zoology and geography
of the route were also attended to as closely as the time and means at-my disposal would allow.
The three main sledge expeditions mentioned, with numerous shorter oves, covered over 3,000
miles, and resulted in amassing a great number of specimens and a large fund of information
on various subjects. After the close of this expedition, until the last of June, 1881, I was busily
employed in completing my data and closing up my work at Saint Michaels.

The last of June, 1881, the revenue steamer Corwin called at Saint Michaels on her way north
in search of the missing Jeannette. Through the courtesy of the Secretary of the Treasury, the
commander, Capt. C. L. Hooper, was directed to take me on board as naturalist of the expedition.
During the remainder of the season I was the guest of Captain Hooper and received many favors
at bis hands. We left Saint Michaels and sailed to Saint Lawrence Island, where the captain
had been instructed to land me to investigate the villages there, which had been depopulated
by some disease during the two preceding winters. The surf was too heavy to risk landing at
the desired points on this visit, so we passed on to Plover Bay, on the Siberian coast. Taking
on coal there, from a supply left by a Russian man-of-war, we passed north through Bering Straits,
visiting on the way all of the islands in the straits, and leaving a party on one of the Diomede
Islands to take observations on tides and currents. Thence we coasted the shore of Siberia to
North Cape, taking on board a sledge party which had been left there early in the season. We
then returned to Saint Lawrence Island, where a landing was effected, and a fine series of Eskimo
erania and other valuable specimens secured, after which we returned again to Saint Michaels.
There my collections were transferred to the Alaska Commercial Company’s steamer St. Paul,
tor shipment to San Francisco, and the Corwin once more returned to the Arctic. During the re-
mainder of the season we visited all of the Arctic coast of Alaska from the straits to Point Bar-
row, including Kotzebue Sound. We were the first and only party to scale the cliffs of Herald
Island, and were the first to reach the ice-bound shores of Wrangel Island, so long discussed by
geographers as a probable extension south of an Arctic continent. The severe usage undergone
by our staunch little vessel while in the ice-pack warned us to leave the Arctic before winter closed
inuponus. The middle of September we left the Arctic and, after stopping for some necessary
repairs at Unalaska, sailed for San Francisco. ‘Homeward bound” had a grateful sound to my
ears after my long exile of four and a half years in the north, and the timbered hills of Mendocino,
on the coast of California, were a welcome sight as we neared the coast the last of October.

The material secured during my residence in the north consists of a great number of speci-
mens and a large amount of manuscript notes. In addition to the present volume I have pub-
lished an account of the birds observed during the cruise of the Corwin in a volume of “ Notes
NARRATIVE. 17

and Observations” made during that cruise and issued by the Treasury Department. The geo-
graphical results of the expedition between the Yukon delta and the Kuskoquim have appeared,
with a map, in the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geog-
raphy ” for November, 1882, and are embodied with other information in the “ Report on the Pop-
ulation, Industries, and Resources of Alaska,” prepared by Ivan Petroff for the Census Office.

A report upon the meteorology of Saint Michaels, and vicinity, made to the Chief Signal
Officer, and a series of illustrations and notes contained in the official report of the Corwin’s
cruise by Captain Hooper, have also been published.

The volume devoted to Alaskan ethnology, upon which the author is engaged at present, will
complete the series.

In closing this brief outline of work accomplished I take pleasure in acknowledging my
indebtedness for favors received from the Alaska Commercial Company and particularly from its
officers at Saint Michaels, Messrs. Neumann and M. Lorenz. To their genial companionship
I owe many pleasant hours during the wearying monotony of life in this isolated region; and
without their kindly assistance it would have been impossible for my work to have been carried
on so successfully. The fur traders, one and all, forwarded my work with voluntary assistance,
and my thanks are particularly due to Messrs. L. N. McQuesten, Charles Petersen, Fredricks,
and Williams.

My thanks are also due Prof. 8S. F. Baird for placing the material in the Smithsonian Institu-
tion and National Museum at my disposal and for aid extended in various other ways.

To Messrs. W. H. Dall, Robert Ridgway, and Dr. L. Stejneger I must also express my obligations
for favors conferred since my return from the north. The latter gentleman has conferred valued
assistance in the revision of the bird report. *

Finally, I wish particularly to acknowledge the kind services of my friend, Mr. H. W. Henshaw,
in connection with this report. He has revised the nomenclature of the ornithological portion in
order to bring it into accord with the Check List of the American Ornithologists’ Union, now the
standard in this country, and has had editorial supervision of the entire volume.

E. W. NELSON.

SPRINGERVILLE, ARIZ., March 3, 1886.

8. Mis. 156——3
 

 

de abe Es

BIRDS OF ALASKA,

WITH A

PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALASKAN ORNITHOLOGY.

BY

H.W. NELSON.

 

 

19
BIRDS OF ALASKA, WITH A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALASKAN
ORNITHOLOGY.

INTRODUCTION.

In view of the fact that the author’s personal observations covered a large portion of the
Territory, this report has been extended to include all the species of birds known to occur within
Alaska. In additi: nto the territory personally visited, as detailed inthe accompanying narrative,
T received from one of the fur traders, Mr. L. N. McQuesten, about two hundred bird-skins collected
along the valley of the Yukon, between the mouth of the Tanana River and the point where the
Yukon crosses the British boundary line. By teaching intelligent natives how to prepare bird-
skins, I also secured various specimens from the course of the Yukon below the Tanana and from
the Kotzebue Sound region. The collection gathered by me amounted in all to over two thousand
bird-skins and fifteen hundred eggs. To complete the report I have made free use of the skins
contained in the Smithsonian collections, obtained by other collectors in Alaska, and the literature
on that: region has yielded many notes and facts of interest. The author’s aim has been so far as
possible to embody herein all of importance that is known concerning the birds of Alaska, but for
unavoidable causes he has been compelled to curtail that portion relating to the swimming birds
subsequent to the ducks and geese. To explain a lack of information concerning some species
found, even in the districts best known to me, I may state that zoological work was done in hours
snatched from confining official duties, or when relieved of these for a time by the co-operation of
the fur company’s agents, who frequently attended to my meteorological work for a day or two at
a time in addition to occasional longer periods. An absence on my'part, however, always entailed
extra work upon my return. The month of June is the most favorable time for ornithological
work in the north, but this is the season when our annual mail arrived, and the closing of the
official records for the preceding year made it difficult to gain time for outside work.

Between June 17, 1877, and June, 1881, my time was passed at Saint Michaels or in exploring
the surrounding region. Jor the ornithologist this is a rich field, and the varied attractions of sea
and shore draw a great variety of species. This abundance of birds, however, is a characteristic
feature during summer in high northern latitudes. Nordenskiold has well remarked that it is not
the !orger animal forms, such as the seals, whales, and walrus, that first draw the attention of the
voyagerin Arctic seas, but the innumerable flocks of birds which swarm in the polar latitudes during
the long summer day of the north. Around all of the rocky islands of Bering Sea and Straits
the auks, gulls, and fulmars fill the air and cover the sea in myriads. This was also the case on
Wrangel and Herald Islands, in the Arctic, which are perpetually inclosed by theice-pack. These
islands all reminded me of huge bee-hives, only the bees perpetually swarming about them are in,
the shape of birds. If one stands on the beach under one of the bird cliffs and looks up toward
the sky he soon feels giddy, from gazing at the circling throng.

The work of a naturalist in the north is one of almost continual hardship, yet the succession
of novel experiences lends a peculiar zest to such a life. Many of the most enjoyable days of my
life were passed on expeditions in which it was a constant struggle to obtain the bare necessities

ai,
22 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

of life. One speedily comes to disregard the discomforts of such a life, and the changing episodes
attending each day, together with the strange and often beautiful scenes, are all that linger in his
memory. The mysterious beauty thrown over land and sea by the twilight that covers the earth
during the short time the sun remains below the horizon in midsummer cannot be described, and
at such times the distant note of some restless gull or loon breaks the stillness with an uncanny
effect. When camped on the coast in summer I frequently went out during these twilight nights,
gun in hand, and wandered about in the deep silence, finding the water-fowl at rest in the hidden
pools or on their nests.

The winters are long and severe at Saint Michaels, as they are elsewhere in this region.
Spring opens late, and most of the cranes, snipe, geese, and ducks arrive while the ground is still
mostly covered with snow and the muddy pools are covered with ice. At this time the birds feed
upon the heath-berries, which the frost has preserved since the previous fall.

In 1880 we had cold, wintry weather at Saint Michaels, with scarcely a sign of spring, up to May
18, and only afew stray water-fowl] hadteen seen; on the 18th and 19th, however, the temperature
arose to 39° and 43°, and the loud cries of geese and the rolling notes of Sandhill Cranes were
heard all about as though the birds had sprung from the ground. This was an unusually late
season, since, in 1878, the flight of water-fowl was well under way by May 12, and was nearly over
by the 29th. Indeed, by the latter date, many birds had already deposited eggs. The dates for the
opening of spring on the coast do not correspond with those of the interior, where, along the Upper
Yukon, in 1877, the snow had nearly disappeared by April 20, and ducks and gulls had already
arrived. Although the Alaskan coast climate of Bering Sea is so much colder in spring than the
climate of the interior, it is much milder than the Siberian coast climate of Bering Sea at that
time.

On June 5, 1881, the vegetation about Saint Michaels was well advanced, scarcely a patch
of snow was visitile; the sea was free of ice, and the water along shore recianered 55°, The birds
had already nested and many had young.

Two days later, at Plover Bay, on the Siberian shore, and only a few miles further north than
Saint Michaels, we found the season nearly a month later. The hills about Plover Bay were still
nearly covered with snow banks, the water of the sea stood at 38°, and the inner bays along shore
were still covered with ice. Only the hardiest plants had appeared and the birds were just nesting.

A similar difference in climate on the two shores of Bering Sea holds good throughout the
summer, and is duc, mainly, to the following causes:

Upon the Alaskan coast the sea is very shallow, anil enormous quantities of warm, fresh water
are discharged into the sea by the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers. The warm currents thus pro-
duced rot and carry offshore the winter ice, and consequent!y have a very marked effect on the
coast climate. On the other hand, upon the Siberian coast, a deep, cold sea is in direct communi-
cation with the Arctic basin, along which the heavy Arctic ice gathers each winter. In addi-
tion there are no streams of any size flowing into the sea. These conditions result in a much
more limited flora and a smaller number of birds on the Siberian coast of Bering Sea than is
found on the opposite American shore. The cold Siberian coast compares favorably, however, in
this respect with other Arctic lands. After coasting along all the northern shores of Europe and
Siberia, Nordenskjold writes that he found the birds fewer iu number but with a greater variety of
species on the Chukchi peninsula than npon Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, or Greenland.

We must not lose sight of the fact, in this conection, that these last-named lands are Arctic
islands, frequented by vast numbers of characteristic Arctic water-fowl, whereas the Chukchi
peninsula is a barren portion of a continental mass with only parts of its shores sufficiently rugged
to attract the cliff-loving sea-fowl.

From his winter quarters at Tapkan, on the North Siberian coast, about 100 miles north-
west of Bering Straits, Nordenskjold noted Phyllopseustes borealis, Plectrophenax nivalis, Bury-
norhynchus pygmeus, Tringa couesi (called T. maratima), Crymophilus fulicarius, Chen hyperborea,
Philacte canagica, Clangula hyemalis, Somateria spectabilis, Somateria v-nigra, Eniconetta stelleri,
Larus glaucus, Gavia alba, Rissa tridactyla pollicaris, and Rhodostethia rosea, besides several species
not named. The Snowy Owl, Raven, and a Ptarmigan were the only birds found wintering there,
although the natives told him that the Murre and Black Guillemot winter in the open water off-
shore.
INTRODUCTION. 23

By September 28 (1878) most of the birds had left the vicinity of the Vega’s quarters there or
were seen passing high overhead toward the southern entrance to Bering Straits, on their way
south. From that date to October 19 an endless procession of birds moved by on this course,

but by November 3 even the gulls became rare.

This great flight of birds came from the north-

west, toward the New Siberian, Wrangel, and the group of islands discovered by the Jeannette
party. A number of species of birds are common to both shores of Bering Straits. Species of
circumpolar distribution are, in a number of cases, represented by a dark form on the American
continent and a light one on the Old World side, notably the Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, and
the Rough-legged Hawk.

SIBERIAN, OR OLD WORLD, SPECIES KNOWN TO OCCUR IN ALASKA.

ay
SCOMASMPEHONH

=

bo

4,

. Cyanecula suecica.
. Saxicola enanthe.
. Phyllopseustes borealis.

Parus cinctus obtectus.
Budytes flavus leucostriatus.
Anthus cervinus.

. Pyrrhula cassini.

. Ulula cinerea lapponica.
. Surnia ulula.

. Archibuteo lagopus.

11. Aegialitis mongola.

12. Charadrius dominicus fulrus.
13. Limosa baueri.

14. Tringa acuminata.

15. Hurynorhunchus pygmeus.
16. Tringa ferruginea.

_17. Anas penelope.

18. Oidemia fusca.
19. Larus schistisagus.
20. Fulmarus glacialis glupischa.

SPECIES FROM THE COASTS AND ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC,

Aphriza virgata.

. Heteractitis incanus.

3. Numenius tahitiensis.
4, Puffinus tenuirostris.

SPECIES KNOWN TO OCCUR ONLY IN ALASKA.

. Parus atricapillus turnert.
. Troglodytes alascensis.
. Leucosticte griseonucha. (This bird

occurs also upon the Commander

Islands, but its proper position is

with the birds of this list.)
Plectrophenax hyperboreus.

. Melospiza cinerea.

. Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons.
. Lagopus rupestris nelsoni.

. Lagopus rupestris atkhensis.

. Tringa ptilocnemis.

10. Sterna aleutica.

11. AHstrelata fisheri.

ome ct

SPECIES HAVING THEIR CENTER OF ABUNDANCE WITHIN THE LIMITS OF ALASKA.

[Species having their center of abundance within the limits of Alaska, and upon which, to a great extent, rests
the distinctive characteristics of the avifauna of that region. All of the species in this list are known to occur
outside the limits of the Territory, and none of them have been named in the preceding lists.]

1.
2
3
4
5
6
7.

8.

Leucosticte tephrocotis littoralis,

. Melospiza fasciata rufina.
. Ammodramus sandwichensis.
. Picoides americanus alascensis.

Grus canadensis.

. Branta canadensis minima.

Philacte canagica.
Arctcnetta fischeri.

9. Phalacrocoraxr pelagicus robustus.
10. Rissa brevirostris.
11. Xema sabinii.
12. Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii.
13. Urinator adamsii (provisionally in
this list).
14, Simorhynchus pusillus.
15. Brachyrhamphus marmoratus.
24 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Owing to the great extent of Alaska and the diversity of its topographic and climatic features,
no generalizations of value can be made concerning the Territory as a whole. For this reason
I have subdivided the Territory into its well-marked faunal areas, and have given the salient
features of each under the following subdivisions : :

GENERAL CHARACTER AND EXTENT OF ALASKA, WITH THE FAUNAL SUBDIVISIONS.

A.—GENERAL NOTES.

On most maps this Territory either occupies a small space by itself in one corner or projects
as ab insignificant spur from the main continental mass, so that it is. difficult to appreciate the
great area which it really covers. It extends north and south from Cape Kaigan, latitude 54° 42’,
to Point Barrow, 71° 27’; in longitude from near the 140th to the 187th degree west from Green-
wich, The limit thus assigned includes the westward extent of the Aleutian Islands and the
narrow coast belt forming the southern end of the Territory. The actual land area within the
Territory is estimated to be more than 580,000 geographical square miles. For about 2,000 miles
its southern coast, including the Aleutian Islands, is washed by the warm current of the North
Pacific. North of this nearly all of Bering Sea is inclosed between the Aleutian Islands and the
mainland coast to Bering Straits, forming another stretch of coast of nearly 2,000 miles. North
of the straits extends the Arctic coast, some 700 miles, to the vicinity of the Mackenzie River delta.
The eastern boundary is formed by over one-half of the western side of British America.

This vast area, with its varied seas and great extent of latitude and longitude, also presents
a great variety of topographical and other physical features.

As a natural result of the varied climatic and geographical conditions, several distinct faunal
areas might be expected to occur. That such exist, and are well defined, I propose to demonstrate
below. Commencing at the southern extreme, the districts are discussed in their geographical
sequence,

B.—FAUNAL DISTRICTS.
(1) Sirkanw DISTRICT.

Although the characteristic faunal and floral forms of this district are mainly those common
to the coast regions of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and as such have been grouped
in what is termed the Northwest coast fauna, yet in the present connection I have considered it
more convenient to distinguish it Ly the above term.

From the southern extreme of the Territory the main Rocky Mountain chain extends along,
and parallel to, the coast, with its westward base reaching to the sea.

Thus extending northward along the coast, the mountains curve about Mount Saint Elias as a
center, and thence extend in a westerly course along the peninsula of Aliaska, and beyond their
scattered elevations form the Aleutian Islands. Very rarely is the crest of the mountains 25 miles
from the coast, and it is usually much nearer.

These mountains are very high, with many peaks rising from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, and culmi-
nating with Saint Elias, said to be about 19,000 feet ghee the sea. The western! slope of the
mountains is very abrupt.

From the west comes the warm water of the northern border of the Japanese current, which,
flowing about Kadiak Island, bathes the coast thence east and south. The Sitkan district i is
strictly limited to the coast directly influenced by this current.

Accompanying this warm current of water is a warm, moisture-laden air current, which,
striking the abrupt and rugged slopes bordering the shore, is precipitated in abundant fogs and
rainfall, thus producing a climate of the same character and but a little more severe than that of
the coast district of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Asa consequence the magnifi-
cent coniferous forests, which cover the more southern region named, extend in almost unbroken
array northward to the vicinity of Sitka; thence northward and westward along the coast of this
district the forest continues dense; but some species of trees are missing, while all gradually
INTRODUCTION. 25

diminish in size until they reach their limit on the coast about opposite Kadiak Island. This large
island is included within the present district, and forms its western boundary. Strangely enough,
although the eastern part of Kadiak is heavily wooded, the western part of the island is destitute
of trees. The climate is somewhat drier and the winters colder in the Kadiak portion than else-
where in the district.

The forests are almost wholly coniferous, and the Abies sitkensis, A. mertensiana, A. canadensis,
and Pinus contorta are generally distributed and form the great bulk of the trees. In the region
about Sitka and southward, the yellow cedar, Cupressus nutkatensis, is a striking and handsome
tree of great size, reaching 100 or more feet in height and 5 or 6 feet through at the base.

Taking the climate of Sitka as typical of this district, and bearing in mind that it becomes
milder to the south and drier and colder to the north and west, we have, as the results of nearly
fifty years’ observations by the Russians, the following data: The maximum temperature during
this period was + 87°, with a minimum of —4°, the mean annual temperature being 43°.28. The
mean annual rainfall during this period was over £0 inches, with the record for one year reaching
103 inches. The mean annual number of days on which rain and snow fell was 198, and it varies
from 190 to 285, according to Mr. W. H. Dall.

To show the seasonal distribution of these factors I subjoin a table giving means for observa-
tions taken at Sitka during fourteen years between 1849 and 1862, inclusive:

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

|
Thermom- . Rainfall,
eter. Rainy days. inches.
{ | 1
S
SPP Binine ne seetics dace Seenm ase mesh viele atewslvemieccmisaleimacisenters 41.3 55 | _ 13.995
Summer..... ewe 54.3 66 | 15.408
‘Autumn .... 44.3 2D | 30, 814
Winter ..... 31.9 57 22. 931
Whole year 42.8 245 83. 33

 

Norz.—All of the temperatures in this report are according to Fahrenheit.

The enormous precipitation upon the seaward face of the mountains along this coast has pro-
duced a large series of some of the finest glaciers'in the world, which extend to the sea in many
of the bays. The effect of this damp climate and heavily-wooded region upon the animal life
found there is so well known, as illustrated on the coast of Washington and Oregon, that it scarcely
needs mention here. All of the colors of the birds and mammals resident here are intensified and
are darker than those shown by the same or allied species resident elsewhere. Pale browns be-
come rich rufous, or rusty-red, and grays become dark brown, with corresponding changes in other
colors. The red on Pinicola enucleator and Acanthis linaria, in resident examples, is more intense ;
enough so to nearly produce recognizable races.

It is a well-known fact to fur traders that the furs of animals killed in this district are much
darker or more intensely colored than elsewhere in the Territory. This holds good with both cin-
namon and black bears, besides other species.

Sciurus hudsonius douglassi is the most familiar and striking example of this intensity of col-
oration. Spermophilus empetra kodiacensis, described from Kadiak specimens and not known from
other parts of the Territory, has the top of the head and middle of the back a much darker shade
of brown thanis exhibited by typical empetra, which occupies most of the surrounding region.
Curiously enough, kodiacensis exhibits, at the same time, a much paler or grayer color on the
sides and below than is shown by empetra.

Among the birds of this. district the effects of climatic influence are even more marked than
among the mammals. In the following list are named the species showing this most plainly:
Turdus aonalaschke, T. ustulatus, Parus rufescens, Troglodytes hiemalis pacificus, Leucosticte
tephrocotis littoralis, Melospiza fasciata rujina, Passerella iliaca unalaschensis, Cyanocitta stelleri,
Megascops asio kennicottii, Bubo virginianus saturatus, Accipiter atricapillus striatulus, Den-
dragapus obscurus fuliginosus, Bonasa umbellus sabini, with Acanthis linaria and Pinicola enucleator,
in which the intensification of color is apparent but not sufficient to warrant separation from the
typical form. In addition to the foregoing species the following birds are only found in the Sitkan

S. Mis. 156——4
26 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA

district, in Alaska, viz: Corvus caurinus, Trochilus rufus, Empidonax diffcilis, and Buteo borealis
calurus. The southern half of this district is occupied by the Thlinket Indians, who are gradually
replaced by Eskimo in the western part of the district as the climatic and other conditions of life
become more severe.

(2) ALEUTIAN DISTRICT.

Commencing at the Shumagin Islands and the western and southern coast of Aliaska Penin
sula, this district includes all of the great Aleutian chain of islands extending about 900 miles
or more to the westward with the Pribylov, or Fur Seal group, included. These islands extend in
along curve, and divide the waters of the North Pacific from those of Bering Sea. Between the
islands a swift tidal current runs back and forth, forming tide-rips about the reefs and islets. The
Shumagins and the coast of the peninsula are low, but the general character of the islands is mount-
ainous. The islands are not large as a rule, and the largest two of the group, Unimak and
Unalaska, are only about 60 by 30 miles in their greatest extent. The shore line of the islands is
much cut up by bays and projecting reefs, and on most of them the mountains begin to rise abruptly
from the shore. The flanks of the hills are rolling, and an occasional valley or comparatively level
plateau is found. The islands are of volcanic origin, and a number of volcanoes are still slightly
active. The highest peaks in these islands are from four to eight thousand feet high.

The islands are entirely destitute of trees, and the only bushes are dwarf willows and a few
others, which rarely reach 5 feet in height. The mild damp climate causes a luxuriant growth of
grasses, flowering plants, and three or four species of ferns in dry situations along the lower valleys
and sheltered places within two or three hundred feet of the sea level. Above this sphagnum
mosses and other northern plants begin to predominate, and gradually become more scanty, until,
according to Chamisso, the limit of vegetation is reached—2,450 feet above the sea. The snow
line is about 3,500 feet above the sea. The climate is mild as compared with other regions in the
* game latitude, but the almost continuous cloudy or stormy weather and the extremely common
occurrence of fierce gales, often accompanied by rain or snow, render the climate one of the most
disagreeable in the world. Observations taken by the Russians at Unalaska Island for the five
years ending in 1834 give an average annual temperature of 379.8. The minimum temperature
observed during that period was 0°, and 77° the maximum, or a total range of 77°. In 1828 the
mean temperatures of the seasons were, spring, 36°.6; summer, 51°.5; autumn, 38°.7; winter,
36°.27. This mild temperature is due to the warm waters of the North Pacific, which inclose the
islands at all seasons. Ice never forms except on the inner bays, and even at the Pribylov group
sea ice rarely forms; in winter these islands form the southern limit of the ice-pack of Bering Sea,
which never comes within sight of the Aleutian chain proper. Upon the Pribylov Island, St.
Paul, —12° has been recorded, being the lowest temperature known to the writer as having
been observed within the limits of this district.

The perpetual cloudy weather on the islands of this district can be best appreciated by refer-
ence to the following table, the result of seven years’ observations at Unalaska.

The rainfall in this district has been placed at between 27 and 40 inches, but the high winds
prevent a satisfactory determination:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1
\ Days all | Days half | Days all; Days all | Days half | Days all
| Month clear. clear. cloudy. Month. lar Pleat. ance.
11 111 95 POLY ssczcssieee wee se serene cl 0 118 99
9 86 103 Angust.... z 5 106 106
3 112 102 September. 2 107 161
4 104 102 October.... 2 115 100
2 105 104 November ....... ius 3 88 119
6 95 109 December ......-..-....4. 6 116 95

 

 

 

The above table gives a total, in seven years, of 53 clear days, 1,263 partly clear days, and
1,235 totally cloudy days. Snow falls in all but one or two months in the year, but never remains
long on the ground within 100 feet of the sea level.

During May and in October, 1881, while the Corwin lay in Unalaska Harbor, about fifty
species of flowering plants were observed, mainly distributed among the following genera: Empe-
INTRODUCTION. 27

trum, Vaccinium, Bryanthus, Pyrola, Arctostaphylos, Ledum, Cassiope, Lupinus, Geranium, Epilobium,
Silene, Draba, Saxifraga. Masses of Empetrum nigrum, a Bryanthus, and three species of Vaccinium
tinge parts of the slopes with their colors.

The list of mammals peculiar to or having their center of abundance in this district is a short
one, but all are notable species. The Sea Otter (Hnhydra marina) and the Fur Seal (Callorhinus
ursinus) are the two most valuable fur-bearing animals in America. The latter, with the Sea Lion
(Humetopias stelleri), are eminently characteristic of this district, where their breeding grounds are
situated. The birds more or less characteristic of this district are not very numerous, as the bleak
and rugged islands, swept by frequent gales and washed by two tempestuous seas, offer few
attractions for land birds.

Widely separated from the mainland and surrounded by peculiar climatic conditions we would
look for certain modifications of form among the resident land birds. This is the case in every
instance, and Troglodytes alascensis, Leucosticte griseonucha, Melospiza cinerea, Lagopus rupestris
nelsoni, and Lagopus rupestris atkhensis are all resident and peculiar forms, with Tringa ptilocnemis
and Ammodramus sandwichensis, similarly modified and breeding there, but which are known to
winter to the southward.

The sea-fowl surrounding these islands, and having their summer, and sometimes winter, head-
quarters within the limits of this district, are Rissa brevirostris, Larus schistisagus, Brachyrhamphus
kittliteit, B. marmoratus, Simorhynchus pygmeus, Synthliborhamphus antiquus, S. wumizusume,
Diomedea albatrus, Oceanodroma furcata, Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii, F. glacialis glupischa.

All of these water birds are known to extend their breeding range beyond the limits of this
district, and Larus schistisagus, with Fulmarus glacialis glupischa, probably have their center of
abundance on the Asiatic coast, but are common in Alaska only in this district.

In examining the land birds of this district, including Arquatella ptilocnemis, the most notice-
able peculiarity of the insular varieties appears to be a more robust and stouter form as compared
with their mainland congeners. There is also a difference in coloration, which is usually darker on
the island forms, excepting the races of the Sitkan district. This darkening of the colors of birds
on the Aleutian Islands is toward gray shades, in distinction from the rufous exhibited in the
Sitkan district. The Aleutian land birds exhibit an increase in the length of the bill without a
proportionate thickening of the same. The cause of the more robust physique of the land birds
of this district as compared with their mainland relatives appears in the constant struggle for
existence they must maintain in a most inclement climate and against the high winds that prevail.
As to some extent illustrative of the conditions that attend bird life here I may cite the first view
I had of Troglodytes alascensis. It was on Akoutan Island, and so fierce a gale was blowing that I
had difficulty at times in keeping my feet; yet on the crest of a steep cliff-like slope, in the very
teeth of the gale, one of these birds clung securely to a small dwarf willow and sang lustily at
short intervals, unmindful of the fierce wind and wintry landscape about him. One of the weaker
mainland relatives of this bird, in such a wind, must inevitably have been dashed from his perch
and driven far out to sea to perish miserably, as do so many land birds each year.

The aborigines of this district are as characteristic as any of the faunal divisions. The natives
are the Aleut branch of the Eskimos and are the most widely differentiated of any branch of that
great family.

(3) ALASKAN ARCTIC DISTRICT.

This district covers the treeless coast belt, varying in width from 3 or 4 to 100 miles (except
where the trees reach the coast at the head of Norton Sound), which extends from the peninsula
of, Aliaska through Bering Straits and around the Arctic shore to the mouth of the Mackenzie River,
including the islands of Bering Sea and straits north of the Fur Seal group. To set forth the
characteristics of this district more clearly, I have grouped the birds under two heads; first, those
having their center of abundance and their breeding ground here; and second, those species
which are found as stragglers from other regions but occur nowhere else iu Alaska, or but rarely
outside these limits. The islands of this district are low and rocky, except those in Bering Straits,
which are small and rise precipitously from the sea; they are all barren and forbidding in appeatr-
28 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

ance, and their climate is much more severe than on the neighboring mainland. In winter they
are surrounded by the pack ice, and the summers are short and cold. Their general characteris-
tics, climate, and bird fauna really belong rather with the adjacent Siberian shore than the Amer-
ican.

The belt bordering the Alaskan coast of Bering Sea belonging to this district is mainly low, and
much of it consists of broad marshy tracts but little above sea level. At intervals rise low mount-
ainous masses a few hundred feet high, producing bald headlands when they occur on the
coast. Near Bering Straits the coast becomes more uniformly hilly. The country between the
mouths of the Yukon and Kuskosquim Rivers is the breeding resort of great numbers of water-
fowl.

All of this district bordering on Bering Sea is barren of trees, but along the courses of the
rivers and in sheltered spots on southern slopes of bills a more or less abundant growth of willows
and alders is found, which reach 8 or 10 feet in height in the Yukon delta. Bushes are also
large and plentiful about the head of Kotzebue Sound, but are more and more dwarfed and scat-
tering north of this point.

The coast country south of Bering Straits is mainly rolling and covered with a mat of vege-
tation consisting of a bed of sphagnum mosses, interspersed and overgrown with various grasses
and flowering plants. The low country near the Yukon mouth is cut up by tide creeks, lagoons,
ponds, and small water-courses.

The bottom of the sea all along this part of the coast slopes very gradually from the shore,
and is constantly being brought nearer the surface by the vast deposit of mud brought down
each year by the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers. In consequence of the shallow sea and the enor-
mous amount of warm fresh water poured from the rivers during the summer, the climate of the
Bering Sea coast and Kotzebue Sound portions of this district is rendered much milder at this season
than it would be otherwise. The shallow water, its warmth, and the amount of sedimentary mat-
ter contained in it, render these portions of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean unfitted for the
swarms of small marine crustacea and other animals which fill the water of the clear, cold, and
deep parts of the Arctic basins. This reacts upon the animal life, and various auks, fulmars, and
whales that abound in the deep cold water of the Siberian coast of Bering Sea, and thence north
in the Arctic Ocean, are rarely seen on the American coast of Bering Sea or Kotzebue Sound.
The portion of this district lying north of Bering Straits, excepting the country about the head of
Kotzebue Sound, is essentially Arctic in all of its features.

South of Bering Straits the coast country is more sub-Arctic in its general character, but to
the north the results of a rigorous Arctic climate appear in both plant and animal life. The surface
of the country in this part of the district is low and broken over much of its extent by rounded
hills rising into low mountains in parts. The immediate coast line is low and barren, broken in
places by bluffs and rocky promontories, the shingly beaches are backed in many places by lagoons,
the rolling tundra extending inland and covered with a layer of,moss and other Arctic vegetation.
From 50 to 100 miles inland, low, straggling belts of spruces commence to appear along the water-
courses.

South of Cape Lisburne the summer climate is mild and rather pleasant, but north of this
raw, cold storms of rain, sleet, or fog are common. Along the coast of Bering Sea and Kotzebue
Sound the sea is free of ice from June until October, but north of this it is subject to being covered
at any time with drifting pack-ice, or it is open according to the force and direction of the pre-
vailing wind. In winter, however, open water is rarely found along shore.

This entire district is underlaid by a layer of permanently frozen soil commencing near the
surface and becoming deeper the higher the latitude. At Saint Michaels a shaft 30 feet deep
failed to penetrate below this frozen soil. Over much of this district, except along the most ex-
posed parts of the northern coast, a plentiful Arctic vegetation is found, and about the coast of
Norton and Kotzebue Sounds grasses grow rankly—waist-high in places. Of course various mosses
and other cryptogamic plants common to Arctic latitudes are found in abundance everywhere.

Saint Michaels, on the shore of Norton Sound, has a climate typical of this district, and below
[ give theresults of four years’ observations taken by myself at that point. During the seven years
INTRODUCTION. 2)

preceding June, 1881, the temperature ranged from + 76° to — 55°, a total of 131°, with an annual
average range for the four years preceding June, 1881, of 116°.2. For this latter period the
average monthly temperatures were as follows:

Average monthly temperatures for the four years preceding June, 1881, at Saint Michaels.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Tempera- [ Tempera-
Month. ture. Month. ture:
1
° | °°
ee —5 ' July 53.1
February ..........-.- —65 || 52.1
March . aisiatausinisiessha 9.5 43.3
April 22.1 28.0
May. 32.8 18.3
DUNGsscesereeeves--ose 45.2 | 8.9

 

 

The mean annual temperature is 259.5. There are but two seasons in this district, a long
cold winter, during which the sea is frozen over completely for many miles from shore, and a
short summer.

As soon as the warm days begin in May the hardier plants begin to spring up, and a week of
warm weather the first of June shades the hill-sides with green in sunny spots. A little later and
the hills are covered with flowers.

The general arrival of birds is from May 15 to 25 in ordinary seasons. The land birds begin
to move south by the end of July. The first geese arrive at Saint Michaels the last of April
and the Barn Swallow about May 20. The last of September only a few water-fowl remain and
by the middle of October the sea is freezing over. From the first to the middle of June each year
the sea ice breaks up and is blown offshore. Snow lies on:the ground from the first of October
until the middle or lastof May. The average annual rainfall is 18.36 inches. The following table
shows the character of the weather for the four years already mentioned:

 

 

  
  

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Days Days | Days Days

Months. totally | partly aus { Months. totally artly uaye
cloudy. | cloudy. HH cloudy. | cloudy. %

1

'
DADNALY? wai: ivisicars dasssiemancieicn 11.5 13.2 6.2: ||) AMBUSH: seiicciccecisiaeawen cic 21.0 8.0 2.0
UWTWALY sce caccne sce se ccieu 6.7 9.0 | 12.5 || September xecanyacnnscocenner~s 20.0 8.0 2.0
March ... ae 9.2 13.5 8.0 October.... mth 19.2 11.2 5
April ..-. 18.2 8.0 3.7 November, sc.sc.seser0 se cteees 13.7 13.0 3.2
Bocas 17.5 11.5 2.0 December.......--..--------2-- 9.7 13.7 1.5

PUNO isis, agavosiein tibia iar regatainiers-cictorais's 16.0 12.2 1.71 —_-——

DULY, inverse exaciste-seemveaeruleie eid 19.5 10.2 1.2 Potalocacusdemexs: miata ew'aw ere 182. 2 | 131.6 55.5

 

From the northern portion of this district the only meteorological record we have is that of
the Point Barrow Expedition.

As these observations were taken at the extreme northern portion of the district, I append a
brief summary of them for the purpose of comparing the climatic conditions there with those
of the southern portion of the same district. Although considerably farther ‘north than Saint
Michaels, and on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, yet there is comparatively little difference.
Summer opens at about the same time at both points. The first bird arrivals occur at both local-
ities in April, and by the end of May the migration is about over and birds have begun to nest.

The range of the thermometer during twenty-two months at Point Barrow was from 65°.5 to
—52°,6 ora total of 1189+. For 1882 the average monthly temperatures were as follows: January,
— 15°.49; February, — 23°.6; March, —4°.55; April, —4°.36; May, 219.99; June, 349.52; July,
432.21; August, 379.86; September, 319.46; October, 8°.77; November, —7°.12; December,
—17°.10, with an average of 489.83 for the year. .

The rainfall and melted snow amounted to 8.01 inches during this same year.
30

NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

LIST OF THE MOST PROMINENT SPRCIES OF PLANTS IN BLOSSOM UR WELL ADVANCED IN THE VICINITY OF SAINT
MICHAELS IN JUNE, Lobl.

Linnea borealis.
Cassiopea tetragona.
Andromeda polifolia.
Loiseleuria procumbens.
Vaccinium vitis-idea.
Arctostaphylos alpina.
Ledum palustre.
Nardosmia frigida.
Saussurea alpina.
Senecio Jrigidus.
Senecio palustris.
Arnica angustifolia,
Artemisia arctica.
Matricaria inodora.
Rubus chameemorus.
Rubus arcticus.
Potcntilla nivea.

Dryas octopetala.
Draba alpina.

Draba incana.
Eutrema arenicola.
Pedicularis sudetica.
Pedicularis euphrasioides.
Pedicularis langsdorffi lanata.
Diapensia lapponica.
Polemoium ceruleum.
Primula borealis.

 

Oxytropis podocarpa.
Astragalus alpinus.
Astragalus frigidus littoralis.
Lathyrus maritimus.
Arenaria lateriflora.
Stellaria longipes.
Silene acaulis.
Saxifraga nivalis.
Saaxifraga hieracifolia.
Anemone narcissiflora.
Anemone parviflora.
Caltha palustris asarifolia, .
Valeriana capitata.
Lloydia serotina.
Tofieldia coccinea.
Armeria vulgaris.
Corydalis pauciflora.
Pinguicula villosa.
Mertensia paniculata.
Polygonum alpinum.
Epilobium latifolium.
Betula nana.
Alnus viridis.
Eriophorum capitatum.
Carex vulgaris alpina.
Aspidium frayrans.
Woodsia ilvensis.

Besides several small species of Salix, Iris sibirica, and others.
At the same season the following additional species were foucd on the shores of Golovina

Bay:
Spirea betulefolia.
Trientalis europea arctica.
Chrysanthemum areticum.
Artemisia vulgaris tilesit.
Arenaria peploides.

Gentiana glauca.
Elymus arenarius.

Poa trivialis.

Carex vesicaria alpina.
Aspidium spinulosum.

We landed from the Corwin at Cape Thompson, midway between Bering Straits and Point
Barrow, on July 19, 1881, and found near the shore there a series of warm, sheltered little valleys

and slopes.

These were well drained and covered with a profusion of flowers.

Within a mile of

our landing-place we secured the following species:

Phlox sibirica.

Polemonium humile.
Polemonium ceruleum.
Myosotis sylvatica alpestris.
Eritrichium nanum arctioides.
Dodecatheon meadia frigidum.,
Androsace chameejasme.
Anemone narcissiflora.
Anemone multifida.

Anemone parviflora.

Ranunculus affinis.
Caltha asarifolia.
Geum glaciale.

Dryas octopetala.
Polygonum bistorta.
Rumex crispus.
Boykinia richardsonit.
Saxifraga tricuspidata.
Saxifraga cernua.
Saxifraga flagellaris.
INTRODUCTION. 31

Saxifraga divarica.
Saxifraga punctata,
Saxifraga nivalis.
Nardosmia frigida.
Erigeron muirit.
Taraxacum palustre.
Senecio frigidus.

Artemisia tomentosa and glomerata.

Potentilla biflora.

Potentilla nivea.

Draba stellata nivalis.

Draba incana.

Oardamine pratensis.

Cheiranthus pygmeus.

Parrya nudicaulis aspera.
Hedysarum boreale.

Oxytropis podocarpa.

Cerastium alpinum behringianum.

 

Silene acaulis.

Arenaria verna rubella.

Arenaria arctica.

Stellaria longipes.

Pedicularis capitata.

Papaver nudicaule.

Epilobium latifolium.

Cassiope tetragona.

Vaccinium uliginosum mucronatum.

Vaccinium vitis-idea.

Salix polaris and two other undetermined wil-
lows.

Festuca sativa,

Glyceria sp.

Trisetum subspicatum molle.

Carex variflora.

Carex vulgaris alpina.

Cystoperis fragilis.

 

About 100 miles further north on the coast, east of Cape Lisburne, although we had more time
on shore, we found the flora much poorer than at Cape Thompson, and only secured the following

species :

Lychnis apetala.
Androsace chamejasme.
Geum glaciale.

Potentilla nivea.
Potentilla biflora.

Phlox sibirica.

Primula borealis.
Anemone narcissifiora var.

Oxytropis campestris.
Erigeron uniflorus.
Artemisia glomerata.
Saxifraga eschscholtzit.
Saxifraga flagellaris.
Chrysosplenium alternifolium.
Draba hirta.

It should be stated that the plants taken during the cruise of the Corwin were identified by
Prof. Asa Gray, so that the species named are well authenticated.

LIST OF BIRDS CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS DISTRICT.

Budytes flava leucostriatus.
Plectrophenax hyperborcus.
Nyctea nyctea.

Grus canadensis.

Limosa uropygialis.
Tryngites rufescens.
Philacte canagica.

Branta canadensis minima.
Branta canadensis hutchinsti.
Branta nigricans.
Arctonetta fischeri.
Arctonetta stelleri.

 

Somateria spectabilis.
Somateria v-nigra.
Larus glaucus.

Larus nelsoni.

Larus brachyrhynchus.
Gavia alba.

Xema sabinit.
Rhodostethia rosea.
Sterna aleutica,
Stercorarius parasiticus,
Stercorarius longicaudus.
Urinator adamsii.

These species are all more numerous within the limits of this district than elsewhere in the Ter-

ritory, and with very few exceptions their breeding ground and center of abundance is found
somewhere within its limits.

In addition to the species of birds already named as characteristic of this area, a number of
other species occur there during the latter part of summer, but are not known to breed within its
limits.
a2 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Since these species are unknown, or are much rarer elsewhere in the Territory, they become
characteristic of this district. They are as follows:

Cyanecula suecica. Tringa acuminata.
Phyllopseustes borealis. Aigialitis mongola.
Charadrius dominicus fulvus. Eurynorhynchus pygmeus.

Tringa couesi.

The characteristic mammals of this faunal area are—

Ursus maritimus. Rangifer tarandus greenlandicus.
Vulpes lagopus. Odobenus obesus.

Myodes obensis. Histriophoca fasciata.

Cuniculus torquatus. Monodon monoceros.

The people of this district are typical Eskimo, much more closely related to the Greenland-
ers than to their Aleutian neighbors, although belonging to the same family.

(4) ALASKAN-CANADIAN DISTRICT.

This district is coincident with the distribution of timber on the Alaskan mainland north of
the mountains bordering the south coast (the Alaskan Range).

Its southern point is near the head of Bristol Bay, in about latitude 58°, and its northern limit
in about 69°, where the tree limit is reached.

Upon the south, as already noted, lie the Alaskan Mountains; the entire western and north-
ern boundary is the inland border of the treeless belt of tundra which skirts the coast. In two
places this district approaches the coast, first, at the head of Norton Sound, and next, at the head
of Kotzebue Sound. The treeless coast belt gradually increases in width to the north until it
becomes, in places, 100 miles wide.

On the east this district merges into other faunal areas in British America. In its southern
half the country is mountainous, but the mountains become fewer and lower to the north, until
the low, rolling plain bordering the coast is reached. The district lies almost wholly within the
drainage basin of the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, except its northern portion, which is drained
into Kotzebue Sound and the Arctic by several small rivers. The greater portion of this region
is covered with trees, but numerous tracts of open tundra and marshy plains like those near the
sea-coast are found throughout its extent, and under much of it is a substratum of permanently
frozen earth. This latter is less widespread and deep than it is on the coast. The White Spruce
(Abies alba) is the most abundant tree, becoming dwarfed near the coast and at a few hundred feet
elevation, but along the course of the Yukon it sometimes attains a height of 100 feet and measures
3 feet at the butt. It is ordinarily about one-half this size or less.

The birch (Betula glandulosa) reaches from 30 to 50 feet in height, and is sometimes 2 feet in
diameter, but is usually very much smaller.

The poplars (Populus balsimifera and P. tremeloides) are abundant in lower parts of the river
valleys, and the former species is particularly common on the sandy islands in the rivers. Several
species of alders, including Alnus viridis, A. ineana, and A.rubra, attain the size of trees; another
birch (Betula nana) and several large willows (some of these growing 50 or 60 feet high), with the
alders, are very plentiful along the streams. A small larch (Zaria —— sp.?) is found scattered over
some of the partly-wooded uplands. From the accounts of the fur traders I am inclined to believe
that other species of trees are found, but I cannot name them. All over this district a luxuriant
growth of grasses and flowering plants covers the soil. In the bogs and other suitable places on the
open barrens occur large areas of sphagnum mosses and an accompanying Arctic vegetation. We
have few records of the climate from within this district, but all agree in crediting it with a dry
and hot summer, much pleasant weather, and not uncommon thunder-showers at that season. The
winters, on t.e other hand, are very severe. From 6 to 10 feet of snow falls, and the temperature
frequently ranges to the vicinity of —609.
INTRODUCTION. 39

Four fur traders living at Fort Yukon in 1875 or 1876 told me that the weather was intensely
cold there for two months, and that for six weeks a small bottle of mercury hanging on a project-
ing log at the corner of the cabin was frozen solid most of the time. Mr. W. H. Dall once saw
the thermometer standing at +112° at Fort Yukon in sunimer. I’rom this same explorer I quote
the following average temperatures for Nulato and Fort Yukon. Both these stations are in the
midst of this district, and Fort Yukon lies under the Arctic Circle:

 

| |
Mean temperatures. | Nulato. | Fort Yukon.

 

  

 

°o oO
Spring secesescecsce: 429.3 | +14.22
Summer ..........-.- +60. 0? 59 67
Autumn.........--- +36. 0? 17. 37
Wiuter .........--.. —14.0 —23. 80

 

In a brief meteorological record kept for me in 1880-’81 at Fort Reliance (the point where the
Yukon crosses the British boundary line), by Mr. L. N. McQuesten, I find the lowest winter tem-
peratures were —65° and —67° on the 19th and 20th of November, 1880, but the thermometer
recorded —50° and lower several times afterwards during that season, with long periods of minus
temperatures. On May 16, 1881, the temperature arose to +58° and the ice in the Yukon broke
up and began to move down. :

Among other plants recorded from the Yukon by Dall are mentioned red and black currants,
gooseberries, cranberries, raspberries, thimbleberries, salmon-berries, killikinik-berries, blueberries,
bearberries, twinberries, dewberries, service-berries, mossberries, and the fruit of Rosa cinnamomea;
certainly an abundance of small fruits.

The species of birds and mammals found in this district, and distinguishing it from the other
faunal areas of Alaska, are numerous.

The mammals having their Alaskan center of abundance here and occurring rarely or very
much less numerously elsewhere in Alaska are—

Lynx canadensis. Arctomys pruinosus.

Canis occidentalis (the black variety). Castor canadensis.

Vulpes fulvuus argentatus (Black Fox). Synaptomys cooper.

Mustela americana. Hrethizon dorsatus epixanthus.

Gulo luscus. 5 Lepus americanus americanus.

Lutra canadensis. Lagomys princeps.

Ursus horribilis. Alces americana.

Ursus richardsont. Rangifer tarandus (a large dark variety).
Ursus americanus. Ovis montana dalli.

Sciurus hudsonius.

Among birds, the following species appear to have their center of abundance in this district:

Parus cinctus obtectus. Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons.
Parus atricapillus turneri. .Picoides americanus alascensis.
Parus hudsonicus.

‘

The birds common in other parts of the north, but not found in the other districts of Alaska:

 

Turdus alicie. Loxia curvirostra minor.
Merula migratoria. Loxia leucoptera.
Cinclus mexicana. Zonotrichia intermedia.
Helminthophaga celata. Junco hyemalis.
Dendroica coronata. Passerella iliaca.
Dendroica striata. Pica pica hudsonica.
Seiurus noveboracensis. Perisoreus canadensis.
Ampelis garrulus. Sayornis saya.

Clivicola riparia. : Contopus borealis.

S. Mis. 156——5
34 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

 

Dryobates villosus leucomelas. Bonasa umbellus umbelloides.
Dryobates pubescens. Pediocetes phasianellus.
Colaptes auratus. Totanus melanoleucus.
Ceryle aleyon. Totanus flavipes.

Ulula cinerea. Totanus solitarius.
Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni. Bartramia longicauda.
Bubo virginianus subareticus. Fulica americana,
Surnia ulula caparoch. Olor buccinator.

Falco columbarius. Bernicla canadensis.
Falco islandus. Larus philadelphia.
Dendragapus canadensis.

In addition to these characteristic species are a number of intrusive forms not sufficiently
characteristic of this area to be classed other than as casuals. These are—

Hesperocichla nevia. Junco hyemalis oregonus.
Pyrrhula cassini. Bubo virginianus saturatus.
Zonotrichia coronata.

No doubt there are a number of others along the southern border.

The Rocky Mountain Goat (Aplocerus montanus) is numerous in the Alaskan Range near its
southern border, but as its habitat lies between two of the fanual areas it cannot be classed justly
with either. In this district, as will be noted, occurs a curious blending of the faunas of the
Canadian and Hudson Bay districts with those of the west coast and the extreme north. In out-
lining the faunal areas here I have laid particular stress on the mammals and birds, but I may
mention the fact that each district, as outlined, has certain essentially characteristic species of
fishes; some butterflies also occur only in certain areas. In the coast districts, no doubt, other
peculiar species of the lower forms of animal life will be found limited to or characteristic of the
faunal areas as I have defined them.
BIRDS OF ALASKA.

‘

COLYMBUS HOLBGLLII (Reinh.). Holbcell’s Grebe (Esk. H-té-td-titk).

This species was not uncommon along the coast of Norton Sound in the fall, and a few isolated
pairs nested each summer in the marshes. Along the course of the Yukon they are much
more common, and breed in considerable numbers. They were taken also at Sitka by Bischoff,
and they breed north to Kotzebue Sound at least. Selawik Lake, at the head of the sound just
named, is the point of greatest abundanee there. It is a rare straggler to the Commander Islands.
In the vicinity of Saint Michaels they occur in fall from the end of August to the middle of Octo-
ber. In spring the species was first seen in June. Eggs from the Yukon measure from 2.10 to
2.35 in length by 1.25 to 1.45 in breadth, with the usual elongated form. The colors of bill and
feet vary somewhat. Specimens taken the middle of October had the upper mandible greenish-
black, the lower greenish-yellow; the legs and feet black on the outer side, and dull greenish-
yellow on the inside; the toe-webs orange-yellow. Others taken the same season had the outside
of feet and legs blackish; the inside of same of a more or less bright orange-yellow; greater
part of lower mandible orange-yellow, changing to greenish-yellow on lower edge of upper man-
dible, and then to greenish-black along upper half of the same. Iris always bright yellow.
The specimen of Grebe taken at Unalaska on December 14 and cited by Mr. Dall as P. eooperi is:
probably a young bird of this species.

The only specimen of Grebe taken upon the Fur Seal Islands by Mr. Elliott and identified by
Dr. Coues as the true grisigena is really an immature specimen of the present species.

COLYMBUS AURITUS Linn. Horned Grebe (Esk. E-té-té-tih).

Like the preceding bird this handsome species occurs along the eastern shore of Bering Sea
in very small numbers during the breeding season, but is not rare in autumn.

Tt is also a common summer resident along the Yukon. It occurs rarely on the Commander
Islands. One skin was secured for me at Fort Reliance, on May 14, and others were taken the
saine month lower down the river. The last ones were seen along the coast of Norton Sound the
middle of. October. At Nulato they were taken by Dall the last of May, and in June he secured
a parent bird and two eggs from an Indian at Fort Yukon. The eyes of the specimens taken at
Nulato contained the following brilliant colors: The ball of the eye white, a bright scarlet areola
around the outer edge of the iris, which latter is defined by a white line. The iris proper is bright
crimson, with its inner edge brilliant white shaded with pink. The pupil consists of a central
black spot, with a broad ring of dark purple. In the National Museum collection is a skin of this
bird taken at Sitka in the winter of 1882.

URINATOR IMBER (Gunn.). Loon (Esk. Ti-hlid-ti-niik),

This Loon is less common on the shore of Bering Sea than either the Red or the Black-throated
species, but it is far from rare at most places. They usually began to arrive about the shore of
Norton Sound immediately after the ponds and marshy streams opened in spring, from the middle
to 25th of May, and some passed still further north, while others remained to breed in the vicinity.

35
36 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

Their eggs are deposited on some islet in a secluded pond, and the young are led tu a stream or
to the coast as soon as they are able to follow the parent. In autumn the larger streams and
bodies of water are their resorts, and they are rarely seen after the first of October. The skins of
this bird are used by the natives in their bird-skin clothing, and are especially prized for tool-bags.
The skin is removed, and the holes left by cutting off the head, wings, and legs are sewed up, and
a slit made down the back as a mouth to the bag thus formed. The border of this orifice is com.
monly edged with a band of seal-skin provided with holes, by means of which the mouth is laced
together.

Throughout the interior of the Territory this bird is a common summer resident, and was found
breeding abundantly at the western extremity of the Aleutian Islands by Dall. As the same
author found one in the eastern end of the chain on September 2 it may be safely asserted that the
species is found throughout the chain. The.Eskimo brought me a number of skins from Kotzebue
Sound and Selawik Lake, and their skins were found among the natives wherever I went, so that
their distribution may be given as covering the entire Territory.

URINATOR ADAMSII (Gray). Yellow-billed Loon.

This fine species, the largest and least known of the Loons, is a not rare summer resident in
certain localities about the head of Kotzebue Sound. At Point Barrow this species is rather com-
mon. Mr. Murdoch states that they were not often noticed during the season of 1882, but in 1883
they were fairly abundant. They were first seen by him the last of May and first of June in the
open “lead” offshore and flying thence inland. Later in the season they were found about open-
ings in the ice along shore and in the adjaceat lagoons, moving offshore, however, with the ice.
These birds were generally silent, but he noted that their “laugh” was harsher than that of the
Great Northern Loon. On the Commander Islands Stejneger took one specimen and saw another.

During my residence at Saint Michaels specimens were brought me by the Eskimo from there,
and parts of the skins of quite a number of others were seen or obtained from the same region.
All the natives from there seemed to be perfectly familiar with the bird, and assured me that
they nest every summer in about equal numbers with torquatus, even outnumbering the latter in
some places. Selawik Lake and the Kunguk River were the places that all seemed to claim as the
points of greatest abundance. The shore of Norton Bay is a breeding ground for a few pairs, as
is the low coast of Bering Straits from Golovina Bay to Port Clarence. During a sledge journey
along this coast fragments of the skin were seen, usually comprisiug the skin of the neck divided
and with the beak in front, and thus fastened as a fillet about the head, the long white beak pro-
jecting from the wearer’s brow. Fillets made of this bird’s skin in the same manner are commonly
used by the natives of the coast just named and about Kotzebue Sound. They are worn during
certain religious dauces held in winter, and are esteemed highly by the natives from some occult
power they are supposed to possess. On October 14 the only specimen secured by me at Saint
Michaels was brought in by a native. It was in company with a mate, but the latter escaped. It
measured 30 inches in length by 55 inches in extent, and had a dark hazel iris. The type of this
species was secured on the Alaskan side of Bering Straits by Dr. Adams, of the British Navy,
during the search for Sir John Franklin, and since that time, beyond the fact that the bird ranges
over most of the northern circumpolar mainlands, little has been added to its history. From the
comparisons I have made between my Alaskan specimens of adamsii and timber, the decision of Mr.
Ridgway in recognizing the specific rank of the former appears to be justified. This species was
first described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1859, on page 167.

URINATOR AROCTIOCUS (Linn.) Black-throated Loon (Esk. Tiin-ii-chlvk).

This Loon is very common all along the American shore of the sea and about Kotzebue Sound.
They are also numerous on the large streams and marshes of the interior, and their eggs have been
taken at Fort Yukon. While Mr. Elliott resided upon the Fur Sea Islands a single specimen of
this bird was found dead upon the beach by the natives, who were not familiar with the species.
The skins of these birds, as of other heavily-plumaged water-fowl, are much used by the natives
BIRDS. 37

from Saint Michaels south for clothing. The natives snare and spear them in the shallow ponds
and lagoons where they breed, and Dall mentions having seen one dress containing the skins from
over one hundred loons’ throats.

In spring the Black-throated Loons arrive rather late, coming to the vicinity of the Yukon mouth
from the 15th to 25th of May. They appear singly, and are soon after found scattered in pairs among
the numberless ponds on the marshes along the coast. The eggs are usually placed on some small
islet in a secluded pond. There is no attempt to make a nest, and frequently the eggs lie in a spot
washed by water when the wind blows from the right quarter. In spite of this, however, the young
are duly hatched, and by the Ist of July may be found swimming about with their parents.

When the young can follow their parents all pass to the coast, and during calm, pleasant
weather, the last of July and in August, they are very common in all the shallow bays along shore.
On one occasion downy young, not over one-fourth grown, were found on August 30. They were
jn a pond over 2 miles from any place where fish could be found, so that the parents must have
flown 4 miles at least for each fish taken to them. One of the young birds had a half digested
tomcod about 6 inches long in its gullet, and one of the parents was seen coming in from the sea-
coast 5 or 6 miles away with a fish of the same size crosswise in its beak. On one occasion I came
suddenly apon one of these birds in a small pool, and the bird seeming to appreciate the useless-
ness of trying to dive, tried to take wing, but fell upon the grass only a few feet from the water.
Hoping to capture the bird alive, I pursued it at full speed as it progressed toward a neighboring
pond. The bird advanced by raising the fore part of the body by pressing downward with the
wing-tips, and at the same time, by an impetus of wings and legs, threw the body forward in a series
of leaps. Inspite of my efforts, the bird distanced me in a race of about 30 or 40 yards, and launched
into a larger pond.

After the 15th or 20th of September very few of these birds are found, but whether they migrate
by way of the Yukon Valley and south through the interior, or down the west coast, is not known.

The eggs are dark olive, blotched with black spots, which are generally confluent at the larger
end. Very frequently the spots are crowded into a black patch at the very apex of the larger end.
They are generally of an elongated shape, but occasionally are somewhat oval. Extremes in size
are 3.08 by 1.95 and 2.75 by 1.76.

URINATOR PACIFICUS (Lawr.). Pacific Loon (Esk. B-tén-i-chlik).

This Loon is very common at Point Barrow, according to Murdoch, where it was the only Black-
throated species found by him. They arrive early in June and leave the end of September. It
also breeds commonly on the Near Islands, according to Turner. Its habitat is limited to the North-
west Pacific, where it appears to be generally common. It occurs as far south in winter as Cape
Saint Lucas and Guadalupe Island.

URINATOR LUMME (Gunn.). Red-throated Loon (Esk. Kitkh-kho-pé-yith).

Throughout Alaska the present bird is by far the most abundant species of Loon.

At Saint Michaels and the Yukon delta they arrive with the first open water from May 12 to
20, and by the end of this month are present in large numbers. Their arrival is at once announced
by the hoarse, grating cries, which the birds utter as they fly from place to place or float upon
the water. When the ponds are open on the marshes the Red-throated Loons take possession, and
are extremely noisy all through the first part of summer. The harsh gr-r-g& gr-r, gr-r-git, gh, gr-r,
rising everywhere from the marshes during the entire twenty-four hours, renders this note oue of
the most characteristic that greets the ear in spring in these northern wilds.

The Russian name gégara, derived from the bird’s notes, is a very appropriate one.

From the first of June until the first of July fresh eggs may be found. The nesting-sites chosen
are identical with those of the Black-throated species. Like the latter species, also, the eggs, two
in number, are laid directly upon the ground, and the spot chosen is frequently wet and muddy.
One nest was found on frozen ground, and ice was floating in the pond. The young are led to the
streams, large lakes, or sea-coast as soon as they are able to follow the parents, and they fall easy
victims to the hunter until, with the growth of the quill-feathers, they attain some of the wisdom
of their parents.
38 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The end of August sees all upon the wing, except now and then a late bird, and from Septem-
per 15 to 30 they gradually become more and more scarce, until only a very few can be found the first
of October. The habits of this species and the Black-throated Loon are very similar in the north,
and both agree in being far less shy than when in their winter homes.

The Red-throated Loon is one of the very few birds which raises its voice 10 the quiet of the
short Arctic night. In spring, with cranes, they foretell an approaching storm by the increased
repetition and vehemence of their cries.

At Amchitka, on the western end of the Aleutian chain, Dall found these birds breeding abun.
dantly. A female surprised with a young one in a small pool sank slowly until only her neck
remained in view, and the chick at once took position on the parent’s back.

The species breeds at Point Barrow, where Murdoch found it common. It is also numerous
and breeds upon the Commander Islands.

LUNDA CIRRHATA Pall. Tufted Puffin (Esk. Mé-ldig tk). ‘

This species has the same distribution as the next one, but is found in very small numbers as
compared with the host of the other species. Their habits and migrations are also the same. A
few individuals were seen at Cape Lisburne and Kotzebue Sound, in the Arctic, and they dre known
from there south to the Californian coast. In the Aleutian Islands they are much more numerous
than farther north, but they are rather common in Norton Sound. It breeds abundantly on the
Near Islands, where it does not winter. They are extremely abundant about the Commander
Islands, where the natives capture them in hand-nets. The skins of both this and the following
species are used by the Eskimo of the coast and islands for clothing, and the silky tufts of cirrhata
are sewed into ornamental work by the Aleuts.

This bird lays a single rough grayish-white egg, measuring about 2.80 or 2.85 by 1.90 or 1.95.

The egg is usually laid in a small depression in the damp earth at the bottom of a crevice in
the rocks. The young when taken in hand try to bite, and peep loudly. When kept together in
a box I found the young birds, over half grown, very quarrelsome, and they were also voracious
eaters. The two largest ones were continually quarreling, and seizing each other by the beak
they would pull and tumble about until separated. Two young birds soon became very tame and
enjoyed petting, but a half-grown corniculata always remained vicious. The last survivor of this
party was a half-grown cirrhata, which I kept as a pet in one corner of my room in a box open at
the top.

This bird never liked to be handled, but enjoyed being near me, and would follow me from
one room to the other with the most absurd expression of gravity. At daybreak each morning
“Dick” would climb out of his box and come into my room and stand in front of my bed, looking
up first with one eye and then the other; if no notice was taken he would soon compose himself
to sleep until I got up and gave him his breakfast.

In December the bird was not over two-thirds grown and still wore its first plumage, while
its bill was still without a sign of its proper spring-form. ‘ Dick” was given in charge of a native
during my temporary absence, and before my return.was killed by a dog.

A young bird taken at sea by an Eskimo on October 10 still had down attached to the
feathers. The feet and legs of this bird were dingy olive, the bill blackish at base, changing to
dull yellowish on the outet two-thirds, with an underlying orange shade. Iris, dark hazel. The
basal third of the bill is sheathed in a leathery membrane, which marks the portion which is
moulted by the adults,

For a detailed account of the bill moult of this species see Stejneger (loc. cit.).

FRATERCULA CORNICULATA (Naum.). Horned Puffin (Esk. Ka-ttukk-pih).

From Cape Lisburne, on the Arctic coast, to thesouthern point of the Alaskan shore, including
all the islands of Bering Sea and other adjacent waters, the presence of rugged cliffs, or rocky
slopes from the sea, are enough to attract numbers of this odd bird to breed in the shelter thus
afforded. They breed abundantly on the Near Islands, but are not resident there. They are resident
BIRDS. 39

from the Aleutian chain south, but are summer residents thence north. They are equally abundant
along both shores of Bering Sea, and south they are found on the coast of California and that of
Japan. They also occur on the Commander Islands. Thousands of them breed on every rocky
island, and whenever a vessel nears land in this region the clumsy form of the Puffin soon becomes
a familiar sight. Sheltered fjord-like bays or the surf-washed shores of exposed islands are
equally chosen as the birds’ haunt, and they are equally abundant in the shallow waters of the
Alaskan coast of Bering Sea and the deep cold waters of the Siberian shore.

Atthe Fur Seal Islands these birds arrive about the 10th of May, in pairs, but near Saint
Michaels J have never seen them before the 10th of June and rarely before the 20th of that month.
At the latter place and at other northern points their arrival is governed by the date when the ice
leaves the coast forthe summer. The young take wing in August at the Seal Islands, but north of
that point they are rarely fledged before some time in September.

On September 9, 1879, I visited a small islet afew miles from Saint Michaels, where the Puffins
were breeding in great numbers. The islet arose about 25 feet above the sea and was a mass of
rugged basaltic bowlders. Among the crevices hundreds of the Puffins were breeding. Both
species were here, but the tufted species was in very small numbers compared with the host of
the other kind. The young were mostly about half grown, but many only jast from the shell and
some not even yet hatched were found. The young could be easily located under the stones by the
thin metallic piping note they kept uttering during the parents’ absence. As we walked about
the old birdscould be heard scuttling about below, uttering a hoarse, snufiling, rattling note, which
sounded at a short distance like a low growling noise. With aslipping noose on the end of a ram-
rod it was an easy matter to capture any number of them by simply walking about and peering
down into the crevices, and when a bird was seen, pass the noose over the bird’s bill and drag
the captive out. They would scratch and bite viciously and utter tbeir usual note in a loud
hoarse key.

During our stay the air was full of birds circling about, and often passing within afew feet of
us. The young were easily captured by removing the stones, and they also fought when taken.
The loose rocks were surrounded by a network of passages, and if it had not been for the birds
stupidity they could have easily avoided capture. As we began removing the stones overhead,
young or old would scramble forward and thrust their great beaks into the first crevice which
offered, although not an inch wide, and then they would push and struggle desperately to force their
way through until taken in band. Even when they managed to escape after being dragged out -
they would frequently scramble back to the same place again. It was a common occurrence for
them to strike among the rocks with a thud as they tumbled off their perches towards the water,
and then scramble over the rocks with laughable haste and finally plunge under water and make
off, or go flapping desperately along the surface until exhausted. Overhead circled hundreds of
the birds, nearly all of which carried fishes in their beaks for their young. These fishes were
sticklebacks and sand-lances. Some of the birds carried from three to five small fishes at once;
the latter were all placed side by side crosswise in the bird’s bill.

At this time tbe bill-moult was just commencing. ‘The first evidence of this process is shown
by the wearing away of the lower mandible on the under surface at the angle. This wearing ap-
pears to be brought about by the friction of this point on the rocks, as the birds use the projecting
angle as a hook to aid them in climbing—as I frequently saw them do. The wearing of the lower
edge of this mandible leaves a horny scale-like plate on each side of the mandible, with its lower
edge free and easily scaled away in small fragments. The inclosed angle of the mandible is now
a soft cartilaginous projection, which shrivels and reduces the size of the beak at that point.
Next the horny, bead-like rim along the base of the upper mandible gradually loosens at each end
below, and at the same time becomes freed from its attachment to the mandible, leaving a deep
sulcus between, exactly as if done by a skillful cut with a scalpel. This bead-like rim now forms
a part of the skin of the head and moves as such perfectly independent of the beak. Then the
narrow piece of sheath between the nares and the cutting edge of bill loosens and scales off. The
entire base of the mandible is now in an exfoliating state and scales away, working toward the
point of the beak. The narrow piece along the frontal line is pitted—each pit marking the posi-
tion of a feather, as is shown in many cases where minute feathers are present. When this horny
40 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

cover is removed a callous membrane bearing feathers is exposed, and these feathers extend up
and pierce the fallen scale. The basal angle of the lower mandible becomes pliable before the
horny cover breaks, and a dark suffusion shows as though a watery fluid had-exuded between the
horny sheath and the cartilage.

A bird taken the middle of September had the bill only a little over one- -half the size usual in
spring and the beak was soft and pliable. When these birds are at rest the membranous horns
over the eyes are soft and incline inwards over the top of the head, but when the bird becomes
excited they are erected and stand stiffly upright over tue eyes.

From the island already described a number of these birds, both young and old, were taken
home alive, and kept ina pen forsome time. They fed upon the fragments of fish thrown to them,
and but for the cold weather could have been retained for months. They were awkward-appear-
ing birds and would sit blinking in the same spot for hours at atime. The moment they caught
sight of a person, however, they became panic-struck and would rush to the darkest corner of
the pen, where every bird tried to hide its head in the corner. When first taken they were ex-
tremely vicious, biting and using their long sharp claws with considerable effect. Although bitten
by them dozens of times yet they never drew blood, but when they secured a good hold they
could pinch pretty hard.

Young and old leave their northern breeding grounds about the 20th of September. A small
island in Kotzebue Sound isa resort for thousands of these birds insummer. Eggs of this bird
measure about 2.75 by 1.75, and are white, more or less soiled, and indistinctly marked with fine
reddish-brown specks.

CERORHINCA MONOCERATA (Pall.). Rhinoceros Auklet.

Bischoff secured nine specimens of this bird at Sitka during the Telegraph Explorations
Since that time nothing additional concerning the habits and distribution of this species in Alaska
has been learned.

PTYCHORAMPHUS ALEUTICUS (Pall.). Cassin’s Auklet.

This species occurs on the coast of the North Pacific from the Aleutian Islands to Lower Cali-
fornia.
CYCLORRHYNCHUS PSITTACULUS (Pall.). Paroquet Auklet.

In the passes among the Aleutian Islands these birds were common in May, 1877, and on June
17, the same season, they were again seen off the eastern end of Saint Tagennos: Island. We
were on our way to Norton Sound, when, during the day mentioned, we became beset by the pack-
ice and held for about a day. When the ice opened and allowed us to escape, the water became
covered by thousands of these strange little birds. The sun was just rising after its brief disap-
pearance below the northern horizon when we made sail from our unsafe berth and made slow
progress through the moving ice. The cakes were of every shape and size, and were rendered still
more fantastic by the peculiar light. The ice showed beautiful shades of blue and green topped in
dazzling white. The sea was almost black, except where it reflected the vivid crimsons of the sky.
Far off to the west arose the tall cliffs on the shores of Saint Lawrence Island. A thin white
mist formed and vanished over the ice, which the rising wind began to force on before it. The
grinding of ice-cakes, one against the other, and the low but increasing roar of the waves as they
gained power among the separating fragments, all united to render this one of the most grand and
impressive scenes witnessed during my northern experience. The only sounds of animate ecreat-
ures heard as the vessel made its perilous way in a zigzag course, every now and then coming in
contact with a piece of ice so as to wrench everything on board, were the low whistled notes:
of the Parrot and the Crested Auks, which now surrounded us by thousands. For some hours, in
fact until we had left the ice well behind, these birds were all about swimming buoyantly from
side to side or skurrying away from the bow of the vessel. The following day a few were seen off
the Yukon mouth, but my subsequent experience showed that this bird is very rare along the
east coast of Bering Sea. Like a number of other species they appear to have a strong prefer.
ence for deep water and the islands situated in it.
BIRDS. 41

During the cruise of the Corwin in 1881 [ found the Paroquet Auklet’ breeding in extreme
abundance on the islands in Bering Straits, and great bunches of them were brought on board by
the Eskimo. Being without fresh meat we bought them and they were served up on the cabin
table for some time, but were fishy and could only be tolerated. This was in July, and they were
nesting in crevices among the masses of loose stones along the sharp slopes on the islands and
the high cliffs. From our anchorage thousands of them could be seen flying about and the surface
of the sea was dotted with them for miles.

They are found for a short distance north of the straits on the American shore, but along the
Siberian coast they were found for nearly 200 miles northwest of the straits. They are abundant
summer residents along the same coast south to Plover Bay atleast. In Plover Bay they were
common its entire length, some 18 miles inside the heads; they are also abuudant about Saint
Lawrence and Saint Matthew’s Islands,

Wherever we found these birds during our cruise they were always observed feeding offshore,
and at Plover Bay every one shot had its craw distended with small crustaceans, and as these
latter animals swarm in all the waters of this bird’s haunts it is only reasonable to suppose that
they form its usual food. Brandt’s idea that the peculiarly shaped bill is used to pry open
bivalves is not well founded. The deep water and very abruptly sloping beaches where these
birds are most numerous render it impossible for them to find a supply of bivalves, and the
bird’s beak is altogether too weak to be used in the manner indicated. Mr. Dall suggests that
the peculiar bill is used for picking crustacea out of crevices in the rocks and from under round
stones. The idea that the peculiar recurved bill of this bird must have some unusual office is not
unnatural, but my observations of the bird’s habit of invariably feeding some distance offshore and
rarely in water less than 10 to 20 fathoms deep, render any such use highly improbable if not
impossible.

On the Fur Seal Islands they breed in abundance, arriving there early in May, and nest
on the cliffs, where its eggs, one to each bird, are laid on the bare ground at the bottom of the
crevices. They have a low, sonorous, vibrating whistle and do not fly in flocks like most other
auks. This peculiarity was also noted at the breeding places in Bering Straits. Mr. Elliott’s
observations, like my own, are that “it feeds at sea, flying out every morning, returning in the
afternoon to its nest and mate.” They frequently sit dozing for hours at the entrance to their
nest. In Bering Straits a large number of eggs were easily secured. They were fresh in July
and were white. Those taken by Elliott on the Seal Islands measured from 2.25 by 1.50 to 2.35
by 1.45.

At the Seal Islands the young take wing about the middle of Atigust. Old and young leave
the islands by the first of September. At Amichitka Island, at the western extremity of the
Aleutian chain, Dall found these birds rather common, and in the Shumagins, in July, 1880, Dr.
Bean found them abundant, so their breeding ground appears to extend the entire length of the
Aleutian Islands.

For the bill-moult of this species see Stejneger (loc. cit.).

SIMORHYNCHUS CRISTATELLUS (Pall.). Crested Auklet (Esk. Tii’-gi-ak).

This strangely ornamented bird has a range almost identical with that of the preceding spe-
cies, and I do not recall a single instance in which the Paroquet Auklet was seen in any numbers
where the present species was not found. A few were observed in the passes near Unalaska in
May, and the 13th of June a single pair were seen off the Seal Islands. This bird breeds plenti-
fully on the Near Islands, but does not winter there. They also breed on the Commander Islands.
The night of June 17, like C. psittaculus, they were extremely numerous among the ice off Saint
Lawrence Island, and off the Yukon mouth the next day they outnumbered the other species. They
were in pairs and small flocks, and either sat in the water and stared wonderingly at us as we
passed, scarcely getting out of our way, or flew about with a buzzing flight like a heavily-laden
bee. They continually uttered a chirping note, and were very conspicucus by reason of their
bright-colored bill. One bird fell upon deck.

S. Mis. 156———6
42 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

On October 13, 1879, an Eskimo brought me a young bird of the year taken by him ut sea off
Saint Michaels. The bird measured 9 inches in length by 19 inches in extent. The iris comprised
a broad outer ring of greenish white and a narrow ring of slate-blue, bordering the pupil, both
sharply defined. The bill was dark horn color, the feet and tarsi blue. Specimens were also
brought me in spring from the north coast of Norton Sound.

In Bering Straits, and about Saint Lawrence and Saint Matthew’s Islands, this species and
C. psittaculus have the same habits and are found in equal abundance. They choose the same
nesting sites, and each lays a single white egg upon the bare rock or ground.

Along the Siberian coast S. cristatellus is much less numerous than C. psittaculus, the Diomede
Islands in the straits being the center of abundance of both.

Upon the Fur Seal Islands they also breed in great numbers, occupying the cliffs with the
other auks. They arrive there in May, and deposit their eggs so deep down in the crevices that
Mr. Elliott had much trouble to secure four specimens. On the Diomedes I secured a considerable
number with but littie difficulty. Elliott credits these birds with a loud “clanging honk-like
sound” during the breeding season, and as being silent at other times.

The eggs taken on these islands are chalky white in color, and measure 2.31 by 1.61 largest,
and 2.06 by 1.50 smallest. The young are fully fledged about the 10th or 15th of August. At
this time, and until late iu fall, the crest is scarcely to be detected, except as a slight ruffling of
the feathers late in the season. The food of this species consists of crustacea and other small sea
animals, which swarm in the North Pacific and Bering Sea.

Unlike C. psittaculus this species is very rarely found in bays, preferring the open water out-
side, where they frequently gather upon the water in close bodies, covering acres. At other times
they gather in long lines to feed about a tide-rip. They are resident and breed in great abun-
dance about the entire Aleutian chain-and thence east to Kadiak, at least.

The small rounded palpebral ornaments of these birds are used by the Eskimo of Bering
Straits to ornament their fishing-lines, and the crests and bright-colored bill ornaments are also
much used by the same people and the Saint Lawrence islanders as ornaments for their water-
proof coats.

The bill-moult of this species occurs the last of August and during September, and leaves the
pill strikingly changed and reduced. Birds taken by us in Bering Straits in September were in
the midst of this change, and the bright-colored corneous parts about the base of the bill were
removed with the greatest ease by the thumb and fingers.

SIMORHYNCHUS PYGMAUS (Gmel.). Whiskered Auklet.

Concerning this species I have no original observations. It breeds abundantly on the Near
Islands but does not winter there. It also breeds on the Commander Islands. The young was
described as a species by Coues under the name of cassina, but its true relationship has been
known for some time.

In Dall’s list of the birds of the Territory this species is only mentioned in recording the
capture of a specimen of “ cassini,” which flew on board their vessel while becalmed in Unemak
Pass, near Unalaska, on August 3, 1866. The species is unknown from the Fur Seal Islands,
and we have no knowledge of its numbers and distribution in the Aleutian chain. It is quite
possible that it may have been overlooked, being taken for the next species which abounds every-
where.

SIMORHYNCHUS PUSILLUS (Pall.). Least Auklet.

Of all the water-fowl of Bering Sea this trim little bird is the most abundant. The Ist of
May, 1877, they were extremely abundant in large flocks in the passes about the eastern end of
the Aleutian chain, and as we passed the Fur Seal Islands, the middle of June, they were again
seen in great numbers. During my four years at Saint Michaels only a single specimen was
secured. This was taken near that place the last of June, and measured 7 inches iu length by
13 inches in extent; its pupil was very small, surrounded by a broad white iris, shaded with rose
color on its outer border.
BIRDS. 43

Like the Paroquet and Crested Auklets, this species has a great preference for the deep western
half of Bering Sea, except along the Aleutian chain. During the summer of 1881 we found them
breeding upon the islands in Bering Straits in great abundance, especially about the Diomedes
and King or Okewuk Island. As we lay at anchor close under the Big Diomede the cliffs arose
almost sheer for hundreds of feet. Gazing up toward one of these banks we could see the air
filled with minute black specks, which seemed to be floating by in an endless stream. The roar
from the rush of waves against the base of the cliffs was deadened by the strange humming chorus
of faint cries from myriads of small throats, and, as we landed, a glance upward showed the island
standing out in bold, jagged relief against the sky, and surrounded by such inconceivable numbers
of flying birds that it could only be likened to a vast bee-hive, with the swarm of bees hovering
about it. The mazy flight of the birds had the effect several times of making me dizzy as I watched
them. Breeding there were several species of Auks and Guillemots. Our first visit was made
about the middle of July, and most of the birds, including the present species, had fresh eggs.

The Least Auklet lays a single small white egg in a crevice on the cliff or under loose bowl-
ders. Measurements are 1.68 by 1.18 and 1.60 by 1.12. Although the birds nesting on these
islands had eggs at the time of our visit, yet the millions flying about were nearly all in pairs,
which always kept close together and rarely joined with any others of their kind. Like the other
Auklets, they are not at all shy, and are snared by thousands by the Eskimo on these islands.
They sometimes wander into the Arctic to the north, and a single pair was seen about 30 miles
north of Cape Lisburne, well within the Arctic Circle.

I do not think they breed north of the straits, except, perhaps, on some of the cliffs along the
Siberian shore. They were common along the Siberian coast to the south of the straits, except
in the bays.

On Saint Lawrence and Saint Matthew’s Islands they are abundant summer residents, and
upon the Fur Seal Islands they are found in equal abundance. From Mr. Elliott’s observations
we make the following notes concerning the habits of the species on these islands. They are
the most characteristic species breeding on this group.

The first arrivals appear about the first of May in small flocks of a few hundreds or thousands.
They appear to be in a frolicsome spirit, and hover over the water, alighting now and then, and con-
tinually uttering a low chattering note.. The first of June they are in full force, and prepare to nest
by millions upon both islands. They frequent loose masses of bowlders and the cliffs upon both
islands; but are most numerous on Saint George’s, an area of over 5 square miles of basaltic shingle
on this island being a favorite resort. While walking over their breeding ground the notes and
noises made by the birds under foot are very amusing, and the birds pop in and out with an odd
manner and bewildering rapidity.

Like the other Auklets, they go off to sea every day to feed upon small crustacea.

The downy young is grayish black, and the first plumage darker than that of the adult.

This species is abundant on the Near Islands, where it breeds on Agatti, but does not winter
there. Stejneger found them about the Commander Islands in winter, but does not think they
breed there.

SYNTHLIBORAMPHUS ANTIQUUS (Gmel.). Ancient Murrelet.

During the explorations of the Telegraph Expedition this species was taken at Saint George’s
Island of the Fur Seal group in the Aleutians, near the peninsula of Aliaska, and at Sitka. In the
summer of 1880, on June 9, Dr. Bean secured several specimens at Sitka. It breeds abundantly on
the Near Islands, where a few are resident. They breed also on the Commander Islands. On
June 2, 1872, Mr. Dall found these birds breeding abundantly at the Chica Islets, in Akoutan Pass,
near Unalaska. The birds were caught sitting on their eggs in holes in the banks similar to those
used by the Fork-tailed Petrel. Two eggs were found in a rest. The same naturalist found this
species abundant the entire length of the Aleutian chain, and states that, although they cougre-
gate in great flocks offshore, they frequent the bays and harbors much more than the other smal]
Auklets.
44. NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The last of May and first of June, 1877, the writer found these birds rather common in the bays
about Unalaska. They were in pairs and not shy. When one was shot the survivor would fly
about in a circle, frequently alighting in the water and uttering a low, plaintive whistle.

SYNTHLIBORAMPHUS WUMIZUSUME (Temm.). Temminck’s Murrelet.

The present species has been credited to the northwestern coast of America, and I mention it
here merely to call attention to the fact that no explorer has found it in the region covered by this
paper.

18. BRACHYRAMPHUS MARMORATUS (Gmel.). Marbled Murrelet.

Large numbers of this Murrelet were taken at Sitka by Bischoff in both the winter (or wran-
geli) and the summer plumage. They have‘been found in the Aleutian Islands by Dall, and during
the summer of 1&0 Dr. Bean took them at Sitka, where they were in small flocks about June 9.
They were found near Unalaska in May, 1877, by the writer, and they probably reach their north-
ern limit in this chain, where they breed.

There is a fine field in these islands to study the habits and distribution of the Auklets,
Murrelets, and Guillemots of the North Pacific. Although the ground has been visited, yet no
systematic work has ever been attempted. ‘

BRACHYRAMPHUS XITTLITZII Brandt. Kittlitz’s Murrelet.

The first example of this rare bird known to exist in any American museum was secured by
the writer in Unalaska Harbor the last of May, 1877. The birds were in company with S. antiquus
and B. marmoratus, avd like the latter were not shy. Their habits appeared to be the same, all
feeding upon small crustacea. These three species kept about the outer bays all the last half of
May, but about the first of June became scarce, as they sought their breeding places. Since my
capture Mr. Turner. has taken another specimen in the Aleutian Islands, and the species may be
found more common there when the islands have been more thoroughly explored.

CEPPHUS MANDTII (Licht.). Mandt’s Guillemot.

This species occurs on the Arctic and Bering Sea coast of Alaska and about the islands in
these waters, but its relative abundance, as compared with that of the following species, I-am un-
able to give. As but one of the naturalists who have visited this region within the last fifteen
years mentions it in his paper, it has probably been confounded with columba. Murdoch found
these birds in the open water offshore at Point Barrow in the fall up to December, when the sea
closed.

CEPPHUS COLUMBA Pall. Pigeon Guillemot (Esk. Chig-i-vik).

Among the larger water-fowl of Alaska this is one of the most numerous. They occur in great
abundance wherever the coast is bordered by bold headlands or where there are precipitous islands.
They are numerous about Sitka, Kadiak, the Shumagins, and all that portion of the Territory, as
well as along the entire length of the Aleutian chain. Throughout the region just named the
birds are resident. They breed commonly on the Near Islands, but are not resident. They also
breed abundantly on the Commander Islands. Dall found their eggs in the Shumagins on June
24, They were two in number, laid at the bottom of a hole under the rocks near the water’s edge.
Young in down were taken on Unga Island the middie of July. Their bright red legs and white
wing-patches render these birds very conspicuous.

During May, 1877, I found them very common in the bays about Unalaska and frequently
watched them as they swam about quietly feeding. They are graceful swimmers, and as they
move about frequently put their heads under water and paddle along some distance in this posi-
tion. Whether this was for the purpose of looking for food beneath the surface or not could not
be determined. When approached in a boat they frequently came circling close by, as if to exam-
ine us more closely. Their common note is a low piping whistle, and Dr. Bean heard them utter-
- ing ealls like the chipping of a sparrow.
PLATE L

 

 

 

 

 

BUTS Ss Mae Le
Fi re M. VARI PMS ATL,

MMeER PLUMAGE.)
BIRDS. 45

They nest upon the Fur Seal Islands, and are especially numerous on the Diomedes in Bering
Straits, where we secured fresh eggs the middle of July, 1881. They are not common on the east
coast of the sea, where the wuter is shallow, and are scarce also in Norton Sound for the same
reason. ‘

_ A few pairs of a black Guillemot, which at the time I took to be this species, were seen in
Kotzebue Sound and others at Cape Lisburne, but the deep bays and deep water on the Siberian
coast of Bering Sea and the adjacent Arctic afford them a favorite summer resort, and they find
an abundance of breeding places on the cliffs there. The red feet of these birds are used by the
Eskimo of the straits for ornaments on some of their clothing, and the skins are used for clothing.
In winter their plumage changes to a pied mixture of black and white, and when hunting far out
at sea the Eskimo of Norton Sound find them late in November about the holes in the ice.

A specimen in this mottled dress was brought me on August 24 one season at Saint Michaels.
It measured 13 inches in length by 22.50 inches in extent. Its beak.was dark horn-colored, except
a Streak of light flesh color along the culmen over the nostrils. The iris was hazel and the feet and
legs dirty flesh color. In spring, the last of March and first of April, they are again found among
the open spaces at sea by the native hunters.

URIA TROILE CALIFORNICA (Bryant). California Murre (Esk. Athl/-pd).

An abundant resident along the entire Aleutian chain and the mainland coast of the Pacific.

Birds and eggs have been taken at Sitka and Kadiak, and they occur throughout this region.
On the Fur Seal Islands Elliott found them to occur in small numbers. They breed on the
Commander Islands. They swarmed about Herald Island when we visited there August 12,
1881, and the downy young, small black balls of down, only a day or two oid, were taken
there. When we landed upon the unknown shores of Wrangel Island we found them breeding
on the cliffs there, but in smaller numbers. While we were scaling the cliffs on Herald Island
these Guillemots would scarcely make way for us, and a few feet away sat almost bolt upright and
stared at us with a comical expression of amazement. Their close resemblance to the next species
with which they were associated rendered it impossible to distinguish them except at very close
quarters. A party of about fifty was seen on the cliff of Saint George’s Island on one occasion,
but they were more common in twos and threes.

URIA LOMVIA ARRA (Pall.), Pallas’s Murre (Esk. Athi/-pd.)

Wherever the coasts and islands of Alaska are bordered by rugged cliffs and rocky declivi-
ties this bird is found in great abundance. They occur at Kadiak and along the adjacent coast
from Sitka to the peninsula of Aliaska. The precipitous shore lines of the Aleutian Islands afford
them a favorite resort during the breeding season, and the surrounding waters make their winter-
ing place. They were extremely plentiful in great flocks in the passes near Unalaska during May,
1877, and storms forced them to find shelter in the deep bays. The middle of June, the same sea-
son, they were seen in large numbers off the Fur Seal Islands and off Saint Lawrence Island. It
is an abundant resident of the Near Islands. At Point Barrow it is reported by Murdoch to be an
occasional visitor, usually in the broken ice offshore. The Eskimo sometimes found a stray indi-
vidual off Saint Michaels the first of May, but they were rarely seen until the last of this month.

During June they gathered about their nesting places in Norton Sound as the ice disap-
peared, but several seasons fresh eggs were brought in the last of July and first of August.
Cape Denbigh and a long cliff west of Cape Darby, on the north shore of Norton Sound, are noted
breeding resorts, the latter place being called Athl pil ¢ git (or Murre Place) by the Eskimos. All
the islands of Bering Sea are frequented by myriads of them in summer, their abundance about
the Fur Seal group and the Diomede Islands in the straits being specially noticeable. They breed
in small numbers on Chamisso Islet, in Kotzebue Sound, and on the clifis near Cape Lisburne, but .
were not seen by us north of that point. They are very numerous on the Siberian coast, and were
the most numerous birds on Herald and Wrangel Islands. They breed abundantly on the Com-
mander Islands, according to Stejneger. Whenever we approached these islands during the sum-
46 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

mer of 1881 small parties of these birds invariably came off to us when we were within a few miles,
and, circling about the ship with outstretched necks and inquiring eyes, seemed to demand the
cause of this first intrusion into their solitudes. On the Fur Seal Islands they breed in countless
multitudes, and although they do not begin to lay until the 18th or 25th of June, yet on mild
winters some of the birds never leave the vicinity of these islands. — :

They lay their eggs as thickly as they can be crowded together on the points and narrow
shelves of the cliffs. Each female deposits a single egg. They quarrel desperately, and Elliott,
from whose observations we take these notes, records the fact that hundreds of dead birds are
found along the bases of the high cliffs on Saint George’s, these birds having fallen and been
dashed upon the rocks while clinched in combat. Incubation lasts about twenty-eight days, and
the young attain their first plumage about six weeks later.

On Saint George’s Island, towards the end of June, when the females begin to set, the males
fly around the island in great files and platoons, always circling against or quartering on the wind
at regular hours in the morning and evening, making a dark girdle of birds more than a quarter of
a mile broad and 30 miles long. They utter a peculiar growling or hoarse chattering note when
on the cliffs. The birds are very stupid, and pay but little attention to the presence of a person
near their nests.

Ihave frequently amused myself by approaching the birds within 10 or 15 feet, as they sat
almost bolt upright on their single egg, and tossing stones at them. They stared at me without
any sign of fear, only ducking their heads to avoid the stones.

In spring they are found scattered over much of the North Pacific and all of Bering Sea.
Wherever these birds occur abundantly in the north they are of great value to the Eskimo, as
their flesh and eggs are easily obtained for food, and their skins afford very warm and durable
clothing.

The most common outer garment worn in Saint Lawrence and the Diomede Islands in Bering
Straits is made of murre skins.

STERCORARIUS POMARINUS (Temm.). Pomarine Jaeger (Esk. A-klikh-tat-yi-lik).

Strangely enough, although this bird is a common species about the Yukon mouth and along
much of the coast north to Point Barrow, where, according to Murdoch, it is the least’ com-
mon of the Jaegers, yet until Dr. Bean’s recent paper (loc. cit.) none of the later explorers in that
region had noted it, with the single exception of the record by Elliott that it is a rare visitant to
the Fur Seal Islands.

The earliest arrival of this bird in spring was May 13 at the Yukon mouth, where the writer
found it searching for food along the ice-covered river channels. They became more common, until,
by the last of the month, from a dozen to twenty might be seen every day.

They are clumsy and cowardly as compared with their smaller relatives. When one of this
species chances to cross the path of the smaller species, the latter almost invariably gives chase
and beats its clumsy antagonist off the field by repeatedly darting down from above. This attack
embarrasses the large bird so that it flinches and dives, and often alights and watches an oppor-
tunity to escape from its nimble assailant. One that was driven to alight in the river thrust its
head under water at every swoop of its assailant, and exhibited the most ludicrous terror. When
on the wing they usually ward off an attack from one side by a half-closed wing, and if above, both
wings are raised, forming an arched shield above the back.

While camping at the Yukon mouthin May my tent was pitched directly on the river bank, and
I frequently amused myself by throwing pieces of flesh upon the ice, some 20 yards away, and
thus attracting the Jaegers. On several occasions the smaller species drove the larger ones off and
proceeded to devour the spoil.

The large bird has a low, harsh, chattering cry when feeding with its companions. They
measure about 22 inches long by 48 inches in spread of wing, and have a hazel iris; beak dark horn
color on distal third, and light horn color on the remainder. The feet and legs are either uniform
black or are mottled with a varying amount of livid blue, the latter sometimes covering over half
BIRDS. v 47

the surface. Off the Yukon mouth they are abundant in spring, but at all seasons they are rare
near Saint Michaels. During the cruise of the Corwin I found them abundant about Saint Law-
rence Island and everywhere in Bering Straits.

Along both shores of the Arctic to the north they were very numerous, and to a great extent
replaced the other two species. They are especially common along the border of the ice-pack and
about the whaling fleet, where they fare abundantly. They go south as winter closes in, and un-
doubtedly cccur at the latter season in large numbers along the Aleutian chain and the adjacent
parts of the North Pacific.

The peculiar twist to the long tail-feathers of this species renders it conspicuous and identifi-
able almost as far as seen.

STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS (Linn.). Parasitic Jaeger (Esk. A-kliikh-tat-yii-Wh).

This tyrannical bird occurs about the entire coast line of Bering Sea, but it is most numerous
along the low, marshy coast of Norton Sound, and thence south to the Kuskoquim River. Its
breeding range covers the entire region from the Aleutian Islands north to the extreme northern
part of the mainland. Upon the Aleutian Islands Dall found them in summer and winter. They
were taken during the breeding season on Kyska and Amchitka, near the western end of the chain.
They have been taken at Kadiak, and are plentiful from the Yukon mouth up to Nulato and prob-
ably above. Elliott found them occurring as stray visitors on the Fur Seal group, and the writer
noted them in the Bering Strait vicinity during the summer of 1881.

During summer these Jaegers show a much greater preference for marshes and the low barren
grounds so common in the north than they do for the vicinity of the sea-coast. At the Yukon
mouth and near Saint Michaels they arrive with the first open water from the 10th to the 15th of
May. The snow still lies in heavy drifts on most of the open country, but the Jaegers take posses-
sion and feed upon the shrew-mice and lemmings, which are common on this ground. By the last
of May they are very common, and twenty or thirty may be seen in a day’s hunt.

Birds in the black plumage are rare in spring, but are sometimes seen, and at the Yukon
mouth on May 31 I found a pair in this plumage mated. The eggs are laid upon the mossy knolls
or uplands in their haunts about the 5th of June. The nest is merely a depression in the moss
containing two eggs, indistinguishable from those of the next species, and measuring from 2.40 by
1.70 to 2 by 1.50 inches.

The young are on the wing by the end of July and early August. The last birds move south-
ward or keep out to sea after the 20th of September. On cloudy days, or in the dusky twilight,
these birds have a habit of uttering loud wailing cries, interspersed with harsh shrieks, which are
among the most peculiar notes heard in the northern breeding grounds.

At all times the Jaegers are given to wandering, and one is likely to find them almost any-
where along the coast. They are not infrequently seen harrying terns or gulls to make them dis-
gorge fish just caught. If successful they dart down and rising under the falling morsel catch
it in their capacious mouth. This robbery is often performed by two birds in unison, but whether
the birds alternate in disposing of the spoil or not could not be learned.

When a Jaeger is wounded others of its kind show much concern, and I have secured several
birds in succession which were drawn within range by the cries and struggles of their companion.
The habits in general of this and the following species are extremely similar along the coast region
of Bering Sea, and both breed abundantly on all that broad belt of low barren plains and marshy
country bordering the coast along the entire northern end of the continent. This is a common
species about Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, where it breeds, laying two eggs on the bare ground,
on low, unsheltered, and often wet islets or headlands. When surprised near its nest it creeps
along the ground with flapping wings to decoy away the intruder.

They are very greedy, and frequently swallow so much that they are unable to fly until a
portion is disgorged. Nordenskjold, from whom the preceding is taken, writes that the Pomarine
and Long-tailed Jaegers are more common farther east towards Bering Straits.

This species is more common than pomarinus at Point Barrow where, like the latter, it was
not found breeding by Murdoch. This species occurs on the Commander Islands, and is common
on the Near Islands, where they breed on Agatta.
48 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

26. SLERCORARIUS LONGICAUDUS Vieill. Long-tailed Jaeger (Esk. Yang-1k).

This graceful and handsome bird is the most common of the Jaegers on the Alaskan coast and
vicinity, and especially about Saint Michaels. They arrive in this vicinity about May 12 or
15, but are not numerous until ten days or more later. They are first found quartering the marshes
in small parties of from two to six or eight. They have a shrill phét-phéti-phéti-phéd, uttered while
they are flying, and when the birds are quarreling or pursuing one another the ordinary note is
often followed by a harsh qtié At other times they have a rattling kr-r-r-r, kr-r-r-r, kr-r-r-r, kri,
kri-kri-kri, the latter syllables shrill and querulous and sometimes followed by the long-drawn
phet-phet-phet in the same tone. They appear to be much more playful than the other Jaegers,
and parties of six or eight may be seen pursuing one another back and forth over the marsh. The
long, slender tail-feathers and extreme grace on the wing of these birds render them very much
like the Swallow-tailed Kite.

The mating occurs with a great amount of noisy demonstration on the part of several rivals,
but once paired the birds keep by themselves and early in June deposit their eggs in a depression
on the mossy top of some knoll upon rising ground. In one instance, on June 16, while I was
securing the eggs of a Macrorhamphus, a pair of these Jaegers kept circling about, uttering harsh
screams and darting down within a few feet. As I approached the spot where the snipe’s eggs lay
I had noticed these birds on a knoll just beyond, but had paid no attention, but as the birds kept
leaving me to hover over the knoll and then return to the attack, I examined the spot, and there,
in a cup-shaped depression in the moss, lay two dark greenish eggs marked with an abundance of
spots. During the breeding season these birds and the preceding species have a cunning habit of
tolling one away from their nest by dragging themselves along the ground and feigning the
greatest suffering. They roll about among the tussocks, beat their wings, stagger from side to
side, and seem to be unable to fly, but they manage to increase the distance from their starting
point at a very respectable rate, and ere long suddenly launch forth on the wing.

After a successful hunt the Jaegers of this and the last species alight upon some prominent
knoll and sun themselves, their white breasts showing for a long distance. They are very curious
at times, and I have called them within guushot on several occasions by tossing some conspicuous
object into the air as the birds were passing. On one occasion I saw a Jaeger swoop down at a
duck paddling quietly on the surface of a pond, and the latter went flappiug away in mortal terror
while the Jaeger passed on, probably highly pleased at giving the duck such a fright.

Their taste is omnivorous and they harry the marshes for mice and lemmings, and feast upon
the dead fish and other animal matter cast up by the sea, or search the hillsides for berries. The
arrival of a vessel in their neighborhood calls them about to secure the offal thrown overboard.
The Eskimo say that they eat just what men like, hence the name given them, derived from the
word yak or man.

Up to the present date they are not known from the Aleutian chain. Elliott saw but two on
the Fur Seal Islands, and this was the last of July, and the birds were evidently stragglers. They
are abundant along the low coast to Bering Straits, but, except about Kotzebue Sound, they are
not common to the north of that point. It is also found on the east coast of Siberia, and I am led
to believe, from accounts brought me by natives, that it breeds also on the Upper Yukon.

All the Jaegers are very destructive to the eggs of other birds, and in spring nests of various
water-fowl are often destroyed by them.

Like the other Jaegers, this species moves south during September. The long-tailed species
is less frequently found at sea than the last, and is rarely found about the ice-pack north of Bering
Straits.

The swiftness and dexterity with which they pursue gulls and force them to disgorge is a
beautiful sight to witness, and while either of the small terns or gulls can drive the Jaegers from
the vicinity of their nests yet the latter rob them of their prey at pleasure. While I was camping
at the Yukon mouth a pair of these birds made their haunt in the vicinity of my tent and fed
upon the offal thrown upon the ice a few yards from the door. They soon became very familiar
and were always on hand hovering close overhead when we came in froma hunt. They would
stand about within a few yards and watch us with wistful eyes ready to pounce upon any morsel
ee

 

Fig...

 

 

Fig. 4.

HALF NATURAL SIZE.

 

Fig...
PACIFIC SKITTIWAKE
Rissa tridactyla pollicaris.

Fig.3.

SORES FROM NATURE BY £.W NELSON.

PLATE Ul.

 

Fig. 2.

 

Fig. 2.
RODGERS'S FULMAR

Fulimarus glacialis rodgersi,

Fig.3.
WHITE-CRESTED CORMORANT, in winter.

Phalaerocorax dilophus cincinatus.

Fig. 4,
HORNED PUFFIN, in summer.
Fratercula corniculata.

Fig. 5.
TUFTED PUFFIN, in summer.

Lunda cirrhata.

 
BIRDS. 49

tossed them, and if a fragment was held up in the hand they would hover a few feet over it,
although not daring to come closer. They also soon became used to our shooting and scarcely
noticed it even when near by. Unfortunately our companionship lasted only about ten days, when
I broke camp, and so lost the opportunity of gaining their complete confidence. After the first
few days they seemed to appropriate the camp and made a fierce attack upon any others of their
kind that chanced near.

This is the common Jaeger at Point Barrow, where Murdoch did not find it breeding. It ap-
pears to be rare on the Near Islands, where Turner saw only two. ;

GAVIA ALBA (Gunn.). Ivory Gull.

Specimens of this little known species were seen on several occasions by the naturalist of the
Jeannette, Mr. R. L. Newcomb, during the long imprisonment in the icy sea to the west of our
northern coast. Murdoch noted it as a rare visitor at Point Barrow, and in addition these birds
have been noted by various expeditions among the network of channels north of British America,
especially by McClintock at Cape Krabbe, in latitude 77° 25’. From the region north of Europe
we have most of our knowledge concerning the Ivory Gull’s habits.

Malmgren found them nesting abundantly on the limestone cliffs in Murchison Bay, Spitz-
bergen, latitude 82° north. This was on July 7, 1861, and their nests were in clefts and niches
midway on the cliffs, and above them were nesting Kittiwake and Glaucous Gulls. The nests con-
tained one egg each, and consisted of shallow depressions, in loose soil on the rocks, lined with a
few dry plants, grass, moss, and feathers. On July 30 the eggs cuntained large young. These
birds have the habit of watching about seal-holes in the ice, waiting for the seal, whose excrement
the gull devours.

RISSA TRIDACTYLA POLLICARIS Ridgw. Pacific Kittiwake (Esk. Pi-kak).

The entire coast line of Alaska with all its numerous islands, both near the mainland and far
out at sea, are inhabited by this beautiful gull. The explorers of the Telegraph Expedition found
it abundant from Sitka to Bering Straits.

On the Near Islands Turner records this gull as not abundant and not known to breed. On
the Commanders it breeds abundantly. The writer’s first acquaintance with them was in the
Aleutian Islands in early May, 1877, when they were common, and again the same season, on June
13 and 16, they were found migrating off the Fur Seal Islands and the Yukon mouth. At Saint
Michaels each year they arrive from the 10th to the 18th of May, and were first seen searching for
food in the narrow waier-channels in the tide cracks along shore. As the open spaces appeared

_ they congregated there until in early June when the ice broke up and moved offshore. At this
time the Kittiwakes sought the rugged cliffs along the shore of the mainland or the precipitous
islands dotting Bering Sea and the adjoining Arctic. Although nesting abundantly at the head
of Norton Bay none were found near Saint Michaels after the migration until toward the end of
July or 1st of August, when they were found again about the outer points and rocky islets off-
shore. They are very gregarious and fly to and from their feeding grounds in long straggling
flocks. During the middle ot the day they were usually found gathered in a large body on the
rocks.

By August 5 or 10 the young, conspicuous by their black nuchal area, were found in consider-
able numbers with the adults. When one of their number is shot the others circle about for a
short time, but when a second or third is killed the rest make off, usually straight out to sea, and
do not return for hours. From the end of August they frequent the inner bays and mouths of
small streams, and are often seen in large parties feeding upon the myriads of sticklebacks which
are found along the coast at this season. :

They pursue their prey in the same graceful manner as the terns, by hovering over the water
and plunging down headforemost. It is an extremely interesting sight to watch a large flock
passing over calm water in this manner. They are limited strictly to tide-water and rarely ascend
even the Yukon delta over a few miles.

8. Mis. 156——7
50 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA

They are resident upon the Aleutian Islands and breed in great abundance upon all the
islands of Bering Sea, the Straits, and along the Arctic coast to Cape Lisburne.

In Kotzebue Sound, during August, 1881, I saw hundreds of them nesting on the granite
ledges of Chamisso Island, and found them very unsuspicious. Although the young were able to
fly I caught one upon the nest and knocked others off the ledges with stones before they would
take wing. The nests were composed of matted fragments of moss and grass gathered on the
adjacent slopes or were mere hollows in the loose dirt. The other occupants of the islet were
puffins.

The cliffs on the ice-bound shores of Herald Island also were occupied by them, and we found
them about the edge of the ice from this island to Point Barrow during the Corwin’s cruise. In
autumn they kept about Saint Michaels until the middle of October each year, when the ice form-
ing over the bays forced them away.

Mr. Dall secured the nest, eggs, and young in down of this species on Unga Island, in the
Shumagins, on July 11. There he found the birds nesting in great numbers, and writes that the
nests at first appeared as if fastened to the perpendicular face of the cliff. A close examination
showed that two parallel strata of metamorphic sandstone were weathered out so as to project from
1 to 4 inches from the cliff, and upon the ledges thus afforded the birds had managed to fasten
their nests, although the latter projected over the edge of the support more than half their width.
The nests were built of dry grass, which was fastened together and to the cliff in some peculiar
manner. The depression in the nest containing the two eggs was very shallow and the surround-
ings were very filthy. The birds were unconcerned at his approach, only those nearest him leaving
their nests, and one bird which had lost a nest with two young flew uneasily about the spot a
moment, and as he rowed away the bird began a violent assault upon her next neighbor as if
attributing her loss to her. They had a shrill, harsh cry when disturbed and a low whistle when
communicating with each other. Inthe western part of the Aleutians these birds are far less
numerous than in the eastern half.

Throughout its range this species has considerable curiosity and comes circling about any
strange intruder to its haunts. In the bay at Saint Michaels they were frequently seen following
a school of white whales, evidently to secure such fragments of fish or other food as the whales
dropped in the water. It was curious to note how well the birds timed the whales and anticipated
their appearance as the latter came up to blow.

Upon the Fur Seal Islands Mr. Elliott found them breeding in great numbers with the
following species. He found the color of the chicks to be similar to those of brevirostris until two
or three weeks old.

RissA BREVIROSTRIS (Bruch). Red-legged Kittiwake.

The writer’s only experience with this beautiful gull was limited to a single day, May 26, at
Unalaska, where they were seen in considerable numbers about the inner harbors. They glided
silently from place to place, hovering for a moment or plunging into the water at times, but, con-
tinually passing on, each party was quickly lost to sight.

Mr. Dall does not include this bird in his Aleutian Island lists.

It is an abundant summer resident in both the Near and Commander Islands.

The possible variety which Mr. Dall mentions, in his list of Alaskan birds, as being in the
Smithsonian collection and marked by having yellow legs, is the ordinary form—the “ rich coral,
vermilion, or lake-red legs drying straw-yellow.”

The Fur Seal Islands form the great gathering place for these birds in summer, and they
congregate there by thousands, giving a preference to the precipitous shores of Saint George’s
Island. They are unknown, so far as I have learned, north of this group, and from Mr. Elliott I
quote all we know concerning its habits during the summer on its breeding ground. They come
to the cliffs on these islands for the purpose of breeding by the 9th of May, and desert the place
with their fully-fledged young early in October. Their nests are prudently located on almost
inaccessible ledges and shelves, so that they can rarely be reached except by a person lowered
on a rope over a cliff.
BIRDS. BI

They commence nest-building early in May and usually complete the structure about the last of
June. They use dry grass and moss cemented with mud, which they gather at the margin of the
small fresh-water sloughs and ponds scattered over the islands. Two or three eggs are laid, usually
the former number, and if they are removed the female deposits another set within ten days.
Incubation occupies from twenty-four to twenty-six days, aud the male assists in the work. The
downy young is pure white with whitish-gray bill and feet. The natives make pets of the young,
but when the fall migration occurs the birds grow restless and soon fly away to the south with
their kind.

LARUS BARROVIANUS Ridgw. Pacific Glaucous Gull (Esk. Ka-kizh-u-wik).

The Glaucous Gull of the Pacific coast, having proved to be distinct from the Atlantic coast
species, has been described by Mr. Ridgway under the above name. (Auk, July, 1886, 330.)

References by earlier authors to the Pacific coast bird under glaucus will be understood to
apply here.

The solitary islands of Bering Sea and all its dreary coast-line are familiar to this great
gull. In summer it occurs from the Aleutian Islands north to the farthest points reached by the
hardy navigators in the Arctic Ocean adjoining. It is numerous at Point Barrow, according to
Murdoch. At Saint Michaels they appeared each year from the 12th to 30th of April, follow-
ing the leads in the ice as they opened from the south. They are the first of the spring birds to
occur in the north, and their hoarse cries are welcome sounds to the seal-hunter as he wanders
over the ice-fields far out to sea in early spring. They become more and more numerous until
they are very common. They wander restlessly along the coast until the ponds open on the
marshes near the sea, and then, about the last half of May, they are found straying singly or in
pairs about the marshy ponds, where they seek their summer homes. Here they are among the
noisiest of the wild fowl.

They have a series of hoarse cries like the syllables kt-kt-ka, kO-ki-kt, k(-l@6-00, ki-leé-00,
ka-lé6-00, kt-ki-ka, ki-ki-kf. The syllables kfi-kti are uttered in a hoarse nasal tone, the rest, in
ashrill, screaming cry, reaching the ear at a great distance. These notes are used when quarrel-
ing or communicating with each other, and when disturbed on their breeding ground. At
Unalaska, during May, 1877, I found them about the cliffs on the outer face of the island, and they
protested vigorously against our presence as they glided back and forth overhead or perched on
craggy shelves.

In the Yukon delta also, on May 13, 1879, I found them common, and although they were not.
yet seeking their breeding places their shrillcries were heard on all sides. At this date they had
bright almost waxy orange-yellow bills with a pale horn-colored shade at point and a bright ver-
milion spot on the angle of lower mandible. Their iris was light hazel, and feet and legs livid
flesh-color.

On June 4 their first nest was found. It was placed on a small islet, a few feet across, in the
center of a broad shallow pond. The structure was formed of a mass of moss and grass piled up
a foot or more high, with a base 3 feet across, and with a deep central depression lined with dry
grass. There was a single egg. The female, as she sat on the nest, was visible a mile away, and
not the slightest opportunity was afforded for concealment on the broad surrounding flat.

On June 15, near Saint Michaels, another nest was found, an equally conspicuous structure.
Like the majority of their nests found by me, it also was located on a smail islet ina pond. It
was 2 feet high, with a base from 3 to 4 feet long by 2 wide, and measured about 18 inches across
the top. In the apex was a depression about 5 inches deep and 9 inches in diameter. This bulky
structure was made up of tufts of, moss and grass rooted up by the birds’ beaks. The ground
looked as though it had been rooted up by pigs in places near the nest and on the outer edge of
the pond, and while I was examining the nest, which contained three eggs, one of the old birds
came flying up from a considerable distance, carrying a large tuft of muddy grass in its beak and
dropped it close by ou seeing me. One of the eggs taken was white without a trace of the usual
color marks. While I was securing the eggs the parents swooped down close to my head, utter-
ing harsh cries.
po NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The young are hatched the last of June or first of July and are on the wing early in
August. At this time the young of this species, in company with those of glaucescens, are found
quartering the marshes, tide-creeks, and sea-coast in every direction and are very unsuspicious
and curious, following every boat or kyak they come across. Their note is like that of the adult.
At this time the feet, legs, and base of bill of the young are pale flesh-color, outer third of. latter
dark horn color, iris hazel.

The last of August and September forms the moulting season of the adults, and their iris be-
comes golden yellow, the gape, ridge of culmen, and a bar across the mandible where occurs the
vermilion patch in spring, are yellow, the rest of bill dull flesh-color. Feet and legs pale flesh-color.
The wing-feathers of these gulls are lost in pairs, one from each wing, and fall in rotation from the
innermost secondary to outer primary. The tail feathers are dropped in rapid succession, but the
wing-moult extends over weeks.

These are among the last birds to quit the marshes, and are found very numerous along the
coast until the last of October, when the ice closes the water.

The fur traders secured young birds from the Upper Yukon at Fort Reliance on September 28
and October 18, the river being frozen over on the latter date. They occur at intervals along the
entire Yukon.

Mr. Dall records the capture of the young (under the name of hutchinsi) as taken at Fort Yukon
by Mr. Lockhart.

During the cruise of the Corwin in the summer of 1881 the writer found this fine bird every-
where along the coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean visited by us.

They nest upon all the Aleutian Islands, although not enumerated by Mr. Dall in his lists of
the birds found there, he doubtlessly including both this species and glaucescens under the latter
name,

Upon the Fur Seal group both species occur and breed, but in his list of the birds found on
these islands Mr. Elliott only mentions the ‘‘Burgomaster.” Although the latter are very com-
monly seen circling over these islands, they nest almost exclusively upon Walrus Island, a detached
rocky islet, where the birds have no fear of the depredations of foxes, which swarm on the larger
islands. :

6 They nest the first of June, laying, as on the mainland, three eggs. In three weeks the young
appear, covered with a white, downy coat, soon giving place to the brownish gray first plumage.

Mr. Elliott thinks there were about five or six hundred nests on Walrus Island in 1872.

This fine bird also nests on Saint Matthew’s, Saint Lawrence, and the Diomede Islands in
this sea.

Their habits vary with the locality. At one part of the coast they nest on small islets in
marshy lakes, aud at others they place their nests overhanging the breakers on some rugged cliff,
and again the upland on some sea-girt isle is the chosen spot.

Except about their breeding places or about a great feeding resort the Burgomaster is inclined
to be suspicious and does not allow a near approach. The young require at least three years in
which to acquire their full plumage.

North of Europe and Asia Nordenskjold found the Glaucous Gull nesting on the Bear Islands,
Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, and the New Siberian Islands.

LARUS LEUCOPTERUS Faber. Iceland Gull (Esk. Ka-kizh-w-wik).

This is, perhaps, the most abundant gull along the coasts and about the islands of Bering
Sea, thence along the adjoining Arctic coasts. It was found abundant on the Yukon, from Anvik
to the sea, by Mr. Dall, who secured its eggs there from the 5th to 10th of June. The eggs were
jaid in small depressions in the sandy beaches of the islands in the river.

Along the marshy stretches of the coast it also frequents the ponds and sluggish streams and
nests on small islets exactly as does its larger relative, barrovianus. At many points they nest
upon the cliffs of the bold islands or the rocky coast line. Their habits are almost identical with
those of barrovianus. The first leads in the ice at sea during the last of April or first of May
brings these gulls about and they remain until forced south by new ice the last of October.
BIRDS. 53

LARUS GLAUCESCENS Naum. Glaucous-winged Gull (Esk. Ku-kizh-ti-witk),

During May, 1877, these birds were abundant about Unalaska and also upon Akoutan and
Sanak Islands, to the east. The adults had lemon- yellow bills with a large orange-yellow spot on
the angle of lower mandible; their feet were flesh-colored. By May 20 they had reoccupied their old
nesting-places along the cliffs, and although they had no eggs yet they resented, by loud cries and
great restlessness, any intrusion into their haunts.

It breeds abundantly on the Near Islands and also on the Commanders.

At Saint Michaels they arrive early in May with barrovianus and remain until the end of
October, when forced south by the newly-formed ice.

This bird has a more southern distribution than barrovianus or leucopterus. It is found on the
Pacific coast from California north. During the Telegraph Explorations they were taken at Sitka
and Kadiak. Throughout the Alentian chain Mr. Dall found this a very abundant resident species,
although most numerous in the eastern half of the group. He secured nearly-fledged young at
Kyska early in July. From the same author I quote the following interesting notes.

The habit of this and other species in breeding on isolated rocks and small islands, is accounted for by the immu-
nity thus gained from the ravages of foxes on the eggs and young brood.

On the 2d of June, 1872, many eggs in a pretty fresh condition were obtained on the Chica Rocks and islets in the
Akutan Pass. The eggs were very abundant, more than three being rarely found together, and were laid on almost
any little depression of the ground, with little or no attempt ata lining. About the 18th of July, on the Shumagins,
at Coal Harbor, on a peculiar high, round island, abundance of eggs were found, but most of them pretty well
incubated. In this case, the island being covered with tall rank grass, the nests were almost concealed, and, either
from the dead grass naturally occurring in thedepressions, or otherwise, all of them had more or less dry grass in and
about them. The gulls built solely on the top of the highest part of the island, in the grass, and never on the lower
portion, near the shore, nor on the shelves of the rocky and precipitous sides. The young, in down, were obtained
July 16, and the iris of these specimens, as well as the beak and feet, was nearly black. The iris of the adult bird
is a clear gray, the bill.chrome-yellow with a red patch anteriorly, and tle feet flesh-colo Us

The usual nesting- places of this species are the faces of rugged cliffs, at whose base the waves
are continually breaking and the coast exposes its wildest and most broken outliue, the locations
described by Mr. Dall being exceptions to the rule. All about the coasts and islands of Bering
Sea this gull is a common summer resident, but it is not by any means common north of the straits,
where it is replaced almost entirely by barrovianus aud leucopterus. The habits of these two
species are almost identical where they are found together in Bering Sea and they are not easily
distinguished until very near or unless the two chance to be side by side. We have no record of
its occurrence in the interior, although it may frequent the Lower Yukon with leucopterus.

The center of abundance of this species in summer may be located along the Aleutian chain,
leucopterus having its center of abundance along the northern shores of Bering Sea, and barro-
vianus north of the straits. In winter the two latter frequent the Aleutian chain, while many of
the glaucescens move south.

LARUS NELSONI Hensh. Nelson’s Gull.

Since the description of this species in the Auk for July, 1884 (p. 250), nothing whatever has
been added to our knowledge respecting it, and the type specimen remains unique. Its resemblance
to several of the larger gulls is likely to keep us in ignorance of its range and habits for a long
time to come, or until it is made the object of special attention by the naturalists visiting Alaska.
The type specimen was captured by Mr. Nelson at Saint Michaels June 20.

The immature gull taken by Murdoch at Point Barrow and mentioned in Report of the Inter-
national Polar Expedition, 1885, p. 123, under L. kumlieni, is too immature, as Mr. Ridgway now in-
forms me, to be satisfactorily identified, though believed at the time to be that species. The record
of the Z. kumlienit from Alaska is therefore to be canceled.—H. W. H.

LARUS SCHISTISAGUS Stejn. Slaty-backed Gull.

In September, 1880, Capt. C. L. Hooper, of the Corwin, took the first example of this bird
known from the west coast of America. It was secured at the Diomede Islands, in Bering Straits,
and is in the National Museum collection.
54 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The first record of its capture was of the specimen taken by Dr. Bean on October 1, the same
season when a young bird was taken at the head of Chernoffsky Bay, Unalaska. The birds were
abundant there at the time, feeding at the mouth of a small river flowing into the bay.

Further work in this region may show that this specimen is of regular and common occurrence
at many points on the Alaskan coast, although it was not noted by myself nor by any previous
explorer there.

Stejneger found it an abundant breeding species near Petropaulski, Kamchatka, and an oc-
casional visitor to the Commander Islands. From these records it appears that this is a widely
distributed species in Bering Sea and the adjacent parts of the Pacific.

It is probable that the gull taken by Captain-Moore, of the British ship Plover, in 1849, at
Choris Peninsula, and identified by Mr. Harting as the Larus occidentalis, is the L. affinis, though
it may possibly be the present species. Mr. H. remarks that it is of the same size as argentatus,
but with shorter wings and a darker mantle.

LARUS ARGENTATUS SMITHSONIANUS Coues. American Herring Gull (Esk. Vé-96-
yukh-Wk),

Like the preceding, the Herring Gull has but a limited known distribution in the Territory.
Mr. Dall found it abundant on the Upper Yukon, replacing there the leucopterus of the lower
river. The same author records its arrival before the ducks, by May 2, and found it breeding on
islands in the river, laying its eggs in small depressions on the bare ground. MHartlaub records it
as not numerous at Schutlichro& May 30.

36. LARUS CACHINNANS, Pall. Pallas’s Gull (Esk. Na-g6-yuikh-lik).

This gull occurs along the Siberian coast of Bering Sea, but just how commonly is not known. |
It also reaches the Alaskan shore from Kotzebue Sound to the Yukon mouth, at least during the
summer, and probably breeds on our shore. They were somewhat common in Plover Bay, East
Siberia, the summer of 1881, where they are also recorded by Dall under the name of L. argentatus,
and were also seen in Bering Straits.

During my residence at Saint Michaels I saw a number of gulls at long intervals, which were
probably of this species, but I was not able to make a positive identification. October 16, 1880, a
native secured and brought me a fine specimen of this gull. The ZL. borealis, recorded by Dall
as not uncommon at Saint Michaels and as plenty at Plover Bay, is the present species.

LARUS BRACHYRHYNCHUS Rich. Short-billed Gull.

This elegant gull is an abundant species over a large part of the Alaskan mainland. During
the Telegraph Expedition it was secured at Sitka and Kadiak, and was recorded by Dall as abundant
along the Yukon from Fort Yukon to the sea. This author obtained the eggs in large numbers at
the Yukon mouth, and noticed there a variety of the bird with a bright yellow bill. He secured
the young in downy plumage near Fort Yukon.

Although perhaps occurring as a straggler on the Eastern Aleutian Islands during the migra-
tions, it is nearly or quite unknown on the other islands of Bering Sea, except those closely
bordering the sbore line.

It is a marsh-loving species, and is rarely found near the bold promontories and capes which
delight the Kittiwakes. Frequenting all the flat marshy country of the coast and interior, they
are found nesting from the peninsula of Aliaska north to the head of Kotzebue Sound, and from
this sea-coast region they breed interiorly over Alaska and Northern British America.

At the Yukon mouth and Saint Michaels May 14 is the earliest date they were noted in
spring. As arule they are rare until the 20th or 25th of May, about which time they find the
ponds and sluggish streams open in the coast country. They undoubtedly reach interior localities
earlier in the season, as the spring is considerably earlier there.

In the breeding season specimens taken at the Yukon mouth in May had the iris light hazel,
bill and feet gamboge-yellow, with a shade of green on the legs and toes, the corner of gape red,
with a narrow red membranous ring around the eye.
PLATE I

(ewan BHL AO ONTOCA)

“MISIL BIYZITISOPIYUY
“Tifio Seale

 

 

eles

 

 

 
BIRDS. 5D

They show considerable curiosity upon the appearance of an intruder, and very frequently fol-
low one for some distance, uttering a sharp, querulous “ kwew,” ‘“‘kwew.” When one or more are
shot the others circle about a few times, but show very little solicitude over the fate of their com-
panions.

All the examples shot by me in May were extremely handsome, the soft, white plumage being
shaded with a delicate rose color. Adult birds taken at Saint Michaels the last of August had a
silver gray iris mottled with lavender; bill yellow at tip and dingy yellow at base; feet dingy
olive greenish or yellowish. The young of the year at the same season have a hazel iris, dark
horn-colored bill, dull flesh-colored at the base, and pale flesh-colored feet and legs. Upon their
first arrival in the north these birds seek the vicinity of their summer resorts and are found in
the same vicinity until the young are able to fly.

They nest, like the Glaucous Gull, upon small islets in ponds and lakes.

Along the coast of Bering Sea they feed upon sticklebacks and other small fry which abound
in the sluggish streams and lakes. A bulky nest is prepared of grasses and moss early in June,
in which two or three eggs are laid.

From the 18th to 25th of July most of the young are able to fly, and early in August old and
young gather along the courses of streams or near the larger lakes. From this time on many of
the birds are found also about low spits and mud flats along the coast.

The young frequently follow boats for long distances on a stream or near shore, and they are
so unsuspicious that they may almost be knocked down with a paddle.

The old birds pass through the fall moult the latter half of August, and by the middle of
September they are in the new dress, and gradually disappear from the north until by the end of
this month they become rare.

In September they fraternize more commonly with the Kittiwakes than at any other season, in
the bays and along the coast.

LARUS PHILADELPHIA (Ord). Bonaparte’s Gull (Esk. A-taig-dt).

On the coast of Bering Sea this is one of the rarest of the gulls. At the Yukon mouth on June
4a single specimen in the immature plumage was secured while feeding in some shallow ponds in
company with numerous Sabine’s Gulls and Arctic Terns. This was the only spring bird seen by
me in the north, and being in the winter plumage was probably a barren bird straying beyond
the usual range at this season.

On September 19 and 20, 1879, I found them numerous in flocks along the tide-channels near
Saint Michaels. They were hovering in parties with many Short-billed Gulls close to the surface
of the water and feeding upon the schools of sticklebacks. They were only seen once again near
the locality named and that was at about the same date the succeeding fall.

Near Sitka specimens were taken by Bischoff, and my native collectors brought me specimens
from the vicinity of Nulato, and reported it as occurring about the lakes near the head of Kotzebue
Sound.

Dall found it rather common on the marshes along the Yukon, and notes that they are nu-
merous and breed on the Kaiyuh River near Nulato. Eggs have been taken near Fort Yukon.

RHODOSTETHIA ROSEA (Macgil.). Ross’s Gull.

It is with great pleasure that I add this rare and elegant species to our west-coast fauna.
The only specimen secured by me, and the only one seen, was a young bird of the year in its first
plumage taken near Saint Michaels, Norton Sound, on October 10, 1879. The Eskimo to whom I
showed the bird always insisted that it was a young Sabine’s Gull, and could not give me the
slightest information concerning its occurrence, although it may be more or less frequent near
Bering Straits. This specimen measured in the flesh 12.5 inches in total length by 29 inches in
extent of wings: Wing, 9.5 inches to carpal joint; tail, 4 inches; bill, .6 inch along culmen. The
’ tail contained ten feathers and was cuneate. Bill, black; iris, hazel; feet and legs dull fleshy
purple.
56 NATURAL HIST@RY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Since the above was written the Ross’s Gull has been reported by Murdoch as abundant at
Point Barrow in the latter part of September and in October, 1881. None were seen in spring or
summer. “They appeared in large, loose docks, coming in from the sea and from the southwest,
all apparently traveling to the northeast.” It is not known where they breed or where they
winter.

The species was first discovered north of British America, and all the specimens known up to
the date of the capture of mine were secured about the Arctic coast and islands north of Europe
and on the opposite American coast.

A specimen is recorded from between Nova Zembla and Franz-Josef Land by Payer in the
English edition of ‘New Lands within the Arctic Circie,” Vol. II, p. 91.

Three specimens of this gull were brought home by the naturalist of the ill-fated Jeannette.
During the long drift of this vessel in the ice northwest of Bering Straits a number of these
birds were seen and secured, but during the long journey over the ice only three examples were
kept. In spite of this and the length of time since the birds were killed, their plumage still glows
with a beautifully rich and delicate shade of rose color. While cruising in the Corwin off Wrangel
Tsland, in search of the Jeannette during August, 1881, the writer saw a small gull in immature
plumage, which at the time was identified as a young Yema. The bird kept at some distance from
the vessel and was fishing in the water between the floating ice. Since my return to Washington
I have examined the Saint Michaels bird carefully and am convinced that my so-called XYema, off
Wrangel Island, was in reality a young Rhodostethia.

During Parry’s adventurous journey over the ice north of Spitzbergen it was seen several
times and was also noted in Waygatz Straits.

XEMA SABINII (Sab.). Sabine’s Gull (Esk. Vd-yithl-nd-wh).

All the marshy coast districts on both shores of Bering Sea are chosen resorts for this beauti-
ful gull during the breeding season. It is especially numerous along the Alaskan coast from the
Kuskoquim mouth to Kotzebue Sound, and on the Siberian side from Plover Bay to beyond the
Straits, but they occur more as birds of passage along the latter coast than as summer residents.
It occurs in small numbers on Saint Lawrence Island, but is unknown from the other Bering Sea
islands and the Aleutian chain. They undoubtedly winter along the eastern part of the latter
group, and thence south to some undetermined point along the Pacific coast.

It is rather numerous about Point Barrow in summer, and Murdoch thinks they breed there.

The earliest arrival noted by me at Saint Michaels was on May 10, 1878, and the latest date
in fall was October 10, 1879. :

My acquaintance with this bird began on my first excursion near Saint Michaels on June
26,1877. We were caught by a head-tide at the mouth of the “canal,” some 15 miles from the
fort, and tied up to the bank to await the change. We stopped soon after midnight, and taking
my gun I strolled off across the marshes in the soft twilight. For some time only the hoarse cries
of distant loons or the roiling note of a crane broke the silence. The whole scene was desolate in
the extreme; nota living thing could be seen, and the bleaching fragments of drift-wood scattered
among the nuinberless ponds were all that broke the wide extent of level marsh. About 1.30
a. in, the sky became brighter, and the rich tones of the swans, mellowed by the distance to a har-
monious cadence, came from the larger lakes, while various other inhabitants of the marsh from
time to time added their voices to the chorus. In a few minutes a long, straggling train of small
gulls was seen passing over the ponds in silent procession. Approaching them they were found
to be busily engaged in feeding on the small fishes and various small larvee found in these pools.
Their motions and appearance were much like those of Bonaparte’s Gull, when seen at a distance,
but they rarely plunge into the water like the latter, as the Xemas have the habit of hovering
gracefully close over the water to pick up a morsel, or of alighting for an instant in the water and
rising again on the wing so lightly that scarcely a ripple is made on the surface. Ten or a dozen
beautiful specimens were shot without difficulty as the birds flew about. ;

During succeeding seasons I found these birds to be among the most numerous of the
gulls, and the main body of arrivals came in spring, as the ponds and small tide creeks were nearly
BIRDS. at

free from snow and ice, dating from the 15th to 25th of May. At this season they wander in com-
pany with the Arctic Tern, but the last of May or first of June they congregate about the parts of
the marshes selected for their nesting gruund.

Their food throughout the season consists of sticklebacks at times, but mainly of such small
larvee and crustaceans as occur in brackish ponds.

The feet and legs of the adults are black, but are frequently mottled with light patches, as are
the feet of Stercorarius.

The eggs are rarely deposited earlier than on June 5, and generally some days later.

The first young are on the wing about the 15th to 20th of July, and they are very common by
the 10th of August.

As August draws to a close, young and old forsake the marshes to a great extent, and the rest
of the season are found scattered along the coast feeding at the water-line on the beaches. Ona
number of occasions I have mistaken the young of the year of these gulls for plover or other
waders as they sought their food along rocky beaches. In such cases they run out with each retir-
ing wave and back before the incoming one with all the agility of a wader.

A young of the year taken August 24 measured 13 inches in total length by 32.5 in spread of
wings. Its iris was hazel; bill dark bluish horn color along culmen; fleshy horn color along
gape and base of lower ieandlibles feet and legs dull livid flesh color.

Toward the end of September they become more and more scarce until only a comparatively
small number are found at the beginning of October, but the last ones remain until the 8th or
10th of this month, and these birds are usually young of the year.

Sabine’s Gull has a single harsh, grating, but not loud note, very similar to the grating cry
of the Arctic Tern, but somewhat harsher and shorter. When wounded and pursued or captured
it utters the same note in a much higher and louder key, with such a grating file-like intensity
that one feels like stopping his ears. It has the same peculiar clicking interruptions which are
so characteristic of the cry of a small bat held in the hand. A low, chattering modification of this
is heard at times as the birds gather about the border of a favorite pool, or float gracefully in
company over the surface of some grassy-bordered pond. The same note, in a higher key, serves
as a note of alarm and curiosity as they circle overhead or fly off when disturbed. When one of
these gulls is brought down the others of its kind hover over it, but show less devotion than is
usually exhibited by the terns.

On June 13, 1880, about 20 miles from Saint Michaels, while egging iu company with some
Eskimo, we found a pond some 200 yards across, in the middle of which were two small islands.
A gunshot caused at least one hundred of these gulls to rise like a white cloud over the islet,
and showed us that we had found a breeding place. As we stood on the shore a few birds
came off, and circling close about us for a few moments, but rarely making any outcry, returned
to the island, where the others had already settled again and appeared to be sitting upon
the ground. The water of the lake we found to be about waist-deep, under which lay a solid bed
of ice of unknown depth.

The smallest island lay nearest, and sending one of my men out to it he found a set of two eggs
of the Black-throated Loon, one set of the Arctic Tern’s eggs, and two of Sabine’s Gull. Proceed-
ing to the nextisland he found a set of Aythya marila nearctica eggs as he stepped ashore, and a mo-
ment later cried out that the ground was covered with gulls’ eggs. At the same time he answered
with chattering teeth that the water in the lake was very cold. Having never seen the nest
of this gull I called my man back and he transported me upon his back to the island after nar-
rowly escaping several falls on the way. The island was very low, and the driest spots were but
little above the water. Built on the driest places were twenty-seven nests, containing from one to
three eggs each, and as many others just ready for occupancy. Four or five nests were frequently
placed within 2 or 3 feet of each other. In about one-half the cases the eggs were laid upon
the few grass blades the spot afforded with no alteration save a slight depression made by the
bird’s body. In the majority of the other nests a few grass blades and stems had been arranged
circularly about the eggs, and in the remainder only enough material had been added to afford
the merest apology for a nest.

S. Mis. 156-8
58 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

While I was securing my prizes the birds hovered overhead in great anxiety, although they
rarely uttered their grating cry, and in the very few instances when a bird darted down at us it
was in perfect silence. While we were on the island several Glaucous Gulls and Jaegers passed
by, and in every case they were attacked by several of the Xemas and driven hastily away. Two
nests had been despoiled either by these birds or a muskrat, as the broken shells showed. When
the eggs were secured a large and fine lot of the gulls were obtained, and we then made our way
back to camp heavily laden with spoils. Solitary nests were afterwards found either on islands
like the last or on the border of a pond. In one instance the female left her eggs when I was
over 100 yards away and flew directly away until she was lost to sight.

STERNA TSCHEGRAVA Lepech. Caspian Tern (Esk. Ti-kilth-kot-ytikh-ptk).

This great Tern occurs as an occasional visitant to the coast of Bering Sea, from the Yukon
mouth to Saint Michaels at least, and is undoubtedly found still more frequently south to the
known haunts of the species along the Pacific coast. It is well known to the Eskimo in the
vicinity, who call it by the same name as they do the Arctic Tern, simply adding a suffix meaning
“the big.” Several were seen during my residence both at Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth,
but none were obtained. These birds occur also along the east coast of Asia, and are found in
India in winter. .

STERNA PARADIS#HA Briinn. Arctic Tern (Esk. Tu-ktlth-kot-yik).

Throughout all Northern Alaska, both on the coast and in the interior, the Arctic Tern is an
abundant summer resident, breeding wherever found. Near Saint Michaels they arrive about the
same time as Sabine’s Gull, the first arrival noted being on May 10, but the main body of the
birds come between the 15th and 25th of this month, when the ponds and streams on the coast
open. By the latter date they are common, but the first eggs are not laid till about the 5th
of June, though the date varies with the season. One set was found on the island, close to the
nests of the Sabine’s Gulls, on June 13, and but for the difference between the eggs could not
have been separated from those of the latter. The young are rarely on the wing before July 20,
and I have secured both fresh eggs and downy young the 29th of July.

The last of August and during September these terns seek the coast and mouths of streams,
and become rather scarce about their breeding grounds, and by the 20th of September very few
are to be found, although single individuals are sometimes seen until the 1st of October.

When these terns first arrive the ground is still partly covered with snow and the birds keep
in flocks of various size. When the snow disappears the flocks break up and they breed in scat-
tered pairs. On June 12 I found a nest upon a small wet islet in a pond. The islet was cov-
ered with short grass, and my attention was drawn to the spot from seeing the parents continually
attacking the passing gullsand jaegers. When I drew near they swooped at me and circled about
without a cry until both were shot. The nest was lined with a few dry grass stems and contained
two eggs, and the female bore another ready to deposit. Another nest similarly situated was lined
with material procured within a few feet, and the ground was turned up in small spots all about
where the birds had uprooted the grass, many small bunches of grass being half uprooted and
left, the task proving too heavy.

The middle of August the young are very common on the marshes, and follow an intruder
about from place to place, uttering an odd squeaky imitation of the notes of the adult birds.
They heedlessly hover close overhead, and the expression of innocent wonder in their soft black
eyes makes them amusing little creatures to watch.

Toward the end of August the young have a dark hazel iris; feet and legs varying from dull
orange-reddish to dingy orange-yellow. Bill dark born color at tip and along culmen; basal half
under nares dull orange-red or dull lake; gape orange. Some specimens have the bill nearly all
blackish horn color.

On the Aleutian Islands Dall found these birds abundant and breeding on the Shumagins
and at Amehitka. It occurs on Saint Lawrence and Saint Matthew’s Islands, where it breeds, and
although not mentioned by Elliott as occurring on the Fur Seal group it must occur there in the
migrations, at least.
BIRDS. 59

During the cruise of the Corwin in 1881 we found these graceful birds on both the Alaskan
and Siberian shores as far as we went. It arrives at Point Barrow about June 10 and leaves
about the end of August. It breeds in that vicinity. It is numerous on the Near Islands, breed-
ing on Semichi. They breed sparingly also on the Commander Islands.

Along the Yukon Dall found these birds very common in large flocks, and found the downy
young on June 22, near Fort Yukon. They frequently followed his boat long distances, and were
seen sitting on sticks of drift-wood or hovering over the river.

During Collinson’s famous voyage to the north coast of Alaska he found these birds at sea
north of Point Barrow in latitude 75° 30’ north, the most northern point reached by any explorer
in this region except the Jeannette crew.

During Nordenskjold’s voyage they were found common on Spitzbergen but scarce on Nova
Zembla, and were seen about the New Siberian Islands, and during the cruise of the Corwin the
writer saw them over nearly all the Arctic basin north of Bering Straits.

At the points visited by the first named explorer the birds’ eggs were found on the bare
sandy or pebbly ground.

STERNA ALEUTICA Baird. Aleutian Tern (Esk. Ly i-liig-ti-nd-ghtk).

Among the results of the Telegraph Explorations in Alaska was the discovery of this geo-
graphically narrowly limited Tern. From the time of its discovery upon Kadiak Island, by
Bischoff, who also secured a single egg, nothing has been published adding to the bird’s history up
to the present date. In 1875-’76 the Smithsonian Institution received specimens taken in the
vicinity of Saint Michaels by Mr. L. M. Turner, thus adding much to the bird’s known distri-
bution. During the writer’s residence at Saint Michaels he found these birds to be regular and
common summer residents in certain restricted localities where they nested. They extend their
range to the head of Norton Bay, and also reach the Siberian coast of Bering Straits, as shown by
their presence in Saint Lawrence Bay, where Mr. R. L. Newcomb, naturalist of the Jeannette,
found them in 1879.

The facts given above comprise all we know at present of this interesting bird’s history, and
from it we see that they breed throughout their known range, and undoubtedly winter in the
vicinity of Kadiak and the coast of the Northern Pacific adjacent thereto. This species is strictly
limited to the sea-coast, and breeds upon small dry islands on the coast. They reach Saint
Michaels from May 20 to 30, rarely earlier than the first date, and are found scattered along the
coast in company with the Arctic Tern for a short time, but early in June they gather about the
islands where they nest.

One of these islands is about a mile from Saint Michaels, in the mouth of a tide-channel known
as the “canal.” This island is nearly half a mile across, rises about 30 feet from the beach in a
sharp incline, and has a rather level top covered with a thick mat of grass, moss, and other vege-
tation. The upland is dry, and here the birds breed, laying their eggs directly upon the moss,
with no attempt ata lining, which would be entirely unnecessary there. Some 18 miles to the east-
ward, along the coast, and less than a mile from the Eskimo village of Kegikhtowik, is another
island in a bay, presenting almost the same characteristics as the one first described, and upon
the higher portions the birds nest even more commonly, for as against the twenty pairs or so
nesting on the first island some thirty or forty pairs occupied the latter island both seasons when
it was visited by the writer. From the proximity of native villages, and owing to the persecution
received at the hands of Turner and myself, the birds on these islands were very shy, and it was
no easy task to secure specimens. “

On each island they were in company with about an equal number of Arctic Terns, but while
the latter were darting down at our heads or circling back and forth within easy gunshot, the
other species kept at an elevation of some 40 yards, and after one or two were taken the rest
arose out of gunshot and passed back and forth overhead in safety.

They can be distinguished from arctica, even when out of gunshot overhead, by their darker
under surface and their slightly slower wing-strokes. The old birds have a black bill with slight
horn-colored tip, and black feet and legs. Both old and young have the iris hazel.
60 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The eggs are rarely laid before June 5 or 10, and I found one egg with an embryo two-thirds
grown on September 1, but this is very unusual. When partly fledged the young have pale, dingy,
orange-yellow feet and legs; tip of beak and culmen dark horn color; gape and rest of beak pale
orange-yellow.

The young in any stage may be readily distinguished from the young of paradiscea by the
deeply cleft toe-web, whereas the web of the latter is nearly full. The young of aleutica are
hatched from the last of June until September, and the first ones are on the wiug by the last of
July. The old birds stray along the coast after the first of July and until about the middle of Sep-
tember, after which none are seen until the following season.

Ou September 1, 1879, I visited the island near Kegikhtowik and found from sixty to eighty
adults of this species haunting the vicinity and circling in graceful flight all about the island.
When we landed and passed over the island the birds showed considerable anxiety and continu-
ally uttered a thin, clear, trilling whistle. With the exception of some broken egg-shelis and the
old depressions showing the nesting sites, nothing but a single egg was found there, but as we
walked out on a low cape, covered with large scattered rocks, we put up, one after the other,
a considerable number of young birds just able to fly, and a goodly number were secured. When
they arose they had a queer, erratic, dazed kind of flight, reminding me of the flight of an owl sud-
denly disturbed in the daytime.- The old birds kept flying in toward the point with small fishes in
their beaks, but although we concealed ourselves in the rocks others of the party evidently warned
them, so that only two or three of the adults were taken. One young bird was fired at and missed
and flew wildly out to sea, when it was joined by an old bird which kept close to it, and as the
young bird became tired and turned toward shore the parent met it and forced it to turn back.
This maneuver was repeated over a dozen times, until the young bird was forced off to sea out of
sight. This was one of the most striking instances of bird sagacity I met with in the north.

The downy young of this species appear to be distinguishable from the young of all other
species. The color above is a grayish buff, profusely blotched with black. The black of the chin
and throat extends somewhat to the upper portion of the breast. The breast is pure white, shad-
ing into a very dark gray on the belly and sides. There is considerable difference in individual
specimens, some being of a light buff above.

As compared with the downy young of paradiscea from Labrador, these birds are darker
above, buff instead of a light falvous, and with more black blotching. The black of the under
parts in paradisca is limited to the chin and throat, while the belly is of a much lighter color.

The young when just on the wing have the occiput blackish brown, the head above spotted
with same. The feathers of back, wing coverts, and tertiaries are edged with bright ochraceous,
which also tips the tail-feathers. The secondaries are broadly tipped with white, making a con-
spicuous wing-band. Under parts white, the breast washed with smoky brown. Upper mandible
black, lower yellow. The rump is ashy instead of white, as in the corresponding stage of para-
discea.

n HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS (Gmel.). Black Tern.

The only record of this bird’s occurrence in Alaska is that given by Mr. Dall, who obtained a
single specimen with an egg from an Indian at Fort Yukon. Both bird and egg were taken in the
marshes near that place in June.

DIOMEDEA NIGRIPES Aud. Black-footed Albatross.

The day after we left San Francisco on our way north, April 26, these birds first appeared, and
on the third day out about thirty kept in our wake. On the eighth day only a few were left, and
when two days from the Aleutian Islands none were to be seen. On our way south from the
Aleutians in October, 1881, these birds first appeared about 150 miles south of the islands, and
only disappeared when Cape Mendocino came in view. Through all the ten days of continuous
gales we experienced, which were so fierce as to do our vessel much damage and force us to lay to
for several days, the buoyant forms of these birds were visible. As night hid the face of the Pacific
they were seen upon motionless wings gliding along our wake or cutting across the bow, and
early dawn showed them continuing apparently in the same position, until it seemed as if they had

manera Ahn wen thane wh oll tha elanmea nianhe
BIRDS. 61

At times thirty or more are gathered close about the vessel, and again only two or three are
visible far off toward the horizon. A few scraps of food thrown overboard is sure to attract the
nearest ones, and the others take the cue from them and hurry in from all sides. They have a
curious guttural note as they quarrel over the food and a whining cry when on the wing.

When taking wing they half spread their wings and paddle rapidly along as if running on
the water, until they gain sufficient impetus to glide easily up. In rough weather they rise
easily from the crest of a wave as though impelled by some unseen force, but in a calm they
rise with much more difficulty. Like other albatrosses the flight of this bird is a marvelous
exhibition of grace and ease. Their wings are exceeding thin and sharp, as viewed on either edge,
and the tips appear sensitive to every breeze and ripple in the air.

In Mr. Dall’s notes upon this species in his several papers he credits them with being able io
distinguish a discolored spot in the water a yard across at least 5 miles away. The same natu-
ralist learned from Capt. George Holder that these birds nest, during the winter months, on the
coral island of Gaspar Rico, near the equator. This gentleman was on a voyage in search of new
guano islands, and found these birds nesting as described. They are not known to nest anywhere
on our coast, nor on the adjacent islands.

According to Dr. T. H. Bean the fresh birds measure nearly 80 inches in extent by 28.50 in
length, with a bill from 3.78 to 4.31 inches long. The iris is umber-brown, and the base and tip of
bill black, the remainder plumbeous.

The sineunallies just quoted considers latitude 51° north as the northern limit of nigripes.

DIOMEDEA ALBATRUS Pall. Short-tailed Albatross.

From latitude 50° in the North Pacific this fine bird becomes more or less numerous, and
thence north nearly.or quite replaces the preceding species.

During May, 1877, I found them very common between the islands east of Unalaska.

The birds were very conspicuous from their white plumage and great size. During calm days
they were most numerous, and ten or fifteen were frequently insight at atime. Unlike the Black-
footed Albatross these birds do not appear to follow vessels, and, in fact, are so shy that as a
rule they give a wide berth to any species of sailing craft.

They were found throughout the Aleutian chain by Dall, who observed the carcass of a very
young one on Attu in August. They are resident about the islands, and in the ancient shell-heaps
their bones are of common occurrence. Elliott states that they were numerous about the Fur Seal
Islands thirty years ago when the whale-fishery was carried on in that part of Bering Sea. Since
the decline of this the birds have become more and more uncommon there. They rarely visit
Norton Sound, but the writer found them common about Bering Straits in summer. A number
were seen about the Diomede Islands, and others about Saint Lawrence Island and. the opposite
Siberian shore. A number of their beaks were found in some deserted Eskimo villages on the
latter island.

During his summer cruise Dr. Bean found these birds around the Gulf of Alaska, but consid-
ered the mouth of Cook’s Inlet and the vicinity of the Barren Islands as their favorite resort. He
also found them shy and difficult to secure. The Kadiak Eskimo call them “ Kay-mih-rye-erk.”
The natives of Alexandrovsk sometimes spear them from their kyaks. <A bird secured by Dr.
Bean measured in the flesh 88 inches in extent; wing, 21; tail, 6.75; bill, 5.19; tarsus, 3.87;
middle toe and claw, 5.12.

Turner reports this species common about the Near Islands in March.

In about latitude 40° 30’ N., and longitude 142° 23’ W., Dr. Bean observed au albatross which
his notes indicate to be Diomedea melanophrys. This brings the bird within the range of nigripes,
and it is barely possible that it may reach the Aleutian chain. The colors, as noted, were: Head,
neck, lower parts, and rump, white; under surface of wings light colored; elsewhere the bird is
duke gray, like nigripes. (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., v. 170, 1883.) It is slightly smaller than the
latter species. The bill is light, and a dark ahicale extends from the bill behind the ear.
62 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

FULMARUS GLACIALIS GLUPISCHA Steju. Pacific Fulmar.

This is the common Fulmar of the North Pacific. A number of specimens are in the National
Museum collection from Unalaska.

From the account of the voyage of the Vega we learn that F’. glupischa occurs on Bear Island,
Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, being more common on the two former groups.

They nest abundantly on Bear Island, choosing sloping cliffs not difficult of access. On May
28, 1866, their eggs were found upon the bare ice which covered the rocks. At one place a bird
was found, by one of the early explorers, frozen fast by one leg, as it sat on its eggs, in August.
On the north part of Nova Zembla, Barents found some Fulmars nesting upon a piece of ice covered
with a little earth.

In the Cruise of the Corwin (p. 113), I state that “as we approached Ounalaska in Sep-
tember, large numbers of dark-plumaged Fulmars were also seen in company with the common
species (rodgersi), but then, as before, it was impossible to secure specimens. The intensity of the
dark coloring in many of these specimens seemed to preclude the idea of their being referable to
Rodgers’s Fulmar.” A number of these dark birds were also seen north of Bering Straits on two
occasions. As Dr. Stejneger has already suggested, I think these birds may be safely referred to
his recently described form.

Turner records these birds as rare on the Near Islands, occurring most frequently on Semichi,
and this record, with my observations, as noted, covers all the information at hand concerning the
presence of the form in Alaska.

On the Commander Islands it breeds in the greatest abundance on high cliffs and promontories
rising from the sea. The eggs are dull-white. On these islands Stejneger found both a dark and
a white phase, the latter being far less numerous.

FULMARUS GLACIALIS RODGERSII (Cass.). Rodgers’s Fulmar.

The type of this form was secured in the North Pacific by Stimpson, during Rodgers’s Expedi-
tion into that region.

Allof the Bering Sea islands situated offshore and north of the Aleutian chain are frequented
by these Fulmars during the breeding season. During the summer of 1877 they were found very
common north of the Aleutian Islands and about the Fur Seal group. As we neared the western
shore of Bering Sea and came into shallow water the Fulmars disappeared, and during the four
years passed at Saint Michaels only a single specimen was taken. This was secured on October
15, 1879, and measured 17.50 inches in length by 41 inches in extent. The bill was of a varying
shade of greenish-yellow and bluish-green ; the iris very dark hazel; feet and tarsus livid bluish.

During the summer of 1881 we found this Fulmar very numerous in Bering Straits and about
Saint Lawrence Island and the west coast of the sea. North of the straits they were also found
abundant along the Siberian coast and northward, but rare on any part of the Alaskan shore.
They were common off Herald Island, where they were breeding in August, and also off the south
shore of Wrangel Island.

The flight of these birds, like that of all their kindred, is full of grace and buoyancy, and the
birds form almost the only object of interest on a large part of their range. Their wandering
habits lead them from one place to another, so that on some of our passages through the straits
they were abundant, on others they were very scarce.

The food of this bird consists of the small fragments of animal matter the surface of the sea
affords. They gather about a whale’s carcass, and drink the large globules of oil which cover the
sea, sometimes for miles, about a decaying cetacean. In Plover Bay, Siberia, on one occasion,
we noticed the oil thus floating about in the morning, and in the afternoon a Fulmar was shot from
which ran a considerable quantity of putrid oil when the bird was taken up by the feet.

They rarely follow vessels for any length of time, although they gather about any food thrown
overboard, if they happen to be near, and quarrel over it.

Upon the Fur Seal Islands Mr. Elliott found these Fulmars breeding, and tells us that they are
the only species of the petrel kind found about this group. They reach these islands very early in
BIRDS. 63

the season and repair to the cliffs, especially on the south aud east shores of Saint George’s Island,
where, selecting some rocky shelf on the face of the cliff, safe from all enemies except man, they
deposit a single egg upon the bare rock and proceed at once with the incubation. They are very
devoted to their eggs, and our author states that they may even be pelted to death with stones
before they will desert their charge. The eggs are laid by the 1st to the 5th of June, and measure
about 2.90 by 1.90. The color is soiled white; the shell is rather rough, and the egg is scarcely
more pointed at one end than the other.

The natives of the islands obtain the eggs, which are said to be very palatable, by lowering
one of their number over the ciiffs on a rope or raw-hide thong. ‘The chick comes out a perfect
puff-ball of white down, gaining its first plumage in about six weeks. Itis a dull gray, black at
first, but by the end of the season it becomes like the parents in coloration, only much darker on
the back and scapularies.”. The writer saw young birds in both the stages just mentioned, in Sep-
tember and October, 1881. During September Fulmars were seen about the Straits, and in Octo-
ber they were extremely numerous off the harbors in the Aleutian Islands, and so fat that they
could scarcely rise from the water during calm weather; whether they were of this or the forego-
ing species it is impossible to say. The Fulmars taken about Spitzbergen are said to have a red-
dish-orange suffusion in the white plumage during spring.

PUFFINUS TENUIROSTRIS (Temm.). Slender-billed Shearwater (Esk. Mtk-lik ting-
t-mé-ttk).

During the Telegraph Explorations Mr. Dall secured a skin of this bird from an Eskimo.
' The bird was killed in Kotzebue Sound, and the natives called it the “ Miklok ting-myuk,” or
Seal Bird, and said that it followed the seals in their migrations. This record extends the bird’s
range through Bering Straits to the Arctic Circle.

The writer saw no bird which could be referred to this species on the eastern side of Bering
Sea, but just northwest of the straits, the last of August, 1881, quite a number of dark-plumaged
birds were seen, with many Rodgers’s Fulmars, which appeared to differ in size and appearance
from the latter, and which I am inclined to think belonged to this species. Many young dark-
plumaged Fulmars were seen at the same time.

Again, the last of September, as we approached the harbor of Unalaska, many of the same
birds were seen in the same company.

As the single specimen secured by Dall is the only one taken north of the Aleutian chain,
the species must be regarded as very rare there. It is reported from Sitka by Schlegel, and also
from Japan and the Kurile Islands.

By a slip, my notes upon this bird in the Cruise of the Corwin were given under the name
of Priocella tenuirostris (Aud.).

In addition to the siagle specimen of this bird taken by Dall in Kotzebue Sound, one was
taken at Unalaska, August 31, 1828, by von Kittlitz, and a third specimen, from Sitka, is said to
be in the Leiden Museum (cf. Stejneger, Auk, July, 1884, p. 234). Another specimen has been
taken recently on Kadiak Island by Mr. W. J. Fisher.

AESTRELATA FISHERI Ridgw. Fisher’s Fetrel.

This species was described from a specimen taken on Kadiak Island by Mr. Fisher. (See
Proc. U. S. National Museum, 1882, pp. 656-658.) Nothing distinctive is known of its habits.

OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA (Vieill.). Leach’s Petrel.

In May and October I found this petrel abundant in the passes through the Aleutian chain
and for some distance on each side of the islands, rarely, however, passing 100 miles to the north,
although being found everywhere on the North Pacific, even hundreds of miles offshore. They
are always more common, however, near land.

Bischoff found them abundant near Sitka, and Dall found them breeding on the rocky islets
near Attu and on the highlands of Kyska and Amchitka, all near the western end of the Aleutian
64 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

chain. The male is said to assume a large part of the duties of incubation. A single white egg is
usually laid in the end of a burrow from 6 inches to a foot deep. The burrow is usually in a turfy
bank and is rarely straight. They disgorge a reddish, oily fluid when handled, which has a strong,
musky odor. The birds are largely nocturnal in their habits during this season. Fresh eggs were
taken from June 10 to the end of July. Our author also states that birds from the islands are
darker than those from Sitka. Upon these islands they are summer residents, arriving in May and
going south in winter.

These birds breed all along the coast to Southern California and are probably the species
which breeds on the Mendocino County coast, and are called ‘‘musk-birds” by the people there.
They breed also on the Commander Islands according to Stejneger.

OCEANODROMA FURCATA (Gmel.). Fork-tailed Petrel (Esk. Ok-wik).

The Aleutian Islands form the main home of this elegant bird. Itis seen in the North Pacific
for one or two hundred miles south from the islands, but the passes and waters within a few miles
of the outer shores afford them their most frequented haunts. The middle of June, 1877, they
were common offshore west of Nunivak Island, in Bering Sea, and they are frequent autumnal
visitants to all parts of this sea. I obtained several specimens at Saint Michaels usually during
October. The Eskimo find them even after the sea is covered with ice. At such times they are
usually near an air-hole, and in several cases were captured alive, being too weak from starvation
to escape. They are also sometimes found on the Lower Yukon, and, strangely enough, one was
captured about 75 miles up the Tanana River, where the bird was found sitting on the ice near an
air-hole latein November. In the flesh they measure about 8.75 inches long by 18 in extent.

During the cruise of the Corwin, in 1881,.these petrels were seen on several occasions in
Bering Straits and about Saint Lawrence Island, and in Plover Bay, Siberia.

Two specimens were taken in Kotzebue Sound by the Eskimo during my residence at Saint
Michaels, so its range reaches the Arctic Circle. They never pay the slightest attention to a vessel,
and have the same style of flight and habits at sea as Leach’s Petrel. They were found breeding
upon the Chica Rocks in Akoutan Pass, near Unalaska, on June 2, by Mr. Dall. The nests were on
the edge of a steep bank near, but 10 or 12 feet above, the shore. They were in holes exteuding
obliquely downward and back and about afoot deep. In the bottom was a little dry grassand fine
roots. The eggs were white and but one in a nest. The same naturalist afterwards found these
birds breeding from the pass named west to the end of the chain. The soft delicate colors of this
petrel render it one of the most elegant of the northern water-fowl and especially marked among
the other petrels. When caught on the nest they eject the musky, oily contents of their stomachs.
Their habits seem to be very much like those of Leach’s Petrel.

Stejneger found this bird breeding on Copper Island, one of the Commander group. The eggs
were deposited singly in holes, three or more feet deep, among the basaltic rocks. Both male and
female birds were found incubating. The eggs are dull white, with fine spots of lilac and dark color
about the larger end.

OCEANODROMA HORNBYI (Gray). Hornby’s Petrel.

While on my way to and from the Aleutian Islands a petrel conspicuous by its white collar
and under surface was seen repeatedly, and, although none were secured, yet it was identified by
its peculiar pattern of coloration.

These birds were seen both in May and in October while crossing a part of the Pacific some
500 miles broad bordering the Aleutian chain.

[Notr.—It is highly probable that the birds referred to are the O. jisheri, recently described by Mr. Ridgway.—
H. W. J

At least three additional species of petrels were seen while in this same part of me North
Pacific, but as none could be secured their identity remains unknown.

Two species of Puffinus were also seen but not identified. A thorough examination of the
Aleutian chain will undoubtedly add one or more species of this family to our fauna.
BIRDS. 65

PHALACROCORAX DILOPHUS CINOINATUS (Brandt). White-crested Cormorant.

Two specimens of this species are recorded (as dilophus) by Dall as having been taken at
Sitka by Bischoff during the Telegraph Explorations.
Turner records it as an abundant resident of the Near Islands.

55. PHALACROCORAX PELAGICUS Pall. Pelagic Cormorant.

According to Stejneger true pelagicus occurs upon the Aleutian and Commander Islands, and
is replaced along the coast of the Alaska mainland by the following variety. This, then, is the
cormorant I found abundant in the Aleutian Islands in May of 1877, and in the fall of 1881, where,
also, it has been reported by others. Turner reports it as abundant on the Near Islands.

PHALACROCORAX PELAGICUS ROBUSTUS Ridgw. Violet-Green Cormorant (Esk.
A-gé-zhik).

This is the most abundant species of cormorant found in the Territory. It occurs everywhere
on the coast, from Norton Sound to Sitka, and breeds on almost every rocky promontory. Like
the other species of cormorants they are inquisitive, and frequently circle about boats and vessels
which approach their haunts.

A female taken on July 8 had a brown iris and a carunculated and coral-red gular sac, with
a vearly black mandible. Another, taken on July 26, had a dark-green iris; otherwise similar,
Although these birds nest abundantly on the cliffs about the north shore of Norton Sound, and a
few near Saint Michaels, yet they are never very numerous about the latter place. They usually
arrive there with the first open water from the 5th to 10th of June, and are found in small
numbers until the ice forces them away the middle of October. They rarely enter the inner bays,
except early in spring or just before ice forms in fall. One taken October 12 had a livid, flesh-
colored gular sac, and a horn-colored bill. They keep about the rocky points and islets on the outer
face of the islands or on bold cliffs facing the open sea, and although shy about Saint Michaels
they are much less suspicious when about their breeding places.

The Eskimo on the Aleutian Islands, and thence north to the Straits, make use of cormorant-
skins for clothing, and the filamentous white feathers of the flanks are used in ornamental work
as fringes.

PHALOCROCORAX URILE (Gmel.). Red-faced Cormorant (Esk. BMéin-tihl-hiil-th),

In the Fur Seal Islands this is a resident species. A male and female taken by Mr. Dall on
Amchitka the last of July showed respectively the following points of coloration: Iris olive-brown ;
base of mandible dull ashy blue, with a narrow orange border to the naked membrane.

The female had a pale olive-brown iris; base of mandibles and culmen bright blue; remainder
of naked space scarlet. In his report upon the birds of the Fur Seal Islands (loe. cit.) Dr. Coues
makes the following pertinent notes:

In the adult plumage it is readily recognized by the naked red skin which entirely surrounds
the base of the bill, and the blue base of the under mandible. Eggs taken by Mr. Elliott have the
chalky incrustations common to the eggs of cormorants, and are of the usual shape, measuring
about 24 inches long by 14 wide. Concerning the bird’s habits on these islands I take the fol-
lowing notes from Mr. Elliott: It comes under the cliffs to make its nest and lay before any other
species, and two eggs were taken from a nest on a reef at Saint Paul Island, June 1, 1872, over
three weeks in advance of the nesting season of the majority of the other water-fowl. The nest
is large, carefully rounded, and built upon some jutting point or narrow shelf along the face of a
cliff. In its construction sea-weeds, grasses, and a cement, largely made up of the bird’s excre-
ments, are used. The eggs are usually three, sometimes four in number, and are small as com-
pared with the size of the bird. They are of a whitish gray, green, and blue color, but become
soiled very soon, as the birds are very filthy about their nests. The young appear after three
weeks’ incubation, and are without feathers and almost bare even of down. They grow rapidly
and are fed by the old birds ejecting the contents of their stomachs, composed of small fish, crabs,

8. Mis.-156——9
66 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

and shrimps, over and around the nest. At the end of six weeks they equal their parents in size
and are ready to take wing. Not until the beginning of the second year do they get the bright
glossy plumage and bright colors on the gular sac. This shag is a stupid and very inquisitive
bird, and utters no sound whatever except when flying over and around a boat or ship, which
apparently bas a magnetic power of attraction for them. At such times they sometimes utter
a “low, droning croak.” In their stomachs our author found the remains of small fish and coils
of parasitic worms.

As this bird is found during the whole winter, in spite of severe weather, perched on the
sheltered bluffs, the natives (of these islands) regard it with a species of affection, for it furnishes
the only supply that they can draw upon for fresh meat, soups, and stews, always wanted by the
sick; and were the shags sought after throughout the year as they are during the short spell of
intensely bitter weather that occurs in severe winters, driving the other water-fowl away, they
would certainly be speedily exterminated. They are seldom shot, however, when anything else
can be obtained.

Upon Saint Matthew’s and Saint Lawrence Islands, as well as upon the cliffs on both shores of
Bering Straits and the islands in the middle of the pass, this cormorant is a more or less common
summer resident. It is rather common about the cliffs at the head of Norton Sound, and is seen
at long intervals near Saint Michaels, and nests on Cape Vancouver, Nelson Island, and Cape Ro-
manzoff. Unfortunately my opportunities for studying the species of this genus in Bering Sea
were very limited, but I may note here that these birds offer an inviting field of investigation for
such naturalists as may visit the Territory in the future.

MERGANSER AMERICANUS (Cass.). American Merganser.

Not a single individual of this species was seen by the writer during over four years’ residence
in the Territory. Records of its occurrence in this region are furnished by Mr. Dall. It was
taken at Sitka by Bischoff and at Fort Yukon by Lockhart. The same writer secured the heads
of several specimens killed in the outer bay at Unalaska the 20th of December after a severe
storm. Heconsidered it as an accidental visitor, although he was informed that it occurs about
the Fur Seal Islands in winter. Hartlaub records the capture of a male at Chilcat April 26. It
has also been recorded from Alexandrovsk Island, Kenay by Finsch, from Kadiak by Bean, who
tooka female July 30, 1880, and from Chilcoot by Hartlaub. (Stejneger, Orn. Expl. Kamtsch., 1885,
p. 177, footnote.)

MERGANSER SERRATOR (Linn.). Red-breasted Merganser (Esk. Pai-ytki.).

This species is recorded from Amchitka Island, in the Western Aleutians, by Dall, who found
it breeding. Specimens were taken by Bischoff at Sitka and Kadiak, where they breed. Itis a
common resident of the Near Islands and occurs on the Commander Islands. On an island in the
Yukon delta Dall found six nests of this bird. They were all carefully concealed under dead
leaves and were generally sheltered by a log of drift-wood, and in a small hollow lined with down
from the parent’s breast. They contained from six to ten rich cream-colored eggs.

At Unalaska, on June 5, 1877, I found a small flock of these birds near the mouth of a creek
at the head of a bay, and was led to suppose they were nesting in the vicinity. They are not re-
corded from the Fur Seal Islands, where they undoubtedly occur in the migrations.

During the summer of 1881 I found them breeding upon Saint Lawrence Island and along the
Siberian coast from Plover Bay to Cape North through Bering Straits, On the Alaskan coast
they breed everywhere in suitable places from Sitka north to Icy Cape and perhaps to Point
Barrow. They are rather numerous about the head of Kotzebue Sound and the adjacent Selawik
Lake. At the Yukon delta and Saint Michaels they generally commence to arrive with the
open water about the middle of May and some seasons even as late as the 25th. The first
eggs are laid early in June, and the site for the nest on the marshes is ordinarily the same as that
chosen by other species of ducks with the usual foresight as to concealment and p roximity to a
pond.

Fresh eggs were secured by me up to August 3, and on the 6th the downy young only a
few days old were found. This bird is extremely gregarious and arrives in flocks of from ten to
BIRDS. 67

seventy-five birds in spring, and during the entire summer it is a common occurrence to start up
a party of from five to ten or more. In the brackish ponds and tide creeks of the marshes they
find an abundance of food in the myriads of sticklebacks which swarm in these waters.

As fall approaches, early in September, the stray parties commence to unite into flocks of
from a dozen to nearly one hundred, and are found everywhere from the sea-coast up to the bases
of the mountains back of the marshes. They are not shy, and fly in compact flocks, which a single
discharge will often decimate. They remain late, being found until the 10th of October, unless
the season is early.

The first of August, one season, I surprised a female with young only a few days old ina pond
not over 25 yards in diameter, near Saint Michaels. The pond was bordered by smooth muddy
banks, and there was not the slightest chance for concealment, so the old bird marshalled her
brood to the farther side of the pond, as I drew near, uttering frequently a low, distinct, but
husky, kha-kha-kha. Desiring the young I fired some five or six shots until several were killed,
yet, meanwhile, the distressed parent showed not the slightest care for her own safety, but after
each shot swam uneasily to and fro among her young, uttering her call, and trying to urge them
to gather about her. She was so absorbed in her maternal feelings that she did not heed me in
the slightest, even when I advanced to the water’s edge and splashed the water and shouted.
Throughout the interior of the Territory, except in the most mountainous districts, this is a common
summer resident.

LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS (Linn.). Hooded Merganser.

This species is introduced here on the authority of Dr. Bannister, who states that he saw a
flock at Saint Michaels in October, 1865, and shot one, but the lack of a boat prevented the speci-
men being secured. ;

ANAS BOSCHAS Linn. Mallard (Esk. Uk-shik-piik or Ya-giikh-puk).

This is one of the least common of the ducks found on the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea. A
few were noted during the migration on the Near Islands, and it breeds on the Commander Islands.
At Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands, I saw a single specimen, a male, in a fresh-water pond om
May 19,1877. Mr. Dall does not mention this among the species found by him west of Unalaska,
in these islands, but notes it as one of the most abundant winter residents at Unalaska, where it.
is numerous by October 12, and remains until April and May.

Mr. Elliott found them as occasional visitors on the Fur Seal Islands, and notes a pair which
reared their young on Saint Paul Island during the season of 1872. In the interior, on the main-
land, the Mallard is a common, and in some places abundant, summer resident. Dall found them
among the first ducks to arrive at Nulato, on the Yukon, in spring, generally coming about the
1st of May with the “ Butter-ball.”

This naturalist found a set of eight eggs of the Mallard laid on the rotten wood in the hollow
top of a stump about 6 inches from the ground. They were concealed under a layer of leaves and
feathers. They are more numerous in suitable districts higher up the Yukon than on the lower
part of its course.

Bischoff found them at Sitka, and I found them breeding within the Arctic Circle along the
north shore of Kotzebue Sound in 1881.

In the vicinity of Saint Michaels they usually arrive from the 10th to the 15th of May, and
remain until the last of September, and sometimes until the first few days of October. They are
never common on the marshes in this district nor on the lower part of the Yukon delta, although
they are generally distributed, and breed wherever found.

I rarely hunted a day on these marshes, however, without hearing the loud, familiar note of
this bird. The Indians and Eskimo save the bright green scalps of the males for ornamenting
clothing or for making small work-bags and pouches.

ANAS PENELOPE Linn. Widgeon.

During two years spent upon the Fur Seal Islands in Bering Sea, Mr. Elliott obtained or saw
a few individuals of this species. They were never in pairs, and the few seen were supposed to be
68 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

wind-bound or astray. Mr. Dall obtained a specimen at Unalaska October 12, 1871, and notes it
as not uncommon among the ducks brought in there by the Aleuts. He gives it as a winter vis-
itant, migrating about May 1, but as it has never been found along the coast of the mainland to
the north I am inclined to believe that it breeds in the Aleutian chain, merely seeking more
secluded quarters on the approach of spring.

It was not noted by me either on Saint Lawrence Island or the coast of Siberia during the
summer of 1881, although itgmight have been present, as our short visits at each place gave but
little time for a thorough survey.

It is a numerous but irregular visitant to the Commander Islands.

ANAS AMERICANA Gmnel. Baldpate.

The present species may be considered among the least common of the ducks which breed on
the marshy flats bordering Bering Sea. They arrive at Saint Michaels from May 5 to 10, in
spring, and remain until the frosty nights of late September and early October send them off with |
the other water-fow]. They were so uncommon about Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth that
I learned nothing about their habits in the mating season. Their first eggs are laid the last of
May, in situations exactly like those chosen by the Pintail.

A brood of half-grown young was found in a pond the middle of August, and small ducklings
Were seen on several occasions during July. Old and young are on the wing by the 1st of
September. I once came suddenly upon a female widgeon, with her brood of ten or a dozen little
ducklings, ina small pond. AsI approached the parent uttered several low, guttural notes and
suddenly fluttered across the water and fell heavily at my feet, so close that I could almost touch
her with my gun. Meanwhile the young swam to the opposite side of the pond and began to
scramble out into the grass. Willing to observe the old bird’s maneuvers, I continued to poke at
her with the guu as she fluttered about my feet, but she always managed to elude my strokes
until, just as the last of her brood climbed out of the water, she slyly edged away, and suddenly
flew off to another pond some distance. I then ran as quickly as possible to the point where
the ducks left the water, yet, though but few moments had elapsed, the young had concealed
themselves so thoroughly that, in spite of the fact that the grass was only 3 or 4 inches high and
rather sparse, I spent half an hour in fruitless search.

Mr. Dall found these birds more common at Nulato than on the coast, and I had specimens
brought me from Fort Yukon and other points in the interior, and from the coast north to the
north shore of Kotzebue Sound, where they breed.

This duck is a summer visitor to the Near Islands. Bean took a specimen in Kotzebue
Sound the last of August, and Stejneger took a single specimen on the Commander Islands,

ANAS CAROLINENSIS Gmelin. Green-winged Teal. (Esk. Ting-shting-t-d-gitk).

This species, the smallest, as it is one of the most richly-colored of the Alaskan ducks, is found
widely spread and rather common over the mainland, and is a resident the entire length of the
Aleutian chain.

At Unalaska Mr. Dall found it a plentiful winter resident, the majority moving north the first
of May. The same author afterwards found it a resident throughout the Aleutian Islands, as far
west as Kyska, and casual insummerat Attu. This species was one of two or three which supplied
their table while at work in these islands; he found the young ones abundant at Amchitka in July.

On the Yukon, Dall notes it as one of the first arrivals in spring, and one of the first to lay
its eggs. One set of eggs was taken from a nest of dry grass in a sedge tussock, on May 20, at
Nulato. Bischoff found them at Sitka and Kadiak, and the writer saw them several times about
Kotzebue Sound.

In spring the Green-winged Teal reaches Saint Michaels by May 10, in early seasons, and
remains until the 1st to 7th of October. It is very sociably inclined, and is commonly found in
flocks, except when the breeding season has scattered them about the marshes.

The fur traders brought me specimens taken at Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, May 8,
and other records go to prove it to be one of the hardiest ducks.
BIRDS. 69

At the Yukon mouth and near Saint Michaels they nest the last of May, and choose a dry
knoll near a small pond, where their eggs, numbering from eight to a dozen or more, are laid on a
bed of grass stems and feathers.

Toward the end of August, old and young may be found dabbling in the mud along the bank
of some secluded tide creek or the grassy margin of a marshy pool. They are the least suspicious
of the ducks, probably because the Eskimo usually consider them too small to waste a charge of
powder and shot upon.

ANAS DISCORS Linn. Blue-winged Teal. m

In his list of Alaskan birds Mr. Dall reports this handsome duck as being found sparingly at
Fort Yukon and the Yukon mouth, but he did not see it at Nulato, where, however, it undoubtedly
occurs. ;

Captain Smith secured its eggs at Cape Romaunzoff, just south of the Yukon mouth.

In the paper just quoted, Mr. Bannister records it as “not very abundant, but not uncommon”
at Saint Michaels where several specimens were seen by him in the hands of the hunters in early
spring. ‘

During the four years passed at Saint Michaels by the writer he failed to even see a single
individual of this species, although during that time thousands of dead ducks were examined, not
to mention the numbers seen in the field; neither did any of my various collectors along the
coast and along the course of the Yukon bring me askin. From this negative evidence we must
consider this species as of great rarity on the coast of Bering Sea, at least north of the Kusko-
quim River. It is doubtfully recorded as a winter visitant at Unalaska Island by Dall, but this is
undoubtedly erroneous.

SPATULA CLYPEATA (Linn.). Shoveller.

Like the preceding species the present bird is one of the least common ducks found on the
shore of Bering Sea. It was found on the Commander Islands and in Kamchatka by Stejneger.
The Shovellers usually arrive in the vicinity of Saint Michaels about the 11th or 20th of May and
are usually found in pairs orsingly. They breed on all the marshes with the other water-fowl from
Kotzebue Sound to the mouth of the Kuskoquim.

The eggs are deposited the last of May and first of June in a dry spot near some pond or stream,
and the nest is usually lined with grass and feathers, the latter from the parent’s breast.

Mr. Dall considered it rather rare along the Yukon, but skins were brought me from Fort
Yukon and Nulato, where it was reported to me as being a rather common species. Although not
common along the sea-coast, yet one could rarely take a day’s hunt in spring or fall without seeing
one and often several of these birds. Itis also found on the coast in the Sitkan region, but neither
Dall nor Elliott mention it among the birds of the Fur Seal and Aleutian Islands.

DaFILA AcUTA (Linn.). Pintail (Esk. Uk-shtik-tik).

The Pintail is one of the most common, if not the most common, of the ducks which breed
along the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea. On one season it reached the vicinity of Saint Michaels
April 29, and the ordinary date is from the 1st to 5th of May. One spring a small party was found
about a small spring-hole in the ice on the sea-shore the first of May, while a foot of snow still cov-
ered the ground and the temperature ranged only a few degrees above zero. As snow and ice dis-
appear they become more and more numerous, until they are found about the border of almost
every pool on the broad flats from the mouth of the Kuskoquim River north to the coast of Kotzebue
Sound.

They are summer residents on the Siberian coast in suitable locations, and we found them also
upon Saint Lawrence Island in the summer of 1881. Neither Elliott nor Dall mentions them as
occurring on the Fur Seal and Aleutian Islands, although they are certainly found on the latter
group. Bischoff found them at Sitka and Kadiak.
70 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Along the Yukon, Dall found them very abundant, and noted their arrival at Nulato about
May 1. There they began nesting about May 20, placing their eggs in the sedge and lining the
nest with dry grass and feathers, and, as is a common habit with water-fowl, covering the eggs with
feathers and grass when leaving them unprotected.

As the young are hatched they are led to the small creeks and rivulets, where the birds remain
until the young take wing, after which all pass to the great marshes, where they grow fat feeding
upon the roots of the horsetails (Equisetum). Itake the preceding from Mr. Dall’s paper, as it shows
several differences between the bird’s habits in the interior as compared with the same on the sea-
coast, where my observations were made.

As the numerous ponds on the marshes open about the middle of May, the flocks in which the
Pintails have thus far kept company disband, and the birds scatter over the country. They are
shy at this season, but while lying in a blind in the midst of their haunts, I have witnessed many
of their odd habits.

With the exception of the Old Squaw Duck (Harelda), the habits of the Pintail are more peculiar
than those of any of the ducks I am familiar with breeding in the region. Once, on May 17, while
sitting overlooking a series of small ponds, a pair of Pintails arose and started off, the male in full
chase after the female. Back and forth they passed at a marvelously swift rate of speed, with fre-
quent quick turns and evolutions. Atone moment they were almost out of view high overhead, and
the next saw them skimming along the ground in an involved course very difficult to follow with the
eye. Ere long a second male joined in the chase, then a.third, and so on until six males vied with
each other in the pursuit. The original pursuer appeared to be the only one capable of keeping
close to the coy female, and owing to her dextrous turns and curves he was able to draw near only at
intervals. Whenever he did succeed he always passed under the female, and kept so close to her that
their wings clattered together with a noise like a watchman’s rattle, and audible a long distance.
This chase lasted half an hour, and after five of the pursuers had dropped off one by one the pair
remaining (and I think the male was the same that originated the pursuit) settled in one of the
ponds.

This is about the first of the water-fowl to commence nesting, The date when the first eggs
are laid varies from May 18 to 25, according to the season. As a consequence the young are.
hatched early in June and are on the wing early in August, before any of the other species, The
eggs are placed in a depression on some tussock or among the grass and other vegetation beside
a pool, usually where it is pretty well concealed. The eggs number from six to a dozen in a set.
They are rather small, and are usually pale olive-green when fresh. The nest is lined with
grass-stems and feathers. When the young are hatched the parents lead them to the adjacent
pool, and they keep in the most secluded parts of the marsh until able to take wing. In fall the
Pintails feed upon the various berries growing on the hill-sides until they become extremely fat,
and a young bird at this season is the most delicious of the water-fowl found in the north.

' In spring, during the mating season, it is common to see a female Pintail accompanied by two
males. After repeated observations I was led to believe the females of this species to be polyan-
drous to a certain extent. On one occasion a female was seen flying along preceded by two males.
Every few rods the former halted slightly, and drawing her head back uttered a sonorous nasal
“quack,” as if to encourage her escort. It is also common to see a female, when pursued by
several males, plunge under water at full speed followed by her pursuers, and all suddenly take
wing again from the water a few yards beyond. The Old Squaw Duck is the only other species
I have seen do this.

In summer the Pintail has a low mellow whistle, which is used as a call to its mate, in addition
to a loud “quack,” much like but less sonorous than that of the Mallard. They have also a harsh
rolling note, which may be imitated by rolling the end of the tongue with the mouth ready to utter
the sound of “K.”

During the mating season they have a habit of descending from a great altitude at an angle of
about 45 degrees, with their wings stiffly outspread and slightly decurved downward. They are fre-
quently so high that I have heard the noise produced by their passage through the air from fifteen to
twenty seconds before the bird camein sight. They descend with meteor-like swiftness until within
afew yards of the ground, when a slight change in the position of the wings sends the bird gliding
BIRDS. T1

away close to the ground from 100 to 300 yards without a single wing-stroke. The sound produced
by this swift passage through the air can only be compared to the rushing of a gale through tree-
tops. At first itis like a murmur, then rising to a hiss, and then almost assuming the proportions
of a roar as the bird sweeps by.

Toward the end of August they unite in flocks of from five to fifty or more, and the end of
September finds but few remaining of the large number of a few weeks previous. A few remain
until the 8th or 10th of October, and then the wintry blank follows.

This duck is not common at Point Barrow, where they are seen mostly during the migrations.
They are numerous on the Commander Islands in summer, according to Stejneger.

AYTHYA VALLISNERIA (Wils.). Canvas-back.

The Canvas-back is recorded by Dall as “a common species in the vicinity of Fort Yukon,
breeding there in abundance. He did not observe it elsewhere in the Territory, nor did I find any
evidence of its presence anywhere along the west coast.

The Fort Yukon record places the breeding limits of the Canvas-back within the Arctic tatele,
It should be looked for on the marshes about Nulato.

AYTHYA MARILA NEARCTICA Stejn. American Scaup Duck (Esk. A-hlig-ti-nitk).

Everywhere, in suitable locations, over all the mainland portions of Alaska, this is a common
and frequently an abundant summer resident.

Dall found it a common species along the course of the Yukon, and Bischoff obtained many
specimens from the Sitkan region.

From the Yukon mouth to the northern shore of Kotzebue Sound, I found it plentiful. This
species is a common resident of the Near Islands. Dall rightly reponse it as an early arrival in
spring, as a specimen taken May 1 at Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, was brought me by a
fur trader. At Saint Michaels and the Yukon delta the season is later, and they rarely arrive
before the 8th or 10th of May. From May 13 to 16 they generally become numerous, and are found
scattered over the marshes, usually gathering in parties on the larger ponds until the end of this
month they divide into pairs and set about their nesting. In fall they remain late, the last ones
leaving from October 7 to 15, just as severe weather sets in.

The nesting sites chosen are such as the Pintail and most other ducks choose—a dry, grassy
tussock or knoll close to some pond—the only difference being that the present species appears to
desire a position nearer the water, if anything, and the nest is frequently at the point of some
small jutting cape and so near the water that the parent can swim to and from the nest.

The eggs are large for the bird and rarely exceed eight in number. The nest is composed of
dry grass stems, gathered close at hand, and a large fluffy bed of down plucked from the parent’s
breast. The first days of June is the time usually chosen for depositing the first eggs, and some are
not laid until nearly a month later. On August 16, 1878, several broods of young, from one-half
to two-thirds grown, were seen, and on August 30, half-grown young were found in company with
the female, whose primaries and secondaries were just starting after her summer moult.

In the north as in the south these birds show a predilection for the larger bodies of water,
and at once after the young are hatched they are marshaled off to the largest pond in the vicinity,
so that it is a common occurrence to find a pond with six or eight broods of these ducks united in
a large flock, whereas the other fresh-water ducks keep in the smaller pools and more than a single
brood in a pond is the exception.

AYTHYA AFFINIS (Eyt.). Lesser Scaup Duck.

This species is recorded by Hartlaub, from Portage Bay, near Chilcat River, May 23.

In his paper upon the birds of the Territory, Mr. Dall records the Little Scaup Duck (A. affnis)
as not uncommon at the Yukon mouth, where he also writes that he secured itseggs. This record
is extremely doubtful, since during my visit to the Yukon mouth the spring of 1879, and my long
residence only 60 miles north of there, not a single example of this bird was obtained or seen, nor
“2 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

did any of my collectors in various parts of the Territory secure it. Among hundreds of the
large species killed during my residence at Saint Michaels, a few of the smaller species must
certainly have occurred if they reached that region.

AYTHYA COLLARIS (Donov.). Ring-necked Duck.
This species is resident, but not common, on the Near Islands, according to Mr. Turner.

GLAUCIONETTA CLANGULA AMERICANA (Bonap.). American Golden-eye (Esk.
Yéi-sikh).

In the Alentian Islands this bird is a winter resident, as observed by Dall, and the same author
records it as the first duck killed at Nulato, May 3, 1868, and as always being one of the first
arrivals along the Yukon.

It is a common duck along the rivers of the interior and reaches the sea-coast at the Yukon
mouth in the breeding season.

Dall bought a skin of this bird from Indians on the Yukon, near Mission; it was stuffed and
ornamented with beads, but instead of being used as an ornament for the lodge, as recorded, it is
really a child’s toy, as are the Harlequin Duck-skins mentioned in the following pages.

On the coast of Bering Sea the Golden-eye is an extremely rare duck, occurring merely as a
straggler. The last of September, 1880, I found a party of four birds of the year in a pond near
Saint Michaels and secured three of them.

During over four years collecting from the Yukon mouth north along the coast of Bering
Sea and the Arctic to Point Barrow these four birds were the only ones of their kind seen by me,
excepting a few skins brought from the interior by my collectors.

It is not known from any of the islands in Bering Sea north of the Aleutian chain, although

likely to occur upon all of them.
GLAUCIONETTA ISLANDICA (Gmel.). Barrow’s Golden-eye.

Specimens of this species were obtained at Sitka by Bischoff during the Telegraph Explorations,
and Dall notes it as of rare occurrence upon the Yukon.
Hartlaub records adult birds from Portage Bay January 4, February 21, and young at

Chilcat April 24.
74, CHARITONETTA ALBEOLA (Linn.). Buffle-head.

Like the preceding species the Butter-ball is an extremely rare bird on the coast of Bering
Sea, but is rather common along the river courses of the interior. Bischoff found it at Sitka, and
at the Yukon mouth. Dall notes them as abundant and probably breeding.

During my visit to the latter point, extending through the last half of May and the first half
of June, not a single individual was seen, nor was it found by me along the coast farther to the
north.

Skins were brought me from several places in the interior, however, and it appears to increase
in abundance as the Upper Yukon isapproached. They remain late in the fall, as a specimen was
taken at Fort Reliance on October 7; and the spring of 1877, before my arrivai at Saint Michaels,
a specimen was said to have been killed about the middle of May.

Hartlaub records it as numerous at Portage December 28 to March 1.

Bean found this species rather common about Unalaska Island the first of October, 1880.

It is a winter visitor to the Near Islands. In January, 1883, Stejneger obtained a single
specimen on one of the Commander Islands, making the first record for the species on the Asiatic
side of the Pacific.

CLANGULA HYEMALIS (Linn.). Old Squaw (Esk. Ah-li-hli-gith).

The Old Squaw is the first Duck to reach high northern latitudes in spring, and along the
Alaskan coast of Bering Sea is one of the most abundant species during the summer.
BIRDS. 73

At Point Barrow this is one of the commonest ducks, arriving the middle of May and leaving
only when the sea freezes over completely. December 9 is Murdoch’s latest date. On the Near
Islands it breeds sparingly and isabundant in winter. Itis aresident on the Commander Islands.
The fall of 1791 Sauer noted the arrival of ans duck at Unalaska the Ist of October and records
it as wintering there.

The seal hunters find them in the open spaces in the ice off Saint Michaels from the 1st to the
20th of April, and the first open water inshore is sure to attract them. After their arrival it is no
uncommon occurrence for the temperature to fall to 25 or 30 degrees below zero, and for furious
storms of wind and snow to rage for days, so the first-comers must be hardy and vigorous to with-
stand the exposure.

In fall they retreat before the ice and by the 15th or 20th of Octobér they are either on their
way south or well out tosea. The great majority of these ducks, however, do not come inshore
to their nesting ground until the ponds and tide creeks are pretty well open, somewhere from the
12th to 25th of May and most of them resort to the sea-coast during the month of September.
Most of the birds reaching the marshes after the middle of May are paired.

The winter plumage is frequently retained through the nesting season, and I have shot males
close to their nests in full winter dress, although it was in mid-June. Between the two plumages,
that of winter and summer, is every imaginable gradation, and it was a very difficult matter, as I
found, to procure specimens in perfect summer dress. In the breeding season the males have a
pinkish flesh-colored bar across the top of the bill. The earliest set of eggs secured by me num-
bered five and was taken on May 18 at Saint Michaels. From that date until the end of June
fresh éggs may be taken, but the majority of the young are out by the last of this month.

From the Yukon delta along the coast in each direction their nests are almost invariably
placed in close proximity to a pond or tide creek—the sloping grassy bank of the ponds being a
favorable location. The parents always keep in the immediate neighborhood and swim anxiously
about in the nearest pond when the nest is approached. An unusual amount of dry grass-stems
and down plucked from the parent’s breast composes the nest, and if the eggs are left they are
carefully hidden in the loose material.

The young are found the middle of August about the ponds and marshy lakes, some only a
week or so from the shell and others already trying their wings. As fall approaches young and
old are most common along the shores of the inner bays and among the tide-creeks.

They are among the least suspicious of the ducks, and are easily approached within gunshot,
but their poor flesh and great dexterity in diving render them scarcely worth the amount of am-
munition required to obtain them.

During all the spring season until the young begin to hatch, the males have a rich musical
note, imperfectly represented by the syllables A-léédle-d, d-léedle-d, frequently repeated in deep,
reed-like tones. Amid the general hoarse chorus of water-fowl at this season, the notes of the Old
Squaw are so harmonious that the fur traders of the Upper Yukon have christened it the “ Organ
Duck,” a well-merited name. I have frequently stopped and listened with deep pleasure to these
-harmonious tones, while traversing the broad marshes in the dim twilight at midnight, and while
passing a lonely month on the dreary banks of the Yukon delta I lay in my blankets many hours
at night and listened to these rythmical sounds, which with a few exceptions were the only ones
to break the silence. These notes are somewhat less common during the day. The male is often
seen swimming rapidly about the female, his long tail-feathers raised to an angle of about 75
degrees and vibrating rapidly from side to side as he passes before the female, uttering the love-
note at short intervals. If he becomes too pressing in his suit, the female suddenly dives and is
instantly followed by her partner, and then a moment later they appear and take wing, and a
playful chase ensues, the two diving at full speed and flying above or below in rapid succession
until they are tired. It is common for two or three males to join in this follow-the-leader kind of
game after the female, and in the end the latter usually flies to some secluded pool with her choice,
while the discomfited suitors move off in search of some easier prize. Several males often con-
tinue to utter their musical notes while chasing a female, and make a very pretty chorus.

Although these birds are far more numerous along the coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic than
they are in the interior, yet they are also rather common summer residents along the Yukon and

S. Mis. 156——10
74 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

other large streams. Asa rule they are less gregarious than most other ducks, although often
congregating about a good feeding ground. It is a resident along the entire Aleutian chain and
about all the other islands of Bering Sea during summer. I found them also along the coast of
the Arctic to Point Barrow. They breed upon the Fur Seal Islands. 7

Sauer mentions this species as arriving about Unalaska the 1st of October, the season Bil-
lings’s expedition passed there, and remaining all winter.

HISTRIONICUS HISTRIONICUS (Linn.). Harlequin Duck (Esk. Ti-ti-tsik).

Among the host of water-fowl which flock to the distant breeding grounds of Alaska in spring
this elegantly-marked bird is the most graceful and handsomely colored. Asif conscious of its
beauty, the Harlequin Duck leaves the common-place haunts sought by the crowd of less noble
fowls,and along the courses of the clear mountain streams, flowing in a series of rapids into the
larger rivers, they consort with the Water-ouzel, Swainson’s Thrush, and such other shy spirits as
delight in the wildest nooks, even in the remote wilderness of the far north. Dark lichen-covered
rocks, affording temporary shelter to the broad-finned Northern Grayling or the richly-colored
salmon trout as they dart from rapid to rapid, steep banks overhung by willows and alders, with
an occasional spruce, forming a black silhouette against the sky, and a stillness broken only by the
voices of the wind and water, unite to render the summer home of these birds, along the Yukon,
spots devoted to nature alone, whose solitude is rarely broken, and then only by the soft foot-
steps of the savage in pursuit of game. At times, however, the sharp prow ofa birch-bark canoe
cuts the surface of the stream and is forced far up among the hills. All the denizens of the
waters are alarmed; Ouzel, Thrush, and fish take refuge in the first shelter, and the Harlequins
rise, and, circling behind the intruder, settle anew in some quiet eddy or pool, where the current
is less violent. Perchance the occupant of the canoe tries to get a shot at some of the ducks
ahead, but he is rewarded by seeing his would-be victim disappear under water like a flash to
reappear and take wing a moment later, and, to add to his discomfiture, the current whirls him
down stream ata pace difficult to control. The hunter’s reward comes, however, when after a
sufficient distance is gained the boat is turned about and allowed to glide rapidly down-stream.
Before long a pair of the ducks, so shy before, but now unwarned, are seen paddling idly about or
preéning themselves upon some convenient rock. The boat glides silently within range, and at
the report the ducks float dead or wounded upon the water. This is repeated until the larger
stream is reached and perhaps a dozen birds fall victims.

It was found at Sitka and Kadiak by Bischoff; in the Aleutian Islands by Dall; on the Fur
Seal group by Elliott, and from the Yukon mouth to Kotzebue Sound, through Bering Straits,
by the writer. At Saint Michaels they were rarely detected before the 1st of June, and were
seen about the inner bays at rare intervals from then until fall. They are much more com-
mon there during September, and a male young of the year, taken October 16, was just changing
its first plumage for the dress of the adult male. The examples found on the coast there are
merely stragglers from the inland breeding places. :

A male taken June 4 had its toes and tarsi dark olivaceous brown; webs black; bill, bluish-
black, with a dall bluish horn-colored tip; eyes hazel.

As ar illustration of the variation in the habits of this bird in different surroundings, the
following notes from the Fur Seal and Aleutian Islands are to the point:

While at Unalaska, during the last of May and first of June, 1877, I found the Harlequin
Ducks very numerous. During May they were found in flocks of various sizes about the heads of
the inner bays, usually close to the mouth of some fresh-water stream. ‘They were also found,
but in smaller numbers, about the outer bays and in the passes between the islands. On June5
they had united into several very large flocks, numbering several hundred each, and, as earlier in
the season, were very shy, taking flight at the first alarm and moving off with a confusion of low
gabbling and chattering notes.

They undoubtedly breed among these islands, and Mr. Dall found them remaining later in
spring than most ducks. He found them also not rare at.the Shumagin Islands, near the penin-
sula of Aliaska, in summer. Mr. Elliott found them common on and around the shores of the Fur
BIRDS. : TD

Seal Islands. There they were in the habit of “idly floating amid the surf in flocks of fifty or
sixty, or basking and preening on the beaches and outlying rocks.” ‘It may be seen all the year
around, excepting only when forced away by the ice-floes.”

This author was confident that the birds breed upon these islands, but he never found the
nests, nor did the natives know of its nesting place. The natives killed many of them in fall and
spring, and they are said to be not shy there and to be remarkably silent, the author quoted never
having heard a note from them during the whole year. As in the Aleutian Islands, they are very
gregarious. It is possible that many or all the birds which pass the summer about these islands
are barren, and hence do not seek the breeding grounds with the rest of their kind. North of the
islands mentioned these ducks seek the streams of the interior for nesting places, and if the
birds found about the rock-girt shores mentioned remain there to breed the contrast in habits
is indeed striking.

The Indians of the Yukon, from Nulato down, stuff the skins of the males of this species and
ornament them with small strings of beads and bright-colored cloth, and give them to the children
as toys.

This duck is a very abundant resident on the Near Islands. On the Commander Islands itis
also a common resident, but Stejneger does not think that the birds found there in summer breed,
being, apparently, barren. °

ENICONETTA STELLERI (Pall.). Steller’s Duck. (Esk. U-nd-gol lak).

The coasts and islands of Bering Sea may be given as the edstern range of this fine duck.
Westward from there it breeds by tens of thousands along the north coast of Siberia, and
reaches the northern coast of European Russia.

While in the Aleutian Islands, the last of May, 1877, I found these ducks rather numerous in
the quiet waters of sheltered bays and fiords. They were extremely shy, however, and in spite of
all my efforts not a single one was secured. The residents of these islands told me that in winter
they are very abundant in the portions of the bays not ice-bound, and a great many of them are
killed for the table.

Throughout the Aleutian chain Steller’s Duck is a common resident, very abundant in winter
but less numerous in summer. It was taken at Kadiak Island by Bischoff, and from the papers
of Mr. Dall we learn that they winter in great numbers on Sanak Island, near the eastern end of
the chain. Itis also a resident on the Shumagin group in the North Pacific, near Kadiak, and I
have been informed that they abound in great flocks on the north coast of Aliaska Peninsula in
summer.

Dall found them gregarious in winter and associating with the King Eider, but keeping away
from other species. The pairing commences the first of May, and thence through the mating
season they are found in pairs.

The same author states that if a nest is visited the birds abandon it at once. He found a nest
May 18, 1872, on a flat part of a small island near Unalaska. It was built between two tussocks
of dry grass, and the depression was caréfully lined with the same material. The nest was entirely
concealed by overhanging grasses, and was revealed only by the bird flying out at his feet. The
nest contained a single egg. He noted the following variation of the iris of this bird at different
seasons: November 21, dark-brown; December 18, pale-brown; May 18, red-brown. In May,
1872, this species and the Pacific Hider were abundant at Unalaska, whereas in May, 1873,
although the season was later, not a single one of either species could be found, a good illus-
tration of the variation in distribution of these birds in different seasons.

Upon the Fur Seal Islands this duck occurs as a straggler during the migration. In Elliott’s
report upon these islands Dr. Coues mentions an egg of this species, in the Smithsonian collec-
tion, which came from Kamchatka, and measures 2.20 by 1.60, and is like the egg of the common
eider in shape, color, and texture of shell.

On Saint Lawrence Island we found Steller’s Duck breeding in small numbers during the
summer of 1881, and along the coast of Siberia from Kamchatka north it is a regular summer
resident, moving south to the Aleutian and Kurile Islands on the approach of winter.
76 NATURAL ‘HISTORY CVULLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

During our several visits to the north coast of Siberia in the summer of 1881 we found eno:
mous flocks of these birds frequenting the broad river mouths and lagoons of this coast, northwes
of Bering Straits.

In autumn, as they pass south, stray individuals and parties are found in Norton Soun¢
Those taken there are usually young of the year. The earliest date of their capture at Sain
Michaels, during my stay, was on September 21, and the latest on October 15, just as the bay bega
to freeze over. They are more numerous about this latter date. Six specimens, all young of th
year, taken on the date named, had dark-blue bills and slaty-olive feet and legs, with irides dar
hazel.

Their dimensions when fresh were from 16 inches in length by 27 inches in extent of wings t
17.25 by 29.

. When found at Saint Michaels they usually frequented outlying rocky islets and exposed reef:
and fed in the small tide-rips.

The shallow, turbid water of Norton Sound seems to be offensive to the majority of thes
birds, as their chosen haunts are along coasts where the water is clear and deep close to the shore

This duck is rather common at Point Barrow, where they arrive early in June and leave b:
the middle of August. Although Murdoch found small parties of these birds scattered over th
tundra there in the breeding seasov he found no nests. The majority of the breeding birds ar
peared to go to some distant breeding ground. The males assume a brown plumage after th
breeding season, according to this naturalist.

It is abundant in winter on the Near Islands, where they breed sparingly. On the Com
mander Islands they winter in great abundance, arriving about November 1 and leaving toward th
end of May.

ARCTONETTA FISCHERI (Brandt). Spectacled Hider (Esk. Ung-it).

The Spectacled Hider has until recently been credited with a very restricted range on the Berin;
Sea coast of Alaska. It has been ascertained, however, to be a regular but rather rare summe
resident at Point Barrow, where it breeds. Murdoch took a female there with an egg in th
oviduct, ready for laying, on June 19, and the nearly grown young were taken the last of August
They arrive at the point, with the last of the other Hiders, in spring. The bird’s occurrence her
greatly extends its known range, as does Turner’s note of the species as a common breeding resi
dent on the Near Islands. These two records nearly double the extent of the known habitat o
the species.

Its restricted range has, up to the present time, rendered this bird among the least known of ou
water-fowl. Even in the districts where it occurs it is so extremely local that a few miles may lea:
one to places they never visit. Although living so far north yet it is one of the last among th
water-fowl to reach its breeding ground at the Yukon delta and the coast of Norton Sound. M:
observations show this species to be strictly limited to the salt marshes bordering the east coas
of Bering Sea, and thus favoring the shallow, muddy, coast waters, which appear to be so distaste
ful to Steller’s Hider.

In Mr. Dall’s paper upon the birds of Alaska he limits the breeding ground of the Spectacle:
Eider to the marshes between the island of Saint Michaels and the mainland. This, with the state
ment made to him by natives that they are never found north of Saint Michaels, is not born
out by my observations, for these Eiders breed from the head of Norton Bay south to the mount:
of the Kuskoquim, at least. Saint Michaels may be noted as the center of abundance. The
were not seen by me in Kotzebue Sound, although, from the natives, I was led to expect ther
there. Strangely enough, we have no positive information regarding their winter habitat, an
can only surmise that they frequent the Alaskan coast of the North Pacific.

It was named to Mr. Dall by the Aleuts at Unalaska as a winter visitant, and he notes tha
it migrates early in May for its northern breeding grounds. It was not noted by Elliott amon
the birds of the Fur Seal Islands, nor is it known to have been taken at Kadiak Island. It i
very likely to occur on this latter island in winter.

‘In the vicinity of Saint Michaels they rarely begin to arrive before the 15th of May. Th
season of 1879 they were first seen by me at the Yukon mouth on this date, but the main body ¢
the migration did not take place until the 25th
BIRDS. 77

They fly. in small compact flocks, rarely exceeding fifty birds in a flock, and skim close along
the surface of the ice or marsh with a flight very similar to that of other heavy-bodied sea-ducks.
Very soon after reaching their destination the flocks disband and the birds quietly pair, but the
first eggs are rarely laid earlier than the first days of June.

Most of my eggs were taken fresh between the 10th and 20th of this month, and I obtained
the young just out of the egg on July 23. The middle of August young birds are frequently seen
from a few days old to those nearly ready to take wing. During this month the adult birds pass
through the summer moult, and with the half-grown young desert the marshes and tide-creeks for
the sea-coast and outlying rocky islands.

By September 1 scarcely a single individual can be found on the marshes, and by the 20th they
are scarce along the coast.

Their food in summer consists of small crustacea, grass, seeds, and such other food as the
brackish pools afford.

When first paired the birds choose a pond on the marsh, and are thenceforth found in its vicin-
ity until the young are hatched. Their love-making is very quiet. I have never heard any note
uttered except by the female while conducting her brood out of danger. As the grass commences
to show green and the snow and ice are nearly gone, although the other denizens of the marsh are
already well along in their housekeeping, these ducks choose some dry, grassy spot close to the
pond, and making a slight hollow with a warm lining of grass, they commence the duties of the
season.

One nest found on June 15 was on a bed of dry grass within a foot of the water on the border
of the pond, and when the female flew off the single egg could be seen 20 yards away. Tus-
socks of dry grass, small islands in ponds, and knolls close to the water’s edge are all chosen as
nesting places, and as a rule the nest is well concealed by the dry grass standing about. If the
nest contains but one or two eggs the female usually flies off and remains until the intruder is
gone; butif the set is nearly completed or incubation is begun she will soen return, frequently
accompanied by the male, and both circle about, showing the greatest uneasiness. The female will
sometimes alight in the pond, within easy range, and both parents may be obtained by watching
near the nest. ‘The male is rarely seen after the young are hatched, but the female shows the
greatest courage in guarding her brood, as tlie following incident will show: A brood was swim-
ming away from me, and the female tried to protect them by keeping between the young and
myself. I fired two charges of No. 12 shot, killing all the young, yet, in spite of the fact that
the parent received a large share of the charge each time, she refused to fly, and kept trying to urge
her dead offspring to move on, until a charge of larger shot mercifully stretched her among her off-
spring. Upon removing the skin her back was found to be filled with fine shot, and her desperate
courage in defense of her brood shows the strength of parental feeling. Other similar instances
attest the courage and devotion of this species.

The eggs usually number from five to eight or nine in a set and are small for the size of the bird.
Extremes measure 2.82 by 1.81, 2.60 by 1.87. In color they are of a light olive drab.

During August the fall moult takes place, and the males assume a plumage much like that of
the female.

‘The iris and pupil of these ducks are very small, with a broad ring of bright milky blue sur-
rounding the iris; to a casual observer this blue ring appears to be the iris. The spring male
has the eye as just described, the feet and legs dull olive brown, except scales on front of tarsus
and toes, which are dingy yellowish. The bill is dull orange. The Dill of the female is dull blue,
feet and tarsi dull yellowish brown.

The young of the year in fall have eyes like the adults; dark olive-brown bills, with dull yel-
lowish, shaded with olive-brown, legs and feet. The males and females are very nearly of the
same size, and average from 20 to 22.5 inches in length by 34 to 36.5 inches in spread of wing. They
are heavily built, like all Eiders; they are considerably smaller than the Pacific Hider, but as much
larger than Steller’s Duck, which latter has more the build and shape of a Gadwall, and is the
least clumsy of its kind. The Spectacled Hider is so restricted in its range and so local in its dis-
tribution, even where it occurs, that, like the Labrador Duck and the Great Auk, it may readily be
so reduced in numbers as to become a comparatively rare bird. A species limited in the breeding
78 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

season to the salt marshes between the head of Norton Bay and the mouth of the Kuskoquim
River occupies but a very small territory, and a glance at the map will show this coast line not
to exceed 400 miles, even following its indentations. The width of the breeding ground will not
exceed 1 or 2 miles, and there are long stretches where it does not breed at all.

In addition to the natural struggle for existence, the species has to contend against thous-
ands of shotguns in the hands of the natives. The diminution in all the species of water-
fowl breeding along the coast is more and more marked each season, and while this may mean a
desertion of one region for another in the case of the great majority of geese and ducks, yet for
such narrowly-limited species as the Spectacled Eider, and to a less extent the Emperor Goose,
this diminution is but the beginning of extermination; moreover the present scarcity of large
game along the coast is having great eff-ct in causing the natives to wage a continually increasing
warfare upon the feathered game.

SOMATERIA V-NIGRA Gray. Pacific Eider (Esk. Mit-khdh).

Along the coast of the North Pacific, both shores of the Aleutian Islands, and all the islands
of Bering Sea, and the coast of the adjoining Arctic Ocean to the northern limit of the main-
land, is the broad area over which the breeding range of this bird extends. The shores and islands
of Bering Sea form their great breeding resort, although they are common outside these limits
in many places. Including the Aleutian Islands and thence south they are residents wherever
found, but probably most numerous in winter.

In the Aleutian Islands Dall found them to be resident and to winter abundantly, although in
summer they were much more abundant toward the western end of the chain. Although Elliott
did nct note them in his list of the Seal Island birds, yet they undoubtedly occur there during
summer, as it is in their direct line of flight to the north from the Aleutians.

The species is very abundant at Point Barrow in summer, and breeds in great numbers along
the coast east of that place. According to Murdoch, Bean found it breeding at Cook’s Inlet, and
it is a common resident on the Near Islands. On the Commander Islands Stejneger found it breed-
ing. Murdoch tells us that the whalers call these birds ‘‘canvas-backs.” The last of May, 1877,
I found them rather numerous about Sanak Island and the adjacent reefs. They were frequently
seen sunning themselves on projecting rocks or islets near shore, but were rather shy and took to
the water or flew off at the first alarm. They were seen in Unalaska Harbor a few days later, and
the same season, from June 16 to 18, as we lay off the Yukon mouth and approached Saint Michaels,
especially about 10 or 15 miles offshore from the latter place, we passed through flocks number-
ing hundreds of the males of this species.

The sea was rather rough as we drew near the shore, and the heavy-bodied eiders were in
most instances unable to raise themselves from the water, and the approaching vessel caused
them to flap along the water until, as if animated by a single purpose, dozens of them would dive,
only to reappear a few moments later and struggle off again.

The Eskimo there sometimes find them offshore among the ice-floes the last of April or first
day or two of May, but this is not common. In ordinary seasons they are first seen near shore
at Saint Michaels and the Yukon month from May 10 to the 20th, according to the state of the ice.
During the last ten days of May the ponds and tide creeks on the marshes open and the eiders
proceed to chose their summer homes.

The first eggs are rarely deposited before the first of June, and I have found fresh ones until
the first of July. Their courtship must be conducted before the birds reach the breeding ground,
as I have never seen any demonstrations such as are usual among mating birds. The small flocks
seen at first give place at once to solitary pairs, which resort to the salt marshes. The nesting
site is usually a dry spot close to a small pond or a tide creek and not often in close proximity to
the sea-shore. The moss-grown slope of some small knoll, a grassy tussock, or a depression made
on an open flat, but hidden by the thin growth of surrounding vegetation, are all chosen as nest
sites.

The first evening after my arrival at Saint Michaels I walked back on the flat about 200 yards
from the fort and put up a female from five fresh eggs. The nest was thickly lined with down
and concealed by dwarf willows and other low Arctic vegetation. This was the only instance
BIRDS. 79

noted by me where the nest was so near human habitations. The nest is usually lined with dead
grasses and sometimes fragments of moss when the first egg is laid, and the down is added as the
eggs multiply. The male is a constant attendant of the female until her eggs are nearly all depos-
ited, when he begins to lose interest in family affairs, and dozens of them may be found at all
hours sunning themselves upon the long reefs about shore, and if we are behind the scenes on the
marshes they may be seen flying silently back to their partners as the dusky twilight of night
approaches from 8 to 10 in the evening. As the males congregate about the reefs they have a low
guttural note, which is the only one I have heard this species utter.

From the 15th to the 20th of June nearly all the males desert their partners and are thence-
forth found at sea or about outlying reefs and islands in large flocks, as already described.

Toward the end of June the first young appear, but the majority are not hatched until the
first of July. As the young are hatched they are led to the nearest large pond or tide-creek, and
thence to the sheltered bays and mouths of streams on the sea coast. About this time the females
lose their quill feathers, and, like the young, are very expert in diving at the flash of a gun.

At this time the Eskimo amuse themselves by throwing spears at the young, but the latter
are such excellent divers that they are rarely hit.

Asa rule the young do not fly before the 10th of September, and broods with the female are
often seen unable to fly even later. The female has dingy olivaceous yellow feet and tarsus; the
bill dull greenish yellow, paler at the nail; iris dark hazel.

As the end of September approaches they become more and more scarce, and thence on until
the cold weather forces them south are only found off the outer reefs and islets.

The male appears to assume a plumage very similar to that of the female in fall, but in spite
of my efforts I could not secure a single individual in this dress. In May, 1877, while 400 miles
off the Aleutian Islands in the Pacific, an eider, apparently this species, was seen heading north.

During the cruise of the Corwin these ducks were found nesting along the Bering Sea coast
of Siberia, but becoming rare along the Arctic shore. Northwest of the Straits, east of Point Bar-
row to the mouth.of the Coppermine River, this species occurs in great abundance.

The considerable difference in breeding habits between the Pacific Eider and its North Atlan-
tic relative is very striking, the 8. molissima nearly always nesting in colonies, even so far north
as Spitzbergen. The walrus hunters in the latter region credit the females with the habit of steal-
ing eggs from one another, and say that the male stays near and gives the alarm on the approach
of danger.

In color the eggs of the v-nigra are very similar to those of the Spectacled Hider, being, like
them, of a light olivedrab. They are usually of a decided oval, and measure from 3.12 by 2.04 to

2.87 by 2.03.
SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS (Linn.). King Eider (Esk. Gnd-hlik).

On the Yukon, near therapids, several hundred miles from its mouth, Mr. Dall found aspecimen
of this handsome bird lying dead on the river bank, this forming the only inland record in the
Territory. The set of eggs from Saint Michaels, doubtfully identified as of this species by the
same author, probably belong to some other species.

The same naturalist found it a not uncommon winter resident in the Aleutian Islands at
Unalaska, and it undoubtedly occurs along the entire chain at this season and far southward along
the Pacific coast. He records the color of the iris as varying from a pale clay-brown to a light
warm brown. At Saint Michaels I found the King Hider a very rare bird, and although it is well
known to the Eskimo they say it is nearly always found at sea far offshore. Two specimens, young
of the year, were brought me on October 12, 1879, and were the only ones taken during the four
years of my residence there. In Bering Straits, especially on the Siberian side, and on Saint
Lawrence Island they werecommon. This was particularly the case in Saint Lawrence Bay, where
large flocks were seen. Along the low coast northwest of Bering Straits, near Waukarem and
Tapkan, they were extremely abundant in company with Steller’s Hider and formed immense flocks.

During the same months, July and August, they were found in large numbers also near the
ice-fringed coast of Alaska from Icy Cape to Point Barrow and thence eastward. The birds seen

4
80 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

there were males, the females being with the young among the ponds inshore. The males were
not shy, and many were killed by the natives with slings as the birds flew in compact flocks over-
head. At Unalaska, from May 18 to 30, 1877, there were large flocks of these birds about the outer
harbors. They were just assuming the breeding dress and were not shy, for I rowed within
gunshot of a flock, in an open boat, several times the same day. The middle of September, 1881,
as we came south through Bering Sea, we passed many flocks of this and the Pacific Eider. The
skins of all the eiders, but especially of this species and the Pacitic Hider, are used in making
clothing by the Alaskan Eskimo, and the skin of the female, split down the back, with head,
legs, and wings removed, is a very common article of foot-wear; it is used inside of the seal-skin
boots, and is very comfortable in winter. South of the Yukon mouth Smateria v-nigra plays an
important part in some of the religious festivals, which come off in December each year—a kind
of Eskimo ‘“‘harvest-home.”

Mr. Murdoch names this as the most abundant bird found at Point Barrow, where it occurs in
enormous numbers during the migrations, but only breeds there in comparatively small numbers,
the great body of these eiders nesting along the coast to the eastward of the point. They arrive
at the point from April 27 to May 5, according to the season, and a few linger in autumn until the
sea is frozen over—until December 2, in 1882.

My own observations agree perfectly with Murdoch’s, that the male eiders lose their light-
colored plumage after the breeding season and assume a brown plumage, somewhat similar to
that of the female, except that the male retains one or two pairs of white patches, by which it can
be distinguished at a distance from the female. Although I did not secure specimens to illustrate
this yet I saw thousands of the birds in this plumage in Bering Sea and the Arctic, particularly
during the summer of 1881. The males seen during August and September of that season were,
almost without exception, in the brown plumage, and included all the species of eiders found in
that region, namely, Somateria spectabilis, S. v-nigra, Eniconetta stelleri, and Arctonetia fischeri.

This bird is said to nest sparingly upon Spitzbergen and to be common in summer on Nova
Zembla.

OIDEMIA AMERICANA Sw. & Rich. American Scoter (Esk. Ka-kiim-cha-ghiik).

Along the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea and of Kotzebue Sound in the Arctic, these scoters
are common or abundant summer residents. It breeds on the Near Islands, and is plentiful there
in winter. It occurs sparingly on the Commander Islands. It was among the species found winter-
ing in the Aleutian Islands by Dall, who saw it also in the Shumagins. It has not been noted on
the Fur Seal Islands, but was seen by me about Saint Lawrence Island and both shores of Bering
Straits during the summer of 1881.

At the Yukon mouth Dall found a nest of this species on June 17. The nest contained two
white and rather large eggs, and was in a bunch of willows on a small island, and was well
lined with dry grass, leaves, moss, and feathers.

At Saint Michaels these ducks are never seen in spring until the ice begins to break offshore
and the marshes are dotted with pools of open water. May 16 is the earliest date of arrival I
recorded. Toward the end of this month they leave the leads in the ice and are found in abun-
dance among the salt and fresh water ponds on the great marshes, from the Yukon mouth north
and south. The mating is quickly accomplished, and a nesting site chosen on the border of some
pond. The spot is artfully hidden in the standing grass, and the eggs, if left by the parent, are
carefully covered with grass and moss. As the set of eggs is completed, the male gradually loses
interest in the female, and soon deserts her to join great flocks of his kind along the sea-shore,
usually keeping in the vicinity of a bay, inlet, or the mouth of some large stream. These flocks
are formed early in June and continue to grow larger until the fall migration occurs. Males may
be found in the marshes with females all through the season, but these are pairs which breed late,
A set of fresh eggs was taken on August 3, and a brood of downy young was obtained on Sep-
tember 9.

The habits of these flocks of males are very similar to those of the male eiders at this season.
They are good weather indicators, and frequently, ten or twenty hours in advance of a storm, they
 

 

Bigs 1 Fig. 2.

 

Fig. 5.

 

HALF NATURAL SIZE. COLORED FROM NATURE BY £.W NELSON.
Fig. 1. Fig. 2.
SPECTACLED EIDER, male. PACIFIC EIDER, mate.
Aretonetta fischeri. Somuaterta v-nigra.

Fig.3.
WILLOW PTARMIGAN, male in summer.
Lagopus Cagopus.
Fig. &. are ae Fig. 5.
AMERICAN SCOTER, male. SURF SCOTER male.
Oidemia americana. Oidemia perspicillata.
BIRDS. 81

come iuto the sheltered bays, sometimes to the number of a thousand or more. At such times
they show great uneasiness, and frequently pass hours in circling about the bay, sometimes a
hundred yards high and again close over the water, the shrill whistling of their wings making a
noise which is distinctly audible nearly or quite half a mile. Until the young are about half
grown the female usually keeps them in some large pond near the nesting place, but as August
passes they gradually work their way to the coast and are found, like the eiders of the same age,
along the reefs and about the shores of the inner bays until able to fly.

From the 10th to 15th of October the last ones leave the coast and move southward. This
species rarely ascends the Yukon, even to Nulato, and is more strictly a sea-shore species than
either of the two following.

OIDEMIA DEGLANDI Bonap. White-winged Scoter.

This is less common in Alaska than either the O. perspicillata or O. americana. The last of May,
1877, I saw a few of them about Unalaska Harbor, and during the succeeding seasons they were
found as not rare visitors ‘to the vicinity of Saint Michaels, where they breed in very small
numbers. As fall approaches they become more common there, and are found in company with
the Velvet Scoter about the seaward face of the islands. During the last of September, and up to
the time the formation of sea-ice forces them away, they are rather common all along the coast.

I found nothing in their habits differing from those of the allied species with which they
associated.

Several specimens were brought me from Nulato and the Lower Yukon, taken during the
breeding season.

Bischoff secured this species with its eggs at Sitka during the Telegraph Expedition, and dur-
ing the cruise of the Corwin I found them on both shores of Bering Straits and in Kotzebue Sound,
where they breed. A few were also seen along the Siberian coast northwest of the straits.

The scoter taken at Bristol Bay by McKay and announced by Mr. Ridgway in the Proceedings
of the U.S. National Museum as Oidemia fusca, the European Velvet Seoter, proves, as he now
informs me, to be the present species.

The notes under Melanetta fuscu in the Cruise of the Corwin really belong under deglandi.

OIDEMIA PERSPICILLATA (Linn.). Surf Scoter (Esk. Ti-til-ik).

In company with the 0. americana these birds first appear in the vicinity of Saint Michaels
about the middle of May. Although not rare during the breeding season on the marshes of the
Yukon delta and about Saint Michaels, yet it is very much less common than the latter.

It breeds commonly on the marshes along the Yukon, even above Fort Yukon. A consider-
able number of specimens was brought me from the latter point and from Nulato. Dall procured
the downy young below Fort Yukon on June 23, and records that they were found abundant at
Sitka by Bischoff.

In the Aleutian Islands they are winter residents. It was found breeding at Sitka by Bean,
and Turner reports it as a common resident in the Near Islands. During the summer of 1881 I
found them common about the head of Norton Sound, on both shores of Bering Straits, and in
Kotzebue Sound.

Although I did not find these birds nesting commonly near Saint Michaels, yet from about
the last of June or first of July, until autumn, immense flocks of males frequented the shores of Saint
Michaels aud the adjoining Stewart Islands. The seaward shores formed the ordinary haunts of
these birds until the approach of a gale forced them to seek the lee of the islands or the sheltering
bays. From the fact that these flocks are formed exclusively of males it is evident that the females
assume the duties of incubating the eggs and rearing the young.

The main breeding ground of this species remains unknown to me, for, although females and
young were not rare in summer, yet they were never numerous enough to account for the vast
numbers of males to be found.

On August 23, 1878, I visited Stewart Island, about 10 miles to the seaward of Saint Michaels.
As I neared the island in my kyak I found the water literally black with the males of this species,

8. Mis. 156-——-11
82 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

which were united in an enormous flock, forming a continuous band around the duter end of the
island for a distance of about 10 miles in length, and from one-half to three-fourths of a mile in width.
As the boat approached them those nearest began to rise heavily by aid of wings and feet from
the glassy surface of the gently undulating but calm water. The first to rise communicated the
alarm to those beyond, until as far as could be seen the water was covered with flapping wings,
and the air filled with a roar like that of a cataract. The rapid vibrations produced in the air by
tens of thousands of wings could be plainly felt.

In all my northern experience among the water-fowl which flock there in summer I never saw
any approach to the number of large birds gathered here in one flock, nor shall I soon forget the
grand effect produced by this enormous body of birds as they took wing and swept out to sea ina
great black cloud and settled again a mile or so away. .

The following year early in September I found a similar congregation at the same place. On
October 9 or 10 each year both young and old, which have joined in small flocks, are common all
along the coast, and are found until the new-formed ice forces them away a week or so later.

It was common in summer to see males in the bimaculata plumage among the large flocks.

At Unalaska, May 10, 1877, I secured a male as it swam alongside the steamer as we lay at
the wharf, and later in this month they became numerous about the bays in that vicinity. In
the mating season they have a low, clear whistle for a call note, and may be readily decoyed within
gunshot by imitating it from a blind. They are very curious also at this time, and I have seen a
flock rise and come up within a few yards of me as I was trying to creep within gunshot of them.
The white iris and bizarre coloration of the head of the male render it a very odd and striking
species.

CHEN HYPERBOREA (Pall.). Lesser Snow Goose (Esk. Kung-i).

The handsome Lesser Snow Goose is uncommon on the coast of Norton Sound and about
the Yukon month. It arrives in spring from the Sth to the 15th of May, according to the season,
and after remaining a very short time passes on to its more northern summer haunts. In the
vicinity of Nulato, on the Yukon, Dall found them arriving about May 9, on their way up the
Yukon; “they only stop to feed and rest on the marshes during the dusky twilight of the night,
and are off with the early light of an Arctic spring.” According to Murd och they are occasionally
seen at Point Barrow in spring. This is all seen of these geese in spring throughout Alaska, ex-
cept perhaps on the extreme northern border, for south of this none breed, and none are tound after
about May 25. They are far less numerous in spring than in fall along the coast of Bering Sea,
and their spring migration is over so quickly that they are rarely killed at thatseason. Dr. Adams,
while at Saint Michaels in 1851, noted the arrival of these birds from the south in spring and their
departare to the north in fall, agreeing with my own observations, as noted elsewhere.

On September 2, 1878, flocks began to come south, and up to the 10th of that month they were
common. From the unusually early date of this arrival the natives predicted an early approach
of winter. They ordinarily arrive from the 5th to the 15th of September, and seme remain until
the 7th or 10th of October in some seasons. At this season they are in flocks of from twenty to one
hundred or more, and do not mix with other geese on the feeding grounds, but keep by themselves.
They feed upon the same flats as the other geese, and have no peculiar habits. ;

The young are frequently in their grayish immature plumage even when they leave for the
south in October.

There is no record of this bird from any of the Bering Sea islands nor from the southeastern
coast, although it must occur in the latter region during the migrations.

The extraordinary abundance of these geese in California during winter is equaled by the
myriads which pass north along the western shore of Hudson’s Bay in spring. Hearne rates them
as the most abundant.bird found at the northern part of this bay, and states that during the height
of the season when they settle to feed the ground appears as if covered with snow. The same
author records the killing of from five to six thousand birds during one spring at Fort Churchill.
This was before 1795, and in view of the continual slaughter these and the other geese are forced to.
undergo annually, it appears strange that they should continue to exist in such great numbers.
BIRDS. 83

These birds seek a nesting ground along the course of the Lower Anderson River and the
neighboring region along the Arctic ccast.

ANSER ALBIFRONS GAMBELI (Hartl.). American White-fronted Goose (Esk.
Liik-hlitk).

In early seasons the first White-fronted Goose reaches the Yukon mouth and the vicinity of
Saint Michaels by April 27, as in 1877, but the usual time is from the 5th to the 8th of May.
From about the 10th of May they are very common, and remain to breed in considerable numbers
all along the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea and ou the Arctic coast of Point Barrow, where they
are plentiful, arriving the last half of May. It was taken on the Commander Islands by Stejneger.
During the summer of 1881 a number were found feeding upon Saint Lawrence Island, and they
also nest on the Siberian shore in the vicinity of Bering Straits. During the migrations they occur
at various points along the Aleutian chain, but are not known to breed there. Dall found their
eggs all along the Yukon, from Fort Yukon to the sea, and it is well known as a widely-spread
species, breeding all around the Arctic mainland portions of America.

Over the northern part of most of the Old World is found a closely-related race of this bird
distinguished by a slightly smaller bill aud darker colors. When the White-fronted Goose first
arrives in the north the lakes are but just beginning to open and the ground is still largely covered
with snow. ‘The last year’s heath berries afford them sustenance, in common with most of the
other wild fowl at this season. As the season advances they become more numerous and noisy.
Their loud call-notes and the cries of the males are heard everywhere.

The mating season is quickly ended, however, and on May 27, 1879, I found their eggs at the
Yukon mouth. From this date on, until the middle of June, fresh eggs may be found, but very
soon after this latter date the downy young begin to appear. These geese choose for a nesting
site the grassy border of a small lakelet, a knoll grown over with moss and grass, or even a flat,
sparingly covered with grass. Along the Yukon Dall found them breeding gregariously, deposit-
ing their eggs in a hollow scooped out in the sand. At the Yukon mouth and Saint Michaels
they were found breeding in scattered pairs over the flat country. Every one of the nests ex-
amined by me in these places had a slight lining of grass or moss, gathered by. the parent, and
upon this the first egg was laid; as the complement of eggs is approached the female always
plucks down and feathers from her breast until the eggs rest in a soft warm bed, when incubation
commences. The eggs vary considerably in shape and size. Some are decidedly elongated ;;
others are as decidedly oval. In color they are of a dull white, but ordinarily present a dirty
brown appearance from being stained in the nest.

The following measurements show about the extent of the variations in size. The eggs
‘measured are from a very large series taken in the vicinity of Saint Michaels: Maximum, 3.45 by
2.28; minimum, 2.98 by 2.10. Within these limits there are innumerable gradations.

The young are pretty little objects, and are guarded with the greatest care by the parents,
the male and female joining in conducting their young from place to place and in defending them
from danger.

The last of June, in 1877, I made an excursion to Stewart Island, near Saint Michaels, and
while crossing a flat came across a pair of these geese lying prone upon the ground in a grassy
spot, with necks stretched out in front and their young crouching prettily all about them. Very
frequently during my visits to the haunts of these birds the parents were seen leading their young
away through the grass, all crouching and trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

At Kotzebue Sound, during the Corwin’s visit, in July, 1881, old and young were very com-
mon on the creeks and flats at the head of Escholtz Bay.

The downy young has the middle of the crown and entire back, including the upper surface
of the wings and outer side of thighs, sooty-brown with an olive shade. From the bill a band
extending back through the eye is of a slightly darker shade than surrounding feathers. Nape
and back of neck olive yellow. Entire lower surface rich lemon-yellow washed with lighter on the
abdomen. A full grown young of the year, taken the Ist of September, is much like the adult,
except in lacking the white at the base of the bill and the dark mottling on the breast. About
84 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

the base of the bill the feathers are mixed blackish and brown. Head and neck pale brown,
lightest on the neck. Back ashy brown, feathers edged with grayish brown. Rump dark brown.
The entire surface below is nearly uniform pale dingy-brown, much darker on the sides. The bill
is dull yellowish, bordered around the gape, nostrils, and along the ridge of culmen by dark horn-
color. The iris is dark hazel, surrounded by a dull yellow membrane. Feet and tarsi dingy
yellowish.

During August and September the geese and many other wild fowl in the north feed upon
the abundant berries of that region and become very fat and tender. All through September,
old and young, which have been on the wing since August, gather in larger flocks, and as the sharp
frosts toward the end of September warn them of approaching winter, commence moving south.
The marshes resound with their cries, and after some days of chattering, flying back and forth,
and a general bustle, they suddenly start off in considerable flocks, and the few laggards which
remain get away by the 7th or 8th of October. ,

BRANTA CANADENSIS HUTCHINSII (Sw. & Rich.). Hutchins’s Goose (Esk. Tu-
talk-ko-chik).

The history of the present bird is but little known, and most authors, since the time of the orig-
inal description, have referred to it under the name leucopareia. This must have been done in every
case from lack of proper material, as I hope to show in the following notes. Although this bird is
one of the commonest species on the Lower Yukon, yet, strangely enough, in their paper upon the
birds of Alaska, Messrs. Dall and Bannister did not record it from there, but simply note: “Two
specimens obtained by Bischoff at Sitka.” These specimens are really occidentalis. At the Yukon
mouth and in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, I found this species arriving with the smaller minima
at the same dates and in about equal numbers at the Yukon mouth, but much less common at
Saint Michaels. From my observations I should decide the center of abundance of this species
to be along the Lower Yukon and thence south to the Kuskoquim. Its distribution appears to
be less general than that of the smaller form, whose habits it shares. In examining the National
Museum series of geese I find examples from Northern Illinois which are identical with the speci-
mens of hutchinsit from Alaska. In order to show the differences between the three forms as
plainly as possible, I give below a brief diagnosis of each, with measurements appended:

Canadensis.—A typical specimen from Northern Illinois. The well known, large, white cheek-
patches and black head and neck need only be referred to; the entire back, including exposed
feathers of folded wings, is dark-grayish brown edged with lighter. The rump is black with white
upper tail-coverts, which form a ring about the tail by joining the white of abdomen. The dark
color of the back reaches forward to the sharply-defined edge of the black on the neck. Entire
lower surface from the edge of the black on the neck in front to the white of abdomen, pale-grayish
brown, pretty well defined posteriorly by the white area which occupies the abdomen and under
tail-coverts. Tail-teathers, 16.

Hutchinsii.—A series from Alaska, California, and Northern Illinois. The main difference be-
tween this form and canadensis is the smaller size of the former. The color variations are mainly
limited to the abdomen and throat. The dorsal surface of hutchinsii is like that of canadensis,
with no point of variation I can observe. In hutchinsii the black of head and neck tends to as-
sume a glossier black, and the dark color very commonly encroaches upon the white cheek-patches,
frequently separating them by a broad, black throat-band. The main distinction, however, besides
the smaller size, is in the much lighter color of the lower surface. The white abdominal area ex-
tends forward and almost incloses the thigh in some cases, and almost invariably there is no defi-
nite line of demarkation between the white and brown areas. In addition, the grayish brown of
the breast is very light, and the encroachment of the white upon its posterior border gives a mot-
tled gray and white surface. In some instances the white of abdomen extends anterior to the
middle of the body. There is rarely any sign of a white collar at the base of the black on the
neck either in this or the preceding. Tail feathers, 16.

Minima.—Series from Alaska. Black of head and neck as in the preceding. The black en-
croaches upon the white cheek-patches even more extensively than in occidentalis, and the black
line along the throat is sometimes very broad. The back is usually somewhat darker than in
BIRDS. 85

the two preceding forms, and the light edgings of the feathers more sharply contrasted with the
general color. These characters are not always to be trusted, however. Very frequently the neck
at the base of the black is surrounded by a ring of white, varying from a single series of feathers
to a band half an inch broad. Whether this white ring is present or not the feathers surrounding
the base of the neck are much darker than the rest of the back or breast; and, in case the white
ring is absent, the black neck area shades graduaily into the color of the back and breast in place of
the sharp limit seen dividing the colors in the other two forms. The color of the entire under
surface, except the abdomen, is very much darker than in either of the other two forms, and the
feathers are edged and glossed with a dull burnt-umber shade, giving a peculiar tint not seen on
the others. In consequence of the dark colors on the lower surface of minima the contrast
between the abdominal white and the dark brownish of the breast is striking. Tail-feathers, 16.
There is no difference in the number of tail-feathers so far as I have been able to find after exam-
ining over one hundred birds of the various forms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:
| | Height
Wing. | Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen. ° of bill at
| | base.
: |
Canadensis.
April —, Chicago, Ill. -..-....220.0200000- 17.50 | 5.40 | 315 | 2.00 | 92
Hutchinsii. | | |
!
o May 15, Yukon mouth 16.15 5.10 2.85 | 1.43 | 70
o May 6, Nulato, Alaska 16. 10 us 5.45 2.86 | 1.45 76
9 Chicago, Ill.........-.2-0-- 14. 50 475 | 2.64 | 1,39 175
o Washoe Lake, Nevada 15. 35 4.95 2.90 | 1,50 - 83
Minima. | |
F 1 ,
Q Saint Michaels, Alaska 14.40 | 4.70 2.48 1.10 - 66
¢ Saint Michaels, Alaska Zl] 13.90 | 4.50 2. 65 Lit 172
{ 9 Yukon mouth............--. aed 13.30 4.62 2.40 1.09 - 65
F California cccan cn cow ave ncsine ain omnis 14.70 ° 5. 00 2. 63 1.35 | .78

 

The last specimen measured in the minima series presents a combination of the characters of
that form and hutchinsii, but is nearest minima. A specimen in the National Museum collection,
taken at Sitka in May, which is one of the two specimens cited by Dall from that locality under
the name occidentalis, only agrees with this form in having a slightly smaller bill than is usual in
canadensis. It measures as follows: Wing, 18; tail, 5.80; tarsus, 3.15; culmen, 1.62; depth of
‘bill, 88. ;

In his paper on the birds of the Western Aleutian Islands, Mr. Dall, under the heading of
Bernicla nigricans, gives some interesting observatious concerning this bird. He informs us that
it does not breed east of Amchitka Island, but some nest on Amchitka, Kyska, and other islands
there.

They choose the hill-tops for their breeding places, according to the naturalist quoted, and he
secured eggs on June 15 and the unfledged young July 10.

The nesting habits, notes, and general mode of life of Hutchin’s Goose are identical with those
of minima, so they need not be specially referred to here. Eggs of this bird taken at the Yukon
mouth in June, 1879, measure 3.02 by 2.10, 3.08 by 2.11, 3.04 by 2, 3 by 2.11, 2.90 by 2.07.

So great is the variation in size in the eggs of this bird and those of minima, that unless the
eggs are identified on the spot it is a hopeless task to try and separate them afterwards. By the
test of measurements alone the same difficulty would be experienced in separating the birds them-
selves as they grade insensibly from one to the other, but removing hutchinsii and the two extremes
are found in the other two forms.

BRANTA CANADENSIS OCCIDENTALIS (Baird). White-cheeked Goose.

During my residence on the coast of Bering Sea this bird was not seen, and as hundreds of the
two other related forms were examined both at Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth, it appears
evident either that the White-cheeked Goose -proper never reaches this part of the Territory, or,
if at all, merely asa very rare straggler.

Mr. Dall records specimens at Sitka during the Western Union Telegraph Expedition.
86 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

BRANTA CANADENSIS MINIMA Ridgw. Cackling Goose (Esk. Lik-hlitk-hlé-ghiik).

This is the most common and generally distributed goose found breeding along the Alaskan
coast of Bering Sea. From the sea-sbore its breeding ground extends along the courses of the
great rivers far into the interior. During the sum mer of 1881 they were found iu abundance about
the head of Kotzebue Sound, and were seen at various points along the Arctic coast to the vicinity
of Point Barrow; so there is no doubt that its breeding ground reaches thus far.

In Dall and Bannister’s paper the notes upon leucopareia and hutchinsti are to be united under
the above heading, since they unquestionably refer solely to the present bird. While descending
the Yukon, Dall found their eggs Jaid upon the bare sand-banks, as were those of the White-
fronted species.

It is recorded by Elliott as an occasional visitant to the Fur Seal Islands during the migra-
tions, but is not known to breed. In the vicinity of Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth these
are the first geese to arrive in spring; the first come from the 25th to the 30th of April, but
the main body do not arrive until from May 5 to 20, according to the season. The first goose
of the season is hailed with delight by both natives and white residents, who set at work repair-
ing their guns and making ready for the welcome change from a diet of fish eaten all through the
winter to geese, which soon becomes the staple.

As May advances and one by one the ponds open, and the earth looks out here and there from
under its winter covering, the loud notes of the various wild fowl are heard, becoming daily more
numerous. Their harsh and varied cries make sweet music to the ears of all who have just passed
the winter’s silence and dull monotony, and in spite of the lowering skies and occasional snow-
squalls every one makes ready and is off to the marshes.

The flocks come cleaving their way from afar, and as they draw near their summer homes raise
a chorus of loud notes in a high-pitched tone like the syllable “lik,” rapidly repeated, and a reply
rises upon all sides, until the whole marsh re-echoes with the din, and the new-comers circle slowly
up to the edge of a pond amid a perfect chorus raised by the geese all about, as if in congratula-
tion.

Even upon first arrival many of the birds appear to be mated, as I have frequently shot one
from a flock and seen a single bird leave its companions at once and come circling about, uttering
loud call-notes. If the fallen bird is only wounded its mate will almost invariably join it, and
frequently allow itself to be approached and shot without attempting to escape. In some instances
I have known a bird thus bereaved of its partner to remain in the vicinity for two to three days,
calling and circling about. Although many are mated, others are not, and the less fortunate
males fight hard and long for possession of females. I frequently amused myself, while at the
Yukon mouth, by watching flocks of geese on the muddy banks of the river, which was.a favorite
resort. The females kept to one side and dozed, or dabbled their bills in the mud; the males were
scattered about, and kept moving uneasily from side to side, making a great outcry. This would
last but a few minutes, when two of the warriors would cross each other’s path, and then began
the battle. They would seize one another by the bill, and then turn and twist each other about,
their wings hanging loosely by their sides meanwhile. Suddenly they would close up and each
would belabor his rival with the bend of the wing, until the sound could be heard two or three
hundred yards. The wing-strokes were always warded off by the other bird’s wing, so but little
damage was done, but it usually erded in the weaker bird breaking loose and running away.
Just before the males seize each other they usually utter a series of peculiar low growling or
grunting notes.

The last week of May finds many of these birds already depositing their eggs. Upon the grassy
borders of ponds, in the mnidst of a bunch of grass, or on a small knoll these birds find a spot where
they make a slight depression and perhaps line it with a scanty layer of grasses, after which the
eggs are laid, numbering from five to eight. These eggs, like the birds, average smaller than those
of the other geese. The following series of measurements, taken from a large series of eggs, shows
about the average sizes: 3 by 1.85, 2.90 by 1.90, 2.80 by 2, 2.75 by 2, 2.70 by 1.92.

As the eggs are deposited the female gradually lines the nest with feathers plucked from her
breast until they rest in a bed of down. When first laid the eggs are white, but by the time
BIRDS. 87

incubation begins ail are soiled and dingy. The female usually crouches low ou her nest until an
jntruder comes within a hundred yards or so, when she skulks off through the grass or flies silently
away, close to the ground, and only raises a note of alarm when well away from the nest. When
the eggs are about hatching, or the young are out, both parents frequently become perfectly reck-
less in the face of danger. _ :

The young are hatched from the middle of June until the middle of July.

The old birds moult their quill feathers from the 20th of July uutil late in August, and flocks
begin forming as soon as the birds are on the wing again. From that time until the last of Sep-
tember and first of October, when they migrate, they are found scattered over the country, feeding
on various berries, which are ripe on the hill-sides.

One season, at 10 p. m., on the 29th of September, an immense flock of these birds, with other
geese, was heard leaving the marshes, although the darkness was intense. The following day four
inches of snow fell and winter set in, thus affording an excellent example of what true weather-
seers these birds are. :

From the time the young are hatched until the moult, these and the allied geese may be tolled
within gunshot, as they fly from place to place, by the hunter merely lying or kneeling on the
ground and swinging his cap and making an outery or imitating their note. I have seen this done
again and again by the Eskimo, and have done it often myself.

The first plumage of this bird is a dull grayish umber-brown; the head and neck almost
uniform with the rest of the body and without any trace of the white cheek-patches. As is common
to the young of many water-fow], the feathers of head, neck, and much of the rest of body are bor-
dered with a lighter shade than the main part of the feathers. ,

BRANTA NIGRICANS (Lawr.). Black Brant (Esk. Liik-hliig-ti-niik).

Each season, as the chilling storms and gloomy weather of middle May begin to give place to
a softer temperature and other proofs of approaching summer, the Black Brant first makes its
appearance on the east coast of Bering Sea. It is rarely found at the Yukon mouth before May
15, and it usually arrives from the 18th to the 22d of this month. The week or ten days following
the arrival of these birds in spring includes the bulk of their migration, after which none are seen
until fall, unless it may be an occasional pair which stop to nest in the marshes from the Yukon
mouth north to Kotzebue Sound. This is a very rare occurrence, however, as my own experience
and that of the Eskimo goes to prove.

In autumn there is a striking difference in the number taking the coast of Bering Sea as a
pathway to the south, and in place of the myriads which pass north in spring along this coast,
only a few scattered parties and stray birds make their appearance between the 1st and the 15th
of October. The cause for this is not known, but it may be due to the fact that in spring the birds
are forced to keep along the shore to find food on the exposed flats, whereas in fall they can find
more or less food in passing across the sea from one point to another. The main flight of the
other geese has passed, and many of those which remain to breed have already paired when the
height of the Brant flight occurs.

The weather has become just mild enough to render camping somewhat comfortable by this
time, and at Saint Michaels we counted, each spring, upon a few days’ sport with these birds as the
cream of the shooting season. The nights during the last half of May are scarcely darker at Saint
Michaels than early twilight in lower latitudes, and the air, frosty and bracing between sunset and
sunrise, renders camping at this season doubly attractive. The soft, hazy outlines of the land-
scape, and the solemn silence brooding over all, make the night scenes impressive. The early
sun pours its rays in long bars of light through the mountain defiles upon the marshes and
awakens to life the noisy multitude which has congregated about the opening pools and bare
spaces. A spcedy toilet made through the icy rim of a pool, and a hasty breakfast, quickly disposed
of, and one who wishes the best of the Brant shooting must soon gain his station. A rubber
blanket spread on the wet moss allows a comfortable place to lie upon at full length, until, as the
sun begins to make itself felt, the birds take wing from their resting-places about the borders of
the countless ponds and slough-holes on the broad stretch of marsh. In flocks of from ten to
88 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

several hundred birds they come gliding along close to the ground, almost invariably drawn out
in single file, flying abreast, and with continuous and gracefully sinuous undulations. These
undulations, are produced by the birds successively rising or lowering a foot or two, the motion
commencing at one end of the flock and passing successively along.

The wing-strokes of this species are much more rapid than those of the others, and their flight
is also more swift, so that it takes a quick eye and sure hand to stop them as they dart over one
while he lies upon the ground. Many a charge of shot has the writer sent on a fruitless errand at
these birds, until he has gained a lasting memory of their prowess on the wing. During-the winter
residence of this Brant upon the shore of California it is neted for its pertinacity in following the
outline of the coast as it passes from place to place. In the north this habit still clings to them,
and although they frequently pass over broad, marshy flats, yet a low ridge, but a few yards high-
above the general level, is sufticient to turn their course and send them skimming along its base
and around the obstacle rather than over it. For this reason our best shooting was usually found
near the end of a ridge crossing their line of flight.

While upon the ground or in flight they have a low guttural note something like the syllables
gr-r-r-r-y. When alarmed this note, repeated often and with more emphasis, was the only cry
heard.

They are very gregarious, at least during the spring migration, at which time my knowledge
of them was gathered ; single individuals were rarely seen, and these always hurried to join the
first flock they fell in with, while small flocks very commonly united with larger ones. I regret
that I had no opportunity to study this interesting bird during the nesting season. Their breed-
ing ground, however, lies considerably to the north, for, during the cruise of the Corwin, in the
summer of 1831, we first met them in the vicinity of Point Barrow, where the Eskimo brought
many of them on board. This was in August and their quill-feathers had been moulted and they
were sorry-looking objects.

Some old whaling captains assured me that they have frequently seen these birds coming
from over the ice to the north of Point Barrow in fall; and to the hardy navigators of these seas
this is strong evidence in support of the theory that bodies of land lie beyond the impenetrable
icy barrier which heads off their advance in that direction. Perhaps it was the droppings of this
bird which we found on the dreary shores of Wrangel Island, when our party from the Corwin
were the first human beings to break in upon its icy solitude.

Above the Yukon delta the Black Brant is a rare straggler, but it is taken at times up to
Nulato. Dall took one there the 29th of May, and informs us that they are also found at Fort
Yukon on the headwaters of the river. There, in spring, they are as numerous for afew days, as
on the coast. Strangely enough the same author was informed that these geese are not seen at
Fort Yukon in fall, and as the same is virtually the case on the coast of Bering Sea at that
season, the query arises as to the path taken by the myriads which pass north during a week or
two in spring. ;

Mr. Dall writes that on his return to the coast of California in the latter part of October
enormous flocks of these birds were seen about 100 miles offshore. They were flying south and
frequently settled in the water near the ship. The author just quoted notes eggs and young said
to be of this species taken on the Western Aleutian Islands, but I am induced to believe that these
eggs and young really belong to B. minima, as the latter bird is the only one said to breed upon
these islands, if the statements of residents can be relied upon. While at Unalaska on my. way to
San Francisco I saw a flock of the B. minima, domesticated, and upon inquiry learned that they
came from the western end of the chain, where the natives ara in the habit of rearing the young
and using them for food in winter. Elliott does not include the Brant among the visitants to the
Far Seal Islands, nor did I see it elsewhere in Bering Sea during my cruise the summer of 1881.

For some points of interest upon this bird not mentioned here I must refer those interested to
an article by the writer in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, where some of their
habits are treated more in detail.

Mr. Bean (lec. cit.) saw flocks of these birds migrating south along the Arctic coast near
Cape Lisburne on August 22, and on the 25th of the same month found them very abundant about
the brackish lagoons along shore near Icy Cape.
PLATE IV

 

+
( pribpuns IDV T

HSOo9 HOUsIWE

 

 

 
BIkDS. 89

At Pomt »arrow, according to Murdoch, these birds arrive at the end of the water-fowl
migration in spring, as tney do in Norton Sound. They ieave tie former place for the south by
theend of September. <A tew breed there and lay trom four to six eggs in a warshy place.

A young female of the year has the white nuchal coiiar of the aduit indicated by a sprinkling of
white feathers in front and on sides of neck, but not behind. The feathers of the back are edged
with brown. ‘here are two white bands across middie of wing, and the secondaries and tertiaries
are tipped with white. The feathers of abdomen are tipped with grayish, but the broad, white
tieckings along the sides and tlank of the adult are wanting.

90. PHILACTE CANAGICA (Sevast.). Emperor Goose (Esk. Nd-chait-thlitk).

Among the various species of birds more or less peculiar to Alaska this goose is perhaps the
most noteworthy. ‘he limited area covered by 1t in its migration, its narrow range, reaching only
across the area bounded by the Aleutian Lsiands on the south, and the vicinity of Bering Straits on
the north, and the little known concerning its life-history, ail joined to render this bird one of the
principal objects of my attention at Saint Michaeis.

‘YVhe Aleuts call these birds “beach geese,” trom their habit of frequenting the beaches, on
these islands, at low tide, to feed. Un Sanak and other of tie Eastern Aleutian Islands, on the
Pacific side of the chain, these birds winter in extraordinary abundance, and are found at times
the entire length of the chain, Mr. Dail’s statement (Proc. Cai. Acad. Sci., February 8, 1873, and
March 14, 1874) of the absence of these’ birus on the western Laif of the Aleutian Islands being
based upon erroneous information. ‘hey are tar more numerous, however, on the eastern half.:

Elliott records them as stragglers on the Kur Seai isiands, where they sometimes land in such
an exhausted condition that the natives catch them in open chase over the grass. Dr. Adams
found them at Port Clarence, in Bering Straits, in the summer of 1851. While lying becalmed off
the Yukon mouth, June 17, 1877, I saw three of these birds heading across the sea towards Saint
Lawrence Island, where, during the summer of 1881, they were found abundant on the southwest
coast. They were also found there by biiiott some years previously, thus showing them to be
regular summer residents.

Upon the north coast of Siberia, just west of Bering Straits, Nordenskjold found them in
early summer, so there is little question that they breed thus far north at least, although I did
not find a single specimen during my visits to the same shore in the summer of 1881. On the
Alaskan side it is not very rare in Golovina Bay and Port Clarence, both near the Straits, and
thence south it is found more commonty, although stiii scarce, until tie Yukon delta is reached ;
here, upon the seaward part of this series of isiands and aiong the marshy coast to the south,
oetween the Yukon and Kuskoquim Kivers, they find their most congenial breeding ground, and
here they occur in great uumbers, not, however, to the exciusion of the other geese, as Mr. Dall’s
informant told him was the case on the Kusievak mouth of the Yukon, a statement I did not find
verified on my visit to that part of the deita.

As an important part of this bird’s history i inciude here some extracts from the Nova Acta
Acad. Petropol., where, in ‘Lome Xiii, pp. 546 to 351, is the original description based upon a speci-
men secured by Billings on his voyage to our coast near the close of last century. This specimen,
was described on Uctober 8, 1800, at the Imperiai Academy of St. Petersburg, as quoted above.
it is stated that this example was optained upon the isie of Canaga, or Kyktak, one of the
Aleutian islands nearest the American coast, and situated belind the Cape Aliaska: “Et que le
nom de Vespéce, c’est a dire ‘Canagica, a été imposé a cet oiseau du nom de la premiere isle, ou
ue celui des principaux habitans de Visie Kyktak, eppsles Caniagues ou Canagues, qui peut-étre
ayant apprivoiseés cet oiseau font rendu domestique.” W hich latter is a rather naive surmise
on the part of our worthy author, not sustained by subsequent investigation. A miserable wood-
cut accompanies this description. i have been to considerable trouble to locate the island whence
the original specimen came, but have been unabie to find it uuder the names given on any English»
Kussian, or American chart 1 have examined.

Up to the time of the elegraph Expedition but littie was known of these geese, and the little
information secured by the expiorers at tuat time served to draw the attention of ornithologists
to this hyperborean species.

S. Mis. lobj-— 12
90 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

During my residence at Saint Michaels, stray parties of Emperor Geese were seen now and
then, being more common in fall than earlier in the season. Toward the end of September or first
of October each fall, a few are taken by Eskimo on the broad marshes about 10 or 15 miles south
of Saint Michaels. At this season they are in flocks of from ten to fifty or more, and are rather
shy. During the last of May and first of June, 1879, the writer camped on a lonely islet in the
middle of the Yukon delta for the purpose of gaining some knowledge regarding the habits of
these geese and the other water-fowl. There, under the chilling snow-squalls of a backward
spring, the coming of these fine birds was impatiently awaited.

On May 22 my Eskimo hunter brought in the first one, a magnificent male in fine plumage.
From that time on they became more common daily until the first of June, when they had arrived
in full force, and their form and notes became as familiar as those of the White-fronted and White-
collared Geese (gambelit and minima). The river was still under a firm sheet of ice, and heavy
snow-banks covered half the earth when the first arrivals appeared and sought a feeding place on
any muddy flat just appearivg from its spowy covering.

The early-comers were more shy thau those later in the field, and in spite of continued effort
the number of skins in my box did not increase rapidly. It was not long before they began to
arrive in flocks, and were less shy. ‘They were easily distinguished at a long distance by their
heavy bodies, short necks, and short, quick wing-strokes, very much like those of the Black Brant.
Although not as agile on the wing as the latter bird, nor, in fact, as the other geese, yet when under
way they are swift flyers.

While passing from one feeding ground to another they commonly utter a deep, rather hoarse,
and strident cla/-ba, cla/-ha, cla’-ha, which is very different from the note of any other goose with
which I am familiar. At times, though rarely, a flock may be brought within gunshot by imitating
this note.

Soon after their arrival they began to pair, and were seen flying about in couples, keeping close
to the ground, rarely flying over 20 or 30 yards high, and often barely keeping clear of the surface-
The males are extremely jealous and pugnacious, never allowing one of their kind to approach
within a number of yards without making an onslaught upon the intruder. The same belligerent
spirit is shown to the other species of geese should one of them chance to draw too near.

While a pair is feeding the male keeps moving restlessly about, with eyes constantly on the
alert, and at the first alarm they draw near together and just before they take wing both utter a
deep, ringing ti-ligh, t-ligh. As in the case of the call-note, this has a peculiar, deep hoarseness,
impossible to describe.

The first of June they began depositing their eggs on the flat, marshy islands bordering the
sea. At low tide the broad mud-flats on the shore were thronged with them, and after feeding
until satisfied they congregated on bars until the incoming water forced them to disperse. They
nested most abundantly on the salt marshes adjacent to these feeding grounds, and the eggs were
often placed among fragments of drift-wood below the mark of the highest tides. Stray pairs were
found nesting further inland on the marshy meadows, also frequented by the other species of geese,
but on the salt flats, near tide water, the Emperor Geese held undisputed possession.

On June 5 a female was found setting upon her eggs on a little knoll, with a small fragment
of bleached drift-wood within a few yards of her, and as she lay with extended neck, although the
ground was almost bare, my Eskimo and I passed within a few feet of her on either side, without
seeing her. We were about 20 steps beyond when she left the nest with a startled cry, thus draw-
ing our notice. The three eggs were in full view when we turned. They rested in a depression
with no sign of alining. The same ruse caused us to pass other nests, but the birds betrayed them
each time by flying off with a loud outery almost as soon as our backs were presented.

The majority of the nests found contained from three to five eggs, the full complement usually
ranging from five to eight. The eggs are absolutely indistinguishable from those of the White-
frouted Goose, and in form and measurements present a wide range of variation. Thus some are
much elongated, while others are slightly pyriform, As usually taken from the nest they are of a
dirty-brownish white, but when fresh are of a nearly pure white. They vary in size from 3.28 by
2,22 to 3.03 by 2. As the complement of eggs approached completion, the parent made a soft
bed of fine grass, leaves, and feathers plucked from her own breast. Asa rule, when driven from
BIRDS. 91

her eggs, the female flew straight away and alighted at some distance, sometimes half a mile from
the nest, showing very little concern. The male was rarely seen in the vicinity of the nest. The
young are batched the last of June or first of July, and the adult birds undergo the summer
moult from the last of July to the middle of August.

During this season the Eskimo set long lines of nets across the marshes and make drives of
water-fowl which have moulted their quill feathers. The slaughter is enormous; the wasteful
savages render it still worse by killing thousands of young birds which are entrapped, saying that
they will thus prevent their being in the way during the next drive.

Tens of thousands of geese are annually killed in the drives from the Yukon mouth south to
the Kuskoquim. In fall, as these geese regain their wings, they gather along the sea-coast and
seek their food from place to place until the approach of winter sends them a few hundred miles
south to the Aleutian Islands.

The natives south of the Yukon use the skins of the Emperor Goose for making clothing, as
they also use the skins of the other water-fowl. They are more difficult to kill than the other
geese, and I have repeatedly knocked them down with a charge of shot and seen them make oft
apparently unhurt a moment later.

The first plumage is known by the black or dark spots sprinkled over the white hood. In
this stage the feet and legs are dusky olive-yellow, the iris dark hazel; lower mandible horn-
black, as is the lower border of the upper mandible. The upper surface of the latter is blotched
with dark horn color on a livid purplish ground color, tinging the dark mottling. After careful
examivation I found the adult males and females to be absolutely indistinguishable, although
there is considerable individual variation. A fine adult female taken at the Yukon mouth
May 22 (No. 1067) had its iris hazel; lower mandible dark horn-color, with a white spot on. each
side of the rami; membrane about nares livid-blue, the rest of upper surface of bill pale purplish
or fleshy white; edge of nail dark horn color—rest of same white; inside of mouth mottled black
and white; feet and legs a bright, rich orange-yellow. The following measurements, taken from
the fresh birds, will show the length and spread of wings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

!
Number. | Sex. | Length. | Spread. | Number.) Sex. | Length. | Spread. |; Number.| Sex. } Length. | Spread.
WE sc.0. | 26 48 ! 1120. .. c 27 51 1125 ....| of 27.5 53
VAS .2000 26.5 50.5 WL owe. 8 27 53.5 1126.... 2 27 52
ab bb eee cs 26 49 ae hb eee 26.5 51 127 ....1 Q 27.5 50.5
PTB i sou. é 27. 65 53 j 1128.....) 26. 65 51 L128 os co 28 54.5
WI sane. g 27 51.5 1124.....] 9 25.6 ! 49.6 | 1129... cs 28 56.5

 

 

 

 

During Billings’s Expedition to the Aleutian Islands, about 1790, the Emperor Goose was
described by Sauer, who noted its arrival at Unalaska August 31 and its departure the 18th of
the following April. It winters abundantly on the Near Islands.

The latest contribution to its history is by Mr. C. H. Townsend, who records the capture of
an Emperor Goose on Humboldt Bay, Northern California, by Mr. Charles Fiebig, in the winter
of 1884, and the latter stated that these geese occur there at long intervals.

OLOR COLUMBIANUS (Ord). Whistling Swan (Esk. K6g-@-zkth).

This fine bird arrives on the shore of Bering Sea in the vicinity of Saint Michaels early in
May, and in some seasons by the 27th of April, as in 1878, when several were seen on that date
about a spring-hole in the ice. At this time the ground was clothed with over a foot of snow, and
the sea covered, as far as could be seen, with unbroken ice. During the next few days a terrible
storm of wind and snow swept over the country, but did these birds no harm, as was seen directly
after the storm ceased by their presence at the water-hole as usual. Mr. Dall records their arrival
on the Yukon about May 1, and notes the fact of their descending that stream in place of going
up the Yukon, as most of the geese do at this season.

The birds arrive singly or in small parties on the coast, and directly after scatter to their sum-
mer haunts. At Nulato, Dall found them laying their eggs by May 21, but on the sea-coast May
30 is the earliest date I have of their eggs being taken. Dall states that they lay two eggs, but
92 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

this must refer to a single nest, for the ordinary number is from three to six. The nest is usually
upon a small island in some secluded lakelet, or on a rounded bank close to the border of a pond.
The eggs are deposited in a depression made in a heap of rubbish gathered by the birds from the
immediate vicinity of the nest, and is composed of grass, moss, and dead leaves, forming a bulky
affair in many cases. .

On June 14, 1880, a swan was seen flying from the side of a small pond on the marsh near
Saint Michaels, and a close search finally revealed the nest. The eggs were completely hidden in
loose moss, which covered the ground about the spot, and in which the bird had made a depression
by plucking up the moss and arranging it for the purpose. The site was so artfully chosen and
prepared that I passed the spot in my search, and one of my native hunters coming close behind,
called me back, and thrusting his stick into the moss exposed the eggs. I may note here that
whenever the Eskimo of Norton Sound go egging on thé marshes they invariably carry a stick 3
or 4 feet long, which they thrust into every suspicious tussock, bunch of grass, or spot in the
moss, and if a nest is there it is certain to be revealed by the stick striking the eggs. They are very
expert in detecting places likely to be chosen by the ducks and geese. I have seen my hunters
examine the borders of a lake, after I had given it what I considered a thorough search, and unearth
in one instance three geese-nests and one duck’s. This was after I had acquired considerable
skill in finding eggs, so it may readily be seen that the birds are very cunning in placing their
nests. There is some variation in the eggs of this swan, but the following measurements show
the average, the specimens measured being taken near Saint Michaels in June: 4.15 by 2.85, 4.05
by 2.74, 3.96 by 2.66.

The last of June or first of July the young are hatched, and soon after the parents lead them
to the vicinity of some large lake or stream, and there the old birds moult their quill-feathers and
are unable to fly. They are pursued by the natives at this season, and many are speared from
canoes and kyaks. Although unable to fly, it is no easy task single-handed to capture them alive.
The young men among the Eskimo consider it a remarkable exhibition of fleetness and endur-
ance for one of their number to capture a bird by running it down. The feat is performed as.
follows: The man removes his clothing except his trousers and a pair of small, light skin boots,
and then he starts after the bird, which may be plainly visible a hundred yards or more away, trying
to conceal itself in grass 2 or 3 inches high. The moment the swan sees its enemy approach
it rises and starts off at full speed, using its featherless wings as balances and to aid in pro-
gression. The bird takes to every shallow pond it sees, and by the aid of feet and wings makes
very rapid progress. The man must rush straight on in the track of his game, through water and
mud, and if he has good speed and wind he may hope to capture the bird in the course of fifteen
or twenty minutes. During the visit of the Corwin to Kotzebue Sound, in July, 1881, I saw
several swans with their quills moulted, but, as I had. no ambition to gain fame as a runner, I
did not try to secure them.

About 20 miles from Saint Michaels, toward the Yukon mouth, is a small, shallow lake,
about one-fourth of a mile in diameter, which is grown up with “horse-tails” (EZquisetum). This
lakelet forms a general rendezvous for all the swans of that vicinity during the summer and
fall. During the breeding season they gather there to feed, and the males make it their home,
In autumn, as the old birds regain their wing-feathers and the young are able to fly, all congregate
here, so that I have rarely passed this place without seeing from one hundred to five hundred
swans gathered in this small area. Their combined cries can be heard for 3 miles or more, and
make a grand and melodious concert.

I have frequently sat and listened with the keenest pleasure to the organ-like swell and fall
in their notes, as they were wafted on in rich, full harmony, then sank to a faint murmur, not
unlike that of running water. A series of low hillocks afforded a cover by which the lake could
be approached, and it was a majestic sight to lie here on a mossy knoll and gaze on the unsus-
pecting groups of these graceful birds as they swam back and forth, within rifle-shot, not sus-
pecting our presence. Their snowy bodies and beautiful forms, as I last saw them in this far-away
spot, will linger long in my mind as one of the most unique and interesting sights of my experience
in the north. The report of a rifle is sufficient to change the scene into wild confusion. <A chorus
of confused cries and the heavy beating of hundreds of mighty wings is heard. A cloud of white
BIRDS. . 93

rises, breaks into numerous fragments, and the birds scatter over the wide flats on every side.
On one occasion a pair of old birds, with four young, was standing on the grassy margin of this
lake, and I approached to within about 100 yards, beyond which the ground was perfectly open.
Preparing myself, I suddenly started and ran at full speed towards the birds, which gazed at ine
with great curiosity as they walked slowly toward the water, their heads turned back, to get a
fuller view, until they stumbled into the lake. Then they started to take wing, but I was already
within range, and choosing two young birds secured both of them. ‘

Toward the end of September these birds begin to gather into flocks, preparatory to migrating,
and from the last of this month to the 6th or 8th of October all leave for the south, the exact date
varying with the season. When they start they move off in flocks of from ten to seventy-five
or more, and keep up a continual noise, as though bidding farewell to the hospitable marshes
which have sheltered them during the summer. With the geese these birds pass to the east from
Saint Michaels, crossing to the Yukon at once, along which, according to Dall, the swans make
their road of migration.

This swan is rare at Point Barrow in summer and an occasional visitor to the Near Islands in

-winter. Stejneger took a single specimen of this bird on the Commander Islands on November 3,
1882, an immature bird of the year.

There is no record of this bird from the Siberian shore of Bering Sea nor from any of the
islands in the sume water. Mr. Dall reports their occurrence on Sanak Island, in September, 1872,
although they are not known from any other of the Aleutian Islands. It is found common and
nesting along the entire course of the Yukon, and in suitable places over all the remainder of the
Territory, except upon the islands.

The young birds of the year frequently retain the immature plumage until the last of September.
A specimen in this plumage, taken on September 19, had its bill purplish flesh-color, the nail and
a border along the gape black ; theiris hazel, and the feet aud tarsi livid flesh-color. The plumage
of this bird, which is now before me, is sooty brownish with a plumbeous shade about the top and

. sides of the head; neck and throat all around dull plumbeous ashy of a light shade; back, tertials,
and wing-coverts dull plumbeous ashy with a silvery gray luster, especially upon the wings.
Rump white, lightly washed with ashy, which increases to dull plumbeous ashy on the tail-coverts
and rectrices. Quills white, heavily mottled with ashy gray on their terminal third, but almost
immaculate toward bases. Under surface white, washed with dingy gray.

From the Fauna Boreali-Americana we learn that these birds nest within the Arctic Circle, on
the northern border of the British fur countries. As quoted by Richardson (op. cit.), Captain Lyon,
who accompanied Parry on his second voyage, describes its nest as built of moss-peat and nearly
6 by 42 feet in area, with a height of 2 feet and a cavity 14 feet in diameter. When first laid the
eggs of this bird «re white like those of geese, but become soiled in a Very short time.

OLOR BUCCINATOR (Rich.). Trumpeter Swan.

A specimen of this little known swan is noted by Mr. Dall as having been secured, with
its eggs, at Fort Yukon, by Mr. Lockhart, thus rendering it an Alaskan species. There is no
further record of its presence in the Territory. This is owing, undoubtedly, to the fact that the
‘nterior remains almost unexplored, so far as its summer birds are concerned. There is no
reason to suppose this swan ever reaches the shore of Bering Sea, where it appears to be en-
tirely replaced by the other species. There is no record of either bird being found on the south-
eastern coast of the Territory, where, however, both are likely to be found during the migrations.
Richardson gives this species a breeding range from latitude 61° north to well within the
Arctic Circle. Hearne tells us that both species of swans usually breed on the islands in the lakes
northwest of Hudson’s Bay, and the eggs of the larger species (or the Trumpeter) are so big “ that
one of them is a sufficient meal for a moderate man, without bread or any other addition.” The
same author notes the arrival, about Hudson’s Bay, of this species earlier than any other species of
water-fowl. Some years they arrive in March, before the ice is broken in the rivers, and they are
forced to gather about the open water, near falls and rapids, where the Indians secure large num-
bers of them. He adds, furthermore, that “the flesh of both is excellent eating, and, when roasted,
is equal in flavor to young heifer beef, and the cygnets are very delicate.”
94 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

ARDEA HERODIAS Linn. Great Blue Heron.

This heron was found by Bischoff at Sitka, where it is rare. It is also recorded from Portage
Bay, in the southeast part of the Territory, by Hartlanb. Facts obtained by me indicate that it
may possibly occur up to Nulato, on the Yukon, and the Kuslevak month of this stream. For the
last two references I am indebted to the natives and fur traders. An old native woman told me
that several times she had seen, at Nulato, cranes of a different kind from those so numerous at
Yukon mouth (G. canadensis), and that those seen at Nulato always perched on the tops of ‘high
trees. This was corroborated by another native from the same place. The Kuslevak record is
somewhat more doubtful, as the bird was found dead upon the snow early in April, and was seen
by a Russian fur trader, who bought it from the natives for me, but the warm weather, setting in
soon after, spoiled it and it was thrown away. From the description given, the bird could not be
anything else, so far as i could see, though there is a chance that the describer made unreal char-
acters the base of his description.

GRUS CANADENSIS (Linn.). Little Brown Crane (Esk. Ldt-slhuk).

This species is a rare straggler to Point Barrow, but from the Eskimo Murdoch learned that
itis abundant on the Arctic coast east'of Colville River. On the Near Islands it is a very rare
fall visitor and Bean saw cranes flying across Bering Straits, heading for the American shore,
on August 18. Skins of this species are in the National Museum collection from Kadiak Island,
Saint Michaels, and the Yukon, in Alaska, thence east to the Anderson River.

The habitat of the well known mexicana is limited to the middle latitudes, where it is common,
extending over the entire United States and into the southern parts of British America. In
winter the two forms to some extent mingle in the south.

Several instances are known of the capture of canadensis in its winter home, one of these being
Cassin’s type, taken by Méllhausen in October, 1853, at Albuquerque, N. Mex., and the second, taken
on the Rio Verde, Mexico, February 23, 1879, is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at
Cambridge, Mass. Several specimens have been taken in Colorado in fall. The chief reason for
its apparent scarcity in the south is that owing to its close resemblance to mexicana it has been
mistaken for that species and overlooked, while in addition its wariness has rendered it very difficult
to secure.

Nothing is known of its habits or movements after it leaves its northern home, but while in
its summer haunt on the shores of Bering Sea the writer has enjoyed abundant opportunities for
studying it and purposes to detail some points of interest regarding it.

At Saint Michaels it sometimes arrives by May 7, when there is yet scarcely a bare spot of
ground, and one season these early-comers had to endure some severe weather, and several inches
of new snow, over which they stalked glum and silent, showing little of their usual roystering
spirit. As a rule they are not seen until from the 10th to the 15th of the month, when the ground
is usually half bare and the cranes can search every hill-side for last year’s heath-berries, which,
with an occasional lemming or mouse, constitute their food at this season.

They come from the south toward the Lower Yukon, and on mild, pleasant days it is a common
sight to see the cranes advancing high overhead in wide circuits, poised on motionless wings,
and moving with a grace unexpected in such awkwardly-formed birds. As the weather gets
warmer they become more and more numerous, until the drier parts of the wide flats and low,
rounded elevations are numerously populated by these odd birds. The air is filled with the loud,
hard, rolling &-r-roo, kr-r-r-roo, ki-kr-r-roo, and either flying by, with trailing legs, or moving
gravely from place to place, they do much to render the monotonous landscape animate. Theend
of May draws near, and the full tide of their spring-fever causes these birds to render themselves
pre-eminently ludicrous by the queer antics and performances which the crane’s own book of
etiquette doubtless rules to be the proper thing at this mad season. I have frequently lain in
concealment and watched the birds conduct their affairs of love close by, and it is an interesting
as well as amusing sight. Some notes jotted down on the spot will present the matter more
vividly than I can describe from memory, and I quote them.
BIRDS. 95

On May 18, I lay in a hunting blind, and was much amused by the performances of two
cranes, which alighted near by. The first comer remained alone but a short time, when a second
bird came along, uttering his loud note at short intervals, until he espied the bird on the ground,
when he made a slight circuit, and dropped close by. Both birds then joined in a series of loud
rolling cries in quick succession. Suddenly the new-comer, which appeared to be a male, wheeled
his back toward the female and made a low bow, his head nearly touching the ground, and ending
by a quick leap into the air; another pirouette brings him facing his charmer, whom he greets with
a still deeper bow, his wings meanwhile hanging loosely by his sides. She replies by an answer-
ing bow and hop, and then each tries to outdo the other in a series of spasmodic hops and starts,
mixed with a set of comically grave and ceremonious bows. The pair stood for some moments
bowing right and left, when their legs appeared to become envious of the large share taken in
the performance by the neck, and then would ensue a series of stilted hops and skips-which are
more like the steps of a burlesque minuet than anything else I can think of: Frequently others
join and the dance keeps up until all are exhausted. By the 26th to the 30th of May they are
mated, and are seen scattered all over the flats from Cape Vancouver north to Kotzebue Sound,
or, perhaps, farther along the Arctic coast.

They are summer residents upon Saint Matthew’s and Saint Lawrence Islands, and were found
nesting by Nordenskjold in considerable numbers at Seniavine Strait, just south of Bering Straits,
on the Siberian coast, July 28, 1879. Eggs containing small embryos were brought me on May
27, 1879, but the two eggs, which this bird always lays, are generally deposited the last few days
of May or first of June. The site for the nest is usually on the grassy flats, where the drier
portions or the slight knolls afford them suitable places. The spot usually has an unob-
structed view on all sides, and it is common to see the female’s long neck raised suspiciously at the
appearance in the distance of anything unusual. If one approaches, the head sinks lower and
lower to avoid being seen, but if the person, even though 150 or 200 yards away, should stop and
look toward the bird, she will generally rise and skulk away, her neck close to the ground, wings
hanging loosely by the sides, and legs bent, so as to avoid being seen. When she is 100 yards or
more from the nest she straightens up and stalks anxiously about, uttering her loud call-note
incessantly, and is generally joined by the male; but it is rarely that either can, even then, be
approached within gunshot. In one case the female was about 75 yards from the nest, and as we
drew near she staggered from side to side with trailing wings, looking as if in death agony.

The nest is frequently a mere hollow in the ground, and is commonly lined with more or less
coarse grass-stems and straws. In one instance a nest was found on a bare flat, and was lined
with a layer of straws an inch deep, all of which must have been brought for some yards; this is
unusual, however. The eggs vary in ground-color from pale greenish clay color to buffy brown
or warm brownish, and the eutire surface is irregularly marked with spots and blotches of
chocolate-brown, rather sparsely distributed at the small end, but numerous about the large end
of the egg, chietly at the very apex. The size varies from 3.70 by 2.40; 3.72 by 2.40; 3.71 by 2.41, -
representing the maximum, to 3.26 by 2.28; 3.40 by 2.35, 3.33 by 2.21 representing the minimum
in a series of twenty-five specimens.

The lastof July, and during August, the cranes frequent the hill-sides, and feast upon the berries
growing there, and early in September the small flocks, which have been trooping about from
one feeding ground to another, join into larger companies, until toward the last of the month—from
the 18th to 30th—they pass to the south, making the air resonant with their guttural notes as they
file away toward the Yukon. The Eskimo say that once, very long ago, a pretty woman was
out picking berries, when a great flock of cranes gathered near, and circling about suddenly
closed about the unfortunate girl, and taking her upon their broad backs, soared away toward the
sky, where they vanished, drowning the girl’s cries meanwhile by their own hoarse chorus. Since
then the girl has never been seen by man, but the cranes to this day retain their habit of making
a lond outcry, and soaring in flocks, in autumn, as a reminiscence of this abduction.

On August 18,1880, Dr. Bean saw cranes of. this species crossing Bering Straits from the
Siberian to the Alaskan shore.
96 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

DESCRIPTION OF ADULT BIRD, WITH NOTES UPON VARIATIONS EXHIBITED IN A SERIES OF
EIGHTEEN SPECIMENS FROM SAINT MICHAELS, NORTON SOUND, ALASKA.

My examples of this bird are mainly spring specimens; yet they show every gradation from
the nearly uniform dull rusty seen in the young bird to the dull ashy of the adult. In only two or
three instances is ihe rusty wanting on the back, and taking one of these birds as typical of the
perfect plumage I present the following description :

Lores and crown to nearly half an inch back of eye bare and finely carunculated, and
encroached upon by a median extension of the feathers along vertex to a point opposite the
posterior half of orbit, thus forming a bare area. In life this bare area is dull livid red, sometimes
irregularly mottled with yellowish. Feathers of chin, throat, and cheeks, reaching bare area of
crown just back of eye, are dingy yellowish white. Rest of head and neck rather dull uniform
ashy. Back, scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts with clear ashy bases, and tipped for about
quarter of their length by pale dingy brown on the back, and becoming almost a rusty brown on
the upper tertials. Lower tertials, and secondaries ashy at base with blackish ashy tips, and pale
brown on outer web of secondaries. Inner primaries ashy brown with dark tips; outer five quills
blackish with paler brown shafts. Rump ashy; tail ashy with a wash of brown, and darkening at
the tips. Entire under surface ashy, marked on the breast by brown edges to feathers. Under
wing-coverts and axillaries clear ashy. Iris usually a bright, dark orange yellow, varying to plain
orange yellow or even pale orange red.

In No. 1948, a bird at least two years old, as shown by its plumage, there isa broad band of
pure white running along the length of the primary shafts, disappearing near the tip. This white
line is so narrowly bordered on each side with a dark line that it requires a close examination to
determine the fact. On the under surface of quill the white line is present, but very much reduced
in breadth. Insome birds the forward extension of the median point of the feathers on crown reaches
only opposite posterior border of the orbit, and in birds of the previous year the bare crown area
may be sparsely feathered to the base of the bill. Thereis an appreciable difference in size between
the males and females, as exhibited in the appended measurements, but this is the only character
by which they can be separated.

A young bird, a little over half grown, taken at Saint Michaels in September, presents the
following characters: Naked space on top and sides of head in adults is covered at this age with
short plumbeous gray feathers, slightly sprinkled and mottled with rusty. The rest of crown and
nape bright rufous or rusty, becoming intermingled with ashy feathers, and much less marked
along the rest of the back of the neck. Neck below still more ashy; the latter color is nearly
uniform on the chin. Feathers of the back, including dorsum, scapulars, and tertials, broadly
tipped with a bright, rich, rusty red. Bases of these feathers clearashy. Rump and tail ashy,
with scarcely a trace of rufous; quills as in adults. Abdominal surface dull ashy, with a feather
- here and there tipped with rusty. Bill fleshy at base, lighter at tip.

A specimen of Grus from the Great Slave Lake has the quills white as in ordinary mexicana
and the following measurements :

Wing, 19; tail, 7.50; tarsus, 8.16; culmen, 4.18; height at base, .63.

Adult G. mexicana shows the following proportions:

 

 

 

 

 

Height
Locality. Sex Date. Wing. Tail. | Tarsus. | Culmen. ue at

286.

| j

|

Missouri River.....-....- | Ad. q 20. 60 8.00 10. 00 4.80 +79
Colorado River.......-.-.. Ad, 4 21, 85 9. 20 10.50 5.40 - 83
Fort Crook, Cal .......-... Ad. gf | Apr. 20 21. 85 8. 50 10. 35 5. 38 . 85
21.43 8. 57 10. 28 5.19 - 82

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A specimen of canadensis from Kenai, Alaska, May 4, 1869, measures—wing, 19.80; tail, 8.10;
tarsus, 8.20; culmen, 3.80; height of bill at base, .70. This bird has the bare crown area about
equal to that of the average mexicana and the white wing-shafts are dull colored.
BIRDS. 97

Measurements of Grus canadensis.

 

 

 

 

Pointof | Between | Wing Tai B f

Catalogue ' pillto |tipsofout-| from ailto | | parsal| Bill eee

number. Locality. Sex. end eiretchell carpal basal end joint. | above. ee

of tail, wings. joint: /Otteatbers: '
1945 o 36 67 18 6.75 7 3. 38 - 60
1946 cs 37.5 73 19. 3 7 7.15 3. 72 +70
1947 c 37.5 73 19. 25 6. 60 7 3.78 +72
1948 J 37 72 18 6 7.6 3.77 «75
1949 g 34 64 17 6. 75 6 3. 10 . 66
1950 cs 39 75 19.5 7 7.5 3. 84 - 76
1951 2 34 66 17. 25 6.5 6. 65 3. 52 72
1643 cs 38.,5 72 19 7.3 7.5 3. 40 . 68
1930 ¢ 40 72.5 19 6.75 7. 80 3. 70 215
1931 2 36 70 19 6.5 7.20 3. 52 -70
1932 2 35 67 17. 50 6 7.10 3. 33 - 68
1923 g 36 68.5 17.5 6 7,50 3. 60 - 62
36.7 70 18.3 6.6 7.2 3. 55 69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

95. FULICA AMERICANA Gmel. American Coot.

A single bird taken at Fort Yukon by Mr. McDougal represents the known record of this
species within the Territory. The most northern point at which this bird has been recorded is
Greenland.

CRYMOPHILUS FULICARIUS (Linn.). Red Phalarope (Esk. At-wig-i-nih,)

This handsome Phalarope arrives at the Yukon mouth and adjacent parts of the Bering Sea
coast during the last few days of May or first of June, according to the season. It is acommon
summer resident at Point Barrow, where it arrives early in June and remains till the sea closes
late in October; it is an abundant summer visitant on the Near Islands, and breeds abundantly
on some of the Commander group. It is much more gregarious than its relative, and for a week
or two after its first arrival fifty or more flock together. These flocks were very numerous
the Ist of June, 1879, at the Ykon mouth, where I had an excellent opportunity to observe them.
In the morning the birds which were paired could be found scattered here and there, by twos,
over the slightly-flooded grassy flats. At times these pairs would rise and fly a.short distance,
the female, easily known by her bright colors and larger size, in advance, and uttering now and
then a low and musical “ clink, clink,” sounding very much like the noise made by lightly tapping
together two small bars of steel. When disturbed these notes were repeated oftener and became
harder and louder.

A little later in the day, as their hunger became satisfied, they began to unite into parties
until fifteen or twenty birds would rise and pursue an erratic course over the flat. As they passed
swiftly along stray individuals and pairs might be seen to spring up and join the flock. Other
flocks would rise and the smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or even
four bundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the size of the flock increased its move-
ments became more and more irregular. At one moment they would glide straight along the ground,
then change to a wayward flight, back and forth, twisting about with such rapidity that it was
difficult to follow them with the eye. Suddenly their course would change, and the compact flock,
as if animated by a single impulse, would rise high over head, and, after a series of graceful and
swift evolutions, come sweeping down with a loud, rushing sound to resume their playful course
near the ground. During all their motions the entire flock moves in such unison that the alternate
flashing of the under side of their wings and the dark color of the back, like the play of light and
shade, makes a beautiful spectacle. When wearied of their sport the flock disbands and the birds
again resume their feeding.

When the Red Phalaropes arrive in spring its preference is for the flat wet lands bordering
the coast and rivers, where it remains to breed. ‘Chey are not usually found on the sea at this
season, but on June 10, 1878, a number were found swimming among the floating ice in the
bay of Saint Michaels. Very early in June the females have each paid their court and won a
shy and gentle male to share their coming cares. The eggs are laid in a slight depression,
generally on the damp flats, where the birds are found. There is rarely any lining to the nest.

S. Mis. 156——13
98 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Toward the end of June most of the young are hatched and, by the middle of July, are on the
wing. The sites chosen for this bird’s nest are very similar to those taken by P. lobatus, except
that the latter may pick drier situations. One Red Phalarope’s nest was found June 8, within
six feet of a small brackish pool, the eggs being deposited upon a nest of dried leaves under a
dwarf willow. Soon after the young take wing these birds-gather in flocks and frequent the sea.
They breed all along the Arctic shores of Alaska and Siberia, wherever suitable flats occur, and
even reach those isolated islands, forever encircled by ice, which lie beyond. Itis not rare in
Spitzbergen, where its eggs have. been found laid upon the bare ground. During the cruise
of the Corwin, in the summer of 1881, we found this and the Northern Phalarope abundant
wherever we went on the Alaskan or Siberian shores of the Arctic, and their pretty forms, as
they flitted here and there over the surface of the smooth sea, now alighting a moment and gliding
quickly right and left, pecking at the minute animals in the water, then taking wing for an
instant, appeared in ever-changing groups. They were also seen among the ice off Wrangel
Island and along the adjoining low Siberian coast, and through the Straits into Bering Sea
where they were found nesting on Saint Lawrence Island. On the Seal Islands Elliott found it
only as a migrant, passing north early in June and south from the 15th of August to some time in
October. Although a few gray feathers begin to appear in July the winter plumage is still
imperfect in many birds so late as October 6.

These Phalaropes, with Tringa couesi, are the last waders found on the coast of Bering Sea
in autumn and they remain until October 12 to 17. It isa less abundant and less generally
distributed breeding bird on the Alaskan coast than P. lobatus, and, like the latter, probably does
not nest south of the mouth of the Kuskoquim River. It is also more restricted to the sea-coast
regions, but occurs in the interior, as J have a specimen from Fort Reliance, onthe Upper Yukon,
taken September 12. Itis known to breed on nearly every one of the circumpolar islands yet
visited by explorers.

As with the other Phalaropes, the female is larger than the male, and the following measure-
ments show the average amount of difference:

 

 

. ‘i : Catalogue
Date. Locality. Sex. | Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen. uni bee
5. 30 2. 80 92 - 92 1073
5. 80 2.73 95 «90 1074
5. 30 2.75 94 95 1075
6.25 2.65 89 86 1775
5.12 2.52 87 - 80 1774
5.10 2. 54 90 93 1776

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most striking difference appears in the deep chestnut of the lower surface and sides of head
of the female and the dull color mixed with white on the same parts of the male. In spring the
bill is waxy yellow with a jet black tip. The feet and tarsus are dull yellowish. There is, per-
haps, even greater variation in the eggs of this bird than in those of the following species. The
measurements run from 1.15 by .85 to 1.28 by .89. The ground color runs through the same tints
as appear in the eggs of P. lobatus. The markings average much darker and larger in fulicarius,
and about the large end it is common for the spots to be so large and numerous as to become
confluent and hide much of the shell. The color of the spots is from pale chocolate to deep, bright
umber brown.

The main distinction between these eggs and those of P. lobatus consists in the generally
much coarser and more deeply colored markings on eggs of fulicarius.

Among the whalers of Bering Sea and the adjacent part of the Arctic Ocean these Phala-
ropes are called ‘“‘ bow-head birds,” from the fact that they feed upon the same minute animals as
does the bow-head or right whale (Balena mysticetus), and consequently both birds and cetaceans
of that species are generally found most numerous in the same locality. On the fishing-banks
off Newfoundland they are called ‘sea geese,” though the name is less apt than the foregoing.
In winter these birds pass south and occur along the coasts of the Pacific on both shores, reaching
the south coast of India on the Asiatic side.
BIRDS. 99

PHALAROPUS LOBATUS (Linn.). Northern Phalarope (Esk. Chip-t. chdng-tk).

As summer approaches on the Arctic shores and coast of Bering Sea, the numberless pools,
until now hidden under a snowy covering, become bordered or covered with water; the mud about
their edges begins to soften and through the water the melting ice in the bottom looks pale green.

The ducks and geese fill the air with their loud resounding cries, and the rapid wing-strokes of
arriving and departing flocks add a heavy bass to the chorus which greets the opening of another
glad season in the wilds of the cheerless north. Aid this loud-tongued multitude suddenly
appears the graceful, fairy-like form of the Northern Phalarope. Perhaps, as the hunter sits by
the border of a secluded pool still haif covered with snow and ice, a pair of slight wings flit before
him, and there, riding on the water, scarcely making a ripple, floats this charming and elegant bird.
It glides hither and thither on the water apparently drifted by its fancy, and skims about the
pool like an autumn leaf wafted before the playful zephyrs on some embosomed lakelet in the
forest. The delicate tints and slender fragile form, combining grace of color and outline with
a peculiarly dainty elegance of motion, render this the most lovely and attractive among its
handsome congeners.

The first arrivals reach Saint Michaels in full plumage from May 14 to 15, and their num-
ber is steadily augmented until, the last few days of May and Ist of June, they are on hand in
full force and ready to set about the season’s cares. Every pool now has from one to several
pairs of these birds gliding in restless, zigzag motion around its border, the slender necks at
times darting quickly right or left as the bright black eyes catch sight of some minute particle of
food. They may be watched with pleasure for hours, and present a picture of exquisite gentleness
which renders them an unfailing source of interest. The female of this bird, as is the case with
the two allied species, is much more richly colored than the male and possesses all the “rights”
demanded by the most radical reformers.

As the season comes on when the flames of love mount high, the dull-colored male moves about
the pool, apparently heedless of the surrounding fair ones. Such stoical indifference usually appears
too much for the feelings of some of the fair ones to bear. A female coyly glides close to him and
bows her head in pretty submissiveness, but he turns away, pecks at a bit of food and moves off;
she follows and he quickens his speed, but in vain; he is her choice, and she proudly arches her
neck and in mazy circles passes and repasses close before the harassed bachelor. He turns his breast
first to one side, then to the other, as though to escape, but there is his gentle wooer ever pressing
her suit before him. Frequently he takes flight to another part of the pool, all to no purpose. If
with affected indifference he tries to feed, she swims along side by side, almost touching him,
and at intervals rises on wing above him and, poised a foot or two over his back, makes a half
dozen quick, sharp wing-strokes, producing a series of sharp, whistling noises in rapid succession,
In the course of time it is said that water will wear the hardest rock, and it is certain that time
and importunity have their full effect upon the male of this Phalarope, and soon all are com-
fortably married, while mater familias no longer needs to use her seductive ways and charming
blandishments to draw his notice. About the first of June the dry, rounded side of a little
knoll, near some small pond, has four dark, heavily-marked eggs laid in a slight hollow, upon
whatever lining the spot affords or, more rarely, upon a few dry straws and grass-blades brought
and loosely laid together by the birds. Here the captive male is introduced to new duties, and
spends half his time on the eggs, while the female keeps about the pool close by. In due time the
young are hatched and come forth, beautiful little balls of buff and brown.

During incubation, if the nest is approached, the parent usually flies off the eggs when the
intruder is some yards away, and proceeds to feed about the surface or edge of the nearest pool,
as though nothing unusual had occurred. At times the parent shows a little anxiety, and swims
restlessly about the pool, uttering alow, sharp, metallic “pleep,” pleep.” Whenabird leaves the eggs
it is usually joined at once by its mate. In oneor two instances the parent bird came gliding stealth-
ily through the grass to the nest while I was occupied in packing the eggs in my basket. Fresh eges
are rarely found after June 20, and by the middle to 20th of July the young are fledged and on
the wing. By the 12th to 15th of July a few of the ashy feathers of the autumnal plumage ap-
pear, and soon after old and young begin to gather in parties of from five to a hundred or more,
100 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

and seek the edges of large ponds and flats or the muddy parts of the coast and borders of tide
creeks. During August and September they are found on the bays, and the last are seen about
the last of September or first of October.

Murdoch found it a rare summer visitant at Point Barrow, where it was noticed only once. They
breed on all the islands of Bering Sea, the north coast of Siberia, and we saw them common about
Herald and Wrangel Islands in July and August, 1881. It is plentiful throughout the interior of
Northern Alaska, as well as on the salt marshes of the coast. Dall saw it all along the Yukon,
and found a nest with two eggs at Pastolik, near the Yukon mouth.

The usual number of eggs is four, which vary considerably in exact coloration. The ground-
color in the very large series before me, obtained in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, shades by every
degree from greenish-clay color to warm, buffy, olive-brown. The spots and markiags are very
irregular in size and shape, but are usually larger about the large end of egg. These spots and
blotches, which are rarely confluent, occupy about one-half the surface, and are from dark chocolate
to very dark umber-brown. These eggs measure, taking extremes, 1.20 by .85; 1.16 by .87; 1.12
by .80; within which mesurements will fall most of the eggs of this species. Like the Red Phalarope
this species extends its winter range far south on the coasts of both continents. It is known among
whalers and fishermen by the same name as its relative, and both unite in giving animation to many
an otherwise lifeless and forbidding scene along our northern shore.

GALLINAGO DELICATA (Ord). Wilson’s Snipe (Esk. Ki-Ki-kurik).

This is a rather uncommon but widely-spread species in Alaska along the mainland shore of
Bering Sea. I found it both at Saint Michaels and on the Lower Yukon in small numbers,
making its presence known in spring-time by its peculiar whistling noise as it flew high overhead.
Té nests wherever found in the north, and is a rather common species along the entire course of
the Yukon, extending thence north to within the Arctic Circle, but its limit in this direction is
not definitely known. It was found at Sitka and Kadiak by the Western Union Telegraph ex-
plorers, but is not known from any of the Bering Sea Islands, nor from the coast of Siberia, but
it is to be looked for from the latter region, at least.

The nesting range of this bird is widely extended, reaching from Northern Illinois, where I
have found it in the breeding season, to well within the Arctic Circle. The first of June, 1879, while
at the Yukon mouth, several of these birds were heard uttering a loud peculiar note, which may
ibe represented by the syllables ydk-yak-ydk-yak, in quick, energetic, explosive syllables. This note
was uttered singly or repeated several times, and appears to be a kind of call-note of the male
during the breeding season, At the time when the bird is uttering its note, it flies along within
a short distance of the ground with a peculiar jerky movement of the body and wings as every
note is uttered. On one occasion, in the same vicinity, a Short-eared Owl and one of these snipe
were flushed from a grassy marsh within 3 feet of each other, flying up almost simultaneously as
I came upon them. I carefully examined the tail-feathers of twelve specimens of this bird in the
National Museum collection and found sixteen feathers in all but one, and this had fourteen.
This character is of little value, according to Mr. Ridgway, and varies frequently with the indi-
yidual.

MACRORHAMPHUS SCOLOPACEUS (Say). Long-billed Dowitcher (Esk. Kdi.d-gwiikh-
té-lik),

This is one of the most common waders on the shore of Norton Sound in summer, and is also
present in smaller numbers all along the Yukon, where suitable locations occur. It is a rather
scarce summer resident about Point Barrow, according to Murdoch. In spring, the middle of May,
as the snow disappears, and the first pale leaves of grass begin to thrust their spear-points through
the dead vegetable mat on the ground, or as early as the 10th on some seasons, this peculiar snipe
returns to its summer home. At the Yukon mouth I found them on May 12, when they were
already engaged in love-making, though the ground was still, to a great extent, covered with snow,
and only here and there appeared a thawed place where they could feed. Toward the end of this
month they are plentiful, and their curious habits and loud notes make them among the most con.
BIRDS. 101

spicuous denizens of the marshes. At the Yukon mouth, on May 28, I came across a female busily
at work, preparing a little hollow in a tussock for her eggs, and as I drew near she moved a little
to one side, and uttered a sharp, querulous note, as if protesting against the intrusion. We took
the hint and left her; but a second visit, some days later, showed the spot deserted. These are
very demonstrative birds in their love-making, and the last of May and first of June their loud
cries are heard everywhere about their haunts, especially in morning and evening.

Two or three males start in pursuit of a female and away they go twisting and turning, here
and there, over marsh and stream, with marvelous swiftness and dexterity. At short intervals
a male checks his flight for a moment to utter a strident péet % wéet ; wée-t06, wée-too ; then on he
goes full tilt again. After they have mated, or when a solitary male pays his devotions, they rise
15 or 20 yards from the ground, where, hovering upon quivering wings, the bird pours forth a
lisping but energetic and frequently musical song, which can be very imperfectly expressed by
the syllables péet-peet ; pée-ter-wée-too ; wée-too; pée-ter-wée-too; pée-ter-wée-too; wée-too; wee-too.
This is the complete ‘song, but frequently only fragments are sung, as when the bird is in pursuit
of the female.

June 16, while crossing a tussock-covered hill-top, over a mile from any water, I was surprised
to see a female of this specieg flutter from her nest about 6 feet in front of me, and skulk oft
through the grass with trailing wings and depressed head for some 10 or 15 yards, then stand
nearly concealed by a tuft of grass and watch me as J pillaged her home of its treasures.

The eggs, four in number (set No. 299), rested in a shallow depression formed by the bird’s body
in the soft moss and without a trace of lining. These eggs measure respectively 1.80 by 1.21; 1.70
by 1.20; 1.69 by 1.20; 1.72 by 1.28. A second set of four (No. 328), taken on lower ground, June
20, the same season, measure 1.80 by 1.22; 1.72 by 1.23; 1.87 by 1.24; 1.83 by 1.25, and set No.
222, from a boggy flat, but with no nest, except the dead grass naturally found on the place occu-
pied, was taken June 13, the same season, and measures 1.73 by 1.23; 1.72 by 1.23; 1.70 by 1.22;
1.72 by 1.22. The ground-color varies from a greenish clayey olive to a light grayish or clay color.
The spots are large, well defined, and scattered sparsely, except about the tip of large end, where
they are crowded. These spots are dark umber-brown, and present a striking contrast to the ground-
color. All the eggs mentioned above were fresh, but the young are full grown and on the wing
with their parents the last of July, and the first of August finds the adults rapidly changing their
breeding-dress for that of winter, and gathering into flocks. By the first of September they are
in perfect winter dress, and frequent muddy flats, the edges of tide creeks, and other places, ex-
actly as they do in their passage south or north in middle latitudes. They have the same unsus-
picious ways here as there, and may be shot at again and again, as they keep about their wounded
comrades. Not long after griseus and scolapaceus were first distinguished many ornithologists
reunited the two as inseparable, but iately Messrs. Ridgway and Lawrence, in the Nuttall
Ornithological Club Bulletin, for July, 1880, have adduced proof which must go far toward convine-
ing the most skeptical of their difference.

Having occasion in the preparation of this article to compare my Alaskan series with the
specimens from various parts of the country in the National Museum collection, I find there is not the
slightest difficulty in distinguishing the two birds except in very rare instances. In the consid-
erable number of skins from both sides of the continent the following points appear almost in-
variably diagonistic: In the breeding plumage of griseus, a dull, pale buff shade extends over all
the under surface of the body in richly-colored specimens, but is very pale on the throat and abdo-
men. In average specimens the middle of the abdomen and throat are generally much washed
with dingy white. The throat may or may not be maculated in either form. In griseus the macu-
lations, commencing as fine markings, extend over the breast, where they are most numerous,
and then are scattered irregularly over the abdomen. On the breast and abdomen the spots tend
to assume a rounded form in griseus with transverse barring on the flanks, which latter sometimes
shows faintly on the abdomen. The dorsal colors of breeding griseus average darker than in scolop-
aceus, and the light edgings of the feathers are less distinctly marked.

In scolopaceus the entire under surface is a uniform rich buff or reddish brown, in its lightest
phase scarcely so light as in the darkest examples of griseus. The throat is commonly immaculate,
as invariably are the lower half of the breast and entire abdomen. The maculations of the lower
102 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

surface are confined to a pectoral band having about the same distribution as the band on
Actodromas maculata. On the sides of the breast these markings have a decided tendency to
assume the form of a black bar across the feather in contrast to the oval or rounded markings of
griseus; and in many cases these bars extend in a series across the upper breast, and they are
always found sparingly along the sides and flanks, but never extend to the feathers on abdomen.

The deep color of lower surface and restricted amount of maculations form the main char-
acters of this bird as distinguished from griseus, and not the comparative length of the beak,
which was formerly erroneously supposed to be the main difference, but which in fact is only of very
slight if of any value in separating the birds. The young and fall birds are much more difficult
to distingush, and the lack of sufficient material from the Atlantic coast prevents a presentation of
the differences which probably exist.

: TRINGA CANUTUS Linn. Knot.

Dall found this bird rare at the Yukon mouth, and in bis list of the birds of the Territory records
a single specimen taken at Sitka. During my residence at Saint Michaels, I secured a single
example of the young of the year, on August 14, 1877, but the bird was not seen again during my
residence there. Murdoch found it to be a rare summer resident near Point Barrow. Although it
is found throughout most of the circumpolar parts of the northern hemisphere it is rare in the
region under consideration. Farther east, about Hudson’s Bay and north to Melville Peninsula,
it appears to be more orlesscommon. During Parry’s second expedition it was found breeding at
the last-named place, and was said to have laid eggs upon a tuft of withered grass with no attempt
atanest. It rears its young along thecoast of Hudson’s Bay south to the fifty-fifth parallel. The
eggs are reported to be of a dun-color, thickly marked with reddish spots, as described by Mr.
Hutchins. Inthe Auk for July, 1885 (pp. 312, 133), Dr. Merriam describes an egg taken at Fort
Conger, in latitude 819 44’ N., from notes furnished by Lieutenant Greely. The egg measured 1.10
by 1 inch, and was a light pea-green color, closely spotted with brown specks about the size of a
pin-head. It extends its range well to the north, and specimens are reported from high latitudes
by different exploring parties who have penetrated this region.

During winter its southern range equals its summer range to the north, and it is taken in New
Zealand and Australia. A specimen is mentioned by Gould which was taken on the latter continent,
September 2, asit was just assuming its summer plumage. An interesting question arises whether
this bird was a resident of the southern hemisphere or a migrant from the north. in the latter
place it must have been preparing. for a second nidification, thus having a breeding-season in
both hemispheres. During thelate English Arctic Expedition of 1875~’76, Captain Fielden found a
Knot on the northern coast of Greenland. On August 25, 1875, he observed severa: of these birds
near the water’s edge in Discovery Bay, latitude 81° 44’ N. The marshes were frozen at the time,
and the birds were feeding along the shore on the small crustaceans which are found abundantly
in the Arctic Sea. In pursuit of this food they ran breast-high into the water. On June 5, 1876,
in latitude 82° 33’ N., a flock of fourteen or more were seen circling over a hill-side, alighting on.
the bare patches, and feeding eagerly on the buds of Saxifraga oppositafolia. Specimens of this
bird were met with in considerable numbers, but they were wild and very difficult of approach.

The cry of the Knot, Captain Fielden remarks, is slight and something like that of the curlew.
Immediately after they arrived in June they began to mate, and he saw two males following a
single female. At this season they soar in the air like the common snipe, and when descending
from a height they beat their wings behind their backs with a rapid motion, which produced a loud
whirring noise. After repeated search for the nest they were compelled to abandon the hope of
securing any eggs, but later in the season the parents with young were obtained. The following
description of the newly-hatched birds is presented by the naturalist just quoted: Iris black; tip
of mandible dark brown; bill dark olive; toes black; soles of feet greenish yellow;-back of legs
the same; under part of throat satin white; back beautifully-mottled tortoise-shell.

A young bird of the year secured by me at Saint Michaels, on the date already mentioned,
has the crown and back to the rump, including the wings, grayish ashy, darker on the primaries,
where it is ashy brown. A pale grayish superciliary stripe extends back from the base of the
PLATE Vi

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BIRDS. 103

upper mandible on each side. Feathers of the crown have dark centers, producing a streaked
appearance. Edges of feathers of back and wing coverts, including the tertials and secondaries,
have light borders. These edgings are gray on the back and narrow, but are broader and become
white on the tips of secondaries; rump grayish white, each feather edged with a subterminal dark
band. Tail pure ashy, tipped with a slightly darker border followed by a fine white edging. Sides
of the head, neck, and the under side of the throat and neck dull grayish ashy, thickly streaked
with anarrow dark shaft-line on each feather. The grayish becomes darkest on the breast, where
the streaking changes to white in the center with a grayish border, the division between the two
colors being marked by a fine dark line inclosing the white. Abdomen grayish white; sides of
flanks pale fulvous ashy, transversely barred with vermiculated lines formed by the broken and
irregular markings of the feathers.

TRINGA COUESI (Ridgw.). Aleutian Sandpiper (Esk. Tsndi-giik).

One of the most interesting results of the recent investigations into the zoology of Alaska is
the determination of this and the following species. They appear to be among the most narrowly
limited of waders in their range, and are, like a number of other species, peculiar to this region,
the product of the strange and unusual surroundings.

Since the naturalists of the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition entered the country, until
the present day, the species forming the subject of this article has been under observation. At
first it was supposed to be identical with its relative, the common Purple Sandpiper of the Atlantic
and portions of the Arctic coasts of the two continents. Nordenskjold found the latter species
scattered over the north coast of Europe aud Asia in his famous voyage, but his record of Z.
maritima, from the region of Bering Straits, where he wintered, must be referred to couesi,
according to our knowledge of the latter’s distribution. This bird was confused in Mr. Dall’s paper
with 7. maritima, where he gives some interesting notes on its distribution. He found a single
specimen of A. cowesi near Nulato, and another at Pastolik, and tells us that Bischoff found it
abundantly at Sitka and at Plover Bay, Siberia. From Pallas’s description of his Kurile Island
T. arquatella it seems very certain that he referred to the bird now known as A. couesi, as Mr.
Ridgway has already pointed out. (See Bull. N. O. C., July, 1880, p. 160.)

Steller also noted this bird upon the Bering Islands, as Pallas affirms (loc. cit.). In case this
is true we have an additional record, which must undoubtedly be referred to this bird, for the
“TT, maritima” found by Nordenskjold at his winter quarters, just northwest of Bering Straits,
undoubtedly agrees with those found directly south on the coast of Siberia, at Plover Bay, and
beyond to the Kurile Islands.

There are some curious facts regarding the breeding range of this bird which are at present
unaccountable. It nests throughout the Aleutian chain, from the westernmost island east to
the Shumagin group, south of Aliaska. Beyond this we have no knowledge of it at this season.
On May 15, 1877, I visited Sanak Island, one of the easternmost of the Aleutians, and first met
this bird. A pair were found feeding on a series of bare, jagged rocks, over which the spray flew
in a dense cloud as every wave beat at the foot of the rocky shore. I shot one of them and the
survivor merely flew up and stood eying me silently from the top of a low cliff 20 or 25 feet over- |
head, until it, too, fell a victim. Later in the day another was seen near the border of a small
lake in the interior of the island. It ran nimbly on before me, over the mossy hillocks, stopping
every few fect and half turning to watch my movements, just as a Spotted Sandpiper would do
under the circumstances. When driven to take wing, it flew a short distance, with the same peculiar
down-curved wings and style of flight as has the Spotted Sandpiper. While on the wing it uttered
a rather low, but clear and musical treo-tweo-tweo. When feeding it had a note something like a
call of the Colaptes auratus, and which may be represented by the syallables eli-cla-cla.

From this time until the lst of August I did not meet this bird again, and meanwhile I had
gone further north to Saint Michaels, on NortonSound. LHarly in August, however, I was pleased
to find it abundant in parties of from five to thirty or forty about outlying rocky islets and along
rugged portions of the shore. During each of the four succeeding seasons the same experience
104 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

was repeated, and the last of July or first of August I was certain to find numbers of them in the
situations mentioned, where earlier in the season not one was to be found. They always remained
until the middle of October, when the beaches became covered with ice and they were forced to seek
a milder climate.

The first of October, as the first snow-storms begin, these birds desert the more exposed islets
and beaches for the inner bays and sandy beaches, where their habits are like those of other Sand-
pipers in similar situations. They are never shy, and a party may be fired into, again and again, by
following them along theshore. The natives of Norton Sound call them “shore,” or “beach birds”
(Tsna-guk), and do not know their nesting ground, soit is safe to say—as confirmed by my own
observations—that this bird does not nest on the Alaskan mainland north of the Yukon at least.

On the Commander Islands it is a permanent resident. There, as elsewhere, it frequents
rugged beaches. The following notes on the breeding and other habits of this bird I quote from
Stejneger’s excellent report on the birds of the Commander Islands: The last of March great
flocks of five hundred or more swarm along the shore line of these islands. About a month later

‘the flocks make up and are distributed over the islands from the shore to the high plateaus. At
this time, about the middle of April, they assume their bright summer dress. It has, in common
with many other Sandpipers, the habit of uttering a melodious song while upon the wing, and
Stejneger saw one alight upon a tussock, and, ‘sitting there with puffed plumage and pendant
wings, it produced a loud bleating,” very much like the “bleating ” of’ Gallinago gallinago. The
first eggs found on these islands were taken the middle of May, and chicks on the 17th of June.

In its autumnal wanderings it extends all along the eastern shore of Bering Sea and even
north along the coast of the Arctic. Its winter range includes the Aleutian Islands and the
coast of Kadiak Island, with the mainland south to Sitka and probably farther. Its range on the
Asiatic coast is less known, but from its absence during the summer of 1881 at various points ot
this coast, where I landed, from Plover Bay to East Cape, and around to west of Koliutchin Bay,
its breeding range is probably limited to the Kurile, and perhaps Bering, Islands and the adjacent
coast. On the east coast of Bering Sea these birds begin the fall moult the last of August or first
of September, and the ashy winter-dress becomes more and more marked un tilit is completed the
first part of October.

Description.—Iris, hazel. Feet, legs, and base of bill dark greenish-yellow ; the outer two.
thirds of bill black or very dark horn color. The feet and legs are light olive-yellow in some
instances.

Adult in breeding plumage.—Feathers of crown black or blackish-brown, narrowly edged with
dull rusty. Feathers of dorsum and seapulars black, broadly edged about t he tip with rusty yel-

’ Jowish or buffy, varying to bright deep ferruginous; this latter color usually brightest at base of
tertials, but covering the entire dorsum in some cases. The buffy shade is usually most marked
on the tertials and lower back. Rump and tail-coverts black; middle tail-feathers very dark ; the
outer ones light grayish. Primaries dark brown. Coverts olive-brown, narrowly edged with
whitish. Secondaries mainly white. Sides of head marked by a dull whitish superciliary line
from bill and a broad plumbeous line from gape back along lower border of eye to neck. Throat
. dingy white. Feathers of lower neck and upper breast with dark bases and a narrow shaft-line
of black through the broad white tip, giving a streaked appearance, which gradually changes on
the sides of neck to the rufous markings of the back. On both sides of the breast, and frequently
across all the breast in a uniform area, are two dull irregular black patches. The rest of under
surface is white, each feather with a well-marked black shaft-line.

Winter plumage.—Entire head and neck uniform plumbeous, with a whitish throat area on
which the dark markings are limited to the tips of feathers. The centers of feathers on crown
and back, including tertial-coverts, have dark blackish-brown centers with a plumbeous ashy edg-
ing. Primaries, rump, and tail apparently a little darker than in breeding season. The wing-
coverts are much more broadly white-edged than in summer. Feathers of breast dark with white
and ashy edges, the dark frequently inclosing a subterminal light area. The black-breast area of
summer is lacking, but the dark shaft-markings on the sides and flanks are ordinarily larger and
broader than in summer.
BIRDS. 105

Young in first plumage.—Crown dark brown with a plumbeous shade on sides; feathers nar-
rowly edged with dull rusty; back, scapulars, and tertials blackish, edged with narrow borders of
pale, rusty shading to grayish and dull buffy, the latter shades most marked on the wing-coverts
and scapulars. Throat and upper neck and sides of head like winter adult; feathers of upper
breast with blackish centers, producing a streaked appearance, which gradually changes to spotting
on lower breast and sides. This is caused by the increased amount of white, unbroken near end
of feather except by an ovate subterminal dark spot.

There is every gradation from the summer to the autumnal plumage of the adults in my
series.

A considerable number of these birds measured in the flesh range from 8 to 9 inches in total
length, and 15 to 16 inches in spread. The measurements of a series of tex specimens from Saint
Michaels are given in the following table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date. | Sex.; Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen.
1879.
Sept. 6) ¢ 4.80 2.35 89 1.10
Aug.24] of 4. 90 2. 30 1.01 1. 08
Aug. 25} 9 4. 82 2.25 90 1.72
Aug. 25/ 9 4, 90 2.40 1.00 1.21
Aug.21|) 9? 4, 80 2.35 95 1.16
Aug.15| ? 4. 83 2. 20 82 1.05
Aug.21! Q 4.98 2.10 83 1.19
July 29; ? 4.96 2.35 92 1.28
Aug. 15 | cs 4.99 2. 28 90 1. 08
Oct. 12 i 2 4.96 2. 82 92 1.30
| (

 

The downy young, from Kyska Island, June 30, 1873, is bright rusty fulvous above, irregu-
larly marked with black; the ornamental, velvety flecks coarser, and not so white as in maritima;
head, light fulvous, marked as in maritima; sides of lower parts fulvous.

The downy young both of this species and of ptilocnemis are strikingly aifferent from the young
of maritima. The difference lies in the rich, light buffy or fulvous tints which so richly color the
two first, in contrast with the dark, dingy buffy and grays forming the main colors on young mari-
tima at the same stage. ;

TRINGA PTILOCNEMIS Coues. Prybilof Sandpiper.

Nearly all the information we possess concerning this species is from the observations of Mr. H.
W. Elliott, whose specimens furnished the types. He found them abundant as summer residents
upon the Fur Seal Islands and later upon Saint Matthew’s Island. A single pair was found nesting
on the south shore of Saint Lawrence Island by myself, in June, 1881. Krause secured a specimen
of this bird at Portage Bay on the 27th of December and two others on January 27, but saw no
large flocks until the end of April; he did not find it there in summer. Portage Bay is on the
mainland near the mouth of Chileat Peninsula, and as these birds winter there sparingly and
appear in flocks in spring, it is safe to locate the main wintering ground of this species east and
south along the coast, perhaps to British Columbia. It arrives upon the Seal Islands early in May
and breeds on the dry uplands and mossy hummocks back from the shore. :

The nest is a mere depression in the dry moss or grass, where four darkly-blotched pyriform
eggs are laid. By the 10th of August the young are on the wing, and, with the old birds, gather
in flocks and frequent the beaches until early in September, when they leave the islands for their
unknown winter home. It is said to be a devoted parent, and hovers about the intruder, uttering
its low piping note by the hour, if its nest is near. The single set of eggs obtained by Mr.
Elliott on Saint George’s Island, June 19, 1873, is still unique. The eggs, four in number, closely
resemble those of A. maritima, according to Dr. Coues, and measure 1.55 by 1.08, 1.52 by 1.05,
1.50 by 1.08, 1.48 by 1.05. “The ground is nearly clay-color, with an appreciable olivaceous shade.
The markings are large, bold, and numerous, of rich burnt-umber brown, of varying depth, according
to the quantity of pigment.” These markings occur over the entire shell except at the point, and
become confluent and massed about the larger end. There are also gray and purplish shell
markings scattered over the light spaces. The male of the pair seen by me on Saint Lawrence

S. Mis, 156——14
106 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Island in June kept flying up some 10 or 15 yards, its wings beating with a rapid vibrating
or tremulous motion, while the bird thus poised trilled forth a clear, rather musical and liquid but
hard, whistling note, which is probably the same note which Elliott likens to the trill of the tree-
frog. The short song ended, the musician glides to the ground upon stiffened wings and resumes
his feeding or stands silently for a time on a projecting rock or knoll. On Saint Lawrence Island
the pair was in possession of a bare, desolate wind-swept hill-top, where the vegetation consisted
mainly of small lichens and stunted Arctic plants hugging close to the earth for shelter from
the raw fog-laden winds. The damp climate of summer on the islands of Bering Sea seems to
possess an attraction for this narrowly-limited species, which appears to be absolutely restricted
to a series of four small islands within a linear distance of 500 miles, and is, thus far, totally
unknown from the adjacent coast upon either side, where, however, a closely allied form occurs.
In addition to its greater size this bird is separated from couesi by the much lighter colors of. the
breeding plumage.

Description of the summer plumage (specimen from the Seal Islands, June, 1872, Elliott).—
Crown dark brown, edged with pale fulvous rusty. Nape and sides of neck dull plumbeous ashy,
approaching white on latter area. Feathers of back and scapulars with black centers, with a
broad edging of pale buff anteriorly, and tinged with a shade of rusty-red posteriorly. The
feathers just over the bend of the wing are rusty-red of a lighter shade than in couesi. The tertials
and wing-coverts are all edged with silvery gray. The rump and tail are lighter than in the
smaller bird, and the primaries a paler brown. The ear-coverts of ptilocnemis are dusky brown with
a dark shade extending thence forward under the eye to the lores, but rarely reaching the gape
even by shading. The base of bill is entirely surrounded by white, which occupies a large area
on the throat and sides of upper neck, and thence down the breast and entire abdomen, only broken
by a scattered pectoral band of dark penciling produced by the dark centers to the feathers.
This changes on lower breast to an ill-defined area of dingy blackish-brown, shaded with gray-
ish and fuscous in some instances. In some specimens this dark area is divided into a spot on
either side imperfectly separated, or forms an unbroken patch, but in any case it is much lighter in
color and less extended than in cowesi?. The dark shaft streaks on flanks are nearly obsolete.

 

 

 

Sex. Locality. Date. | Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen.
3 Saint Paul ....| Tune 29, 1872../ 5. 20 2. 45 . 98 1.38
Q | Saint George..| June.......-. 5.15 2. 55 1.02 1.49

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRINGA ACUMINATA (Horsf.). Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

On September 16, 1877, near Saint Michaels, I had the pleasure of securing a handséme young
female of this bird, thus adding the species to our fauna. The bird was shot on the muddy bank
of a tide-creek as I.was passing in a kyak. Later in the season others were seen, and during each
_of the three succeeding autumns they were found to be one of the most common species of snipe
about. Saint Michaels, frequenting the borders of brackish pools and tide-creeks, in company with
T. maculata, the Red-breasted Snipe, and several other species.

They were nearly always associated with maculata, whose habits they shared toa great exéent.
When congregated about their feeding places they united into flocks of from ten into fifty, but single
birds were frequently flushed from grassy spots. Their motions on the wing are very similar to
those of the latter, and they were rarely shy. On October 1, 1880, they were found scattered singly
over the marsh, and arose 30 to 40 yards in advance, and made off with a twisting flight, uttering
at the same time a short, soft, metallic “pleep,” ‘pleep,” and, pursuing an erratic, circuitous flight
for a time, they generally returned and settled near the spot whence they started.

A single bird taken at Port Clarence, Bering Straits, September 9, by Bean, is the only instance
of its occurrence there. On the Commander Islands it occurs during the migrations. I do not
think the bird breeds on the American side.

On the north shore of Siberia, near North Cape, we found these birds very common, scattered
over damp grass flats near the coast, the lst of August, 1881. The ground was covered with
PLATE Vil.

  
 

 

Cay SA BHLSOONNOA )

DIVUIWMNID 'DOUIL I

‘aed Mil yee liviL aay aS

 

 

 

 
BIRDS. 107

reindeer tracks, and among these the Sharp-tailed Snipe were seen seeking their food. They were
very unsuspicious, and allowed us to pass close to them, or circled close about us. From their
movements, and other circumstances, I judged that this district formed part of their breeding
grounds, whence they reach the neighboring coast of Alaska in fall.

They usually make their first appearance on the shore of Norton Sound the last of August,
and in a few days become very common. They sometimes remain up to the 12th of October, and
I have seen them searching for food along the tide-line when the ground was covered with 2
inches of snow. When feeding along the edges of the tide-creeks they may almost be knocked
over with a paddle, and when a flock is fired into it returns again and again. Its exact range is
still undetermined, but it is known to cover the east coast of Asia and adjacent islands.

The 1st of September, 1880, Capt. C. L. Hooper, of the United States steamer Corwin, took
a single specimen within the Arctic Circle at Hotham Inlet, Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, making the
farthest northern record yet known, and on the 9th of September, the same season, Dr. T. H.
Bean took a second specimen at Port Clarence, Bering Straits, and these, with the large number
of specimens taken at Saint Michaels by the writer, complete the American history of this bird
up to the present time.

Description of fall spectmens.—Iris hazel; bill black at tip, changing to dull greenish-yellow or
dirty horn color on basal third of lower mandible. The basal portion of the upper mandible lighter
than outer part and dull greenish-yellow in some specimens. Feet and tarsus greenish-yellow,
rather dull. Twenty specimens measured in the flesh ranged from 8} to 94 inches in length by 16
to 18 inches in extent of wing. ,

The general pattern of coloration in this bird is very much like that of 7. maculata, but
acuminata may be distinguished at a glance by the rich buff and rufous shading and markings.
The feathers of the crown have broad black shaft-lines with borders of bright rusty. On the
back of the neck the black shaft-lines persist, but are bordered with dull rusty fulvous brown.
On the back, scapulars, and tertials the black central part of feathers are proportionately larger,
and the edgings are lighter colored than on crown. The edges of dorsal feathers are rusty red,
dull, and shaded with buffy, and the scapulars and a portion of the tertials are tipped with white.
The edgings of scapulars and tertials are a bright dark rusty red, approaching the shade of the
crown, but lighter. The rump, upper tail-coverts, and inner tail-feathers are blackish-brown,
edged with rusty red, shading through fulvous to white on the outer tail-feather. Wing-coverts
pale-brown, heavily bordered with pale fulvous brown and yellowish-white. Primaries dark-brown.
Chin and upper throat occupied by an area of dingy white. Extending across the throat, jnst.
below this area is a heavily buff-shaded collar extending over the entire breast. The dark shaft.
lines of feathers on the sides of the neck extend across the throat below in a series of fine pencil-
ings, which never extend down over the breast, as in maculata, nor are they so heavy as the mark-
ings on the breast of the latter bird. A dull buffy or yellowish brown wash extends along the
sides and tinges all the lower surface. There is considerable variation in the intensity of the bright
rusty-red edgings on the crown and back, but the color does not approximate the dingy brown-
ish or buffy yellow of maculata. There is a distinct whitish superciliary stripe finely penciled with
black, and the dingy white of sides of head and cheeks is thickly penciled by fine dark shaft-lines.
TLe breeding plumage of this bird differs from its autumnal dress.

Ap adult male in the National Museum collection obtained at Sydney, Australia, November 16,
1871, by J. E. Harting, differs much from fall birds from Alaska, as the following description will
show: Feathers of the crown with a dull black shaft-line occupying half the feather and reaching
the tip. Along each side of this is a broad border of dullrusty red. The entire back of neck,
dorsum, scapulars, tertials, aud wing-coverts have blackish or dark-brown centers, each feather
broadly bordered with ashy-brown, producing a pattern and coloration which may be almost dupli-
cated in dull-colored breeding females of maculata, the principal difference being the larger
size of the dark centers to feathers on the nape and the lighter color of the ashy edging in acuminata.
As in the fall specimens, the pectoral band is much narrower than in maculata and in the adult male
consists of a pale dingy or bufty brown shade, with a few scattered dark shaft-lines mainly on each
side of the neck from the base of bill to the breast, the side of head and neck thus appearing
very similar to that of maculata.
108 NATURAL HISTURY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The measurements are as follows: Wing, 5; tail, 2.10; tarsus, 1.15; culmen, .99.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/ *
No. | Locality. Date. | Sex. | | Wing. | Tail. Tarsos. | Culmen.
1354 | Saint Michaels..; Aug. 29 e 5. 50 2. 36 1.20 1.02
1881 |....d Sept. 12 | Juv. ¢ 5.40 2. 30 1.18 99
1882 -.| Sept. 12; Juv. g 5.44 2.37 1.19 1,02
508 --| Sept. 16 | Juv. ? 5.43 2.35 11 - 98
1880 . | Sept. 12 | Juv. 5. 26 2.28 1.18 98
1343 -| Aug. 29 9 5, 00 2.12 1.10 1.00
1352 Aug. 29 5. 50 2.40 1.24 -99
1351 Aug. 29 2 5, 24 2,22 1.19 1,00
1435 Sept. J1 c 5. 50 2.40 1,21 1.04
1437 Sept. 29 9 5.43 | 2.40 4.19 1.00

 

 

TRINGA MACULATA Vieill. Pectoral Sandpiper (Esk. A-bdik-ki-tig-t-sha-¥-d-gith).

A single specimen of this bird was taken at Sitka, by Bischoff, during the Telegraph Expedi-
tion. During my residence in the Territory J found it an extremely common bird at the Yukon
mouth, where the low, grassy flats afford it a much-frequented breeding ground.

According to Murdoch, it breeds abundantly at Point Barrow, where it arrives the last of May
or first of June. They breed during June and July, and move south by September. On the Near
Islands, according to Turner, it is an abundant summer resident.

It arrives on the shores of Bering Sea, near Saint Michaels, from the 15th to the 25th of May,
and after lingering about wet spots where the green herbage just begins to show among the uni-
versal browns of the tundra, they pair and seek their nesting places. It is a common but never
very abundant bird during both migrations near Saint Michaels, but it is rare there during the
breeding season. This is difficult to account for, as they are extremely common at the latter period
on the low, flat islands in the Yukon delta and are common also at other points on the coast.
Dall found it at Plover Bay, East Siberia, and I found it common on the north coast of Siberia
the last of July, 1881, where, like the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, it was evidently upon its breeding
ground. They arrive on the east coast of Bering Sea before the ground is entirely free from snow,
and during September, iu company with A. acuminata, are numerous about small, brackish pools
and the banks of tide creeks. October, with its frosty nights and raw, unpleasant days, soon thins
their ranks until, by the 10th or 12th, the last ore has gone.

The last of May, 1879, { pitched my tent on a lonely island in the Yukon delta and passed
several weeks in almost continual physical discomfort owing to the cold rain and snow-storms which
prevailed. However, I look back with pleasure upon the time passed here among the various
water-fowl, when every day contributed new and strange experiences.

The night of May 24 I lay wrapped in my blanket, and from the raised flap of the tent
looked out over as dreary a cloud-covered landscape as can be imagined. The silence was unbroken
save by the tinkle and clinking of the disintegrating ice in the river, and at intervals by the wild
notes of some restless loon, which arose in a hoarse reverberating cry and died away in a strange
gurgling sound. As my eyelids began to droop and the scene to become indistinet, suddenly a low,
hollow, booming note struck my ear and sent my thoughts back to a spring morning in Northern
Illinois, and to the loud vibrating tones of the prairie chickens. Again the sound arose nearer
and more distinct, and with an effort I brought myself back to the reality of my position and,
resting upon one elbow, listened. A few seconds passed and again arose the note; a moment later
and, gun in hand, I stood outside the tent. The open flat extended away on all sides, with appar-
ently not a living creature near. Once again the note was repeated close by, and a glance revealed
its author. Standing in the thin grasses 10 or 15 yards from me, with its throat inflated until
it was as large as the rest of the bird, was a male A. maculata. The succeeding days afforded op-
portunity to observe the bird as it uttered its singular notes under a variety of situations and at
various hours of the day or during the light Arctic night. The note is deep, hollow, and resonant,
but at the same time liquid and musical, and may be represented by a repetition of the syllables
166-1, 160-1, 100-1, 100-0, t0d-t, 106-4, 106-4, tod-i. Before the bird utters these notes it fills its
zsophagus with air to such an extent that the breast aud throat is inflated to twice or more its
natural size, and the great air-sac thus formed gives the peculiar resonant quality to the note. ‘
PLATE Vii,

CQS4V54NI1 dJAOuUD HLIM ‘HAWS Ni BSIWWwW LInay

‘DIO)INIOUM DOUPL

Sola CLAS ly a Oboe a

 

 

 

 

 
BIRDS. 109

The skin of the throat and breast becomes very flabby and loose at this season, and its inner
surface is covered with small globular masses of fat. When not inflated, the skin loaded with this
extra weight and with a slight serous suffusion which is present hangs down in a pendulous flap
.or fold exactly like a dewlap, about an inch and a half wide. The esophagus is very loose and
becomes remarkably soft and distensible, but is easily ruptured in this state, as I found by dissec-
tion. In the plate accompanying this report-the extent and character of this inflation, unique at
least among American waders, is shown. The bird may frequently be seen running along the
ground close to the female, its enormous sac inflated, and its head drawn back and the bill pointing
directly forward, or, filled with spring-time vigor, the bird flits with slow but energetic wing-strokes
close along the ground, its head raised high over the shoulders and the tail hanging almost directly
down. As it thus flies it utters a succession of the hollow booming notes, which have a strange
ventriloquial quality. At times the male rises 20 or 30 yards in the air and inflating its throat
glides down to the ground with its sac hanging below, as is shown in the accompanying plate
Again he crosses back and forth in front of the female, puffing his breast out and bowing from
side to side, running here and there, as if intoxicated with passion. Whenever he pursues his
love-making, his rather low but pervading note swells and dies in musical cadences, which form a
striking part of the great bird chorus heard at this season in the north.

The Eskimo name indicates that its notes are like those of the walrus, hence the term “ walrus
talker.” Since my return from the north my attention has been called to a note in the Proceed-
ings of the Zoological Society of London (1859, p. 130), where it appears that Dr. Adams noted
the peculiar habits of this bird years ago when he passed a season at Saint Michaels. These Sand-
pipers were beginning to nest when I left the Yukon mouth, and in one instance a female was seen
engaged in preparing a place for her eggs in a tuft of grass, but the spot was afterwards abandoned.
The nests taken by Mr. Murdoch each contained four eggs of the usual pyriform shape. They vary
in size as follows: 1.58 by 1.06; 1.44 by 1.11; 1.42 by 1.08; 1.54 by 1.02 inches. They have a drab
ground color, with a greenish shade in some cases, and are spotted and blotched with umber-brown,
varying in distribution on different specimens, as is usual among waders’ eggs. In autumn its
habits in the north are precisely those so familiar to all who know the bird in its southern haunts.

The young birds in fall have the feathers of crown and entire upper parts edged with rusty
and buff; some of the feathers have white tips which, although generally duller and less marked
than in the ordinary acuminata, renders it very difficult to distinguish the birds by this character
alone. The larger bill and broad pectoral band of shaft markings and brown form the two most
distinct chargcters.

For the purpose of comparison with acuminata I append the following list of measurements
of five specimens of maculata from Saint Michaels:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. Date. Sex. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen.
|
1361 | Aug. 29] Juv.¢ 5.70 2. 40 1.09 1.12
1362 | Aug. 29] Juv. cd 5.75 2. 41 1.21 1.28
1363 | Aug. 29| Juv.¢ 5. 80 2, 42 1.18 1.17
1364 | Aug. 29| Juv. ? 5.15 2.05 1,19 1.05
1879 | Sept. 12 Ad. ¢& 5.40 2.48 1.17 1.16
1943 | June 2 Ads 5.70 2. 62 1.15 1.10

 

TRINGA FUSCICOLLIS Vieill. White-rumped Sandpiper.

Rare at Point Barrew, where Murdoch took two specimens. It breeds abundantly in the
Mackenzie River region, but the present record is the first we have of its presence in Western
Alaska.

TRINGA BAIRDII (Coues). Baird’s Sandpiper.

A single specimen of this species, a young ‘bird in its first plumage, brought me in August,
1877, is the only instance known to me of its oceurrence at Saint Michaels during my residence
there.
110 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

During the summer of 1881, in August, I found them at several places along the Arctic coast
north of Kotzebue Sound, and at Point Barrow they were very numerous about the small pools
of water near the shore. Murdoch found it to be a common summer resident here, arriving abont
the end of May. .

A specimen is recorded from Sitka by Dall and others from Kadiak Island and from Amak
Island north of the peninsula of Aliaska. On the Yukon Dall found it not rare, and the collections
obtained along the Arctic coast of British America and adjacent region show it to be a common
breeding bird there; its summer range probably includes all the Arctic coast of America west or
Hudson’s Bay.

I regret my lack of opportunity to observe this little known species on its breeding ground; it
it extends to the Yukon mouth, it must breed there rarely. As recorded in the Birds of the North-
west, by Dr. Coues, the eggs of this bird, obtained in June on the Anderson River by Macfarlane,
have a ground color of clayey, shading to gray or buffy, and are spotted with rich umber and
chocolate browns with paler shell markings. The markings are usually fine and of varying shape,
larger, and sometimes massed, about the large end.

Three eggs measure 1.30 by .90; 1.35 by .94; 1.28 by .92.

My single specimen was secured near Saint Michaels in August, 1877, and by the latter part
of this month it is found south to British Columbia along the Pacific coast. In the National
Museum series there is a specimen of this bird in the first plumage taken on the Siberian shore of
Bering Sea near the straits.

TRINGA MINUTILLA Vieill. Least Sandpiper (Esk. Libv-t-libv-ld-ak.)

I did not meet this species in the course of my work on the Alaskan coast, and can merely
record facts gleaned by others.

A male was secured on May 14 at Nulato, by Dall, where, however, he states that the bird
is not common, although he took other specimens. His remark that the bird is rather more
common at the Yukon mouth was not verified by my observations during May and June at that
locality. It was also found in May at Sitka by Bischoff and on the Shumagins in June by Dall.
Hartlaub records it from Portage Bay May 5, and at Chilcat May 12. A single specimen was
brought me from Nulato in June, 1878, and, with the preceding records, show that itis generally
distributed on the mainland of Alaska, but isnot abundant anywhere near the sea-coast. There is
no record of its occurrence on any of the islands in Bering Sea. Bean found them at Belkovsky
in July and at Plover Bay, Siberia, the middle of August.

TRINGA ALPINA PACIFICA (Coues). Red-backed Sandpiper (Esk. Chd-gho-mi-
ghuk).

An abundant summer resident at Port Barrow, according to Murdoch, arriving the end of
May and leaving about the end of August or first of September. Bean found it common along
the coast north of Kotzebue Sound, the last of August. It occurs on the Commander Islands
during the migrations, and Stejneger finds his specimens from there to be like typical American
birds.

In early seasons the first of these birds reach the Yukon mouth and the shores of Norton
Sound by the 10th of May, and by the 25th of this month they are in full force. They arrive
in full breeding dress, and are generally in small flocks, which soon break up, and the birds scatter
in twos and threes over the moss and grass-grown “tundra” to pair and attend to their summer
duties. They nest from the first of June to the first of July, and I secured a set of four fresh eggs
on the third of this latter month in 1877.

The young are mostly on the wing toward the end of July, and the birds begin to gather into
flocks along the muddy edges of the brackish pools and the banks of tide creeks. Very soon after
this they begin to lose their summer plumage, and the moult continues until the last of September
or first of October. During the first of October they are very common in flocks and singly among
BIRDS. _ 111

the lakes and streams; a little later and the borders of these situations are edged with ice, and
most of the birds leave for the south, but some of the hardier ones betake themselves to the sea-
shore, where they join with Coues’s Sandpiper, and remain as late as the 12th or 13th of the
month. a

Soon after they arrive in spring they are engaged in pairing, and the males may be seen tpon
quivering wings flying after the female and uttering a musical, trilling note, which falls upon the
ear like the mellow tinkle of large water-drops falling rapidly into a partly filled vessel. Imagine
the sounds thus produced by the water run together into a steady and rapid trill some five to ten
seconds in length, and the note of this Sandpiper is represented. It is not loud, but has a rich,
full tone, difficult to describe, but pleasant to hear among the discordant notes of the various
water-fowl whose hoarse cries arise on all sides. As the lover’s suit approaches its end, the
handsome suitor becomes exalted, and in his moments of excitement he rises 15 or 20 yards, and,
hovering on tremulous wings over the object of his passion, pours forth a perfect gush of music,
until he glides back to earth exhausted, but ready to repeat the effort a few minutes later. she
female coyly retreats before the advances of the male, but after various mishaps each bird finds its
partner for the summer and they start off house-hunting in all the ardor of a rising honeymoon.
They generally choose some dry knoll, or other slight elevation, overlooking the neighboring lakes
and pools. Here, upon a bed of last year’s grasses, but without the trouble of arranging a formal
nest, the female deposits three or four large eggs of a-pale greenish varying to pale brownish clay
color with dull chocolate and umber brown spots and blotches. ;

In some specimens the markings are rather small and numerous over the entire shell, but in
all cases the larger end has the usual predominance of blotching. In other specimens the markings
form blotches or large spots, rather sparingly distributed at the small end, but nearly hiding the
ground color at the large end. There is considerable variation in size, as well as color, among
these eggs, as the following measurements show: 1.50 by 1.10; 1.39 by .98; 1.45 by .95; 1.50 by
1.08. After the eggs are laid the male evidently becomes a wiser and a sadder bird, for his merry
trill is heard no longer, and, should some wandering naturalist happen along and start a sitting
bird from the eggs, the chances are equal that he finds the female is not “ at home,” but that it is
the poor male who has fallen a victim to his faithful care of the nest.

On two occasions I started these birds from their eggs, and in each instance the parent flut-
tered and stumbled along the ground, trying to distract my attention, and in each case examination
showed it to be the male, and the two large, bare patches on the breast showed that they were
accustomed to the task. Females shot at the same season showed the same marks of incubation,
so it is evident that the work is shared by the two parents. The earliest nest found by me was on
June 6, and the latest on July 3; in both the eggs were fresh.

The young are generally on the wing by the middle of July, or a little later, and by the first
of August the birds begin to gather in flocks. A young bird in its first plumage is as follows:
Centers of feathers on the crown blackish, with well-marked dingy fulvous or buffy edgings; back,
scapulars, and tertials with black centers, and a mixed edging of grayish, dull, buffy yellow, shading
into rusty, especially on the tertiaries ; rump dark fuscous brown; sides of head and neck smoky
fuscous brown; a chin-patch of white; the rest of throat pale smoky brown, shading into a buffy
brown of breast, each feather having a dark center; these dark centers are much hidden by
the broad, overlaying brown edgings; from the breast, extending back over the area occupied by
the black breast patch of the adult, the feathers are tipped with dull, faint brownish black; rest
of the under surface white; the wing-coverts are edged with pale buff. This plumage gives place
very rapidly to the winter dress.

An adult bird from Greenland has the throat and breast markings very distinct; there is a
predominance of the black centers of dorsal feathers, and the rusty-red edgings are narrow and
much darker than ordinarily. Whether this is characteristic of the Greenland birds or not cannot
be decided from the scanty material at hand. These Greenland specimens have been considered as
identical with the Old World form by Mr. Ridgway. Specimens secured by me in Northeastern
Siberia are the same as the Alaskan birds. There is much individual variation in these birds at
all seasons.
112 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

TRINGA FERRUGINEA Briinn. Curlew Sandpiper.

At Point Barrow, on June 6, 1883, Mr. Murdoch had the good fortune to take a fine male of
this species in full breeding dress. It was in company with a flock of Tringa maculata, and
its capture is the only record we possess of its occurrence in Alaska, or, in fact, anywhere else
on the western coast of America.

Genus EURYNORHYNCHUS Nilsson.

This remarkable Sandpiper has the following generic characters:

Bill expanded laterally, at the tip, into a broad, flat obcordate or rounded expanse, with a slight
carination along the median line ou the upper surface; bill slightly grooved, with the nostrils close
to the basal end. The hind toe is minute, and there is but a very slight trace of a web between
the outer and middle toes. The other toes are free.

EURYNORHYNCHUS PYGMAZUS (Linn.). Spoon-bill Sandpiper.

The presence of this remarkable little Sandpiper in the list of birds of Alaska is due to the
capture of a specimen at Choris Peninsula, during the summer of 1849, by the captain of the
British ship Plover. This specimen was for a long time in the collection of Sir John Barrow, but
when presented by him to the University Museum at Oxford it came under the notice of Mr. Hart-
ing, who records, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1871, p. 110), the capture of this bird,
and at the same time a Mongolian Plover, at the locality mentioned.

Choris Peninsula is a sandy spit which extends out into the head of Kotzebue Sound, and is
covered with pools of water which are formed by the overflowing of the sea-waves, or the gather-
ing of the rain, and thus forms an excellent point for birds of this character. This place would
well repay further examination during the summer season, as also would the strip of low, marshy
and sandy lagoons dotting the coast from Cape Prince of Wales northeast, around the Alaskan
shore, toward Kotzebue Sound, as it must be a favorite resort for many waders and water-fuwl.
Doubtless several Siberian species occur there in addition to the two just named.

Although this is one of the rarest of the Sandpipers, it has a wide distribution over portions of
Asia. Mr. Harting doubts the occurrence of this bird anywhere in Europe, and especially in
France, and in a footnote to one of his articles, he quotes M. Jules Verreaux as having recently
informed him that no specimens of this bird ever existed in the Paris Museum, and the specimen
which had been referred to by various authors under the name of EZ. griseus is nothing else but
Tringa subarcuata with the hind toes cut off and the bill remodeled with the aid of some warm
water. Mr. Harting concludes his article upon this bird by stating that nothing is known of its
nesting habits, and refers to the unexplored regions of Northeastern Asia as the place likely to
afford light upon this form, as well as upon other little-known species.

Up to October, 1869, only twenty-four specimens of this bird were known, and of these twenty-
three were from Southern India, the single other specimen being from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska.
In India these birds frequent the muddy flats at the mouths of rivers, sand-bars, and the sea-shore,
where, with the various species of Tringa, they always find an abundant harvest of food deposited
by the receding tide. ‘

At Plover Bay, on the Siberian shore, I first saw this bird, when on a visit there with the Corwin
in 1881. The bird was standing on the border of a small, gravelly-edged pool on a spit at the
entrance of the harbor. It had evidently fed to its satisfaction, and stood pensively at the water’s
edge when I came along. While watching it before shooting, I saw it dabble its bill in the water,
and then draw in its neck, paying no further attention to its surroundings, although I was close
by. This was in the same locality where, in 1880, Dr. Bean secured a specimen in autumn plu-
mage. During our visits to this place, on several succeeding occasions, J searched the spot care-
fully again and again, but not another individual of this rare bird was seen. Swinhoe reports a
specimen taken at Hakodadi, Japan, showing that these birds migrate south along the eastern
coast of Asia. Nordenskjold records it at Tapkan, on the northern shore of Siberia, near Bering
BIRDS. . 113

Straits, where, with the first bare spot in June, it became so common that they were served twice
upon the gun-room mess-table of his vessel. Nordenskjold supposes it not to nest there; but this
is evidently erroneous. He suggests that the bird may go farther north to breed, but as it is found
in summer from Plover Bay to Cape Wankarem, which latter place is west of Nordenskjold’s winter-
quarters, on the same coast, it would seem certain that this portion of Siberia forms the breeding
ground of this strange species. Specimens were seen also by me on several occasions at this last-
named place, early in August, 1881, so it is certain that the bird remains throughout the summer
along this shore.

EREUNETES OCCIDENTALIS Lawr. Western Sandpiper (Esk. Libv-t-liby-t-li-tik).

As the snow disappears on the low ground about Norton Sound, from the 10th to the 15th ot
May each year, and the ponds, still ice-covered, are bordered by a ring of water, these gentle
birds arrive on the shore of Bering Sea, in the vicinity of Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth.
The advancing season finds their numbers continually augmented until, toward the end of May,
they are extremely common and are found scattered everywhere over the mossy flats and low
hill-sides. Their gentle character and trusting ways render them very attractive to the frequenter
of their territory at this season.

The warm days towards the end of May cause the brown slopes and flats to assume a shade
of green, and among the many pretty bird-romances going on under our eyes none is more charming
than the courtship of this delicate Sandpiper. They have forsaken the borders of icy pools
and, in twos and threes, are found scattered over the tundra, showing a preference for small dry
knolls and the drier tussock-covered parts of the country in the vicinity of damp spots and small
ponds. Here the gentle birds may be sven at all times tripping daintily over the moss or in and
out among the tufts of grass, conversing with each other in low, pleasant, twittering notes, and
never showing any sign of the wrangling so frequent with their kind at this season. The female
modestly avoids the male as he pays his homage, running back and forth before her as though
anxious to exhibit his tiny form to the best advantage. At times his heart beats high with pride
and he trails his wings, elevates and partly spreads his tail, and struts in front of his lady fair in
all the pompous vanity of a pigmy turkey-cock; or his blood courses in a fiery stream until,
filled with ecstatic joy, the sanguine lover springs from the earth, and rising upon vibrating wings,
some ten or fifteen yards, he poises, hovering in the same position, sometimes nearly a minute, while
he pours forth a rapid, uniform series of rather musical trills, which vary in strength as they
gradually rise and fall, producing pleasant cadences. The wings of the songster meanwhile
vibrate with such rapid motion that they appear to keep time with the rapidly trilling notes, which
can only be likened to the running down of a small spring and may be represented by the syllables
ter-r-e-€-€, 2r-€-€-€-, 2r-e-e-€, in a fine high-pitched tone, with an impetus at each “z.” This part of
the song ended, the bird raises its wings above its back, thus forming a V, and glides slowly to the
ground, uttering at the same time, in a trill, but with a deeper and richer tone, a series of notes
which may be likened to the syllables teur-r-r-r, tzur-r-r-r. The word “ throaty” may be applied
to these latter notes as distinguished from the high-pitched key of the first part of the song.
Beside the trilling song, which may be characterized in some respects as a finer and weaker copy of
the song of Tringa americana, the Semipalmated Sandpiper has a variety of low, happy, twittering
vocalizations used when feeding with its companions or addressing the female. Very soon after
the real duties of the season begin the joyous songster forgets his lay and betakes himself to
the more matter-of-fact duties which are his as the father of a family. By the first of June, and
earlier in some seasons, they have eggs, and in one instance young were found the 7th of June.
Their nests are usually upon the drier parts of the tundra, generally on a mossy hummock or
slight swell. A sheltering bunch of dwarf willow or a few grass stems in a tuft form a favorite
cover. The male keeps near by and rises now and then to utter his song in an exulting tone,
but as the honeymoon wanes he loses much of his musical character. The females vary much
in their actions when disturbed from the nest. In some cases they fly off a few yards and proceed
to feed with perfect indifference; others Hutter about under the intruder’s feet, with head down
and trailing wings, falling every few feet and beating the wings upon the ground, apparently just
ready to expire.

S. Mis. 156——15 -
114 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

At the Yukon mouth, on June 3, a female was driven from her eggs and flew a few feet away,
where she stood crouching, with her wings hanging quivering nervelessly by her sides, uttering,
meanwhile, as she watched me, a low, plaintive, long-drawn cheeping note which was so expres-
sive of maternal grief and pain that I had not the heart to touch her treasures, but left the tender
motherin possession of her undisturbed home. This is one of the few instances I have met where
the notes of the parent bird have assumed such human expressiveness when their nest has been
approached that any but a heart lacking all feeling must have been affected. The most striking
instance besides the one just detailed was the sorrow shown by a male Snow-bunting for his mate
which I shot on Saint Lawrence Island.

The eggs of this Sandpiper are sometimes placed on a thin layer of dead grass stems, or willow’
leaves, loosely arranged, but very commonly the mat of dry willow leaves or grass afforded by the
spot chosen serves as the nest without special arrangement. On June9,1879,in company with two
natives, I landed on the coast of Norton Sound near the Yukon mouth, and built a large camp-fire
of the abundant drift-wood strewn about. Just as the fire was well under way we noted the
strange motions of one of these birds; she advanced within a few feet of us when some slight
movement would cause her to run away for a few yards, only to retrace her steps again in a few
seconds. I made the men remain quiet, and in about half a minute the anxious mother came trip-
ping along, casting an anxious eye at us as she did so, and, to my surprise, she slipped into a tuft
of grass not 10 feet away, and, covering her eggs, sat there in full view. This was so near the large
fire that the heat could be felt by us when standing by the eggs. The bird ran off as we drew near,
and my workman extended himself full length on the ground with outstretched hand close beside the
nest. The rest of us retired, and the bird soon returned as before, and, without paying the slight-
est attention to the man, she actually crossed his arm and ensconced herself upon the eggs
and was caught by a turn of the hand. After looking at the terrified creature I released her,
but she refused to trust us again, and kept 20 to 25 yards away. I scarcely need remark that her
eggs were left undisturbed as a reward for her devotion. During all this time, as is usually the
case, the male kept at a safe distance, and took matters much more philosophically than did his
partner.

On one occasion, as I was transferring the eggs of one of these Sandpipers to my basket, the
female which was close by, having been started from the nest, saw another female of her kind
come tripping along through what she evidently considered her territory, for extending her head
and ruffling her feathers she ran at the intruder and drove her away.

The eggs measure from 1.30 by .92 to 1.11 by .82 inches, and there is an equally great varia-
tion in the markings. The ground is ordinarily pale clay color, shading toward pale brownish
clay. In many instances, usually among the larger eggs, the ground color is nearly or quite
concealed by fine, light reddish brown spots or specks. The other extreme has the spots gathered
mainly about the large end in large irregular spots and blotches, and the intermediate ones have
the shell about half hidden by markings of chocolate and umber-brown in small spots, a little
more dense at the large end. In some eggs the spots are rich chocolate and the light or slightly
reddish-brown cast in the markings even of the darkest colored eggs usually serves to readily sep-
arate these eggs from any others with which I am familiar.

Early in July the young are on the wing and begin to gather in flocks toward the first of
August. The last of these birds are seen on the coast of Norton Sound and the Yukon mouth the
first of October.

Although it is not recorded from the Seal and Aleutian Islands, I have seen the bird at Saint
Lawrence Island, south of Bering Straits, and at several points along the northeastern coast of
Siberia, and it frequents the Arctic coasts of Alaska in addition to being found throughout the
interior along streams where suitable flats occur. Murdoch notes it as a fall visitor at Point
Barrow. It has been found in abundance on the southeast coast of the Territory, where it occurs
during the migrations.

The young in the first plumage present the following characters: Feathers of crown dark
brown, edged with dull fulvous; feathers of back with dark centers edged with a mixture of white
or grayish and dull rusty and fulvous red. Wing-coverts dull ashy brown edged with dull buff.
BIRDS. 115

Rump dark ashy brown, darkest on the upper tail-coverts. Sides of head, neck, and a broad pectoral
band dull smoky gray, the same smoky shade extending over the sides and abdomen as a pale
wash. ho

A downy young taken near Saint Michaels in June has the middle of crown and of dorsum
velvety blackish surrounded by the dark buff of the rest of upper surface. A few scattered spots of
blackish are seen elsewhere on the back, but are very limited. Many of the long hair-like feathers
ou the back are tipped with light yellowish white. Chin, throat, breast, and abdomen dull white,
washed with buff on the breast.

CALIDRIS ARENARIA (Linn.). Sanderling.

The only record of this widely spread species from Alaska is that of Mr. Dall, who informs
us that itis “very common at Nulato and on the Yukon to the sea.” At Nulato he noted its
arrival from May 10 to 15, and it passed south late in fall, He saw them at the edge of the ice on
the river in October apparently quite at home.

It has been taken repeatedly %a spring and fall on the coasts of Japan and China, and is a rare
migrant on the Commander Islands. Several specimens are in the National Museum collection
obtained at Sitka during the migrations, but during the entire time spent by me in the north I
did not see a single individual, although I looked for them each spring and fall.

During Parry’s first expedition the Sanderlings were found nesting on the north Georgian
Islands, and it undoubtedly breeds along the barren Arctic shore of the North Alaskan coast
east of Point Barrow, but not in any numbers to the south of this point, as my observations during
the summer of 1881 show. It is found wintering in low latitudes on both coasts of the Pacific,
but is rather rare on the shores of India.

LIMOSA LAPPOM{CA BAUERI (Naum.). Pacitic Godwit (Esk. Tu-gi-ti-gii-tik).

This bird was added to our faunal list by the naturalists of the Telegraph Expedition. Dall
found it plentiful about the Yukon mouth, and informs us that it lays “ two light olivaceous spotted
eggs in a rounded depression in a sedge tussock, lined with dry grass.” The same author found
a single specimen on an islet in Akoutan Pass near Unalaska, June 2, 1872, and again the 9th of
June at Unalaska, where he states that it breeds. West of this place in the Aleutian chain it was
not observed by him. Murdoch found it to be an occasional summer visitor at Point Barrow. It
occurs on the Commander Islands during the migrations.

Although this is a well known species of Eastern Asia, breeding as far north as 75° and win-
tering in Southeastern Asia, Australia, and Polynesia, our knowledge of it as an American bird
is very limited, the summary of Mr. Dall’s work just given, and Elliott’s statement that it passes
north in a straggling manner over the Seal Islands early in May, returning south in flocks of a
dozen to fifty toward the end of August, comprising it all.

This is one of the species figured in Dall and Bannister’s paper in the Chicago Academy Traus-
actions, and is described by Professor Baird under the name of Limosa uropygialis Gould, in the
same paper. On May 26, 1877, while I was at Unalaska, a native brought in a half dozen of these
birds, and on June 3 I obtained three others from the sandy beach of a small inner bay. They
were very unsuspicious and easily killed. Although these birds appeared to be migrating, yet the
following years I found them arriving at Saint Michaels in flocks of from twenty-five to two hun-
dred from the 13th to 20th of May. These flocks were shy and kept in continual motion,
wheeling and circling in rapid flight over the low land, now alighting for a moment then skimming
away again in a close body.

Their movements and habits at this season are similar to those of other Godwits. \ By the last
of May the flocks are broken up, and the birds are distributed in small parties over their breeding
ground. Their courtship begins by the 18th or 20th of May, and is carried on in such a loud-
voiced manner that every creature in the neighborhood knows all about it. The males continually
utter a loud ringing ké-wéw, ki-wéw, ki-wéw, which is repeated with great emphasis upon the last
syllable, and the note may be heard for several hundred yards.
116 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

They frequent open grassy parts of the country and are quick to protest against an invasion
of their territory. As a person approaches, one after the other of the birds arises and comes
circling about, uttering a loud ki-wéw with such energy as to make the ears fairly ring. If their
nests are near, or they have young, they come closer and closer, some of the boldest swooping
close by one’s head and redoubling the din. This same note is heard upon all sides while the
birds conduct their courtships, and it serves also to express their anger and alarm. At the
mating season the males have a rolling whistle also like that of the ordinary field plover, but
shorter. When the birds fly at this time they hold the wings decurved and stiffened and make a
few rapid strokes, then glide for ashort distance. On the ground it walks gracefully, its head well
raised, and frequently pauses to raise its wings high over the back and then deliberately folds
them. They may be decoyed when flying in flocks if their whistling note be imitated. If wounded
and taken in hand they utter a loud harsh scream.

These Godwits are among the first of the waders to leave Alaska in fall. The young are flying
by the middle of July and before the end of August not one of these birds, young or old, is to be
found. In the breeding season all the birds of the neighborhood will unite to escort a dog through
their territory with the most resounding cries.

There is a wide range of individual variation among many speciesof waders, and this is nowhere
better exemplified than in the present species, as will be shown in the following notes and descrip-
tions: A male in perfect breeding plumage obtained at Unalaska June 3, 1877, has the crown
striated by broad sooty black shaft-lines and dull yellowish edgings of each feather; the entire
back of neck dull buffy or yellowish brown, marked longitudinally by fine blackish shaft-lines
which become very much broader near the back and on the dorsal area; including the scapulars
and most of tertials the feathers are dark blackish brown, each bordered by a varying amount of
dull gray, brown or buffy, in the form of irregular marginal spots and uneven borders. Feathers
on upper rump pale ashy brown, faintly white-edged, changing on the upper-tail coverts, which
contain irregular central areas of white inclosed in brown and these finally become, like the tail,
ashy brown, shaded with buff and barred with several irregular and frequently imperfect bars
of white or pale buffy white. The tail markings consist of six distinct bars of light. Entire
under surface rich buffy red, broken only by a few irregular dark bars on feathers of the sides and
minder tail-coverts. Secondaries and wing-coverts light ashy brown edged with grayish white.
Upper surface of primaries dark blackish brown; under surface of same pale ashy, the inner webs
becoming whitish, broken by irregular clouding and maculations. In old male birds the feathers .
ou the breast are irregularly marked by fine black shaft-lines.

The female in perfect breeding dress is like the male, except that the buff of the lower surface
averages paler and is always mixed with white, giving an immature appearance. This character is
frequently present in the male as well, but in full-plumaged males it is absent; I have yet to see a
female with the buff unbroken.

Two females taken at Saint Michaels on June 16 are in winter plumage without a trace
of the usual summer coloration, and in several other spring females parts of the winter dress
remain.

Both sexes begin to assume the fall dress in July, but they leave for the south before it
approaches completion.

A young female taken August 25 at Saint Michaels presents the following characters: Crown
striated with dull black shaft-lines and dull ashy-brown edgings. Back of neck marked in the
same pattern, with the dark centers very pale and rendered obscure by the broad ashy-brown
borders. Entire dorsum, scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts with dark brownish centers,
approaching black, except on the wing-coverts. Each feather is edged with pale grayish or dull
fawn brown, this edging encroaching on the dark centers of the tertials and some of the adjoining
feathers in a serrated pattern. Elsewhere the edgings are uniform. Secondaries and secondary-
coverts ashy, the latter edged with pale fulvous, the former with white. Primaries as in adult.
Breast and neck dark smoky fawn color, very light on the chin and sides of the head, the latter
slightly maculated. Entire abdomen and sides light reddish fawn color. Rump and tail as in
adult. Length of wing, 8; tail, 3; tarsus, 2.6; culmen, 2.31 inches.
BIRDS. 1 17

In winter plumage the crown, back of neck, dorsal region, with scapulars and wing-coverts,
are marked by' narrow dark-brown central shaft-lines which shade rapidly into the adjoining
grayish brown, followed by the gray of the border. There is no trace of the irregular serrated
pattern of edging seen in the ordinary breeding bird of either sex. The rump and tail are much as
in breeding birds, but, like the wings, are lighter colored in winter. The throat and neck below are
dull grayish or brownish ashy; the breast and abdomen are white, faintly marked on the sides by a
few obscure bars. Young birds are shaded below with pale fawn-color in winter. The set of
measurements appended give the range in dimensions exhibited by Alaskan specimens of this
bird:

 

 

 

 

 

 

|
Date. Locality. Sex. | Wing. Tail. | Tarsus. | Culmen |
| | :
|
June 3 | Unalaska Island..| ¢ 8.52 3.10 ; 2,20 3. 20 |
June 3 d 8. 64 3. 45 2. 20 38. 38
July 11 8.75 2. 95 2. 21 3. 60
June 16 cs & 80 3.20 2. 26 3. 35
July 11 9. 00 3.35 2. 20 3, 33
July 11 |.... 9. 45 3. 50 2. 30 4. 46
May 16 |.... 9. 00 3.15 2,29 3.70
May 16 |.... 9. 40 3.40 2.39 4.40
June 16 |.... -9.30 3. 20 2.42 4.42
June 16 & 85 3.15 2. 28 3. 63

 

 

From these measurements of specimens taken at random from my collection it will be seen
that the females average larger than the males in every way, but especially in length of bill.

‘ LiMosa HAMASTICA (Linn). Hudsonian Godwit.

A single specimen, a female in a stage midway between the summer and winter plumage,
taken at Nulato in June, is in my collection, and Dall obtained two specimens from the Yukon
mouth in spring. The above comprise all the records of this bird in the vicinity of Bering Sea.
At Fort Yukon it occurs more commonly as a migrant, but thus far it is not known to breed within
the Territory, although it undoubtedly does. A single specimen is recorded by Hartlaub as seen
at Chileat.

This bird has a remarkably wide range, extending from the Arctic regions on the north,
through the entire length of two continents, to the Falkland Islands and Straits of Magellan. In
. Birds of the Northwest, we learn that:a set of its eggs isin the National Museum collection; they
are four in number, and were found by Macfarlane, June 9, on the Anderson River. They measure
2.15 to 2.20 in length and 1.40 in breadth. “The ground is a very heavily shaded olive-drab,
much darker (almost as in a Loon’s or Jaeger’s egg) in two of the specimens than in the other. In
these darker specimens the markings are almost lost in the general heavy color, merely appearing
a little darker; they are chiefly evident at the greater end. In the other the markings, of the
same general character, are, however, much more conspicuous, owing to the lighter ground.”

It has been taken, on May 4, at Kenai, and a young bird, in its first plumage, is in the National
Museum collection from that locality. The young in first plumage is very different from the adult.
The feathers on the crown have dark-brown centers with narrow, pale, ashy-white borders. The
back of neck is a rather sooty-brown with fulvous and dull ashy edginge. On the back the bases of -
feathers are dull ashy, with a subterminal border of blackish bordered at tip, or outer edge of the
feathers, by dull buffy or falvous. Rump darkashy. Upper tail-coverts white. Tail as in adult,
except duller and with the markings less defined. The under coverts are white with an ashy-brown
wash, but no sign of barring. Sides of head pale fulvous, mottled with dull ashy. A band of dull
fulvous ashy extends across the breast, and the rest of the under surface is dull fulvous.

TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmel.). Greater Yellow-legs.

Bischoff secured several specimens of this bird at Sitka, and these are the only ones known to
have been taken within the limits of Alaska. It must nest wherever found in the Territory, and
is very likely to occur upon the headwaters of the Yukon and its tributaries. Well identified eggs
of this bird still remain a great desideratum, although a set has recently been obtained by the
National Museum from one of its correspondents.
118 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

. TOLANUS FLAVIPES (Gmel.). Yellow-legs.

‘During the explorations of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition specimens of the small
Yellow-legs were taken at Sitka and Kadiak Island, on the southeastern shore of the Territory,
and at Fort Yukon Mr. Lockhart secured its eggs. Hartlaub records it in small flocks on Chilcat
River. Dall found it at Nulato and the Yukon mouth, and the middle of August, 1878, I shot a
bird of the year, at Saint Michaels, as it was feeding on the border of a brackish pool. The
natives were familiar with the bird, but told me it occurred only rarely.

In the Upper Yukon region, however, it is more or less common, and among the skins brought
me by the fur traders is a female, taken on May 3, at Fort Reliance, and another secured on the
7th of the same month. On the Lower Yukon it is not common, and is very rare along the shore
of Bering Sea.

Spring birds from the Upper Yukon have many black feathers with irregular whitish borders
scattered over the back, mixed with the ordinary winter dress. The young bird from Saint
Michaels has the same pattern of coloration as the adult, but the colors are dull. There is no
record of this species from the Asiatic shore nor from the Arctic coast of Alaska.

ToTANUS SOLITARIUS (Wils.). Solitary Sandpiper.

A few skins of this Tattler were brought me from Anvik and Nulato, both on the Lower
Yukon. At the latter place Dall records it as a scarce species, arriving about May 5. There is
no instance known of its dccurrence in Southeastern Alaska, but its capture on the Lower Yukon
involves its presence along the upper part of the same stream. Notwithstanding the general dis-
tribution of this bird, and its occurrence during the breeding season through the Northern States,
its eggs still remain among the special prizes to be drawn by some fortunate collector.

In the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, October, 1878, Dr. Brewer describes the
first and only known set of its eggs which bear the marks of authenticity. As acommentary upon
the character of the eggs which have been produced so frequently as those of the bird in question,
I quote the doctor’s remark, that “‘ during the 'ast year eggs were sent to me for verification from
five different parties, and all were deemed not worthy of credence.” The doctor learned of the
capture of a bird from the nest near Castleton, Vt., and secured the loan of both parent and egg,
and 1 quote the gist of his remarks below:

The bird and egg were taken about the middle of May, 1878, on the ground, in a pasture bor-
dering aswamp. The bird fluttered from her nest when approached and ran ashort distance, then
stood still until shot by the finder, Mr. J. Richardson. The single egg was placed in a small
depression in the ground, without any attempt at a nest. The egg had the appearance as if
prematurely taken from the parent, and was smaller than the doctor anticipated, measuring only
1.37 by .95, whereas the egg of the European Totanus ochropus, a closely-allied bird, corresponding
in size and shape, measures 1.50. by 1.10. The ground color is light drab, similar to that of the
egg of Agialitis melodus. Over this are scattered small rounded markings of brown, some of these
quite dark and nowhere confluent, and never large enough to be called blotches. At the larger
end there are a few purplish or lilac shell-marks. The shape is as usual in snipe-eggs.

HETERACTITIS INCANUS (Gmel.). Wandering Tattler (Esk. Tslé-ktiby-t-iik).

Well termed the “ wandering” is this plainly colored and graceful bird.

Over the entire voast of the Pacific north of the equator its presence has been noted by the
various naturalists whose Bohemian tastes have made their lives somewhat akin to that of this
gentle wanderer. Across the broad ocean it ranges to those bits of paradise dotting the South
Seas, tripping its way daintily on the beaches of the coral-inclosed islands, their feet laved by
the warm waters of the tropics, and their eyes familiar with the luxuriant face of nature in its
gentlest and most lovely state. The next season may find them thousands of miles to the north,
under the shadow of the stupendous cliffs and grand but desolate and repellant scenes of the
Aleutian Islands. 1t reaches the north in May, and a specimen in the National Museum collec-
tion was taken by Dall on May 27 at Nulato, on the Yukon.
BIRDS. 119

Bean took a specimen at Unalaska on October 16, and on the Near Islands Turner records
it as a rare summer visitor. Stejneger thinks it breeds on the Commander Islands.

May 15, 1877, while the writer was walking along the rugged beach on Sanak, one of the east-
ern Aleutian Islands, one of these Tattlers was started from its feeding ground on the wave-washed
rocks, where, amid the seaweed, it found an abundance of small crustaceans and mollusks. As I
approached it started off, uttering a loud, clear, flute-like ¢@-ti-ta-ta. This is a common note they
utter when startled, although they change it at times to a sharper sound.

The last of May, 1879, a specimen was obtained at Anvik, on the Lower Yukon, which, com-
bined with the Nulato record, would appear to indicate that these birds may breed in the interior,
as, in fact, I was told they do by the Eskimo at Saint Michaels. They usually reappear on the
sea-coast about Saint Michaels the last of July or very early in August, and remain until from
the 1st to 10th of September. At this season their iris is haze] and bill dark horn bluish; the
feet and legs dull greenish yellow.

During their presence on the coast of Norton Sound they show a decided preference for the
most rugged and rock-bound parts of the shore, rarely or never occurring elsewhere. They are
unsuspicious and gentle, moving gracefully from rock to rock and running to the edge of the water
searching for their food. They are usually solitary, but three or four may be started sometimes
from a small islet on which is a good feeding ground. A gunshot echoing among the huge bowl-
ders and cliffs about their haunts starts up those near at hand with mellow cries of alarm, but they
either fly a short distance and renew their pursuits, or alight on some jutting point or top of a
rock, and stand motionless, like gracefully-poised statuettes, until perhaps the gun again wakes
the echoes and breaks the spell. It is a frequent and regular summer bird on the rocky parts of
the coast to the vicinity of Bering Straits, and occurs on the islands and Siberian shore of Bering
Sea.

From the records obtained it must breed nearly if not quite to the Arctic Circle. Bischoft
took two specimens at Sitka, and Elliott notes its presence on the Seal Islands for a short time
the 1st of June, and again toward the end of July. The fall specimens secured by me are almost
uniform plumbeous ashy above, the feathers faintly edged with grayish white. The chin is white,
and the neck and pectoral band, including the sides of the breast, are the same color as the back,
washed and maculated with grayish white. This same marking extends back along the sides.
The adult spring bird has the cheeks, chin, neck, and rest of lower surface, except middle of abdo-
men, barred distinctly with dark ashy brown and white.

BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Bechst.). Bartramian Sandpiper.

The specimens of this well known species, obtained at Fort Yukon by Mr. Lockhart, are the
only known instances of its occurrenve within this Territory. Richardson noted it north only to
the valley of the Saskatchewan, so the Fort Yukon record adds many degrees of latitude to its
known habitat, and extends its breeding range within the Arctic Circle.

In Birds of the Northwest, Dr. Coues writes that it is not found west of the Rocky Mountains,
overlooking the British Columbian (Colville Bay) reference quoted in the synonomy at the head
of his article.

TRYNGITES SUBRUFICOLLIS (Vieill.). Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

The last day of May, 1880, a pair of these widely-ranging birds was found ona dry knoll a
hundred yards or so from the buildings at Saint Michaels. It was on one of those rare but
beautiful spring days which occur at times even in the far north. The snow was gone, except a
few drifts flecking the distant hill-sides with white, and the open tundra stretched on in dun-brown
shades, upon which the sun poured down his life-giving rays, already turning to green the borders
of pools and damp spots. About the dwellings house-flies left their shelter and buzzed about or
clung drowsily to the warm logs. A few droning humble-bees and wasps flew clumsily from place
to place, and the air was filled with the happy chuckling notes of the barn-swallows rejoicing in the
welcome sunlight.
120 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

A strong quivering motion of the atmosphere blurred and rendered unrecognizable distant
objects on land, as well as on the still ice-bound sea, now a sheet of dazzling white, reflecting
the sun’s rays fea myriads of constantly altering facets. From the distant hill-side came the
long: drawn plaintive whistle of the Curlews, and nearer at hand the sweet musical cry of the
Golden Plover. Circling over the ice-locked bay were Glaucous and Kittiwake Gulls, adding their
hoarse cries to the strange sounds of the distant chorus of wild fowl flocking about the borders of
ponds and lakes on the not distant flats. The house became unendurable, and, gun in hand, I
had scarcely left the building behind when a pair of Buff-breasted Sandpipers, the first I had
seen in this vicinity, were before me, feeding busily on a large dry knoll. After watching their
graceful motions for some time, I shot one and the other flew off out of sight, but an hour later it
returned and was secured, and on examination it proved to be the female.

It is an abundant summer resident at Point Barrow, where they arrive the lst of June and
leave early in August. Mr. Murdoch found them nesting there on the drier parts of the tundra,
where they lay four eggs in alittle moss-lined depression on the ground. In one instance five eggs
were found. During the breeding season the males have some curious habits. Murdoch frequently
saw solitary birds walking about, at this season, with one wing fully extended and held high in the
air. At times two birds would meet and “spar” for a few minutes and then rise together for 30
feet or so like towering birds and drift off to the leeward. Sometimes one would stretch himself
up to his full height and, spreading his wings forward, puff out his throat and make. a sort of
clucking noise, to the apparent admiration of his companions. As a rule they were notably quiet
even at the mating season.

The 30th of May, 1879, a party of three was seen by the writer on one of the islands in the
Yukon delta, and Dall records two specimens from the Yukon below Nulato and one from Sitka.
To the east, in Northern British America, especially in the Anderson River region, it is present
and breeds in large numbers. Thelstof August, 1881, [found them rather common on the north
coast of Siberia west of Koliuchin Bay, and they were evidently on their breeding ground there.
The eggs are fully described in Coues’s Birds of the Northwest.

From the meager opportunities I have had to observe this interesting bird, I judge it to be
one of the gentlest and least suspicious of its kind, as it is one of the most elegant in form and
markings.

ACTITIS MACULARIA (Linn.). Spotted Sandpiper.

A few specimens were taken at Nulato, from the 10th to the 30th of May, by Dall, but the
record by the same naturalist that these Sandpipers are ‘‘not scarce at Saint Michaels in the fall,”
is certainly erroneous, since during four successive autumns I paid special attention to securing
all the species of waders occurring there, but did not find a single example of this bird. It was
taken by Bischoff at Sitka, and this ends our very insufficient knowledge of its distribution in the
Territory.

NUMENIUS HUDSONICUS (Lath.). Hudsonian Curlew (Esk. Miig-ti-n6-6kh-tai i-li).

From May 18 to 25 these birds begin to make their appearance on the coast of Norton Sound,
where, however, only a very few pairs remain to nest, the others passing on still farther north io
the extended open country bordering the shores of the Arctic. At the Yukon delta, on May 31,
1879, a pair was found mated amd evidently about to nest, from the manner in which they greeted
my invasion of their haunt.

The last days of May, and sometimes the first of June, they are rather common in flocks and
small parties on the dry hill-sides about Saint Michaels, but they are never abundant and are
always rather shy. Their long, mellow whistle is a familiar sound at this time, and is a pleasant
note amid the many harsh though joyous cries from the lusty throats of the various water-fowl.

They are soon gone, except a stray pair here and there; but early in August, as the blue-
berries and “crow-berries” begin to ripen, flocks of this and the following species come down, young
and old, from their summer homes, and remain during most of August, until they are fat and heavy
through much feeding. Early in September they are on their way still further south, and are seen
PLATE IX.

  
 

 

GS ISUIIZIY D7 ‘SIIU IUD?
Ae LLL Lie ee! Ee ia Te Le ee

 

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BIRDS. 121

no more until the following season. It migrates, to some extent, by way of Sitka, where Bischoff
took a specimen. It occurs throughout the Alaskan mainland, but is unknown on the islands of
Bering Sea. Dall found it common about the Yukon mouth in spring, and records its favorite
attitude to be perching, with one leg drawn up, on a high stump, piece of drift-wood, or even an
alder bush.

The adult spring birds have the feathers on the back with dark centers and regular and rather
obscure edgings of buffy brown. Autumnal birds, especially the young, have the edgings of the
dorsal-feathers broken into distinct spots of buffy, which encroach on the dark centers, and pro-
duce a much brighter and more variegated pattern than is seen on the adult. The bills of the
birds of the year are also much slenderer and shorter than in the adult. Below, adult and young
are much alike.

Along the Arctic coast of British America these Curlews are abundant, and in winter they
extend their rauge far into South America.

NUMENIUS BOREALIS (Forst.). Eskimo Curlew (Esk. Pi-pi-pi-th).

This is the most abundant Curlew in Northern Alaska, especially “along the coasts of Bering
Sea and Kotzebue Sound. It has been found by various collectors at Fort Yukon, and I received
a few specimens from Nulato. Murdoch reports it an irregular summer visitant at Point Barrow,
where it arrives by May 20.

On May 12, 1878, at Saint Michaels, a number were seen passing to the north, and from this
date on through the month they occur, frequently in considerable numbers, in the vicinity of that
place.

They are always more numerous than nrudsonicus, and sometimes flocks of one hundred and
fifty or more are seen, though generally they occur in smaller parties of twenty-five or less.

Their haunts, habits, and food are almost precisely like those of their larger relative. But very
few remain to breed so far south as Saint Michaels, but by the last of May nearly all have, like
hudsonicus, passed north to breed within the Arctic Circle. With the preceding species they return
at the end of July or first of August to feed and grow fat on the blue-berries and the fruit of
the heath (Zmpetrum nigrum), which begin to ripen on the hill-sides. They are less suspicious
than their larger companions, and generally may be approached without difficulty.

In common with many of the snipe kind this bird appears to feel more confident under the.
leadership of a larger species, and a dozen or so will follow the wanderings of a single hudsonicus
all about the country, just as small flocks of Sandpipers will frequently joiu their fortunes with
those of a solitary bird of this species, and so it runs down the scale. This peculiarity among
birds may result from an appreciation of the greater watchfulness which characterizes the species
of larger size, and the safety thus secured. Both this and the preceding eat berries continually
in fall and often have the entire lower surface of the body stained a purplish shade.

This bird remains later in autumn than the Hudsonian Curlew, and is sometimes found on
the grass and moss-covered uplands until about the middle of September.

NUMENIUS TAHITIENSIS (Gmel.). Bristle-thighed Curlew (Esk. Miug-t-n6-6kh-tdi-
wl),

On May 24, 1880, while I was shooting Black Brant, a pair of these birds settled near by on a
rising stretch of land covered with large tussocks. They uttered a loud whistling call-note very
much like that of hudsonicus, but something in their general appearance led me to stalk and
secure one of the birds. To my gratification it was a Bristle-thighed Curlew, and I made great
efforts to secure the mate, which had stopped a hundred yards or so beyond. As she raised on my
approach I fired at long range and the bird fell mortally hurt on a distant hill-side, where it was
lost amid a host of large tussocks.

The specimen secured was a male in fine plumage, and this is the second known instance of
the bird’s occurrence on our shores, the former record resting on the capture of a specimen at
Kadiak Island by Bischoff, as announced by Mr. Ridgway in the American Naturalist for July,

S. Mis. 156——16 ;
122 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

1874, under the name of Numenius femoralis Peale. Nothing is known of its habits in America,
bat ie presence of the pair at the date mentioned in the vicinity of Saint Michaels would indi-
cate that it nests, at least occasionally, in Alaska.

Their close resemblance in size and habits to NV. hudsonicus renders it difficult to say just how
rare they are, for they might be mistaken very frequentiy for the ordinary species and passed by,
so it behooves naturalists visiting this region in the future to keep a sharp lookout for them. It
is numerous on the Paumotu group, in the South Pacific.

Dr. Streets found them very abundant on Palmyra Island, but only a few were seen on the
other islands of the Fanning group, which are located in the Pacific, just north of the equator.

Although this species has been known to naturalists for a considerable number of years, yet,
beyond the bare mention of its presence in a few localities, I have been unable to learn anything
concerning its habits.

My specimen, a male, measures 19 inches in length by 34.5 in extent of wing, when fresh, aud
the basal half of the lower mandible was dark, dull flesh-color and horn-black on the rest; feet
and tarsus dull livid blue; iris hazel. Its crop was full of the last year’s berries of Empetrum
nigrum, upon which it was feeding when shot. Length of wing, 10.18 inches; tarsus, 2.30;
culmen, 3.67 inches.

Coloration —The crown is dark brown, divided longitudinally through the median line by a
narrow line of feathers with narrow brown shaft-lines and broad borders of pale buff; com-
mencing at base of upper mandible, on each side, 1s a pale buff-shaded, white superciliary line,
reaching to the nape, the feathers being finely marked with numerous small dark -centers; a
dark-brown loral line reaches to front of orbit, and continues from posterior side of orbit to nape
as an indistinct line; below this the feathers of the sides of the head and neck are marked each
with a drab shaft-streak and bordered along the sides with pale buff; these shaft-streaks are
very minute on the side close to the base of the lower mandible, and increase rapidly and uni-
formly in size until at the shoulder they occupy most of the feather; these markings extend
around in front on the lower neck, thus inclosing a pale buffy white chin and throat-patch, from
which, reaching to the upper part of the breast, the feathers are marked as on the sides of
the neck; the back of the neck has the same pattern, but the centers are darker brown and their
borders of a deeper buff tint than on the sides; back, scapulars, and tertial feathers each with
bright very dark brown centers, bordered with varying shades of buff; in some places the buff
edging is a rich, warm tint, fading in other places to a pale whitish shade; between the bases of
scapulars the buff edging takes the form of an irregular but well marked border; the rest of
feathers on the back have this border broken up into irregularly rounded spots, from two to four
in number, along each side of the feather. The rump is of the same dark brown as the back,
relieved only by the narrow dark buffy borders, which are less marked than on the back; the
upper tail-coverts are dark, dull buff, marked with irregular dark bars and shaft-spots; tail dark
buff with a faint brownish shade and crossed by five blackish brown bars, the inner bar poorly
defined. Below, along the sides of the breast, the feathers are irregularly bordered with dark,
and the rest of the lower parts, lower half of breast, abdomen, flanks, thighs, and under tail coverts
are uniform light buff; under wing-coverts and axillaries richly barred and spotted with deep buff
on a dark brown ground; the primaries dark brown with white shafts, and a coarse, deep, but
faint serration of pale buff along inner edge of inner web; secondaries and inner primaries each
with a series of dull buff spots along outer edge of webs and tipped with gray. The distribution
of the color on the back gives a dark surface coarsely spotted with buff, and is one of the most
characteristic features of the bird, when compared with the duller and more uniform shades of the
other American species of Curlew.

CHARADRIUS SQUATAROLA (Linn.). Black-bellied Plover (Esk. Zu-chéh.)

This species is found at Sitka during the migrations and is rather common on the entire Yukon.
It arrives at Nulato about June 1, according to Dall; but I found it rather common at the Yukon
mouth on May 12, and a little later; so it occasionally, at least, reaches Nulato earlier than June
BIRDS. 123

It is a very handsome bird in full spring dress, and with its mottled black and white back and
glossy black under surface presents a striking appearance while standing by the border of snow-
drifts or on the banks of ice-covered rivers. From Saint Michaels north it appears to oceur
rarely. Itis found also on the Asiatic shore at Plover Bay, but it has not been recorded from
any of the islands in Bering Sea, although it undoubtedly occurs upon nearly, if not all, of these
at times during the migrations. At Point Barrow it is a rare visitant, according to Murdoch,
and on the Commander Islands was noted only as a fall migrant. 1t returns to Saint Michaels
the last of August in straggling parties, and stray individuals linger until the last of September,
feeding along bare tide flats and the borders of brackish pools and streams, where various indi-
viduals of its kind may be found feeding in amiable companionship. The first frosts send them
off to the south, though, arriving early in spring, they are often forced to endure cold storms and
harsh weather. This is one of the peculiarities noted in the arrival of birds in the north during
spring, that their eagerness to reach their nesting ground after they once start causes them to
brave temperatures and cheerless surroundings which are much more severe and inhospitable than
any which they endure in fall or while at the south.

The female in her fall spring dress is distinguishable from the male by the mixture of white
feathers in the black or lower surface. High plumaged males have the head nearly white. The
spring dress is changed for that of fall and winter the last of July, at which time the young are
on the wing and the birds begin the wandering life common to so many waders after the close of
the breeding season.

Asin more southern lands, it is not uncommon to see one of these birds, a giant among pig-
mies, leading a party of small Sandpipers, including two or three species.

’ Although this fine bird nests sparingly at the Yukon mouth, I did not find it in the neigh-
borhood of Saint Michaels in the breeding season, and so had no opportunity for observing its
habits at this time. Richardson states that in the British fur countries its “eggs are oil green,
spotted irregularly with different shades of umber brown.” The birds are said to be found in sim-
ilar localities, but are much less common than the Golden Plover.

CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS Miill. American Golden Plover (Esk. Tu-zliék).

About the middle of May this beautiful Plover reaches the vicinity of Saint Michaels. The
earliest record I have, for the Territory, is May 13, specimens in my possession having been
secured at Fort Reliance on the Upper Yukon at this date. As the breeding season approaches,
it is found as one of the commonest breeding waders over the grass and moss grown country ex-
tending along the shore of Bering Sea. In some cases they have deposited their eggs by the 1st
of June.

It is a widely-spread species over the eastern coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic, bit is not
very numerous on the islands of this sea. It is an abundant summer resident at Point Barrow,
according to Murdoch. They arrive the last of May and leave the last of August. Dall secured
specimens, June 22, on the Shumagin Islands, and this is the only instance in which the bird has
been taken on the Aleutiau chain. Elliott obtained specimens of the Asiatic coast species on the
Fur Seal Islands, as will be mentioned later. It arrives along the shore of Norton Sound, the last
of May, in small flocks rarely exceeding thirty or forty birds. They are in full breeding dress, and
are a beautiful sight as they glide about on easy wing, or feed over the marshy flats. Their soft,
clear call-note gives evidence of the rich song to be heard Jater. They soon pair and disperse, so
that within a few days after the main arrival their nests may be looked for. Their nests are gen-
erally in small depressions which may be found among the moss and dried grass of a small knoll,
and at times a slight structure is made of dried grass. The grass, and, perhaps, a few dead leaves
of the dwarf willow are arranged in a circular, saucer-shaped form, about 4 or 5 inches across,
and contain four eggs, which have a pale yellowish ground-color with very dark, well-defined
umber-brown spots scattered rather profusely over the shell, especially about the larger end. One
set of eggs measures 1.98 by 1.35; 2.09 by 1.30; 2 by 1.30; 2.08 by 1.33. This set of eggs was
obtained at Stuart Island in June. Three odd specimens measure respectively 1.90 by 1.25; 1.92
124 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

by 1.38, and 1.86 by 1.29. A second set, obtained in June, 1880, near Saint Michaels, measures 2
by 1.31; 2.09 by 1.30; 2.09 by 1.26, and 2.02 by 1.29. The ground-color is very’ uniform, the only
variation being to a slight buffy shade, in some instances, and a slight increase, or decrease, in the
abundance of the dark markings.

A curious fact in connection with this bird is the arrested state of plumage which occurs either
in spring or fall, and is well shown by several specimens taken in the vicinity of Saint Michaels,
which would indicate that it is of rather frequent occurrence. Two autumnal specimens—one
obtained at Saint Michaels October 12, and the other on the Upper Yukon—show this in a striking
manner. The black feathers of the lower surface, the dark feathers of the crown and back, as
well as the white frontal and supraorbital band of the nuptial dress, remain mixed with about an
equal amount of the ordiuary fall plumage. Other specimens obtained in spring show the same
mixture from the retention of the winter plumage. There is no difference in the habits of these
birds, so far as I have been able to observe.

The males are conspicuous objects, as they stand like silhouettes, their black and white breasts
and sides of neck presenting a sharp clear-cut outline on the brown and gray background. Atinter-
vals their clear, mellow, and melancholy note rises for a moment, and then the bird apparently sinks
into a day-dream and remains motionless for some time, until he is prompted to assure his partner
of his presence by another call. The male at this season has a brighter plumage than the female,
and in places little frequented by man he becomes very unsuspicious; near villages, however, he
is always on the lookout, and is difficult to approach even when he is found by his nest. Toward
the end of May and during the first of June the males utter a clear, rich song, which is frequently
heard during the twilight of the short Arctic nights.

Where I was camping, at the Yukon mouth, the last of May and first of June, 1879, these
birds were scattered all about in the vicinity of the tent, and frequently, during the middle of the
night, the song was heard close by, and was extremely sweet and musical. One night, in particular,
I remember lying awake, listening to the usual continuous faint clicking among the disintegrating
ice in the river, which seemed to make the silence still more marked; suddenly, just back of the
tent, arose the clear plaintive note of the Golden Plover, which may be represented by the syllables
too-lee-e. Soon after, in the same sweet musical tone, was uttered a marvelously harmonious
succession of notes, which I wrote down at the time, listening to the song as it was repeated again
and again, and ascertaining the exact number of syllables. These I find are very imperfectly
represented as follows: Téé-léé-léé, tu léé l2é wit, wit, wit, wée- wit, ché leé a too léé-€. The three
last syllables are the ones most commonly uttered, serving as a call-note, but the song in full is
only repeated on special occasions, as before remarked, being oftener heard during the still hours
of the night than during the day, if, indeed, it can be called night when the sun disappears below
the horjzon for little over an hour.

The courtship of this handsome bird is carried on very quietly, and I have witnessed no
demonstration of anger or quarreling among the rivals. When two are satisfactorily mated they
quickly go about their nesting, after which each pair limits its range to the immediate vicinity of
its treasures.

During the cruise of the Corwin to the north, in the summer of 1881, this Plover was observed
at various points, mainly along the Kotzebue Sound coast of Alaska and upon Saint Lawrence
Island, where it, breeds... It also occurs on Saint Matthew’s Island at this season, but is not known
to breed on the Seal Islands, or south of them, except near the mainland, although it undoubtedly
occurs also upon the Aleutian Islands at this season. In Dall’s paper on the birds of the Territory
he records its arrival on the Yukon during the latter part of May, and adds, that its eggs are
generally two in number; but this latter statement must be an error, since the considerable
number of nests which I have seen all had complements of four. The young are hatched and on
the wing during July, and by the last of September many have already left for the south, but
stray individuals are found well into October, the 12th of this month being the last date which I
noted.

In the spring the male has the crown and back of a brownish black with a greenish-gray gloss;
the neck and breast are a sooty black; the loral white spot is present, the feathers of the frontal
BIRDS. 125

region and middle of crown are edged more or less strongly with white, and the post-oculars,
with an area extending down the neck and across the breast, are marked with white in the same
manner. Bill and feet dull greenish-black. The spring female has the white markings about the
head and breast much obscured, and is also distinguished by the brownish shade on the dorsal
surface. The young of the year lack the white marking on the head; the throat. is pale brown,
and the head, neck, and breast are dull brown, becoming gradually darker posteriorly, where the
color on the back is darker brown with a greenish shade as in the adult, and the feathers of the
back, breast, and scapulars are edged with grayish and pale brown. I was unfortunate in not being
able to secure the downy young of this species. .

CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS FULVUS (Gmel.). Pacific Golden Plover (Esk. Ti-zhék).

The relationship of the Golden Plovers found on the islands and coast of Bering Sea is rather
unsettled, owing to the presence of this bird, which reaches the coast during the summer
and breeds, mingling, at this season, with the well known bird of North America. A careful
comparison of a series of about forty Golden Plovers from the northwest coast of Alaska with
specimens from the interior of America and the Asiatic coast does not reveal any constant differ-
ence in color-markings sufficient to invariably distinguish. the birds of the different regions. There
appears to be a difference in size sufficient generally to distinguish resident Asiatic birds from
those of interior North America. On the Siberian coast of Bering Sea the typical Asiatic form is
found common, and is of much rarer occurrence on the Alaskan coast, from the peninsula of
Aliaska north to Point Barrow. On this stretch of coast to the island of Saint Lawrence domi-
nicus is the predominating form, but specimens are found grading in a regular series from this
bird to the fulvus of the Asiatic region. The considerable number of specimens examined show
that only the ordinary dominicus occurs in the interior of Alaska.. The breeding range of this
latter form extends thus over the entire interior of Alaska and meets that of fulvus along the west
coast of the Territory in the vicinity of Bering Straits, with its southern limit on the Shumagin
Islands and the adjoining coast of the North Pacific. Fulvus breeds around the northern shore
of Bering Sea on both continents, and upon their Arctic coasts as well. It is arare fall visitant to
the Near Islands. It occurs on the islands of Bering Sea from the Fur Seal group north to Saint
Lawrence. It also occurs on the Commander Islands during the migrations. At Wrangel Island,
in the Arctic, a single Golden Plover was seen by me, which was undoubtedly this form. Elliott
secured the original American.specimen of this race on Saint Paul’s Island of the Fur Seal group,
May 2, 1873, and was informed by the natives that it was a frequent visitor, occurring there the
last of April and first of May in spring, and returning in September, when it feeds upon the lary
found upon the killing-grounds of the seals, passing south toward the last of October.

No specimens of fulvus have been taken along the Pacific coast south of Alaska, hence it is
probable that very few, if any, of this race follow this course in their southern migrations, whereas
dominicus is known to migrate throughout the breadth of the continent. Fulvus breeds along the
northern border of Asia, and migrates south, in winter, to the eastern countries in India, and in
the southeast islands reaches New Zealand. Mr. Swinhoe describes its nest as a loose structure
of dried grass and fibers lining a hollow, containing four eggs. These are greenish gray, blotched
and spotted with deep blackish sepia, and have occasionally obsolete purplish gray spots. They
measure about 1.50 by 1.10, thus showing a marked discrepancy in size between the eggs of this
bird and dominicus.

The most striking distinction between the two forms of this Plover is shown by the young
birds in autumn. Atthis season the young of fulvus has the entire crown and back marked with
golden yellow in the shape of strong edgings to the feathers. This rich color frequently occupies
half or more of the entire dorsal surface, and, joined with the yellow suffusion of the sides of head
and neck, which latter extends over the breast in a fainter degree, renders the bird strikingly
different from the pale, dull-colored young of the ordinary dominicus from the interior, and even
from those found along the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. My large series from this region shows
every gradation in other respects from one form to the other, but none of the interior birds ap-
126 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

proach the coast form in intensity of coloration. The series of measurements appended will show
the relative proportions of, these birds from different regions, and at the same time show the
differences in the dimensions between fulvus and its American representative :

°C. FULVUS FROM EXTRALIMITAL LOCALITIES.

 

 

    

 

 

 

  
   
 
  

 

 

 

 

Date. Locality. Sex. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen.
Winter, 1862............ Amoy; China «saisccscsacces (2) 6. 42 2. 60 1 - 98
April 21, 1881 . sere Shanghai, China aa cs 6. 50 2. 50 1.79 1.00
Winter ..-- --.; Loo Choo?...... Juv. 6.30 2. 40 1.73 92
Oiniciein ---| Honolulu?....-. --| Juv. 6. 40 2. 50 1. 82 (2). 88
WG) sicc.5 accrcvcrcjeseeiereieie New Sonth Wales .......-.. é 6. 36 2.42 1.70 94
ALASKAN COAST SPECIMENS.

May 1 ....-...--..-..--- 6.40 2.50 1.70
May 30, 1281.-....-..--. 6. 25 2.48 1. 69 95
September 5, 1877. : 6. 55 2. 40 _1.69 - 93
September 16, 1877 6.70 2. 51 1.70 - 92
Spring.......--..- 6.90 2. 65 1.70 -91
une 3..... 6. 92 2.70 1. 80 89
May 27, 1881.. 7.30 2. 80 1. 69 .90
UNG 5 26, evceeusesincetes 7.10 2.72 1.65 . 89
May 18. ccenciceveswces 7.10 3.15 1. 68 88
MAY 28: -.rcc0cdccrsccceee 7.10 38. 25 1. 64 95
May 26, 1860 -..-.--..--- Fort Simpson, H. B, T....... s 7.12 2. 75 1.70 ~ 95
BTS on sein ne mtinceracme Great Slave Lake........... dt 7.00 2. 85 1. 64 +92
ORG) oo oe scciciaecsarcisaiee, Barren grounds. ............ 2 7.45 |= 2. 80 1.78 - 90
May 13. -| Fort Reliance, Alaska . Ss 7. 30 3. 08 1.80 » 98
May 14 ..-.. o 2 7. 25 2.72 1. 65 - 90
September 24 . 7.15 2. 65 1.70 1.00
June 6........ 2 6.90 2.65 1.69 85
November 12 - 7.00 2.70 1.78 - 89
September 27 ... 7.02 2. 83 1.58 81
September 8 ............ 7.15 2.70 1.70 - 92

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Streets, in his contribution to the natural history of the Hawaiian Islands, published in
Bulletin No. 7 of the National Museum, records this bird as being very abundant on the island of
Oahu, where he was informed by the inhabitants that they make their appearance about the
first of September, arriving very poor and weak, having evidently been a long time without food.
During the winter they become very fat, and in March and April they prepare for their departure.
At this time they can be seen taking long or short flights out at sea-and returning again to the
island. This exercise, the doctor thinks, was undoubtedly for the purpose of strengthening
themselves for the final effort, their muscles having become flabby and feeble during the
inactivity of winter.

While the Corwin was midway between the Aleutian Islands and San Francisco, in October,
1881, a small party of birds, undoubtedly of this species, was seen passing high overhead, coming
from the direction of the Aleutian Islands and passing directly toward the Hawaiian group. This
is certainly a remarkable flight for birds of this character to undertake, and its accomplishment
indicates great powers of flight, as well as great endurance.

AHGIALITIS SEMIPALMATA Bonap. Semipalmated Plover.

According to Dall this bird is very common at Nulato and the Yukon mouth, but his statement
of its abundance at Saint Michaels I did not verify, as I found it to be of infrequent occurrence
along the Norton Sound coast. It is probably much more numerous in the interior, and I received
specimens from various places on the Yukon. It was found rather common at Sitka by Bischoff.
On the Asiatic coast at Plover Bay, and again on the north coast near Koliuchin Bay, I found
them rather common about the sandy or gravelly borders of pools near the sea. It also occurs on
the shore of Kotzebue Sound and northward. Mr. Dall states the number of eggs to be generally
two. I have never had an opportunity to learn anything about their breeding habits. It appears
to be most abundant along the Atlantic, where it is found in great numbers, but on the west coast
its numbers are much less, especially in the north. :
BIRDS. 127

Young birds in their first plumage are seen the first half of July. They have a white frontal
bar and the pectoral collar is brown like the crown and back. The feathers of crown and back
are narrowly edged with pale buff, and a narrow collar of blackish borders the front of the brown
of back, separating it from the white ring about the neck. The bill is entirely black and the feet
dingy fleshy yellow.

The downy young are pretty little objects, with the crown aud entire back ashy-brown, with
a faint buffy shade in places, and the entire surface irregularly maculated with black. The colors
of the crown and back are separated by a white collar, which joins the uniform white of the lower
surface on the sides of the neck.

ANGIALITIS MONGOLA. (Pall.) Mongolian Plover.

This handsome addition to the Plovers of North America was made by the captain of the ship
Plover, during his visit to Kotzebue Sound, in the summer of 1849, when he secured two specimens
upon Choris Peninsula. It is a common summer resident on the Commander Islands, where it
arrives during the first half of May and leaves the last of September. Their eggs were taken
there by Stejenger the first of June and the young about the middle of July. A nest found on
June 4 contained three eggs. It was in a hollow between the stems of four Angelica archangelica
and lined with dry fragments of leaves and stems of the same plant. The eggs are described by
Stejneger as being larger and of a deeper ground color than eggs of 4. semipalmata, and the spots
average rather smaller than on eggs of the latter.

The Choris Peninsula specimens alluded to above were presented some years since to the Oxford
Museum, among other birds, by Sir John Barrow, and the only published account of them which I
have been able to find is that by Mr. Harting in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
for 1871 (p.110). As the bird is now first recognized as a member of the American fauna, I append a
description of it taken from a beautiful male recently received by the National Museum from Yoka-
hama, Japan. This bird, an adult male (No. 85779, National Museum collection), taken April
28, 1881, is marked as follows: Crown, ashy-brown on the posterior half, and much mingled with
dull buff; forehead black, the black reaching back of and bordering the orbit in front. A
concealed, badly-defined line of white is found upon the edge of the black frontal band just above
the lores, and extends around the frontal region as an indistinct light line, which thus divides the
frontal band into an upper and lower portion. This light or white area is very indistinct, being
merely a spot just over the base of the culmen, but is distinctly marked on each side in front of
the orbit. Commencing at the base of the upper mandible at each side and extending back,
including cheek and ear-coverts, is a broad black bar. Chin and throat clear bright white. This
area covers the sides of the neck and entire base of lower mandible; entire breast occupied by
a broad band of rich buff, approaching chestnut. This area extends irregularly along the sides
from the flanks and, reaching over the back of the neck, forms a collar of a duller shade of the same
color. In the perfect plumage this color extends up over the entire crown. Entire back and ter-
tials, scapulars, and middle of rump pale olive-brown with a wash of grayish; feathers of the
sides of the rump and upper tail-coverts bordered and edged with white; tail ashy-brown, becom-
ing lighter towards the sides, where the outer feather is white; quills dark brown, and the shaft
of the outer primary white. The rest of the primary shafts are dark brown with a median white
or pale stripe. A white wing-bar is produced by the edgings of the coverts ; secondaries and some
of the single primaries bordered with white areas of varying extent; abdomen white, much duller
than the clear bright white of the chin and throat.

Dimensions: Wing, 5.15; tail, 2; tarsus, 1.18; culmen, .60.

For peculiarities of plumage, discussion of synonomy, range, &c., of this species, the reader
is referred to Mr. Harting’s paper upon the little-known Limicole, in the Ibis for 1870.

APRHIZA VIRGATA (Gmel.). Surf-bird.

During the exploration of the Western Union Telegraph Company in Alaska, four specimens
of this widely-spread bird were taken in the vicinity of Sitka by Bischoff. North of this there is
no record except that of the birds secured by myself in the vicinity of Saint Michaels. Itisa
128 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

widely-spread Pacific species, occurring only as a rare summer or fall visitant on the shore of the
North Pacific and Bering Sed, reaching the vicinity of Bering Straits in Norton Sound. One autumn
about October 1, I saw a pair feeding upon the bare muddy flats, near Saint Michaels, but with
the exception of the record of two or three other specimeus obtained at various times in autumn,
near the same place, I have but little to add concerning its habits or distribution. The natives,
however, claim that it is found breeding on the bare mountains in the interior, some 20 or 30 miles
from the coast; but they probably mistook it for some other bird. Its favorite haunts are exactly ~
those of the Wandering Tattler, and each of my specimens was collected while this Tattler was the
object of pursuit. The isolated character of the spots chosen by these birds requires a special visit
to the outlying islands and capes, in order to obtain information concerning them, and this
may account, in a measure, for their supposed scarcity. The present record extends its range
north of 63°, and it undoubtedly reaches the immediate vicinity of Bering Straits.

A young male taken at Saint Michaels, August 19, 1879, is in an interesting state of plumage.
In fall plumage the birds are very different from the spring adults, and bear a strong superficial
resemblance to the corresponding stage of plumage of the Knot (Z. canutus). The crown has the
centers of the feathers uniform blackish brown, edged narrowly with grayish white, thus produc-
ing an irregular striation of grayish white and dark. Around the back of neck and entire dorsal
region to rump, including the scapulars and tertials, the feathers are uniformly ashy, olive-brown,
each feather narrowly edged with grayish white. Wing-coverts dark ashy, but lighter than the
back, and with broader white margins of the feathers. The wings and tail as in the adult. Rump,
under tail-coverts, and abdomen white. Chin white, lightly maculated with dark. The throat and
sides of the head marked with dark ashy brown and white lines, the dark forming the shaft-lines.
Each feather of the breast is ashy brown, crossed by two narrow white bands near the extremity, one
of which tips the feather. The feathers on the sides of the abdomen are marked with scattered
dark shaft-lines. When fresh, the bill is black at the tip and dingy grayish-yellow at the base.
Gape yellow. Feet and legs dingy gamboge yellowish. Iris dark-hazel. Length, 9.60; spread of
wings, 20; wing, 6.50; tail, 2.35; tarsus, 1.10; culmen, .89.

ARENARIA INTERPRES (Linn.). Turnstone (Esk. Tiilv-d-ta-tiik).

During the summer this bird is found from the mouth of the Yukon north to Point Barrow,
_ where it is noted by Murdoch as scarce. It probably occurs to the south of the Yukon mouth at
this season, but we find no records thence. It has been noted on Saint Matthew’s [sland by
Elliott, and during the cruise of the Corwin, in the summer of 1881, we found them numerous on
Saint Lawrence Island, where they were breeding at the time. It also breeds on Saint Matthew’s
and the muddy flats of the sea-coast, from the Yukon north, wherever the surroundings are favor-
able. Dr. Bean took a specimen on Saint Paul Island, August 6, and a second at Plover Bay,
Siberia, a little later. Although not recorded from the Aleutian Islands, yet its abundance on the
Fur Seal Islands—oniy a comparatively short distance north of the chain mentioned—renders it
very probable that the bird oceurs also on the Aleutian chain during its migrations. As confirm-
atory of this statement, I may add that as we approached the Aleutian Islands, in the spring of
1877, several birds were seen which I identified as of this species. ‘These were seen while we were
about ten or twelve hours’ steaming from the islands, and while they were on their way north.

According to Elliott, this bird does not nest upon the Seal Islands. He records their arrival
there by the third week. of July, and they leave for the south about the 10th of September. While
700 miles offshore, west from the Straits of Fuca, heading northwest for the Aleutian Islands, he
saw other specimens of this bird.

It feeds upon the larve of the insects which are found upon the tens of thousands of seal
carcasses strewn about the Seal Islands in fall, and they are only known here in their brilliant fall
plumage. Although rather common along the entire Alaskan coast, within the limits mentioned,
this bird is far less numerous than the Black-headed Turnstone, which is found within the same
Alaskan range as the present species. It breeds on the same parts of the coast as the latter, and
mingles with it in small flocks in autumn, when both forsake their breeding grounds and wander
along the shore in stray parties, living upon the fat of the land, and preparing for their passage
BIRDS. 129

south. It is found along the barren Arctic coast as far as Point Barrow, and thence east and south
through the fur countries it is a common bird, extending its range north to the eigthtieth parallel
and beyond along the coast of Greenland and the adjoining American shore. Upon the Asiatic
shore these birds were observed at Plover Bay, and to the northward beyond East Cape on the
Arctic coast, and several parties were seen in the vicinity of Wrangel Island, whence they came
and circled about the vessel several times. Stejneger found the species scarce on the Commander
Islands in the breeding season, but numerous later in the summer.

It arrives in the vicinity of Saint Michaels from the 15th to 20th or 23d of May, according to
the season, and is found scattered about the newly opened ponds and mud-flats, where it remains in
small numbers to breed. It is usually much noisier than the Black-headed species, and utters
several loud, ringing notes when in parties passing from one feeding ground to the other, and
especially when disturbed. They remain until the last of August and into September, when
they gradually straggle away. They also pass to the south along the Asiatic coast in large num-
bers, being repeatedly recorded from various Japanese and Chinese localities by the different
naturalists who have visited those countries. It is found among the islands of the Southern
Pacific to New Zealand, and a male has been taken on that island in the breeding plumage on the
1st of April. Among the natives of certain islands Dr. Finsch (Ibis, 1881) found these birds kept
for pets, singly or in pairs, in small cup-shaped cages by the natives, who also used then as fight-
ing cocks, matching strange birds with each other almost exactly in the manner done elsewhere
with the common game chicken. This pugnacity is a trait not usually known, and is one of which
my field experience with this bird, often in the breeding season, had given me no inkling.

Two females obtained at the Yukon mouth on May 19 and 20 have a white throat-patch
and a glossy black breast, the black reaching up on the sides of the neck to bill and to the eye;
thence from the lores to the upper mandible inclosing the loral white spot. From this black area
a bar extends to the nape, leaving the white ear-coverts and the supraloral line which extends to
the nape and thence across the frontal region. The back is irregularly marked with a mixture of
black rusty or reddish brown and dull ashy yellowish brown with white edgings. The pattern of
wing coloration is the ordinary one. The top of the head is streaked with black and grayish brown.
The legs are dull orange-red. Iris very dark brown. The full-grown young of the year, taken
at Saint Michaels the last of July, were in the following state of plumage: The white throat-patch
is present as in the adult, and the dark breast and ueck area of the adult are outlined in the
young by irregularly-defined blackish brown feathers, edged and washed with yellowish and
grayish, which extend over the entire side of the head. The lores are pale brown. Crown light-
brown in front, darker posteriorly, and with light-brown edges to the feathers of the neck. Back
and rump blackish brown, with a grayish olive gloss, and profusely edged with dull yellowish
brown or buffy, the latter most marked on the tertials and wing-coverts. Tips of the two middle
tail-feathers buff. Iris very dark brown; legs dull fleshy, with an orange shade.

A female from Saint Michaels, taken in June, is remarkably dark, having the crown and
entire dorsal surface, except the white spcts on the rump, covered with blackish, only marked
here and there with reddish and rusty spots. LEven the wing-coverts are much darker than
usual, and the white markings on the head are limited and obscured in places.

ARENARIA MELANOCEPHALA (Vig.), Black Turnstone (Esk. Tubt-d-ta-tik).

This Turnstone is far more plentiful on the coast of Bering Sea than the preceding species,
and is one of the most abundant waders from Sitka north along the mainland coast of the Terri-
tory. I found it also along the coast of the Arctic from Bering Straits to the vicinity of Point
Barrow during the cruise of the Corwin, and it was also observed sparingly on Saint Lawrence
Island and along the Asiatic shore on a few occasions. It breeds among the brackish pools on
Saint Michaels Island, and is found scattered over the wet flats everywhere. It is one of the
commonest birds of this locality, its sharp, clear note breaking the silence wherever one turns his
steps among the pools and marshy places. It has a habit of circling around the intruder, during
the nesting season, with a fine, clear, peeping cry like the syllables weet, weet, too-weet, as it
moves restlessly about; now stopping a moment on a slight knoll, then running hastily along the

8. Mis. 156——17
130 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

edge of a neighboring pool, perhaps picking up a scrap of food as it runs, and then it mounts on
wing again and comes careering about, evincing the liveliest distress at the invasion of its haunts.
When disturbed in the vicinity of its nest it has also a sharp peet, weet, weet, very similar to the
well-known note of the Spotted Sandpiper. Let the hunter go where he will on the marshy ground
and his ear is greeted by the same remonstrance.

They are found aiong the course of the Lower Yukon during the summer season and breed
wherever found. When the young are able to take wing in July they leave the flats, to a great
extent, and frequent the sea-coast, where they keep in small straggling parties searching for food
along the tide line.

These birds arrive in the vicinity of Saint Michaels or the Yukon mouth about the middle of
May; rarely before this date. In autumn they move gradually to the southward, until by the
last of August they become rarer, and during the first half of September all have gone with the
exception of an occasional straggler found along the sea-shore. Dall found them to arrive in the
vicinity of Nulato on May 27, although it undoubtedly occurs earlier in the season than that.
Among the considerable number of this species in my series I find only a single individual with a
white throat-patch.

H2MATOPUS BACHMANI Aud. Black Oyster-catcher.

This bird is found abundantly at Sitka and Kadiak, and Dall found it a summer resident on
the entire Aleutian chain. It arrives in May on the western part of these islands. On one of the
Shumagin group (Range Island), June 23, 1872, he found two nests. In both cases the eggs were
placed directly upon the gravel on the beach; one contained two eggs, and the other one. They
were all partly incubated.

Their iris is rich orange, with the edge of the eyelid scarlet. The birds were extremely wary—
as also are their east-coast relatives—and kept entirely out of gunshot. Their note was a peculiar,
low whistle when disturbed; they have a habit of standing on the beach, or rocks, a short distance
apart, and calling to one another. Like the eastern bird, their motions are stilted and odd.

Its range is not known to extend beyond the Aleutian Islands to the north. From this point
south it is feund on the coast and neighboring islands to some point in thetropics, where it meets
the species ater, found on the west coast of South America. In the Nova Acta Acad. Petropol.
1800 (p. 350), Sevastianoff gives a first account and comparison of this bird with the European Oyster-
catcher, but does not propose a name. Specimens of this bird were obtained in Alaska by Bill-
ings’s Expedition (1785 e¢ seqg.). Pallas records it from the Kurile Islands, where he also cites the
Old World ostralega as being found.

DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS FULIGINOSUS Ridgw. Sooty Grouse.

During the explorations of the Western Union Telegraph Company, Bischoff secured seven of
these birds from the vicinity of Sitka, and Hartlaub records it from Portage Bay, where its love
notes are said to be heard from April 1 to July. There is no doubt but that this bird occurs con-
siderably farther to the north and westward of Sitka along the coast region, and, perhaps, extends
across to the headwaters of the Kuskoquim, where the heavily-wooded character of the country
furnishes the proper ground for its presence.

DENDRAGAPUS CANADENSIS (Linn.). Canada Grouse.

This handsome Grouse is found throughout the wooded portion of Alaska extending to the
shores of Bering Sea at the points where the spruce forests reach the vicinity of tide-water. It is
more numerous, however, in the interior, and along the upper portion of the Yukon. It is per-
manently resident wherever found. Mr. Dall records it as the least common of the Grouse found
in the vicinity of Nulato, where he observed it frequenting willow thickets, and feeding exclusively
upon the buds of this bush. At Anvik, on the Lower Yukon, it is rather common, and inhabits
the mixed forests of spruce and deciduous trees, whence it has the habit of coming out on the
BIRDS. 131

gravelly river bank, early in the morning, during pleasant weather in spring and summer, and
falls an easy prey to the native hunters, who watch for it in these locations. It is so quiet and
retiring in the woods that it is rarely seen. I also found it at the headwaters of the Innoko River in
midwinter, where, however, it did not appear to be very common. It has been taken on the island of
Kadiak, and its range therefore extends from the islands bordering the coast of the North Atlantic
to those in the North Pacific. Specimens were brought me from the headwaters of the Yukon
taken in autumn, and Richardson and others have traced it down the Mackenzie to the delta of
this river, well within the Arctic Circle. It also extends its range to Southeastern Alaska, where
the var. franklint might be supposed to usurp its place. Thus Hartlaub records it from Portage
Bay and Chilcat. The above author notes that specimens from these localities differ in nowise
from the bird of the northeast, and hence are true canadensis.

My specimens also, from various points in the northern portion of the ieavitaiie comparec&
with the series of birds from the more southern and eastern locations on the continent, show them
to be identical. In addition to the above records is one from Fort Kenai, on the southeastern
mainland shore of the Territory, where Bischoff secured a specimen in May. On Peale’s River,
and near the delta of the Mackenzie, Richardson found these birds frequenting the marshy parts:
of the forest.

BONASA UMBELLUS UMBELLOIDES (Dougl.). Gray Ruffed Grouse (Esk. [th-tik).

Like the Spruce Grouse, and sharing with the latter its range in Northern Alaska, this bird is
found everywhere where wooded land occurs, reaching the head of Norton Sound and vicinity of
Bering Straits, following the belts of timber as they approach the sea in this portion of the Terri-
tory. It is not uncommon in the vicinity of Nulato, where it frequents the deep spruce growths,
and feeds exclusively upon the buds of these trees, its flesh being tainted in consequence. Dall
found it nesting there in May, and a set of eggs was found in a willow stump. Like the Spruce
Grouse, this bird is found wherever spruces occur, and both species range well into the Kaviak
Peninsula, so that they are found within a very short distance of Bering Straits. It is about
as numerous as the Spruce Grouse, giving place, however, in the southern coast of the Territory,
to the closely-allied form mentioned under the next heading. —

As I had no opportunity to observe this bird I have nothing to add to the record of its habits.
Specimens were brought me by the fur traders from various points along the Yukon and adjoining
region, so that evidently it is of common occurrence throughout that portion of the country. Alz
the specimens of Bonasa north of Great Slave Lake, excepting the dark coast form found along:
the Pacific, are referable to the gray northern form. There is considerable individual variation
in Ruffed Grouse from any particular locality, and the races grade from one to the other in an un-
broken series.

BoNsSA UMBELLUS SABINI (Dougl.). Oregon Ruffed Grouse.

A few specimens of this bird have been taken about Sitka by Bischoff, and others have been
found in British Columbia, so that there is no doubt it occurs along the northwest coast as far as
the heavily wooded region in the vicinity of Kadiak and the adjoining mainland. ‘The typical
form of this bird appears to be rather strictly limited to the Pacific slope, as Mr. Henshaw found
that birds taken east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon were referable to sabini, although
they were not typical of the latter form, and showed an approach to the eastern race, losing that
intensity of coloration which is characteristic of the northwest coast birds.

LAGOPUS LAGoOPUS (Linn.). Willow Ptarmigan (Esk. A-hiiéh-gih).

Throughout the northern. portion of Alaska this bird is a resident in summer, frequenting the
extensive open country, and being most abundant along the barren sea-coast region of Bering Sea
and the Arctic. 16 breeds also south of the peninsula on the Shumagin Islands, whence Dr. Bean
obtained a female in mid-summer plumage during his visit to those islands in the summer of 1880.
Other records of albus in the Aleutian chain are referable to var. nelsoni or atkhensis, according
to locality.
132 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

At Point Barrow it is noted by Murdoch as a resident but not abundant species. At this
locality specimens were noted so late as July 10 with considerable white still in the plumage, so
it is evident that the summer molt in part of the Territory is not a complete change in color, as is
the case further south.

According to Hartlaub this bird extends its range far to the southeastern extremity of the
Territory, aud was found in flocks at Chilcat February 9, In May they leave the coast and go
higher up into the dwarf forests among the willows and small birches. A nest of seven eggs was
found on the Damaaku June 28,

In the northern portion of their range these Grouse are summer residents; but in autumn, the
last of August and during September, they unite in great flocks and migrate south to the shel-
tered banks of the Kuskoquim and Yukon Jivers and their numerous tributaries. In early spring,
as the warmth of the returning sun begins to be felt, they troop back to their breeding grounds
once more. During a large portion of the year these birds form one of the most characteristic
accompaniments of the scenery in the northern portion of Alaska. They change their summer dress
for the white of winter in autumn before they make their migration, and after they arrive at their
winter destination they keep in immense flocks about the open glades and willow-grown country
along the courses of various inland streams. In traveling through these tracts in mid-winter I
have sometimes come across flocks numbering several thousands. In one instance a large area, a
half mile across near the Lower Kuskoquim, was literally covered with these birds, and the bushes
around the borders were also covered with perching birds. They allowed us to get into their
midst with our dog-sledges before they took flight; as they arose the whirring of their wings
made a noise like the rumbling of thunder and seemed to make the very ground tremble. As they
arose the flock spread in every direction, and for a mile or two beyond we met small scattered
parties, where they had taken refuge. They move in flocks, often numbering several hundred,
during their migration, when they pass to and from their summer haunts.

Among the Alaskan natives, both Eskimo and Indian, especially those in the northern two-
thirds of the Territory, this bird is one of the most important sources of food supply, and through
the entire winter it is snared and shot in great abundance, and many times it is the only defense
they possess against the ever-recurring periods of scarcity and famine.

The Eskimo of the Kaviak Peninsula have a curious way of taking advantage of the pecu-
liarities of this bird in their migrating season. Taking along and medium fine-meshed fishing-net
they spread it by fastening cross-pieces to it at certain distances; then taking their places just at
sunset in early November or the last of October, on a low open valley or “ swale,” extending north
and south, they stretch the net across the middle of this highway, with a man and sometimes two
at each cross-piece, while the women and children conceal themselves behind the neighboring
clumps of bushes. As twilight advances the net is raised and held upright. Ere long the
flocks of Ptarmigan are seen approaching skimming along close to the snow-covered earth in the
dim twilight, and a moment later, as the first birds come in contact with the obstacle, the men press
the net down upon the snow sometimes securing fifty to sixty birds. While the men throw them-.
selves upon the net and hold it down, the women and children rush forward and kill the birds by
wringing their necks or by biting their heads. On some evenings several flocks are thus inter-
cepted, and the party of natives return to their houses heavily laden with spoils. In winter
the birds ure snared in their haunts by placing fine nooses attached to low bushes close to the
ground. Sometimes small brush fences are built with snares at the passage-ways purposely left
open. In spring, as the snow begins to leave the mossy knolls here and there, the natives shoot
a male bird and stuff it roughly with straw, and, mounting it on a small stake, place this effigy
upon one of the bare knolls in a conspicuous position; then they surround it with a fine sinew net
held in place by slender stakes. The hunter then conceals himself close by and imitates the chal-
lenge cry of the male. All around can be heard the loud cries of the pugnacious birds, and
attracted by the decoy notes of the nativé some of them are almost certain to bestow their atten-
tion upon the decoy; they approach swiftly, and either fly directly at their supposed rival or alight
and run at him in blind rage. In either case their jealousy is fatal, as they are at once hopelessly
entangled in the net of the hunter, who disposes of them, and repeats the maneuver indefinitely,
generally returning home well laden.
BIRDS. 13a

In winter I found this bird frequenting the shelter of the spruces at the head of Norton Bay.
Under these circumstances they have almost precisely the habits of the Ruffed Grouse at this
season, so it is evident that their preference varies greatly with the locality and individual birds’
tastes.

Dall speaks of the curious spring migrations of this bird at Nulato, the birds leaving in
immense flocks the middle of February and returning again in March of each year. This is
probably due to the passage of the winter-resident birds at that place to the north, while the birds
which reside during winter in the south reach Nulato on their northward migration later in the
season.

During the winter season these birds extend their range south to Sitka and Kadiak, whence
specimens in white plumage are in the National Museum collection, Whether these birds nest upon
Kadiak Island or not is unknown. Toward the end of March, as the small bare spots commence
to show on the tundra, the Eskimo say this will bring the Ptarmigan from the shelter of the inte-
rior valleys, and their observation proves true. At Saint Michaels these birds commence their
love-making according to the character of the season—on some years by the 1st of April their
loud notes of challenge are heard; but the recurrence of cold weather usually puts a temporary
stop to their proceedings. About the 5th or 15th of this month the first dark feathers commence
to appear about the heads and necks of the males. During some seasons the males make scarcely
any progress in changing their plumage up to the middle of May, when I have frequently seen
them with only a trace of dark about the head and neck. In the spring of 1878 the first males
were heard calling on the 26th of April, and on April 27, in 1879, the males were just commencing
to moult, showing .a few dark feathers; but these seasons were unusually late. In autumn the
change frequently commences the last of September, and by the first of Ocfober it is well under
way, the winter moult being completed toward the end of this month.

During an excursion taken from Saint Michaels on May 9, 1879, the males of these birds
were found extremely numerous all over the country in the vicinity of that place. The soft,
slushy snow covered most of the ground, leaving bare a few dark-brown and brownish.red moss-
covered spots and tussocks. Here the male Ptarmigans had stationed themselves, and as we
passed, frequently within 15 to 20 yards of them, they would squat and watch us. Several
times I stopped and snow-balled them, and even then they would remain motionless, until a well-
aimed ball would strike so close as to cover the bird with snow. Frequently they dodged the
ball by running a few steps, and in one instance I fired several shots from my ritle at one bird as
it crouched at some distance, but it did not start, although the balls struck each time close to it.
Not a call was heard during this evening, owing probably to the gloomy sky, but the birds are
ordinarily much less pugnacious at this time than in the morning. On the next day they were
extremely common all along the coast from our starting-point to the mouth of the Yukon, frequent-
ing the hillocks bordering the shore, and several times two males were seen paying court to a
single female.

As we turned into the mouth of the Pastolik River, close to the mouth of the Yukon, on the
evening of May 10, a female Ptarmigan was seen coming down the river pursued by a Gyrfalcon,
which was following close behind, and gaining upon the terrified grouse with every wing-stroke.
Suddenly the grouse saw us, and swerving around, lit upon the opposite side of the sledge, not 5
feet from us, and ran quickly around to the side where a native and myself stood. The hawk,
eager in its pursuit, did not notice us, until the grouse disappeared in its sudden change of course,
and the pursuer had barely time to check itself as he came swiftly on in a direct line with my head,
so close, in fact, that I involuntarily dodged as the hawk suddenly extended its wings and shot up
15 or 20 yards at a direct right angle to its former course and hovered there looking down upon us
in evident surprise. I hastened to remove my gun from the lashings which attached it to the sledge,
but before it could be taken out the hawk had assured itself of danger, and made good its escape.
The grouse took wing when the hawk disappeared, and made off in the opposite direction. The
grouse, in so suddenly changing its course and placing itself under the protection of man, showed
a wonderful amount of quickness and intelligence.

At the Yukon mouth, in the evening, May 24, these Ptarmigan were heard uttering their
hoarse notes all about. As we were sitting by the tent, my interpreter took my rifle, and going
134 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

off a short distance, worked a lump of snow to about the size of one of these birds. Fixing a
bunch of dark-brown moss on one end of the snow to represent the bird’s head, he set his decoy
upon a bare mossy knoll. Then retiring a short distance behind a knoll he began imitating the
call of the male, until a bird came whirring along and taking up the gauntlet lit close by its sup.
posed rival and fell a victim to the ruse. The note used by the native in this instance was a
peculiar nasal yak-yak-yak-yak. This was made by placing his hands over his mouth and closing
the nose with thumb and finger. At this time the males were continually pursuing each other
or holding possession of prominent kuolls, frequently rising thence 5 to 10 yards in the air, with
quick wing-strokes, and descending with stiffened wings with the tips curved downward. While
ascending they uttered a series of notes which may be represented by the syllables ki-ki-ki-ki,
which is changed as the bird descends toa hard rolling kr-r-r-r-r, in a very deep guttural tone, end-
ing as the bird reaches the ground. Frequently a pair would fly at each other full tilt, and a few
feathers would be knocked out, the weaker bird quickly taking flight again, while the victor
rises, aS just described, and utters his loud note of defiance and victory. On other occasions,
when the birds are more evenly matched, they fight fiercely, until the ground is strewn with
feathers. On June 1, at the mouth of the Yukon, in spite of a cold raw gale and rain, which
sent all other birds to the sheltering thickets in the vicinity, the shrill call of the male Ptarmigan
was heard on every hand. The change this morning was the more striking as, on the preceding
evening, when the weather was calm and pleasant and evidently foretold a storm, all the other
birds of the marshes were extremely noisy, especially the geese and gulls, which raised such a din
on every haud that it was difficult to carry on conversation. In the morning not a sound was
heard, excepting an occasional luk-luk of a goose, as it passed on its way to some feeding ground
or sheltered spot in the distance, and the cries of the Ptarmigan, which seemed but little affected
by the depressing character of the weather. ;

On May 24 almost all of these birds were paired, but some did not complete their nuptials
until the first few days of June. This grouse take but a single mate in Northern Alaska, and I
am informed by the natives of Unalaska that the same is the case with the Rock Grouse found on
the Aleutian Islands, nor have I ever known of the Ptarmigan assembling in numbers about
any special meeting place to carry on their love affairs; they scatter about, as previously men-
tioned, being seen singly here and there on prominent knolls over the flat country. Early in June,
rarely so early as the last of May, the first eggs are laid; by June 20 and 25 the downy young
are usually out, and when approached the female crouches close to the ground among her brood.
When she sees it is impossible to escape notice she rolls and tumbles away as though mortally
injured and thus tries to lead one from her chicks. The young at the same time try to escape by
running away in different directions through the grass. At this season the female and male both
‘moult and assume a plumage which differs considerably.

The young are fledged and on the wing at varying dates through July, and are nearly full
grown by the 1st to the 10th of August. On November 25, 1877, they were numerous, in large
and small flocks, along the bushy gullies and hill-slopes on the shore of Norton Sound, but were
shy. In many places where they had stopped the night before, their sleeping-place was well
marked. In each instance they had occupied a small: clear spot in the midst of a dense thicket,
and in no case had the birds approached on foot, but had flown in over the top and plumped down
into the soft snow, where they had remained during the night, each bird thus making a mold
of itself in the snow. In some instances there were fifteen to twenty of these molds in the
snow in an area of a few feet. In leaving their stopping-place the birds arose and flew directly
from their “forms,” as was shown by the marks of the wings on each side as they touched the
snow in rising, so there were no tell-tale tracks to or from these places; the open places were
undoubtedly chosen to allow the birds an unobstructed escape in case they were surprised by
prowling foxes, which hunt these thickets for tood.

Occasionally Ptarmigan wereseen about the houses at Saint Michaels. Upon one occasion one
sat for several minutes on the roof of a warehouse gazing curiously into the yard where a number
of men and dogs were passing back and forth, evidontly affording a novel and interesting sight for
the bird, which, however, soon took flight, as though remembering the risk he might be running in
such proximity to his usual foes.
BIRDS. 135

The young are hatched the last of June, or rarely the first of July, and are handsome little
creatures in brown and yellow down, with a chestnut cap and black lines down the back. Ina
few days after birth the young begin to show traces of the first full plumage upon their breasts.
The young of the year differ from the adult, as is shown by the description.

In nesting, these birds usually gather a few grasses and dry leaves, and with them loosely
line a shallow depression which is situated on the side of some slight knoll or dry place on the
open grass and moss-covered tundra. The eggs vary considerably in the amount of dark mark-
ings, which, in some cases, form heavy dark purplish-brown blotches, scattered over the surface
and interspersed with finer blotches and spots of the same. These markings cover the light
and rich yellowish-brown of the ground color. In other cases the markings are of a lighter shade,
and form rather small spots scattered uniformly over the surface. In others the spots are com-
paratively few, but this latter style is not common. The number of eggs varies from seven to ten
and twelve; one set, taken in early June, at Saint Michaels, contained ten eggs measuring respect-
ively as follows: 1.81 by 1.28; 1.78 by 1.30; 1.80 by 1.29; 1.80 by 1.31; 1.80 by 1.30; 1.80 by 1.27;
1.78 by 1.28; 1.80 by 1.23; 1.83 by 1.32; 1.78 by 1.22. These eggs are about the average size.

A young male bird taken September 10, 1880, just as it began to assume the white winter
plumage, as shown by the white area on the abdomen, has the color of the crown and back of the
neck intermediate between the spring plumage of the male and female, but more closely approach-
ing the female in possessing blackish-brown feathers barred with rich buffy-brown. The feathers
of the back are long and lanceolate in place of being bluntly rounded at the ends, as in the spring
birds, and their centers are blackish-brown. The whitish and buffy edgings of these feathers, with
yellowish and buffy mottling and barring on their webs, are arranged so as to mark the borders of
the feathers, and to give the back the appearance of being marked longitudinally in place of the
transverse patterns on the shortened and blunt-pointed feathers in the spring female. <A careful
comparison of feathers from adults and young shows that the distinction of markings and colora-
tion is similar in the summer male and young birds, but the shortening of the feathers in the adult
gives the transverse in place of the longitudinal markings seen in the young birds. The long
upper tail-coverts of the young bird shows the same pattern of marking. The throat and breast
have a mixture of dull chestnut, much duller than in the male adult, and the buff, combined with
dark transverse markings, is much less in amount than is present in the female, the bars being very
narrow. The feathers of flanks and sides are yellowish, irregularly barred and mottled with dark
brown. The feathers of the entire back, sides of the neck, and breast are tipped with small white
spots. .

The change of summer plumage to that of winter begins on the abdomen and gradually
extends over the entire body, the head changing last. This change occurs between September
10 and the last of October, the young assuming their winter garb a little in advance of the adults.
In spring the change is reversed, commencing about the heads of the birds and thence passing
over the rest of the body. After the head has assumed its summer plumage, the change on the
rest of the body goes on very slowly, and in many instances is never perfected, the back and
abdomen of the majority of summer specimens being never entirely free from white feathers. The

.wings remain white throughout the year. There is considerable individual variation in the plum-
age of adult specimens shot the same season. In summer this variation appears mainly in the bar-
ring of the feathers according as the dark centers have more or less of the buffy and gray bars.

The adult male bird shows still another plumage in mid-summer. When the pairing season is
over the fleshy comb over each eye shrivels and is hidden under the feathers, and the rich brown
plumage of the head and neck gives place to a dull chestnut-brownish, becoming rusty-red on
throat and neck. The crown, back, and sides of neck are buffy-brown irregularly barred with
blackish, changing to black or very dark brown on back. Rump and tail-coverts thickly barred
or mottled, with transverse lines or spots of yellowish-brown, and most of the feathers are edged
with a narrow grayish-white border. This plumage is almost intermediate between that of the
spring plumage of the male and female birds, but is distinct from either, although combining cer-
tain characteristics of each. Kumlien reports that in latitude 67° north on the Davis Strait coast
of America these birds begin changing their winter plumage for that of spring the middle of May,
136 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

but further north the change commences still later, and in Greenland the males are pure white
in the breeding season.

This species was found sparingly about Cumberland Gulf by Kumlien, and is extremely
abundant from Bering Straits across the entire northern portion of America and Greenland.
The Scotch Ptarmigan, a near relative of the present bird, is known to breed by the end of March
in the lowlands of Scotland, and as late as June among the highlands. In the south of Scot-
land the males perch on knolls during a mild morning, and, rising several feet, drop again, utter-
ing a note which has been indicated in syllables as follows: Hck-kek-kek-wuk-wuk-wuk. This note
and habit are identical with those of the Willow Grouse, as observed in Alaska, though more fre-
quently the note of the Alaska bird is the one previously indicated.

LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS (Gmel.). Rock Ptarmigan (Esk. Ung @wik).

This beautiful Ptarmigan is a common resident of the Alaskan mainland, from Bering Straits
to the British border on the east, including the entire north and south extent of the mainland.
Unlike the common White Ptarmigan, it frequents the summits of the low hills and mountains
during the summer season, where it remains until the severe weather of early winter forces it down
to the lower elevations and under the shelter of the bush-bordered ravines and furrows marking
the slopes.

On May 10, 1881, while visiting two voleanic hills in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, I sud-
denly came across a pair of these handsome birds, which were still in almost perfect winter plumage,
the female having but avery sparse sprinkling of clayey feathers, and the male but three or four
dark feathers on the sides of the head. These birds were feeding upon the last year’s berries, on
the marshy knolls near the end of one of the hills. They allowed me to approach within 20 feet,
and paid no attention beyond looking curiousiy at me as I walked slowly along. The suspicion
of the male being slightly excited, he uttered a low, rolling or whirring sound, like that produced
by rolling the end of the tongue. The female answered with a low, clear “ yop-yop,” with a peculiar
intonation, strikingly like that of the female hen-turkey, except it vas much lower. When we
were about 15 feet from the birds, they stood looking at us for a moment with a pretty air of
innocent curiosity, and then, without showing the slightest signs of alarm, arose and flew off to the
hill-side, a hundred yards or more away. The comb over the eye of the male stood erect, and was
of the same brilliant orange-red as that of the White Ptarmigan; but the outline of the upper
border of this comb is cut out in the middle, so that only upon each end does it bear the filamentous
prolongation seen bordering that of D. albus. Just as the male alighted upon the hill-side, he took
a slight upward curve, and then descended to the ground on stiffened wings, very much in the
manner that characterizes albus at this season; at the same time he uttered a loud, rather harsh
and guttural series of rolling notes, very much like the peculiar rolling call-note of Dajfila acuta.

During the entire year these birds are resident north at least to Bering Straits, as I obtainea
specimens from that vicinity on one of my winter expeditions. In summer it extends still beyond
this, to all portions of the country crossed by mountain chains and hills. In autumn, toward
the last of October and first of November, this bird unites with the common Ptarmigan in great
flocks, on the northern shore of Norton Sound, and migrates thence across the sound to Stuart’s
Island, thence reaching the mainland. The birds are frequently seen by the natives while they
are passing Egg Island, on their way to the island just mentioned. They are said to commence
their flight just before dark in the evening, and at this season, as mentioned under the preceding
species, many are snared at the head of Norton Bay. In April the birds return to the north,
always traveling in the evening or night, as they do during their autumnal migrations.

This Ptarmigan is resident at Point Barrow according to Murdoch but is less common than
albus. Mr. Dall mentions its presence in the Gens-du-large or Romanzoff Mountains northwest
of Fort Yukon in about latitude 68° N. It is also found commonly in the vicinity of Fort Yukon.
The Smithsonian Institution has received a large number of these birds from the region border-
ing the Arctic shores of the fur countries. On the Arctic coast of British America Mr. Rae
killed some Rock Ptarmigans, August 9, which were moulting at thattime. They were not shy, and
BIRDS. 137

when flushed would fly near the ground until behind the first knoll or rise of the surface, then
turning suddenly to one side they would crouch and remain motionless until they were approached
closely.

The first American record of Ptarmigan in these islands was made under the title of Lago-
pus albus by Mr. Dall in his paper on the ornithology of this region, and has been corrected
by me in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club for June, 1878. The male specimen
secured at Unalaska, and upon which this identification and correction was based, is figured in the
present ,eport with the characteristic mountainous surroundings. All the records of Lagopus
albus upon the Aleutian chain apply solely to this species, with the single exception, perhaps, of the
easternmost island, which lies next the mainland of the Alaskan Peninsula, where the ordinary
albus is found, according to the information given me by residents of the islands.

Concerning this bird Mr. Dall gives us the following notes in his paper before cited: It is
more or less abundant throughout the chain. The eggs which he speaks of having found upon
the islands of Attu and Kyska are to be referred to the new race, atkhensis. The Ptarmigan eggs
found by Dall on the Shumagin Islands, June 20, were either those of the present species or
of albus; this latter bird is known to occur upon these islands, as is shown by the specimens
secured by Dr. Bean. As mentioned in describing the habits of this species, it frequents the
more elevated portions of the country, its range complementing that of albus. The latter
keeps more strictly to the lower and more level parts of the country, and frequents the open
stretches of moss and grass covered tundra in the summer, or keeps the center of deeply bor-
dered water-courses and ravines during winter. Rupestris keeps to the mountain sides and sum-
mits in suminer and about their bases in winter. This difference in the habits of the two birds
may account for the presence of rupestris alone in the Aleutian chain, for the precipitous slopes
and rugged cliffs, which arise from the water on every side, among this chain of islands, afford
none of the low flats and bushy shelters congenial to the tastes of albus. With the exception of
the Aleutian Islands, where rupestris alone occurs, this latter species is less numerous than albus,
the ratio perhaps being one to ten, though the disproportion increases as the country becomes
more mountainous, as I had occasion to observe in the vicinity of Bering Straits. In the portions
of the country where flats occur, as between the Lower Yukon and the Kuskoquim, albus alone
is found. North of British America Captain Sabine records rupestris as abundant in summer on
Melville Island, in latitude 75° north, where it arrived May 12 in full winter dress. Some
males retained this plumage unaltered until the middle of June. In winter it makes a partial
migration from this region. As this bird occurs on the American side of Bering Straits it un-
doubtedly occurs upon the adjacent Asiatic shore and should be looked for about the mountain
summits of that coast. Specimens of lagopus taken at the mouth of the Lena River, latitude 71°
north, during April, by Seebohm, are said by Newton to be referable to rupestris and not to
mutus. The male differs from the female in having the ochraceous bars narrow and interrupted by
more numerous lines, thus making the plumage darker and richer. During the recent English
Arctic Expedition Ptarmigan were found in latitude 83°06’ north, which were referred to this
species by Captain Fielden. This was at the highest northern point of land at that time visited
by man. The birds were again seen in latitude 82° in September, after which they migrated south,
returning by March 11 the following spring.*

 

*While examining the series of Ptarmigan contained in the National Museum, during the preparation of this
work, I was surprised to find a bird from Cumberland Gulf on the American shore of Davis Strait, and from the
Greenland shore of the same coast, differing very decidedly from the many specimens of rupestris and albus in the
collection. This led me to examine the matter more thoroughly, and I find that nearly all the older writers credit four
species of Ptarmigan to America, whereas the later authors have united in ignoring one of the species and placing it
as a synonym of rupestris. My search through the various forms has resulted in satisfactorily determining that the
bird found on the coast of Greenland and the adjoining portion of the American mainland is totally distinct from
the ordinary Lagopus rupestris. It may be well to give a slight review of the Ptarmigan mentioned by the several
authors who have written upon the region in question. Hearne mentions the Rock Grouse (rupestris) as plentiful in
‘the region northwest of Hudson’s Bay, and this with albusmay comprise the two forms with which he was acquainted.
Parry found birds on the shores of Davis Strait which are considered to be exactly similar to the Scotch Ptarmi-
gan, or Tetrao lagopus of Gmelin. In the North Georgian group, at a later date, another species was found more
abundantly, to which he refers as J. rupestris of Gmelin. In the appendix,to Parry’s First and Second Voyages it is

8. Mis. 156——18
138 NATURAL DISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS NELSONI Stej. Nelson’s Ptarmigan.

In his paper on the birds of Bering Sea in The Cruise of the Corwin, Mr. Nelson gives two
accounts of the Rock Ptarmigan, numbered, respectively (78) and (79), both, however, being placed
under the same headings, viz, Lagopus rupestris (Gm.) Leach. The Rock Ptarmigan. It needs
but a glance at the second account (79) to show that Mr. Nelson considered the bird here treated
of to be different from the one previously mentioned (78). In fact he states that “the detailed de-
scription of this form will be given in the account of the Birds of Alaska, now in course of prepara-
tion.” He had thus noted the distinguishing characters of the form which was subsequently
named in his honor by Dr. Stejneger, and had intended to describe it in his report (é. e., the present
one), and to merely designate it by name in The Cruise of the Corwin. Why he subsequently failed
to set this forth in his errata slip I am at a loss tu understand. He there complicates the matter
by stating that “through an error, the notes under numbers 78 and 79 were not placed under a
single heading.” The form was named by Dr. Stejneger in Auk, July, 1884, p. 226, and partially
described. The types of the race were taken by Mr. Nelson at Unalaska, in spring, and winter
specimens were taken by Dall at the same place. A fine series of this bird, collected by Mr. Town-
send during the summer of 1886 at Unalaska, corresponds well with the types and confirms the
validity of the race.

According to Mr. Nelson, this Ptarmigan is common on the Aleutian Islands, at least from
Unalaska eastward, where it frequents the mountain tops and slopes, breeding there in June.

Subjoined is a description of the bird, prepared by Dr. Stejneger at my request.—H. W. H.:

g ad. (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 73488. Type. Unalaska Island, Alaska, May 18, 1877. Coll. E. W. Nelson, No.
19.) Top of head and neck all around bright tawny brown, inclining to burnt sienna on the former, barred with
black; rest of upper surface of the body deep umber-brown, eacli feather being very finely and densely vermiculated
with blackish; lores and eye-region black, more or less interspersed with old white feathers; wings white, with a
few of the coverts and the tertiaries like the back, the six or seven outer primaries with the shafts dusky above;
under surface from the breast back wards, including the feathering of the feet, white except a few new feathers on the

flanks, which are like those of the back ; most of the nasal plumes, the feathers on the forehead, those on chin, throat,
and sides of face below the eyes are old white feathers, remains of the winter plumage, and a few similar ones are

 

stated that ‘‘there is much difference in the color” in summer specimens of TZ. rupestris and T. lagopus. ‘‘ The upper
plumage of the ‘Ptarmigan’ (7. lagopus) is cinerous, with undulating, narrow black lines and minute spots, whereas
in the Rock Grouse each feather is black, and cut by transverse broad lines or bars of a reddish-yellow * * * * * *
with spaces of black between them broader than the bars. The feathers are tipped with a light color in the male,
approaching to white in the female.”

The males (rupestris) average 134 and the females 124 inches in length, and both were inferior in size to
specimens of J. lagopus. The two agree in the character of bill and claws and the black bar over the eye.

The ground-color of the eggs of rupestris is‘ pale yellowish-brown, irregularly blotched and spotted with a
darker brown.” From the information procured from Sabine’s contribution to the appendix of Parry’s Voyage, Iam
convinced that his rupestris is identical with reinhardii of Greenland and the adjoining American coasts, whereas
T. lagopus, which he describes as having been found in the country south of Barrow’s Strait and east of Regent’s
Inlet, but as not met with in the North Georgian Islands, and which he claims is the Ptarmigan of Scotland, is
our rupestris. Tho specific characters of T. lagopus of Gmelin mark it a3 referable to rupestris, the summer plumage
of which is cinerous, with minute black lines, or spots, ex cept on the head and neck, where it is characterized by the
same author as marked with broad bands of white. The white prevails on the throat and the back, and ferruginous
on the crown and hinder part of the head. The main portion of the preceding notes are from Sabine in asupple-
ment to Parry’s First Voyage, under the heading of 7. lagopus. From the statements made here it appears that
the birds from the coast northeast of Hudson’s Bay are thus marked with fine undulating lines in summer and
heavier-barred markings about the neck. The male of rupestris in summer is distinguished by the large amount of
black forming the ground-color of the feathers and by the distinct barring of yellow or buff. Audubon’s figure of
his Lagopus americanus answers perfectly to specimens contained in the National Museum from Cumberland Gulf
and the opposite coast of Greenland, and is undoubtedly referable to reinhardti. It is quite likely the specimens
recorded by authors as rupestris from the high northern latitudes along the Greenland coast and the adjoining mainland
may also be referable to this species. While reinhardii is distinguished by the heavy black barrings which divides
the feathers into two orthree parts and the interspaces with grayish and butfy-brown spaces, rupestris has its plumage
covered with fine vermiculations and dottings of varying shades of brown, buffy, and black. It was my intention
to make a satisfactory arrangement of the American Ptarmigan, but I find the amount of material contained in the
National Museum collection insufficient, as the individual variation among these birds requires a large series of speci-
mens from their entire range in order to give satisfactory data for generalizations.
PLATE xX:

CONIeaS NI SrwW)

quospiu sUugsadns. sndobvT
MYSIiNavuiea S.No Ian

 

 

 

 

 

 
BIRDS. . 139

still left on the fore neck and the upper surface; tail black with an indistinct white edge to the tips of the feathers,
and the outer rectrices white at the base for a very short distance. Wing, 200™™; tail-feathers, 117™™; bill from
nostrils, 11™™; tarsus, 32™; middle toe with elaw, 35™™,

First primary shorter than sixth ; second longer than fifth and shorter than third and fourth, which are longest,
The adult female does not differ materially from typical Lagopus rupestris in corresponding plumage.
The designations of the colors in the above description refer to Mr. Ridgway’s ‘‘Nomenclature of Colors.”

LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS ATKHENSIS (Turner). Turner’s Ptarmigan.

Among the specimens secured by Mr. L. M. Turner, during his residence in the Aleutian
Islands, are two Ptarmigans, which, upon examination, prove to represent a well-marked geo-
graphical race of rupestris. His specimens were secured June 7 and May 29 upon Atka Island, at
the extreme western end of the Aleutian chain. They are found upon this island and undoubtedly
also upon those adjoining. As compared with my specimens from Unalaska the bill of this bird
is considerably broader at the base, and is somewhat longer and slenderer. In addition to this,
a striking difference is the very much lighter color of the western bird, which has a predominance of
ashy-gray and pale yellow. The dark rusty or buffy-brown seen in the Unalaskan bird is re-
placed by a pale yellow on the western variety, and the general shade of color is grayish in place
of brownish. The female of the Atka bird is more finely marked, as a rule, and has much less
of the grayish and buffy vermiculation which is exhibited by the bird from Unalaska. It is
undoubtedly to this race Mr. Dall refers in his contribution to the ornithology of the western end
of the Aleutian chain, when he speaks of finding nine much-incubated eggs, on June 21, at Attu
Island, and chicks which were hatched at Kyska, July 8.*

PEDIOC ATES PHASIANELLUS (Linn.). Sharp-tailed Grouse.

This grouse is given by Dall as a not uncommon species at Fort Yukon and for 200 miles lower
down this river to the Ramparts, below which place it is not found. It may be called a bird of
Eastern Alaska, being limited to that portion of the Territory bordering on the British possessions.
Its nest was found by Mr. Kennicott near Fort Yukon at the foot of a clump of dwarf willows,
with scattered spruces and other trees growing about. Other nests were afterwards found in sim-
ilar locations. The structure resembles that of the common prairie hen. The record of this bird
from Fort Yukon places its nesting range within the Arctic Circle, but how much beyond this
point it occurs to the north remains to be seen when future and more extended observations
are carried on in that region. Richardson found this grouse along the Mackenzie to the delta of
that stream in about latitude 69°, and it may occur to that point in the adjoining portion of
Alaska.

CIRCUS HUDSONIUS (Linn.). Marsh Hawk (Esk. Nukh-té-kd-lih).

These hawks are numerous throughout Northern Alaska during the migrations. It is seen fre-
quently along the barren coast of Bering Sea, and has been recorded as rather uncommon in the
interior. It is a rare summer visitor to the Near Islands. It has been taken in Northeastern Sibe-
ria, and is found on the mainland throughout Arctic North America. It breeds on the Lower An-
derson and other northern rivers, and is one of the regular and’ common birds of prey in these
regions. The Marsh Hawks arrive later and depart earlier from the coast of Northern Alaska than
they do from the interior of the British fur countries. The last of May, 1879, it was common at
the Yukon mouth, and on May 6 a specimen was secured by Mr. McQuesten at Fort Reliance, on
the upper part of this river. In autumn, from the middle of August until the end of September,
is the time of its greatest abundance, although it sometimes remains until November, according to
Mr. Dall. It is also seen frequently from the middle of May until the first of June.

While I was at the Yukon mouth, on May 19, 1879, a pair of hawks was seen repeatedly
crossing the river on different days at a certain point, the leader always performing, as he went, a
succession of curious antics; it would turn over and over a half dozen times in succession like

 

*Lagopus leucurus has been killed in British America, at Fort Halkett, on Liard’s River, in latitude 63° north, so
close to the Alaskan boundary that it seems almost certain this species is to be found within the limits of Alaska.
140 » NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

the Tumbler Pigeon, and after descending nearly to the ground it would mount to its former height
and repeat the performance, so that its progress was a perfect series of these evolutions. One
of its favorite and most striking performances consisted of turning head down and by placing its.
wings in a peculiar position descend rapidly about 20 or 30 yards with a swift screw-like motion.
The last bird always flew slowly and smoothly along as if enjoying the performance of its com-
panion.

In markings and appearance these birds were apparently exactly alike. They were white-
rumped, slaty on the back and light below, with blackish wing-tips and the under surface of the
wings white. The feet were light colored. I tried again and again to secure them, but failed. It
is extremely probable that they were male Marsh Hawks, since the above-mentioned characters
apply to no other American hawk with which I am acquainted; the peculiar evolutions, however,
I have never seen performed by this or any other hawk. A series of Alaskan specimens shows all
the usual variations of plumage exhibited by this bird and agrees with specimens from various
parts of North America. Although these birds nest throughout their northern range I never
found them nestivg in the vicinity of Saint Michaels. There is no definite record of these birds
from the Aleutian Islands, although Mr. L. M. Turner describes a smal] flock of hawks seen by
him at Unalaska, which were probably this species.

ACCIPITER VELOX (Wils.). Sharp-shinned Hawk (Esk. Chi-kubv-t wik-shi-guk),

Dall records a female of this species killed on the Yukon, just above Nulato, on April 29, 1877,
and tells us that the natives prize it highly, using its feathers for shafting arrows or for orna-
menting their dancing costume. Its value, like that of the Pigeon Hawk, was equal to one marten-
skin when the Western Union Telegraph Expedition visited the country. Since then hawk-skins
have less value and marten-skins are worth much more. Along the Yukon and northern portion
of the Territory it is outnumbered by the Pigeon Hawk ten to one. A number of specimens were
brought me from various points along the Yukon, and fragments of others were seen among the
natives at various other places in the Territory. It has been taken at Sitka, and is pretty generally
distributed through the wooded portion of the Territory, being very rare on the barren sea-coast,
and, perhaps, never occurring on the islands of Bering Sea. On the Upper Slave River, in the
Hudson’s Bay country, it was found by Kennicott and Ross, nesting abundantly on the cliffs. Ken-
nicott also found a nest at Fort Resolution, British America, which was made of spruce twigs and
placed in a spruce tree. A specimen which was taken on September 7 has been brought me from
Fort Reliance, and it arrives at Nulato the last of April.

ACCIPITER ATRICAPILLUS (Wils.). Goshawk (Esk. Abv-ting.i-likh-tik).

The present species of hawk is the handsomest, as well as one of the most abundant, of the
birds of prey resident in Northern Alaska. It is present everywhere throughout all the wooded
region, and in spring and autumn, especially during the latter season, it is a common visitor to
the open country bordering the shore of Bering Sea and the Arctic coast, and is a characteristic
bird in the fur countries, breeding nearly to the Arctic coast. Considerable numbers of these
birds were secured in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, and many others were seen during my resi-
dence at that place. Although many of these birds remain in the north during the winter, yet I
believe that a considerable number of them pass farther to the south. The presence of this bird
in portions of the Northern United States during winter indicates a partial migration. The young
and adults occur in about equal numbers in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, as is shown by the
specimens secured, numbering six of each.

While on a winter expedition to the vicinity of Bering Straits some fragments of these birds
were found in the hands of a native, and the bird was said to be common in that vicinity. Other
specimens were brought from Kotzebue Sound, and Dall found them common in the vicinity of
Nulato, where he secured a nest placed in a large poplar which was on a small island in the river
thickly overgrown with other trees of the same character. This structure was about 30 feet from
the ground, and was made of small twigs. The Goshawk preys extensively upon the Ptarmigan,
which it follows during the migration and winters with them on the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim
Rivers.
BIRDS. 141

The eggs of this bird are four in number, greenish-white in color, and are usually laid by the
1st of May. An egg of a set secured by Dall, on April 27, 1868, at Nulato, measures 2.28 by 1.90
inches, and is of a dead white color with a very faint greenish shade. Another egg, secured near
the head of Unalakleet River, by the same naturalist, measures 2.32 by 1.80, and is of a more
greenish white shade, with a few spots of bronze brown scattered irregularly over the surface.

The middle of September, 1881, while the Corwin remained in Kotzebue Sound, these birds
were rather numerous about the shores, frequenting the alder-patches, and making forays among
the flocks of Ptarmigan which were gathered in this vicinity at the time, preparing for their
autumnal migration. In one instance a wounded Ptarmigan was seized and carried off before
my eyes.

The Goshawk has a bad reputation among the natives, from its habit of stealing birds from
their snares, as well as for hunting the Ptarmigan, upon which, at certain seasons, the Eskimo
depend largely for a food-supply.

While at Niantilic, on the west coast of Davis Strait, September 19, Mr. Kumlien found one
specimen of this bird.

ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS STRIATULUS Ridgw. Western Goshawk.

While examining the large series of Goshawks in the National Museum collection to ascertain
the status of the variety striatulus, a new and well-defined race was found to exist upon the Pacific
coast, of which a number of specimens are in the National Museum from California and Washing-
ton Territory, with the skin of a young bird from Sitka. It is characterized by the clearly-defined
and dark markings of the lower surface, so dark that they stand in sharp contrast to the light
ground-color. The color of the cap is much darker than in atricapillus, and extends down the
nape to the middle of the back and covers the shoulders. The bars of the tail are also more
sharply defined than in atricapillus. I propose naming this form in honor of my friend, Mr. H.
W. Henshaw, who is so well known for his work in western ornithology.

[This Goshawk, described by Mr. Nelson in the Auk for April, 1884, p. 166, proves to be a well-
marked race, for which, as shown by Mr. Ridgway in the Auk for July, 1884, p. 253, the name
striatulus requires to be taken under the law of priority. The adult striatulus of Ridgway, 1874,
proves, indeed, to be a special phase of plumage of atricapilius, as shown by Mr. Nelson; but under
the name were described also several immature birds, which now turn out to belong to the race
characterized by Mr. Nelson under the name henshawi.—H. W. H.]

The habitat of this race is the northwest coast of America from the Sierras in Middle Cali-
fornia north through Oregon, Washington Territory, to Sitka, at least, and probably farther along
that coast. The types of this race are specimens in the Smithsonian collection, No. 79798, a
female adult from Cheenakan Creek, Oregon, taken on August 16 by Mr. Henshaw; No. 85625, a
male adult; taken at Big Trees, California, on on June 17, 1881, by Mr. Belding; No. 85624, a
male adult, taken at Big Trees, California, June 19, 1881, by Mr. Belding. The measurements of
these birds respectively are as follows:

 

| | Wing Tail. | Tarsus. | Culmen. | Depth

 

 

 

 
 
 

79798 9 ad 11. 50 2.95 1.10 -75
85625 oi ad.......+ 11. 80 3. 25 1.40 +75
85624 fi ad 10.15 2.90 1.18 7

 

 

 

 

 

The following measurements are of two adult birds of typical atricapillus in the National
Museum collection:

 

feared 7g Depth
ii Tail. | Tarsus. | Culmen. of Dill.

 

49663, Calais, Me.,ad. 9.......-..-.-. . 80
81214 (1559) Saint Michaels, Alaska..

4.25 | 11.60 2.95 1. 3:
1.2 80

14.2
14,25 | 11.00 3, 30

A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
142 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The characters upon which this race are based are mainly the intensity of the dark markings
on the abdominal surface and the extension of the dark color of the crown over a large part of
the entire dorsal surface. In striatulus the under surface differs also in the abundance and inten-
sity of the markings on the throat, which in the new race is as profusely marked as the breast;
the ashy-brown of the markings on the breast are very dark, becoming blackish-brown, and in
No. 85625 the entire under surface has a dark socty wash. On the crown the color varies from a
dark sooty to a glossy black, and this color extends over the nape to the back, covering the scap-
ulars and extending even to the rump in some cases, but usually shading to a dark bluish-ashy on
the posterior half of the back. The wings are very dark brown: The tail is also much darker than
in atricapillus. The young birds may be distinguished by their generally darker color and the
large size and intensity of the linear markings on abdomen and breast. There is a young bird
from Sitka, and several from Oregon, California, and Washington Territory, all of which agree in
these characters. The white postocular line in this form is more obscured by dark markings, and
the whole may be summed up by saying that striatulus is a dark, northwest coast race of the Gos-
hawk, characterized, like other geographical races of that region, by the great predominance of
the dark markings as compared with birds of eastern and northern localities. The only bird
among the large series of airicapillus in the National Museum collection which approaches the new
race in its dark colors and intense markings is one from New Jersey, which is very dark colored.
This appears to be a solitary example of individual variation, as among a series of twenty-five
birds examined this proves to be the only exception.

BUTEO BOREALIS CALURUS (Cass.). Western Red-tail.

The only known instance of this bird’s occurrence in the Territory is recorded (loc. cit.) by
Dr. Bean, who secured a bird in the young plumage near Sitka, June 5, 1880.

149. BUTEO SWAINSONI Bonap. Swainson’s Hawk.

During my residence in the north this bird did not fall under my notice either alive or dead.
Dall obtained a skin of this bird near Nulato on May 26, 1867, and adds that it prefers the
thickets and wooded places, building a large nest of sticks. It begins to lay the last of April
and the young are hatched by the end of May, about the time the ice leaves the rivers. He found
the bones of rabbits, squirrels, mice, and ducks, and even part of a whitefish, in the vicinity of
their nests, showing that they are ready to prey upon anything that falls in their way. It is
a summer Visitor and occurs on the Lower Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, whence specimens have
been sent to the Smithsonian. The Alaskan specimen taken on the Yukon was in the melanistic or
insignatus state. This appears to be a common species in the middle and southern parts of British
America, but is rare farther north, where it arrives about the 1st of April or later, leaving toward
the end of September. It is not known beyond the wooded country, and there is no record of its
occurrence on the southeastern coast of the Territory, although it is likely to be found in that
region. Itis also unknown from the islands of Bering Sea and the barren coast of that sea and
the Arctic.

ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS (Briinn.). Rough-legged Hawk (Esk. Pi-té-ghik).

Several specimens from Saint Michaels and one obtained by me at Unalaska Island (the parent
of the eggs secured there) are indistinguishable from European birds contained in the National
Museum collection. On the northern coast of Alaska, including the shore of Bering Sea and the
Arctic, and thence in the interior along the entire course of the Yukon, many specimens of the
Rough-legged Hawk have been taken, but none from this region are in the melanistic phase so
common among birds from the Hudson’s Bay country. In fact all the specimens from Northwestern
Alaska appear to be referable to the Old World form, as certainly are the examples mentioned.
A specimen from Saint Michaels (No. 833) possesses a large amount of white upon the back and
head, and the purity of the light edges to the feathers on the head, unshaded by yellowish-buff,
gives the head the appearance at a short distance of being pure white, and this is characteristic of
those birds which approach or are identical with the European form.
BIRDS. 143

They have been found to be very common birds in summer throughout the northern portion
of the Territory, arriving in the vicinity of Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth from May 12 to
20, and returning south from the end of August to the middle of September. They range from
Unalaska in the middle of the Aleutian chain north to the northern extreme of land along the
shores of the Arctic. A breeding female was taken on the Shumagins by Bean the middle of July.
Turner does not record it from the Near Islands. <A single specimen taken by Stejneger on the
Commander Islands is said to be typical lagopus.

Mr. Ridgway has already noticed the fact that not a specimen in the black phase is known
from the extreme northern part of its range in British America among hundreds of skins exam-
ined, and I must bear similar witness concerning the large number of these birds seen or obtained
in various portions of Northern Alaska.

At Unalaska Island, on May 21, 1887, a pair of these birds was found nesting on the face of
a high cliff. About9 p.m., one evening in the dusky twilight, as I was passing along the beach
close under the cliffs, I was surprised by a long whining cry almost exactly like the mew of a
young kitten. It was with some difficulty that I made out the form of a hawk perched high up
in a niche on the cliff. Just as I caught sight of the bird it flew, uttering the same querulous cry,
and an ineffectual shot only served to elicit another cry, as the bird disappeared around an angle
of the cliff. Following the bird it was found perched in a similar niche. The bird caught sight
of me as I drew near, and launched out with its usual cry only to come whirling to the base of
the cliff with a broken wing. At this moment the same cry, with a slightly different intonation,
reached my ear, and glancing up I saw the head of another hawk peering from the edge of a shelf
close above the perch of the onc I had just shot. Two shots at this head only resulted in bring-
ing forth the usual cry, without causing the bird to take wing, and the increasing darkness forced
me to secure my bird and make the best of my way back to the village. On May 24 I revisited
this nest with two companions, and was lowered to the nest by a rope, and secured three eggs.
The nest was on a narrow moss-covered shelf, and the body of the structure was composed of
coarse stalks of weeds with a thick lining of soft grass; it was about 2 feet in diameter and had a

‘ * slight depression in the middle about 10 inches across.

The eggs of this bird taken in Europe are said to vary greatly in color, shape, and size, and
measure 2.44 by 1.82 to 1.95 by 1.53. Its nest is sometimes found on trees, where it is constructed
by the birds themselves, and at other times they take possession of deserted Ospreys’ nests. It
is found breeding commonly in Lapland and all along the northern border of the Old World.

ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS SANCTI-JOHANNIS (Gmel.). American Rough-legged
Hawk (Esk. P?.t6-ghiih). ,

No examples of this bird were secured by me in Northern Alaska, nor are there any specimens
in the National Museum collection from that portion of the Territory. Several specimens from
Kadiak in the melanistic phase of plumage are the only ones known from Alaska. This form is
found abundantly in the Hudson’s Bay country, where the black phase is known to predominate.
They arrive in spring on the headwaters of the Anderson and Mackenzie Rivers and in the region
about Hudson’s Bay, where they find breeding grounds. In autumn they form the rear guard of the
migrants passing south into the Middle States where they are winter residents. In the north it
nests indifferently upon trees or cliffs. During their migrations in spring and fall I have seen
thousands of these birds passing through Northern Illinois, both the dark and light forms asso-
ciating in their migration as they do in the breeding season.

A friend of the writer’s living ona farm in Northeastern Illinois amused himself one spring by
trapping various birds of prey as they passed north, using his empty corn-crib as a bird-house.
Intothis, in rapid succession, were introduced Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned, Coopers, Broad-winged,
and Rough legged Hawks, with asingle Horned Owl. As might be expected, the family was by no
means a happy one, and as my friend failed to provide a sufficient supply of food, the owl made use
of his fellow-prisoners, and in a very few days the owl and a black Rough-legged Hawk—the hand-
somest specimen I ever saw—were the only occupants of the crib. The next act in the tragedy closed
with the Rough-legged Hawk perching quietly in his usual corner, while the badly used-up form of
144 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Bubo lay among the bones of its victims. The conqueror was thereafter well treated and, fastened
by one leg with a long cord, was kept in the orchard as a pet, until the intense heat in early June
proved too much for him and death. resulted from the effects of a sunstroke.

‘* AQUILA CHRYSAETOS (Linn.). Golden Eagle (Esk. Aii-pi-tal-ik).

Throughout a large portion of the Territory, especially that part which is more or less heavily
wooded and interspersed with mountains, the Golden Eagle is found. The Point Barrow party
secured a single specimen taken by the natives east of Colville River. It extends its range west
along the Aleutian chain, having been obtained on Unga Island by Dall, who mentions it as a
common resident on the Aleutian chain as far west as Unalaska. Turner notes that it is a rare
visitor to the Near Islands.

During my visit to the eastern portion of the Aleutian chain, in the spring of 1877, none of
these birds were found, although the following species was very numerous. The skin and quills
of this bird are used for ornamental purposes in the religious festivals and dances of the Eskimo,
and the bird itself figures extensively in their legends. During my residence in Northern Alaska
I saw only fragments of skins in the possession of the natives, none of the birds coming under my
notice.

It nests rather commonly on the Lower Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, and extends its range
to the Arctic shores of the mainland, and perhaps reaches some of the adjacent islands north of
British America. In spite of the courageous and even fierce character of this fine bird it some-
times descends to feed upon carrion. On one occasion a pair was disturbed by a friend of mine
while they were feeding upon the remains of a hog in Northern Illinois. As my friend approached
the birds arose, and swooped fiercely at him. Both birds were shot almost at the muzzle of the
gun; the first fell dead almost at his feet, but this apparently served only to increase the rage of
the survivor, which renewed the attack until it, too, was disabled.

HALLEZETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS (Linn.). Bald Eagle (Esk. ALi-tigh-0-wik).

Bald Eagles are very abundant throughout the Aleutian chain, where they are resident. In
summer they feed upon fish and the numerous wild fowl, which breed among these islands. In winter
they feed upon Ptarmigan and the sea-fowl, which reside there during this season. When at the
salmon run in Sanborn Harbor, Nagai, Mr. Dall saw seventeen eagles within 100 yards. During
winter he found many eagles dead, but they were too fat to have starved, and he was unable
to account for the mystery. When he left the islands, in October, he found the young still unable
to fly, and remarks upon the great length of time they remain in the nest.

It is well known to be extremely common on the entire Aleutian chain, and thence along the
south coast of Alaska throughout the Kadiak and Sitkan region. In the latter part of its range
it is mainly a fish-eating bird. Throughout the northern portion of the Territory, where it is
widely distributed, it is not uncommon to find a pair of eagles frequenting the cliffs in the interior,
where they rear their young. Here they prey upon the young reindeer and smaller game, and the
natives aceuse them of even carrying away children.

The following is a good specimen of Eskimo animal myths, and records the belief that long
ago the eagles were larger and fiercer than they noware. The story is current among the Eskimo
along the Lower Yukon and neighboring coast: In ancient times there were eagles of tremendous
size frequenting the tops of the highest mountains in the interior and preying upon whales and
full-grown reindeer, and even upon men. A volcanic crater of very regular outline, situated upon
the summit of a mountain near the Lower Yukon, was pointed out to me as the nest of the
ancient Mutughowik. Around the rim of the crater are differently-colored stones, which, the
natives claim, were gathered by these birds to ornament their nest. When the birds sat here,
overlooking the Yukon on the one side and the sea far away to the horizon on the other, their
screams could be heard for miles, and many luckless creatures were caught in their talons and
carried swiftly to their eyrie, and there torn into fragments to bedevoured. Year after year these
birds remained, until men were afraid to go out on the broad bosom of the Yukon for fear of being
caught by these evil guardians of the mountains overlooking their village. Each year the young
were raised and flew away, none knew whither; so that never more than two old birds inhabited
BIRDS. 145

the mountains. One spring, after the birds, as usual, had batched their young, a famous hunter
of the village went out alone to attend to his fish-nets. While he was out one of these eagles
soared high over the village, and seeing the hunter’s wife outside of the house, swooped with a
mighty rush of wings and carried her off to feed the nestlings. Ere long the hunter returned,
and with wailing cries his friends told him of his loss. For a time he was inconsolable, but at
length he seized his bow and examined it carefully, then he selected a quiver of his best
arrows, and heedless of remonstrance began climbing toward the nest of the eagles. When
he had nearly reached his goal he heard the whistling of great wings, and crouching behind a
huge bowlder, with an arrow drawn to its head, he waited. In an instant the female bird was
seen descending, her terrible eyes fired with rage; but just as she was about to grasp the hunter
in her talons he buried an arrow under her wing and she fell far down the mountain side, mor-
tally hurt. He then advanced, and in a short time reached the summit of the mountain, finding
the young so large that they entirely filled the enormous nest. All about were strewn fragments
of men and animals, among which were seen the frames of many kyaks. With vengeful heart
he shot arrow after arrow until the last of the brood lay dead. He had scarcely finished, when
a wild cry was heard close by, and he saw the male bird approaching. At the same instant the
bird caught sight of its slain young and of the hunter. A still louder and more terrifying
ery was heard, which made the villagers below shudder for their friend. The eagle darted at its
enemy. With unshaken courage the hunter met each assault with a well-directed arrow until the
bird, pierced with many wounds, turned, and, upon outspread wings, slowly glided away and
vanished far off to the north. Since then none of its kind has ever been seen, and men have been
able to hunt without fear. The villagers afterwards visited the nest with their deliverer and
found many relics of friends who had perished, and it was only a few years ago that the remains
of the kyaks were still to be seen about the nest. This story is implicitly believed by the natives
of the Lower Yukon and adjacent sea-coast, and the Bald Eagle is known by the name which they
apply to the bird of their legend.

In British Columbia Mr. Lord found the White-headed Eagles remaining in winter and during
the most intense cold several were seen by him perched close together upon a pine branch in such
a benumbed state that he frequently shot one of the number without disturbing the others, and
one morning he found three birds frozen stiff upon the ground where they had fallen from their
perches. In the fur countries the Bald Eagle is resident as also upon the Aleutian Islands and
the southeastern shore of Alaska, and in portions of Northern Alaska as well. It arrives as soon as
the streams show signs of opening in spring, being one of the earliest arrivals in Northern British
America, according to Richardson. At Unalaska, in the spring of 1877, I saw large numbers of
them, and visited an eyrie on a cliff overhanging the sea. Although this was in May, the birds
had not deposited their eggs, and I was informed by the residents that their usual time for
incubating is from the middle of May until into June, which is very late in the season considering
the comparatively mild climate at this place. In the nerth, along the portion of the country occu-
pied by the Eskimo, the feathers and skin of this bird are prized for ornaments used in their
festivals and dances.*

FALco ISLANDUS Briinn. White Gyrfalcon.

During my residence in the north I secured only a single specimen of this bird, an Eskimo
skin taken at Cape Darby on the Alaskan shore near Bering Straits. Dall saw one on the rigging

 

* Halaetus pelagicus, Pallas —Kamchatkan Sea Eagle. The great Kamchatkan Sea Eagle of Pallas has been
erroneously accredited to the Aleutian Islands proper. That this Sea Eagle should occur, as a rare straggler, on the
western extreme of the Aleutian chain, would not be surprising, as it is common in Kamchatka and occasion-
ally visits the Commander Islands situated only about 300 miles west of the extreme of the Aleutian chain; but
it has never been captured within the limits of these latter islands, nor have we authentic records of its occurrence.
For the purpose of identification, for the benefit of future explorers in the Bering Sea region, I will add here the most
prominent characters by which the Kamchatkan eagle may be distinguished from the Bald Eagle. It is larger than
the Bald Eagle. The tail is rather short and wedge-shaped; the middle feathers are nearly 4 inches longer than the
outer ones. All the fourteen feathers are somewhat pointed, but the central four are lanceolate. The head, tail,
thighs, and a broad band from the shoulder to bend of wing are white.

S. Mis. 156 19

 
146 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

of his vessel off the coast of Kamchatka and north of Bering Islands. This bird remained with
them many hours and finally left for the adjoining coast. It is apparently found merely as a
straggler in the northern portion of the Territory and across the entire northern part of North
America. During several springs a few birds were seen passing over just as the sun began to
melt the snow from the tundra and the hardiest migrant birds were returning. The loud notes of
the Ptarmigan are now heard rising for the first time from the hill-sides, and doubtless serve
as the signal which sends this handsome hawk back to its summer haunts. The natives told me
that these White Hawks sometimes breed on the mountains of the Kaviak Peninsula; but I had no
means of verifying this statement, although my solitary specimen came from there. Kumlien found
it very rare on the Cumberland Gulf side of Davis Strait and much more numerous on the Green-
land shore. He notes that it is apparently much slower on the wing than the common Duck
Hawk, and also that it was seen pursuing the gulls until they were exhausted before the hawk
could secure its prey, thus showing that their endurance exceeds their speed.

FALCO RUSTICOLUS GYRFALCO (Linn.). Gyrfalcon (Esk. Chi-kilbv-t tk juv.; Ka-
gokhk-tuk, ad.).

Throughout all Alaska, from the Aleutian Islands north, both along the coast and through
the interior, extending from Bering Straits across the northern portion of British America, the
present falcon is the commonest resident bird of prey. It was observed by Murdoch at Point
Barrow, though it was not common. It frequents the vicinity of cliffs and rocky points about the
sea coast, or the rocky ravines of the interior, during the breeding season, and the remainder
of the year, especially in fall, it is found wandering over the country everywhere that food can
be obtained ; it is especially numerous during the migration of the Ptarmigan along the sea-coast.
It is less numerous on the-Aleutian and other islands in Bering Sea than elsewhere, and there is
but a single record of this species from the Fur Seal Islands, where Elliott obtained a specimen
on Saint Paul’s in March, 1873. This is an immature bird in the streaked plumage.

The young are much more abundant throughout its range than the adults, and from six to
eight of the former were secured to one of the latter. The young from Alaska form a pretty
uniform series, with but a comparatively small amount of variation for this extremely poly-
morphic species. The specimen obtained on the Seal Islands by Elliott, is larger and paler than
the average Alaskan birds, and thus approaches nearer the yoang of the form known as island-
icus. The adults secured on the shores of Norton Sound vary in the amount of spotting on the
abdominal surface and in the shape and size of these spots. On the back they also vary from a
condition in which the entire surface is washed heavily with asby-blue, and the light cross-barring
of the feathers is nearly obsolete, to one in which the cross-bars are well marked and of dull
yellowish-white. In a series of skins of this species, from various parts of its range, there is
found an interminable gradation from the whitest islandus to the darkest gyrfalco and rusticolus.
Specimens in the National Museum collection from Greenland show the widest extremes, which are
bridged by connecting specimens, so that it is impossible to definitely separate them. The young
retain their streaked plumage until the second fall, as is stated by Newton in the Proceedings of
the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 1871, pp. 96, 97. This author’s separation of
gyrfaico from islandicus on the assumption that the head is lighter than the back in one and uni-
form with the back in the other rests upon a purely individual character, as is shown by my
Alaskan series.

In Greenland Holbdll found the young of islandus moulting throughout the winter; but none
of my winter specimens show signs of moulting, and the young specimens in my collection taken in
April and May, still in a striped condition, show no sign of change. Macfarlane found numerous
nests of this bird on the Anderson River, nearly all of which were placed in trees, and the eggs
were laid in May, the earliest being upon the 10th. Along the sea-coast in the vicinity cf Saint
Michaels it breeds rarely, choosing rocky cliffs facing the sea. Along the Lower Yukon and Kus-
koquim Rivers in winter it is numerous, and finds an abundance of Ptarmigan, upon which it preys.
At this season it is frequently seen perching on a stout branch of a tree overhanging the river
bank, and I have seen it on several occasions allow a train of dog-sledges to pass within 40 or 50
BIRDS. 147

yards, only noticing their presence by slowly turning its head. It was seen in the vicinity of
Bering Straits and around the shore of Norton Sound during the cruise of the Corwin in the
summer of 1881, as also upon the northeast shore of Siberia in the vicinity of East Cape and
Plover Bay. Swinhoe records specimens of this bird from Pekin, China, and it also occurs in the
Kurile Islands. At Saint Michaels on May 1, 1881, a specimen of this bird was brought me by a
native woman, who had taken it from one of her Ptarmigan snares, where it was caught just after
having robbed another snare of a Ptarmigan. The iris of a specimen taken on October 6, 1880, was
dark hazel, and the large scales on the upper surface of the feet and tarsus were a greenish-
yellow, the rest of the feet and tarsus being livid greenish; the bill was horn blue. Another
specimen, taken on October 12, had the cere, like the tarsus, livid bluish-green ; the bill was
dark horn color at the tip and bluish-green at the base.

FALCO PEREGRINUS ANATUM (Bonap.). Duck Hawk.

A single specimen of this widely ranging species was obtained by Mr. McQuesten on the Upper
Yukon at Fort Reliance on September 16, 1878. Dall found it breeding on the Middle Yukon,
nesting in dead spruces and with the young nearly ready to fly on June 1, 1867. It is found in
all the wooded parts of Alaska, from Sitka north to the extreme tree-limit. All the specimens
from the southeast coast of the Territory, however, are to be referred to the dark variety pealet.
The specimens from the Yukon are identical with others taken in the United States. All writers
who have studied the Duck Hawk in life agree in giving it the reputation of being a swift and
courageous marauder. It sits quietly perched on some point of vantage, whence it dashes with
surprising quickness upon its prey.

On Cumberland Island and the west coast of Baffin’s Bay Kumlien found this bird to be a
regular summer resident, which, with the Alaskan aud British American records, show that it
reaches the northern Arctic portions of America entirely across the continent.

Along the eastern coast of Asia the Old World form, the true peregr inus, is recorded by various
authors, and Nordenskjold found a pair with young on the north coast of Asia in about latitude
70°.

FALCO PEREGRINUS PEALE! Ridgw. Peale’s Falcon.

Along the southeastern coast of the Territory from Kadiak to Sitka this dark handsome
variety of the Duck Hawk is found, perhaps entirely replacing -its more eastern and northern
relative. It has not been recorded from the interior or northern portion of the Territory to the.
north of the Alaskan Mountains; but in Dall’s paper on the birds of the Western Aleutian Islands,
in the Proceedings of the Californian Academy of Sciences, he records the following:

The form of Arctic Falcon referred to under this name is, according to Professor Baird, a true Gyrfalcon as
distinguished from candicans and islandicus, and has now its first record on American Territory.

Turner found it to be not rare upon the Near Islands, and Stejneger found it common on the
Commander Islands.

A male bird, the subject of the preceding nete by Dall, was taken at Kyska Island, at the
western end of the Aleutian chain, on June 30, 1873, where a numker had their nests on the brow of
a precipitous cliff at the western end of the harbor. They were seen by the same naturalist at
Amchitka Island later in the season. It did not appear to be common, and was the only hawk seen
west of Unalaska. A note confirming the quotation just made was published in the American
Naturalist for July, 1874, but Mr. Ridgway informs me that he has since examined the specimen
upon which the identification and just quoted notes were made, and finds this specimen is really a
typical example of Falco pealei ; so that the range of this bird is extended to the extreme western end
of the Aleutian chain. During the last of September, 1881, as the Corwin approached the Aleutian
Islands from the north, with pleasant weather and a light wind, some half dozen specimens of this
Duck Hawk were seen, one after another, as they came circling about the ship, and after remain-
ing a short time, each departed to the southwest toward the island of Unalaska, which was in
sight. All came from the direction of Akoutan Island. Several of these birds came very close to
the vessel, and with the naked eye appeared almost black; but by the aid of a pair of good glasses,
148 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

the details of their color patterns were easily distinguished. From this observation, aud that of
Mr. Dall at the westward end of the chain, it would seem that this species is not uncommon on
these islands; but there is no record of its presence to the north of this point on any of the other
islands of Bering Sea, nor on either coast except south along the American mainland.

FALCO COLUMBARIUS Linn. Pigeon Hawk (Esk. Chi-Kubv-t-tik-shit-gitk).

The well-known, widely-spread Pigeon Hawk is one of the most numerous and familiar birds
of prey throughout the wooded portion of Northern Alaska, ranging during the migrations to the
barren coasts of Bering Sea and the Arctic, and perhaps even extending its range to the north-
eastern shore of Siberia. The well-known Falco esalon of the Old World is recorded from the
east coast of Asia, in China, and adjoining parts of that continent, and its range might be expected
to extend across Bering Strait; but among a considerable number of Pigeon Hawks secured from
that region not one is referable to this form. Among a series of eight Alaskan birds only one is in
adult plumage; two immature specimens from Norton Sound are darker than the average, and
some of the other specimens approach richardsoni very closely in the pale cast of their coloration.
A Sitkan bird secured by Bischoff approaches variety suckleyi very closely in its dark plumage,
and it is almost certain that the dark northwestern coast race occurs in this part of the Ter-
ritory. The nesting range of the common Pigeon Hawk is confined to the wooded portions of the
Territory. ,

The natives prize the feathers of this bird as an ornament and frequently as a fetich, on ac-
count of its boldness and powers of flight. It also figures frequently in the totemic system of the
Western Eskimo.

At Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, Mr. McQuesten secured a specimen of this bird on
April 22, 1878, and Mr. Dall records it as a permanent resident at Nulato; but this, I am inclined
to think, is somewhat doubtful, from statements made me by the fur traders and natives. In the
interior of the Territory the Indians value the quills and tail-feathers of these birds for shafting
their arrows. According to the naturalist just quoted it occupies the same nest for many succes-
sive seasons. The nest is made of sticks and straw in the top of a high tree. In one instance Dall
saw one of these birds kill a Ptarmigan. The great size of this grouse as compared with the
diminutive size of the hawk shows the prowess of the latter. Typical examples of this race have
been taken at Kadiak Island, and I secured a skin on Sledge Island in Bering Straits. On Octo-
ber 6, 1878, I saw one of these birds dart down and strike its talons into the back of a Burgomas-
ter Gull (Larus glaucus) as the latter was flying over the sea; after holding on for a moment—the
gull continuing its flight unimpeded—the falcon let go, and rising almost directly up for 30 or
40 yards made off, In the summer after the young are on the wing these birds are not uncommon
along the coast near Saint Michaels. Like the other hawks at this season they appear to wander
extensively.

FALCO SPARVERIUS Linn. American Sparrow Hawk.

Mr. Dall records a specimen of this bird from Unalaska in the fall of 1871. Since then it has
not been found by the several collectors in Alaska until noted by Dr. Aurel Krause, as numerous
on Chilcat River, near the end of August. It is probably a very rare visitor to the more northern
sections of Alaska. Perhaps its occurrence at Unalaska is to be regarded as accidental, and it is
conined almost exclusively to the southern portions of the Territory.

PANDION HALIAHTUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmel.). American Osprey (Esk. A-kiim-ki-
thla-ga-yii-lt).

This bird is found nesting on Vancouver Island and in British America, and it has been
taken at various points coastwise to the north. Bischoff secured its eggs at Sitka, and it is found
rarely along the shore of Norton Sound, and sparingly along the clear streams of the interior,
extending its breeding range within the Arctic Circle. On the Yukon, as elsewhere in their
extended habitat, they make a conspicuously large nest and return to it year after year. They
BIRDS. 149

are of very uncommon occurrence along the shore of Bering Sea, on Norton Sound, but they are far
more numerous on the southeastern coast of the Territory. Although in the interior this bird
extends its range within the Arctic Circle it is not found on the Alaskan shore of the Arctic
Ocean. At the Yukon mouth, in May, 1879, a pair of these birds was seen hovering over the
open places in the ice which still covered this stream. In British America Richardson notices the
strange fellowship these birds keep, nesting close to the home of the Bald Eagle, and apparently
living upon the best of terms with this robber.

The Fish Hawk has been recorded also from the eastern shore of Asia, including East China,
Japan, Formosa, and other points to the south and north. These Eastern Asiatic birds are said
to differ from those taken in Europe, and the northwest coast bird from America may be found to
vary from its eastern representative. It is a point worthy of attention from any naturalist who
may have the opportunity to secure birds from the northwest coast, and to compare them with
the eastern bird.

ASIO ACCIPITRINUS (Pall.). Short-eared Owl (Esk. Ming-k6-ché-witik).

My first acquaintance with this bird in Alaska was made on May 21, 1877, while stopping at
Unalaska. Here, one evening, just as the long twilight was drawing to a close, and I was making
my way back to the village from a hunting excursion, my attention was drawn to two birds which
appeared to be pursuing each other in sport over the adjacent hill-sides. As I approached
they ceased their erratic flight, alighted and watched my movements. A few moments later
one of them gave a rather loud cry, which sounded like the syllables hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, uttered
rapidly in a higher key than the note of the Horned Owl and in a much less sonorous tone.
These birds were very shy, and it was impossible to get within gunshot. Later, in the vicinity of
Saint Michaels, it was found to be a regular and common migrant and rather common sum-
mer resident, and skins were brought me by the fur traders from various points on the Yukon; the
Eskimo brought skins also from Selawik Lake, near Kotzebue Sound, the summer of 1880. Accord-
ing to Turner, it is an uncommon resident of the Near Islands; it is also found on the Commander
group.

On the Aleutian chain, where it is frequently found, Mr. Dall reports it as nesting in burrows
on the hill-sides, and tells us that these burrows are usually about 2 feet deep and lined with grass
and feathers, and that the birds have a habit of sitting by their entrances during the day. While
the same naturalist was descending the Yukon, one of these birds followed his boat for a consid-
erable time until the superstition of the natives became excited and they killed it. He informs us
that the Indians consider its liver as a love-philter if given by a woman, but a deadly poison if given
by a man, and the charm is broken if discovered before being eaten. The Short-eared Owl is the
commonest bird of prey found on the shore of Norton Sound in summer, and: is sometimes very
numerous. It is never very shy there, and has a great amount of curiosity.

On one occasion I was lying prone in a bunch of grass while shooting geese and saw one
of these birds approach. I remained perfectly quiet and it alighted close beside me and began
to gaze about, keeping up a continual blinking with its large round eyes, in the most comical
way, moving its eyelids with a peculiar quick motion as though they were worked by springs. At
the same time it kept turning its head watchfully from side to side. I made a slight noise,
which caused the bird to arise and hover directly over my face so close that the fanning of its
wings was felt. It hovered there nearly a minute trying to understand the strange object below
until I broke the spell by a shout and threw up my arms, upon which the owl dashed off in wild
irregular flight as if its wits were completely scattered. To account for the stupidity of this owl,
and for its peculiarly-shaped head, the natives have a legend that the min-kd-ché-zwtk was a little
girl living on the Lower Yukon with her parents; but from some cause she was turned into a bird
with a very long bill, very much like a curlew’s, and as she started up in a wild confused way to get
out of her village after the change, she flew plump into the side of a house, compressing her bill into
a yery short one, and flattening her face; and so it has remained to this day, as any one may sve
by examining the bird.
150 , NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Throughout the noithern part of its range this is a migratory species, arriving the last of May
at Saint Michaels, on Norton Sound, and in the surrounding region, where it remains until the last
of September or first of October. In Northern Illinois they come late in the fall, frequently in
considerable numbers, and remain on the prairies and marshes all through the winter. At this
season they remain concealed in the bunches of dry grass and reeds until about 2 p.m., when they
rise and quarter the ground the rest of the afternoon in search of mice. They are very heedless
and may be easily approached, and, at times, may be called close to one by imitating the
squeaking of a mouse. They sometimes alight and watch a person’s movements, at the same time
going through a curious bowing motion, swinging the head about, much like the odd bowing
of the Burrowing Owl when it is approached. When disturbed and pursued the Short-eared
Owl frequently utters a hollow, sonorous, rolling whistle. I have heard the same note in the fall
at Saint Michaels when the birds come about the dwellings as they are preparing to migrate.
At this time they are frequently found about the houses in the evening, frequently dashing
rapidly back and forth by one’s face as if in sport.

Kumlien reports finding these birds breeding on Penny Peninsula in latitude 72° North, and
the natives informed him that they nested under ledges. Itis rare on the Greenland coast.

ULULA CINEREA (Gmel.). Great Gray Owl (Esk. Mii-ga-di-pai-tikh).

Throughout all the wooded parts of Alaska from Sitka north to the northern tree-limit, and
from the vicinity of Bering Straits east throughout the Territory, and extending over all of the
fur countries, this fine owl is a common and well known resident. Unfortunately, owing to
wy limited acquaintance with the interior—having made but a few winter expeditions in this
direction—the present bird became known to me only through specimens brought in by the far
traders and natives; and, as a consequence, I can add nothing to our knowledge of its habits.
It was found to be remarkably stupid by Mr. Dall, who informs us that on the Yukon it can be
caught by the hand in the daytime. He found it feeding mainly on small birds, and took thirteen
ASgiothi crania from one of them. He tells us also that it is eaten by the old men and women,
but the natives have a superstition that if young persons eat it they will become old very soon
and die. Owing to its heavy flight and awkward motions the Indians in the vicinity of Nulato
call this bird Niuhl-tuhl, the “heavy walker.”

This is a common bird throughout most of the north, but is not familiarly known to the coast
people, owing to its predilection for the more heavily-wooded portions of the country. It
occurs as a very rare straggler even on the open sea-coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic, but the
bird is totally unknown on the islands of Bering Sea. Along all the heavily-wooded southeastern
coast of the Territory, including the Sitkan region, and thence south to Washington Territory, it
is a common resident species.

ULULA CINEREA LAPPONICA (Retz.). Lapp Owl (Esk. Mii g@-pdi-tikh).

The intrvduction of this bird as a member of the North American fauna rests upon a single
specimen taken at the Yukon delta, on April 15, 1876, and sent to the U. S. National Museum by
Mr. Turner. The. original record of this capture is published in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Or-
nithological Club for January, 1878, p. 37. The range of this bird in America is probably limited
to that portion of the Bering Sea coast and shore of the Arctic in Alaska adjacent to the Siberian
shore, where the bird may occur as an occasional visitant. Its habits are undoubtedly closely
related to those of its American representative.

In Lapland this ow] has been found nesting on the stumps of trees and on the Scoteh fir. It
is said to lay four eggs, and ranges throughout Northern Europe and Siberia. The difference
between it and its American representative consists of the much lighter colors and fainter mark-
ings of the Old World bird.

NYCTALA TENGMALMI RICHARDSONI (Bonap.). Richardson’s Owl (Esk. Titk-whé-
ling-tik).

This handsome little bird is common throughout the northern part of Alaska wherever trees
or large bushes occur to afford it shelter. At Nulato Dall frequently heard it crying in the even-
BIRDS. 151

ing almost like a human being. Owing to poor eyesight it is frequently caught alive in the hand
by the natives, and the Eskimo call it, in consequence, the “ blind one”’—Tik-whé-ling-tk. They
sometimes capture the bird And tie a small piece of dried fish between its shoulders, and let it go
again, so that it will bring them a successful hunt, perhaps with the idea that this will render
the game as blind to the approach of the hunter as is the owl. I found Eskimo children keeping
these owls as pets on the Lower Yukon, feeding them with dried and fresh fish. The birds were
very tame, and looked complacently about when taken in the hand, evidently perfectly reconciled
to their fate. In one instance, while at the Yukon mouth, I heard them uttering a peculiar grat-
ing cry on a cloudy morning the middle of May. A fur trader from Kotlik brought me a set of
four fresh eggs of this bird, taken from a nest in a bush near the Yukon mouth, the 1st of June.
These eggs were white and round as are most owls’ eggs. The man who brought them unfortu-
nately neglected to bring the nest, but told me that it was a rather small structure of twigs and
grass. It was probably a deserted nest of the common Rusty Black Bird or of the Gray-cheeked
Thrush, both of which nest commonly in that vicinity. The eggs were found in the midst of a
dense thicket.

Dall and others tell us that this bird generally nests in a hole in a tree, but the lack of trees
at the Yukon mouth and the presence of bushy thickets may lead this bird to even build a nest
tor itself, and the fur trader insisted that the eggs above mentioned were in a nest of the bird’s own
construction. The only authenticated eggs known to Dr. Brewer were a set from Fort Simpson,
taken on May 4, 1861, one of which measured 1.28 by 1.06. Of the set secured by myself I have
been able to find only three of the eggs sincemyreturn, These measure, respectively, 1.54 by 1.243
1.50 by 1.24, and 1.50 by 1.27. A careful examination of my extensive series of these birds, from
various parts of the Territory, shows but little individual variation; the intensity and amount of
markings on the lower surface, especially on the feathers of the tarsus, is the main point. In
some instances the markings on the latter are almost entirely obsolete, while again they are very
distinct. Northern birds appear to be of a slightly lighter shade of brown, and grayer than birds
from Eastern North America; otherwise there appears to be no appreciable geographical differ-
ence.

The difference between the Old World form and the present bird rests entirely upon the
light colors of birds from Europe and Siberia, as compared with the dark tints of the American
birds. .

MEGASCOPS ASIO KENNICOTTII (Elliott). Kennicott’s Screech Owl.

The type specimen of this species was a young bird in the tawny brown phase taken at Sitka
during the explorations of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, and described by D. S.Elliott
in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for 1869, p. 69. Up to a com-
paratively recent date our knowledge of its habitat and history was limited. We have, however,
within the last few years learned that it extends down the northwest coast from Sitka to Oregon,
and then east to Idaho, and Mr. Brewster, in a paper describing the smaller variety of this bird
(bendiret) as hereafter mentioned, shows that kennicottit intergrades with bendirei where their
habitats overlap.

The habits of both birds remain as yet almost unknown, but the eggs of hendirei have been de-
scribed recently from notes published in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club for July,
1881, giving an account of two sets taken by Capt. Charles Bendire at Fort Walla-Walla,
Wash., on the 7th and 11th of April of that year. The first set contained four eggs and was taken
on April 7. This was ina hole in a cottonwood tree about 25 feet above the ground, the eggs
resting upon decayed wood and a few dead leaves. The eggs measured, respectively, 1.47 by
1.28; 1.43 by 1.29; 1.45 by 1.30, and 1.46 by 1.30. The second nest, taken on April 11, contained
five eggs, which measured, respectively, 1.53 by 1.31; 1.50 by 1.27; 1.47 by 1.32; 1.50 by 1.32,
and 1.49 by 1.30. This nest also was in a hollow cottonwood tree, and about 40 feet above the
ground. The eggs rested upon rubbish in the bottom of the cavity, there being neither feathers nor
leaves as a lining. The parents in both instances remained in the holes while the eggs were
being removed.
152 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Mr. Brewster has recently made a careful examination of a large series of these owls in
connection with the other North American races of Scops, and gives the following diagnosis of
kennicottii, which we quote from the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club for January, 1882:

Description.—“ Wings, 6.40 to 7.60; Dichromatic, assuming either a gray or atawny-brown condition. Gray phase
similar to that of asio, but with the plumage beneath thickly barred and streaked along the median line. Brown
phase characterized by a general dusky-umber or tawny-ochraceous coloring unlike that of any other North American
form.”

In a footnote Mr. Brewster states that the small quadrate spots on the primaries and the
indistinct tail-bands, formerly held as diagnostic, are variable, and have no varietal significance.

BUBO VIRGINIANUS SUBARCTICUS (Hoy). Western Horned Owl (Esk. Mii-gd-
pa-ukh),

Throughout the entire wooded part of Northern Alaska the present bird is found, extending
its range in autumn to the open treeless shore along Bering Sea and portions of the Arctic coast.
In several instances at Saint Michaels I found them perched on our wood-pile in the evening, late
in autumn, and saw others, now and then, using for a lookout the upright stacks of drift-wood we
had placed above high-tide mark for winter use. When traveling at night along the Yukon in
midwinter I have frequently heard the hollow notes of these owls echoing from the black recesses
of the spruce forests which wall in the river down to within a hundred miles or so of its mouth.
This sound, with the sharp bark of a fox, or the much rarer cry of a hare as itis caught by a
lynx, or, rarer still, the long-drawn howl of a wolf, are the only noises that greet the ear of the
weary traveler. We may add, however, the monotonous squeaking of the sledges over the snow
and the grinding sound of the snow-shoes, forming a continuous undertone. At last motion be-
comes mechanical, and with dim, half-closed eyes we keep our course, while everything visible in
the immediate vicinity appears to assume fantastic shapes; the broad white surface of the river
appears to rise like a wall before us, and the two black spruce- grown banks form arms that stretch
out on either hand and beckon to us with a wavering motion. As the darkness becomes more and
more intense a deep silence falls upon the scene, and in a waking trance our minds wander back
to distant firesides where gather those we love; familiar faces take form, and the companionship
of friends thousands of miles away is ours until, breaking in upon the reverie, comes the loud
hoo-hoo-hé-00 of this self-appointed guardian of these wilds. With a start we again become con-
scious of our surroundings. The river stretches out interminably, and the banks appear to draw
back as we advance. Ere long, however, a distant how! is heard; the dogs prick up their ears
and start off at a trot, and in the midst of a confused howling and shouting we make our grand
entrance into a town composed, perhaps, of two or three underground huts filled with people and
dogs.

It is upon occasions like this that the traveler is likely to make the avquaiutance of these
owls. When the winter draws on and during the famine period just before the spring opens it is
common for them to get a foot into a fox-trap while they are foraging for food. Again, in early
June, as the fur traders come down the Yukon with their furs, they not infrequently bring the
half-grown young of these birds as pets, and by such means a number of the young reached me
at various times. ®

Near Fort Yukon Kennicott found them breeding on April 10, and describes the nest as a
very large structure made of dry spruce branches placed in a spruce tree standing amid a dense
growth of other trees of its kind. This date, however, is probably somewhat earlier than usual,
as would appear from the size of the young which I have seen brought to the sea-coast by the
fur traders, which were not half grown by the middle of June. Strangely enough this form
extends not only through Northern Alaska but through the northwestern portion of British
America, and thence down along the Rocky Mountains and along the Sierras to California, where
specimens occur which are identical with those farther north.

Ihave a bird in my collection secured in Northern Ilinois which is exactly like some Alaskan
examples and it is found over all the intervening country in winter. The Great White-horned Owl
(arcticus) of the Hudson’s Bay region and thence north is a race which is apparently very similar
BIRDS. 153

to the present bird, but with the white predominating so as to nearly obliterate the darker color.
The habitat of this form, however, appears to be very much more limited than that of subarcticus,
and is confined to northeastern extremes of continental North America.

BUBO VIRGINIANUS SATURATUS Ridgw. Dusky Horned Owl.

The present species is an extremely dark-colored form of the Horned Owl, found along the damp,
heavily-wooded south coast of the Territory, and extending its range thence south to Washington
Territory, and perhaps farther.

The Horned Owl is split into the following geographical races:

Virginianus.—Atlantic States.

Saturatus.—Labrador, Hudson’s Bay, and North Pacific coast.

Arcticus.—Extreme north of the continent, in the interior.

Subarcticus.—Rocky Mountains and Alaskan region, crossing into Southern California, and extending
thence east to Wisconsin and Illinois.

NyYcTEA NYCTEA (Linn.). Snowy Owl (Esk. Usig-piik).

From the Sitkan region north to the farthest point of the Territory the present bird keeps
mainly to the more barren portions of the coast and interior, and always is found less numerous
where trees are abundant. It occurs also upon the islands of Bering Sea, and more sparingly
upon the Aleutian chain, where itis rare. It is resident at Point Barrow and also on the Near
Islands. On Bering Island it has become abundant since the introduction of mice. On June 12,
1877, we were on a vessel about 75 miles east of the Fur Seal Islands, when one of these birds came
on board and remained most of the night in the rigging, but left early in the morning.

The Eskimo are well acquainted with these birds and’ with their habits, and one man told
me he had seen these owls catch the large Arctic hare by planting one foot in the hare’s back and
stretching the other foot back and dragging its claws on the snow and ground; at the same time
the bird used its wings to hold back, by reversed strokes, until the hare soon became exhausted,
when it was easily killed.

On the Lower Mackenzie, Richardson relates that one of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Factors,
Mr. McPherson, saw one of these owls fly over a cliff and carry off a full fledged Duck Hawk in its
claws. It crossed the river to the farther bank, where it lit on the shore to devour its prey. The
parent hawk followed, uttering loud screams, and, darting down with great rapidity, killed the owl
with a single stroke, but whether with wing or claw could not be determined. After this sum-
mary act of vengeance the falcon returned to its nest.

This owl also preys upon ducks, as Stejneger saw it pursue sea ducks on the reefs of Bering
Island,

North of Hudson Straits Kumlien found Snowy Owls rather scarce during the winter, and
saw them hunting during the day, but notes their excessive shyness. This shyness appears to be
characteristic of the bird throughout its northern range, and even upon the lonely and almost
unknown Wrangel Island, where, upon our landing, one of these birds was seen, it arose and
hastily left for the interior, although we were about 200 yards from it when it first caught sight of
us. It has been reported as a resident of the Aleutian Islands, where Dall saw a dead bird and
fragments of skins of others at Unalaska. It is more common in the northern part of the Territory,
where its distribution, however, is irregular, it being abundant at one season and almost totally
unknown the next. I was informed by Captain Smith—a well known whaling captain of that
region—that he had seen as many as fifty of these birds perched in view at one time along the
abrupt coast-line of the Arctic, in the vicinity of Cape Lisburne, and yet they were so shy that it was
impossible to secure a single bird. It breeds upon the ground, as far south as the mouth of the
Kuskoquim, especially during the years when lemmings are abundant, when this owl also becomes
proportionately numerous. The natives told me of seasons, separated by long intervals, when the
lemmings have occurred in the greatest abundance, and the White Ow] accompanied them in such
numbers that they were seen dotting the country here and there as they perched upon the scat-
tered knolls. During such seasons the owls nest on the hill-sides, laying, according to the natives,

S. Mis. 156——20
154 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

from five to ten eggs, in a grassy depression in a sheltered spot on the hill-side. The last time
when they were so abundant about a dozen pairs were found nesting upon an isolated hill near the
coast, just east of Saint Michaels, as I was informed by several different persons.

On one occasion, while traveling south of the Yukon in December, I secured a beautiful
specimen of this bird, which was nearly immaculate milky white, with a rich and extremely beau-
tiful shade of clear lemon-yellow suffusing the entire bird, exactly as the rosy blush clothes
the entire plumage of some gulls in spring. The bird was kept until the next morning; an
examination then showed that beautiful tinge had vanished and the feathers had become dead
white, with barely a trace of the coloring seen the previous evening. The birds showing the largest
amount of white are usually males.

The highest latitudes reached by Arctic explorers have not exceeded the bounds of this hardy
bird, which is represented by a similar or identical form around the northern shores of the Old
World. In the History of North American Birds the American bird is separated from the Euro-
pean by the greater amount of white possessed by the latter. Itis rather common to find pure white
specimens of this bird from the northern part of America marked by a very few scattered spots
upon the back. A specimen sent tothe National Museum from Sitka, taken during the winter of
1881~82, has a larger amount of black markings than any bird I have seen.. It may indicate a
local dark-colored form in that region.

The Snowy Owl is said to nest in Lapland, after a great lemming season, and in Northern
Norway as well. When it nests there it always chooses a hill-top or hill-side. The eggs, which
are from six to eight or more in number, measure from 2.05 by 1.02 to 2.25 by 1.77, and are of a
roundish oval form; the color is white, and the shell has a fine texture. Like numerous other
birds this owl figures largely in the mythologic tales of the Northwestern Eskimo, one of which
in particular is an interesting accourrt of the way in which man learned the use of various imple-
ments by the experience of a metamorphosed owl. It does not appear to have been a very com-
mon bird near the winter quarters of the Vega, although every explorer has found it wherever he
has penetrated the Arctic.

Wrangel accuses these birds of being carrion-eaters in Northern Siberia. During the Nares
Arctic Expedition these birds were found nesting on Grinnell Land, in latitude 82° 33’ north, on
June 24, when a nest with seven eggs was found. The eggs were placed in a mere hollow
scooped out in the earth on the top of a rise in the center of a valley. They were found nesting
in abundance by the same party in latitude 81°.

SURNIA ULULA (Linn.). Hawk Owl.

The presence of this bird in this report rests upon the capture of a single specimen near Saint
Michaels in October, 1876, by Mr. L. M. Turner, and recorded in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Orni-
thological Club for January, 1878. Its great rarity at this point, as well as throughout the interior
of the Territory, is attested by its absence in the large series of Hawk Owls secured by myself and
Mr. Turner while in the north. It is a rather abundant species around the Arctic region of the
Old World, and is numerous in Lapland, where it is noted for its indifference to the presence of
man. Itnests in hollow trees, and the male fiercely defends the eggs. They have been known to
even wound a person climbing the tree, thus showing a spirit as bold as the American birds. One
of the latter made an onslaught upon Mr. Dall when investigating a nest.

The present form may be distinguished at once from the American bird by the predominance
of white barring on the lower surface and the large amount of white upon the neck, with a gen-
eral paleness and increased amount of white upon the back. The brown bars of the lower sur-
face are narrow and pale, and the white bars broader than in caparoch. The feet and legs are dull
white with a fine, pale and very indistinct brown mottling. The top of the head appears white with
dark markings, whereas in the American bird the crown appears dark-brown with white marks.
The white marks on the upper back, scapulars, and rump are larger and more prominent than the
dark markings. The brown of the entire bird is pale and has a bleached appearance. The pat-
tern of coloration is the same in the two forms, but the European bird will be recognized at ouce
BIRDS. 155

by the characters given. From the material I have been able to examine these two owls appear
to form very good races. The only record of the presence of the American form in the Old World
appears to be that of its capture in England.

SURNIA ULULA CAPAROCH (Miill.). American Hawk Owl.

This is perhaps the most abundant resident bird of prey throughout the entire wooded part
of Northern Alaska. It is rather closely limited to the region of spruce and pine forests of the
interior, and occurs along the open coasts of the Arctic and Bering Sea merely as a straggler, and
it is unknown from the various islands of Bering Sea. It is found also along the southeast coast in
the Sitkan region. On May 5, 1868, Mr. Dall secured six eggs of this bird from the top of an old
birch stub about 15 feet high in the vicinity of Nulato, on the Lower Yukon. The eggs were laid
directly upon the wood and the male was sitting. When he climbed to the nest the sitting bird
dashed at him and knocked off his cap, thus showing their fierce and bold character, which is
shared by their Old World representative. The eggs were smooth and clear white.

Their food consists mainly of mice, and the bird itself forms food for the old Indians of the
Yukon. Although it is very rare on the sea-coast, yet stray individuals make their appearance
now and then. According to the evidence of various authors these birds nest from April until
June.

There is considerable variation in the amount of white marking, and one Saint Michaels skin
secured by me is about midway between the two recognized forms.

CERYLE ALCYON (Linn.). Belted Kingfisher.

Several specimens of this bird were brought me from the Lower Yukon, where it is a regular
summer visitant. It is found along the entire course of this river, reaching the shores of Bering
Sea from the Yukon mouth.north to the head of Norton Bay. It has been taken at Sitka and fre-
quents all the clear streams of the interior, nesting, as it does elsewhere, in a deep burrow in a bank.
Towards the end of June Mr. Dall saw a male bird digging short tunnels into a bank near its nest.
These tunnels were not deep and apparently were made as a pastime by the bird, which was seen
to use them only upon one occasion when he entered one to devour a fish which he had just caught.
The Eskimo brought me Kingfishers from several places on the shore of Norton Sound, and the
Eskimo of the north coast brought specimens of the Kingfisher to MacFarlane from the shore of
the Arctic, between the Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers. From its mode of life, however, it is
forced to retreat before the fast-closing streams of the far north as winter advances, yet the King-
fisher can brave a very low temperature provided its food supply is not shut off. I have seen
these birds along Western rivers among the Rocky Mountains in January, when a deep layer of
snow covered the ground and weighted down the bushes overhanging the streams. Even on the
Saskatchewan it holds its own until into October, but is forced south when winter sets in. It
does not appear to be a bird much addicted to wandering beyond its usual range, which is pretty
wide, as it extends to the shores of Hudson’s Bay and thence across to the vicinity of Bering Straits,
and from the coast of the Arctic Ocean south to the tropics in winter. The Californian and west
coast birds are said to be larger than those found in the interior and Eastern United States. It is
probably this form which extends its range to Sitka during the summer and perhaps even winters
along the sea, which there is never frozen. :

DRYOBATES VILLOSUS (Linn.). Hairy Woodpecker.

Strangely enough, although the distribution of the present bird is eastern, and although in
Northern Alaska and the interior of British America it is replaced by a large northern form, yet
the typical villosus also occurs in British Columbia and thence north along the southeastern
coast of Alaska; how abundantly it is found there is not known. It is probably this form which is
recorded by Hartlaub under the name Picus villosus harrisii Aud., as seen in great numbers around
Portage Bay the last.of August.
156 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

DRYOBATES VILLOSUS LEUCOMELAS (Bodd.). Northern Hairy Woodpecker.

This large form of the Hairy Woodpecker nests along the northern tier of States, particularly
those bordering the Saint Lawrence, and thence north through the interior of the fur countries,
reaching rarely, if at all, the coast of Bering Sea and the adjacent Arctic shores. It is distin-
guished from villosus by its greater size and the larger amount of white. It was found by Richard-
son in the Hudson’s Bay country to the sixty-third parallel, but was reported to be rare north of
the fifty-sixth degree. The specimen in my collection was taken by Mr. McQuesten at Fort
Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, about latitude 66°, and undoubtedly the bird straggles still
farther north. It has not been taken on the Lower Yukon, but at Sitka and south in British
Columbia is found the common villosus, replacing the harrisi of Washington Territory, Oregon,
and thence south. The range of the two latter forms, from Southeastern Alaska to Washington
Territory on the northwest coast, appears to be intermixed, and just what relationship the two
forms bear one to the other in this portion of their habitat is, at present, unknown.

The following set of measurements show the difference between the small-sized Hairy Wood-
peckers from the Southern Atlantic States and those from the headwaters of the Yukon, the
specimen measured from the north being the one in my collection taken at Fort Reliance. The
second set is from a specimen in the National Museum collection from Georgia:

 

 

 

 

 

No. 1155.
Depth of
Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen. ill
at base.
Northern Alaska...| 5.10 3.58 +73 1.25 34
Georgia .........-.- 4, 40 B20 | scacuwenes 95 -29

 

 

 

 

DRYOBATES PUBESCENS (Linn.). Downy Woodpecker (Esk. Pu-gakh-ti.yi-lWik).

Throughout the Territory where woodland or a growth of bushes and small trees occurs the
present bird is certain to be found, and is a resident winter and summer. It has been taken along
the entire course of the Yukon as well as at various points on the coast of Bering Sea, and thence
south at Kadiak and Sitka. In autumn it is a rather common visitant to the coast of Norton
Sound in spite of the lack of timber, and it was not uncommon to see it clinging to the sides of
the houses, or to the flagstaff, and other similar supports; after resting awhile, and, perhaps, tap-
ping a few times on the unproductive logs, they would leave for a more promising field. They
were seen at times passing from one alder patch to another, on the hill-sides, and they follow the
spruces and other trees to the shore of the sea.

While I was camping in spring, at the Yukon mouth, these birds were rather common in the
dense bushes along this stream and its tributaries. Their holes were frequently found in the
decaying stubs, although I did not find a nest containing eggs. This species appears to frequent
deciduous thickets and trees by preference, as, in addition to the various times which I saw it in
the interior in winter, while at the Yukon mouth, I always found it about locations where only
deciduous trees and bushes were found, and its holes were always made in cottonwood or birch-
stubs.

In the, History of North American Birds, Mr. Ridgway notes the restriction of the black
bar on the tails of specimens from the Yukon. After a careful examination of a large series
of Alaskan specimens before me, I find that they are generally indistinguishable from birds taken
in the United States, though they average, perhaps, a little larger than most of southern speci-
mens. Nor are these proportions constant, as appears to be the case with the northern form of
villosus. Northern birds are usually less soiled below than specimens from southern localities,
and the absence or restriction of the black bars on the under tail-feathers in Yukon and other
northern specimens appears to be chiefly due to individual variation; but, at the same time, among
the northern series there appears to be a general inclination toward a less amount of black barring
on the tail. All of the white markings appear to be somewhat clearer in northern specimens, and
also to be slightly increased in amount, thus approximating the characters of leucomelas, though toa
very slight extent.
BIRDS. 157

I give below measurements of two seiies, one of northern birds taken in the vicinity of Saint
Michaels and along the course of the Yukon, and the other from specimens taken at various points
in the United States, by a comparison of which may be seen the amount and character of the varia-
tion exhibited by birds from the two regions:

PICUS PUBESCENS.

 

 

  
  

 

 

United States specimens. Wing. | Tail. | Tarsus.| Bill. vet

Fort Leavenworth, Kans., 9........---- 3. 80 2.70 66 56 21
Sherborn, Mass., 9 ........---- says 3. 80 2.75 65 55 20
Whitfield, Ga., 2 ... 3. 60 2. 50 64 -59 21
Carlisle, Pa., f ....-.-.- 3,65 2.35 64 55 21
District of Columbia, ¢ 3.75 2.53 65 . 60 22
Massachusetts, p'..--.-..-..--- Sette 38.70 2. 42 65 .58 22
WM IN018) 9 sisesiacrirsescaeesnseersseenices 3. 65 2. 55 65 » 57 21
Northern Alaska. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. ae of

3.75 2. 85 66 - 61 22

3. 88 2.79 67 - 60 23

3. 85 2. 90 65 - 60 22

3. 82 3. 00 65 - 62 23

3. 85 3. 00 66 - 60 22

3.70 2. 78 65 - 62 22

4.10 3. 20 66 61 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PICOIDES ARCTICUS (Swains.). Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.

Very little appears to be known concerning the movements and habitat of this bird, especially
in the north. Isecured but a single specimen, which was brought me by Mr. McQuesten from Fort
Relianee, on the Upper Yukon, and its rarity as compared with the other Three-toed Woodpecker
appears from the fact that dozens of the latter were brought me each winter. No one among the
various naturalists who have visited this region before has secured it, and arcticus is totally
unknown west of the point where my specimen was found. The wooded and mountainous southern
portion of the Territory is a still unknown region, and it is likely that the bird will be found to be
more or less common there. The next record appears to be the one given by Mr. Lord, who
secured one on the summit of the Cascade Mountains in British Columbia, and upon this rests the
only other northwestern record of this bird. It peuetrates the United States at various places,
and is not very uncommon in Northern New England and New York, as well as near the northern
border at various other suitable places, reaching the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range of
the Sierras, and it extends farthest to the south on the eastern and western extremes of its range.

The National Museum possesses specimens from the vicinity of Great Slave Lake, beyond
which there appears to beno record. My bird, which was secured on the 17th of October, 1878,
does not differ from others of the same species taken at various localities in the Eastern United
States.

PICOIDES AMERICANUS ALASCENSIS (Nels.). Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker.*

A careful comparison of the large series of Picoides contained in the National Museum
from the Rocky Mountains and a series of nearly a dozen fine specimens from Northern New York,
kindly loaned me by Drs. C. H. Merriam and A. K. Fisher, with a large number of British
American and Alaskan skins, shows conclusively that three well-marked geographical races of this
bird exist in North America. From the Lake Superior region eastward, and along the Atlantic
coast north, embracing the region about Hudson’s Bay and joining the habitat of the other forms
about Fort Simpson, on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, is the range of typical americanus,
which intergrades with the other races along the junction of their habitats. Along the Rocky
Mountains from Fort Simpson, on the headwaters of the Mackenzie, and westward to the Sitkan
and Kadiak regions of Southeastern Alaska as its northern border and thence along the Rocky

 

* Described in the Auk, April, 1854, pp. 165, 166.
158 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

and other mountains of the west to the south is found the form known as dorsalis, which, as will
be seen in the appended description, is a well-marked race. From Fort Simpson and Fort Liard,
on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River north, including also the Anderson and Lower
Mackenzie Rivers, and to the west, covering the entire northern portion of Alaska, on the south-
eastern shore of the Territory, its range merges into that of dorsalis, as mentioned previously. The
differences existing between americanus and alascensis will be seen by the following parallel tables,

in which the northern form is compared directly with specimens from the Adirondacks:

5

AMERICANUS. ALASCENSIS.

Crown the same in both forms. The nuchal collar White nuchal collar generally very broad and well

frequently indistinct, and never forming a
heavily-marked band. The upper half of the
dorsum is frequently black, almost unspotted,
and is never heavily or thickly barred or
marked with white; the lower half of dor-
sum is frequently rather profusely barred with
white, but rarely equaling even those Alaskan
specimens with the lightest markings. The
rump is sometimes black, but usually has
more or less white markings in the shape
of spots and small bars; the white wing-
barring and spotting along the edges of the
vanes of the primaries, secondaries, and ter-
tials are about equal in number in the two
races, but the individual marks are much
smaller, as a rule, in americanus. The pattern
of the white markings about tho head is the
same in both forms, but in the present bird
these markings are very much less decided
than in the northern race. The upper tail-
coverts are either unmarked or the markings
are very narrow. The barring and streaks on

defined. The upper half of dorsum is almost in-
variably thickly and heavily barred with white,
which often occupies two-thirds of this area.
This is one of the main and most striking differ-
ences between the two forms. The lower half
of dorsum, although less abundantly marked
than the upper half, usually has about one-half
its surface covered by transverse or longitudi-
nal white markings; in some instances these
markings cover nearly the whole back, so that
the bird appears to be almost uniformly white
on the entire dorsal surface with a faint wavy
barring of darker showing indistinctly through
the white. The rump is always profusely
marked with white bars and streaks, which
extend over the upper tail-coverts, which latter
are generally broadly barred and marked with
white. The white markings on the wing-
feathers have the same distribution asin amer-
icanus, but they occupy nearly twice the area
occupied by those in americanus, aud in many

cases the primaries and secondaries are broadly

the sides of the breast and flanks are always
black and distinct.

tipped with white in the northern birds. The
streaks and barring on the sides and flanks are
much lighter than in americanus, and frequently
are pale fulvous brown in very narrow bars
with broad interspaces of white.

 

The following notes form a summary of the characters distinguishing the three American forms
of this bird; a series of measurements is appended:

Americanus.—A series of eleven birds from Northern New York have the white markings ot
the back in the form of transverse bars, which are frequently restricted to the central portions ot
the feathers, and in several instances the upper half of the dorsum is very much less marked than
the lower portion. The oval or quadrate spots and bars along the wébs of the wing-feathers are
small. The white line extending from the eye to the nape is very narrow and frequently scarcely
discernible. In short, the birds of Eastern North America are darker colored, with the white
markings less inclined to spread and become united into broad areas, than is the case in the fol-
lowing forms.

Dorsalis.—The National Museum series of Three-toed Woodpeckers from the Rocky Mountains,
ten in number, ranging from Fort Kenai and the Southeastern Alaskan coast, and Fort Simpson,
on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, south to Colorado and Arizona, agrees in having a well-
marked nuchal collar, which is joined by a white stripe from the eye. In all well-plumaged sum-
ter birds a longitudinal white band begins with the nuchal collar and extends down the back to
the rump, with no trace, or at most a very slight one, of transverse barring. This white dorsal
band has the same appearance and outline as the white band on the back of the Hairy Wood-
pecker, except that on dorsalis this white area extends much higher on the nape than it does
in Picus villosus. The feathers of the ramp are usually white tipped. The white quadrate spots
and bars on the wing-feathers are smaller than in the birds found farther north, but agree in
averaging a little larger than in the birds from Eastern North America.
BIRDS. 159

Alascensis.—In the country from Fort Simpson north and west, including the Lower Mackenzie
and Anderson Rivers, and all of Northern Alaska, oceurs this well-marked race of the Three-toed
Woodpecker, which is characterized by the extent and amount of the white markings upon the dorsal
surface, mainly in the form of barring. The well-marked white postocular stripe reaches the back
and joins the nuchal collar, as in the other two races, but, as is the case with all the white head-
markings in this form, they are broader and more distinct than in the southern races. Commencing
at the nuchal collar and covering the dorsum extends a series of transverse white bars, two or
three on each feather, one of which forms the tip. These bars are generally so broad and distinct
that they occupy over one-half the surface of the back. In many examples the white encroaches
on the black until the latter appears only as spots along the border of the web of each feather, and
the back is covered by a much larger white area than in typical dorsalis. In Alaskan birds this
white area is generally mottled with darker, whereas in dorsalis the white area is usually unbroken.
In some cases the rump and tail-coverts are tipped with white, as in dorsalis, and again they are
heavily barred with white, the difference being shown most strikingly by the heavy barring of the
upper tail-coverts, which, in the southern forms, are usually much darker and with far less white
barring than in the northern. In some instances the white on the dorsum of the northern form
extends to the rump, and, occupying nearly all of the dorsal surface, forms an area very similar to
that present in dorsalis, but the two may be distinguished at a glance by the hoariness and much
greater amount of white exhibited by the northern bird. In many instances the barring of the
sides of breast, body, and flanks (which are usually very similar in the three races), is encroached
upon by the light colors in the northern bird until the under surface, as well as the back, becomes
extremely light. This race appears to reach its greatest divergence from the others on the Middle
and Lower Yukon.

From the series of americanus before me, taken in Northern New York, and including both
summer and winter specimens, there appears to be very little seasonal difference of plumage except,
owing to the greater amount of wearing incident to the summer season, birds taken at this time
have the white tips and borders of the feathers considerably lessened by abrasion, thus appearing
a little darker than winter specimens. The females aud young birds possess no yellow on the
crown.

From Fort Liard and Fort Simpson, on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, extending
thence north along the course of this stream and the Anderson River, and westward, covering all
the wooded portions of Northern Alaska to the northern tree-limit, occurs alascensis, outnumbering
by far the combined numbers of all the other woodpeckers of that region. It also extends its
range south across the Alaskan Mountaius, encroaching upon the range of dorsalis in the Sitkan
region, and upon the island of Kadiak, whence the National Museum possesses typical specimens
of this northern form.

Richardson records this bird as very abundant between Great Slave Lake and the Arctic
coast. On the Yukon these birds are said to prefer the groves of poplar and willow to the spruces,
During wy visits to the interior I saw it alive only in a few instances, and learned nothing of
its habits. From the number of skins brought me by the fur traders, taken at various points along
the course of the Yukon, from near the mouth of that stream to the vicinity of Fort Reliance, its
great abundance is attested. We learn from Dall that the Yukon Indians dislike this bird and
call it Tikeklalat, in common with the Kingfisher and the other woodpeckers.

The natives are said to have a legend of this bird, a male of which—according to the
story—during a time of famine devoured its mate. Just as he was swallowing the last morsel
the other birds came trooping through the forest, and as they approached him he hastily wiped
his claws on the back of his head to conceal the deed. The new-comers inquired concerning the
whereabouts of his wife; his unsatisfactory replies caused them to institute a search, and they
quickly detected the marks of fat upon the back of his head; and ever since that day the males
of this woodpecker have borne the mark as a memento of the crime.
160 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA

PICOIDES AMERICANUS.

 

 

    
   
     
 

 

 
  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ks nc} . $
8,1 8s ; o | 2
» az + : 3 2
aa 2 s 4 sy e 3s
Num- Locality. Date. Sex. Es, | 33 = Ee 3 a
per. Si of a a 3
ora eH s =] 3 g
a" \|es | Bla)s| 2
E a a/a@lalaA
% Herkimer County, New York ..-.| Nov. 5| Ad.¢ 4.40 | 3.10 81 96 | .26 36
ieee sive 0 « s " asiedneleaieesnic® Nov. 8; Ad.¢ 4.40} 3.10 2, 98 | .28 38
Nov. 2} Ad.o 4.50 | 3.00 83 92) .26 37
oO.. 2 ...| Nov. 6| Ad.¢ 4.43) 3.15 82) .93 | .25 37
41891 | Moose River, New York......--.- June 4} Ad.¢ 4.60 | 3.18 83 | .99 | .25 39
42081 | Moose Lake, New York .--------- July 24| Ad.¢ 4.50} 3.15 82 {1.00} .27 40
#2145 |.-.--- ee er erecre Dec. 20 9 4,43 | 3.04 83 q 24 35
$1892 | Moose River, New York.....-.--- June 4 g 4.35] 3.02 81 92] .27 34
42082 | Moose Lake, New York ....-..--- Aug. 16 fe 4.30 | 2.95 83 90] .25 33
2016 |...---0O .------ eee eee eee eee e eee eee: Oct. 9 2 4.40 | 3.05 82 90] .25 32
#1312 | exces OO ssciecusamamaw aes ore sicseise six Nov. 5 2 4.40 | 3.00 81 ; 89 | .26 38
N. Mus ; :
No. Var. dorsalis.
29031 | Bitter Root Mountains.......----- Sept. 7 c 4.70 | 3.00 85} 1.00| .29 40
72925 | Colorado ....- meee ---| Oct. 7 c 4.95 | 3.00 87 | 1.04 | .26 39
72610 | Arizona . July 12 c 4,72 | 2.50? 86 | 1.09] .27 41
67146 | Colorado. June 25 3 4.80 | 3.18 85} .96 | .28 39
18460 | New Mexico. _ .| Apr. 4 4.82 | 2.70% 86 | .98 27 38
79771 | Colorado.......----..-------2+e2+- June 3 g 4.72 | 3.05? 85 | 1.00 28 38
alieet Var. alascensis.

638 | Fort Yukon, Alaska....--.. .---- co 4.45 | 2.98 . 84 95 26 39
1162 | Fort Reliance, Alaska Z so 4.50] 3.05 - 84 95 27 39
1169 |...--- WO scpiciaraiaseysienaiare apes c 4.60} 3.10 - 83 | 1.05 28 38

639 | Fort Yukon, Alaska .- 2 4.55 | 3.10 . 81 89 27 37
1167 | Fort Reliance, Alaska Q 4.35 | 3.00 81 92 26 39
1158 |eeices3 di g 4.45 | 3.00 80 90 27 36

* From collection of Dr. A. K. Fisher. + From collection of Dr. C. H. Merriam.

PICOIDES AMERICANUS DORSALIS Baird. Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker.

In examining the series of Picoides in the National Museum collection from Southeastern
Alaska, I find examples from Fort Kenai which must be referred to this form and others from
Kadiak Island which approach it closely. As dorsalis of the Rocky Mountains extends its range
north to Fort Simpson, on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, it is probable that the birds
occurring on the southeastern coast of Alaska, in the Kadiak and Sitkan region, intergrade
between typical dorsalis and the new northern race described above. Specimens of typical
dorsalis are present from the extreme headwaters of the Yukon River, but no examples refera-
ble to this form are among the series of woodpeckers taken at Fort Reliance and thence
down the course of that stream to Bering Sea. We possess no information of the habits of this
race, and very little upon its distribution in Southern Alaska, and, in fact, no definite knowl-
edge is possessed regarding the extension and limits of its northern range.

SPHYRAPICUS RUBER (Gmel.). Red-breasted Sapsucker.

Known as an Alaskan bird only from the record of Hartlaub of two males taken at Chilcat
River April 12. (Jour. Orn., July, 1883. 275.)

179. COLAPTES AURATUS (Linn.). Flicker.

This handsome woodpecker breeds from one side of the Territory to the other wherever
wooded country occurs. In the winter of 1880 I secured a skin from a native on the shore of
Bering Straits, and was told by an Eskimo there that in summer it occurred not uncommonly among
the spruces afew miles in the interior. From this vicinity it is found to the eastward in all
suitable places, and has even been recorded from Greenland. It has been sent to the National
Museum from the Lower Anderson River, and is well known to breed along the entire
course of the Yukon, reaching to the mouth of the latter, whence I received several skins. It is
a regular summer resident at the head of Norton Bay, and reaches the Arctic on the shore of
Kotzebue Sound, where the natives told me the bird was not rare during the summer.
BIRDS. 161

The National Museum collection possesses typical specimens of this bird collected at Sitka and
Chilcat, on the southeastern coast of the Territory, thus showing that it ranges across the Alaskan
Mountains to the shore of the Pacific in Southeastern Alaska. How common and widely spread
it is in this region is unknown at the present writing.

COLAPTES CAFER SATURATIOR Ridgw. North Western Flicker.

During Bischoff’s visit to Sitka, at the time of the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition,
numbers of these beautiful birds were taken there, and the specimens are now in the collection
of the National Museum. Since then, however, the bird bas not been secured from that
region. Both forms undoubtedly breed in that section, their habitat overlapping, but no inter-
mediate examples have been secured thus far. There is no Alaskan record of this Flicker except
in the limited territory named, although it is to be expected to range across the Alaskan Mountains
even to the headwaters of the Kuskoquim River.

TROCHILUS RUFUS (Gmel.). Rufous Humming-bird.

This is one of the smallest North American humming: birds, and is also the most northerly in
its distribution. It is a summer resident at Sitka and beyond, thus occurring far along the coast
of the North Pacific. Nearly every voyager to these regions has noted with surprise the occur-
rence of this small and delivate bird so far beyond the usual range of its kind. From specimens
secured on the northwest coast it was named sitkensis by Rhatke. In spite of its small size, how-
ever, it is a hardy bird, and occurs in great abundance in Oregon, Washington Territory, and Van-
couver Island, arriving in latitude 47° on this coast as early as April 10, and in latitude 49° early
in May, returning to the south again in September. It apparently does not winter in California,
where it is partly replaced by a resident form described some time since by Mr. Henshaw as 8. alleni,
a form which was long considered identical with the bird found throughout the Rocky Mountain
region and along the northwest coast.

The life history of this interesting visitant to the shores of the northwest is yet to be studied.
It moves on through California just as the spring opens, reaching Vancouver Island from the last
of March to May, and, passing up the intricate heavily-wooded channels among the many islands
of the northwest coast, it reaches the vicinity of Sitka, where Dr. Bean took a nest and eggs June
9. Farther to the north they nest under the shadow of the snow-capped peak of Saint Elias and
on the shores of the deep-cut fiords, bordered with glaciers, which fill the air with their thunder,
and are brooded over by damp fogs and rain-laden winds—surroundings seemingly not at all in
keeping with these tiny visitants.

SAYORNIS SAYA (Bonap.). Say’s Phebe.

" Several specimens of this bird were brought me from Fort Reliance by Mr. McQuesten, one a
male taken on May 12, and a young of the year taken on September 12. The history of this bird
has been pretty well worked out by the ornithologists connected with the various expeditions in -
the Rocky Mountain region, where it is one of the commonest summer residents. To the north
it reaches the valley of the Saskatchewan, where it was recorded by Richardson, who supposed
that it extended its range to about the sixtieth parallel. It gives me pleasure to record the
capture of two specimens on the Upper Yukon in about latitude 66°, and one of these is a young
bird of the year, taken in September. Thefur traders told me that the bird breeds thus far north,
and perhaps even beyond, within the Arctic Circle, which crosses the Yukon a short distance from
the locality whence came my specimens. I have nothing to add regarding its habits in the Terri-
tory, and can only quote from Richardson that it arrives on the Saskatchewan early in May, and
that it is a late fall migrant. It has a habit of nesting about buildings in the west very much like
the common Pheebe of the east. At Fort Simpson, in British America, it has its young about
July 1,

CoNTOPUS BOREALIS (Swains.). Olive-sided Flycatcher.

The single specimen of this bird, brought me from the Lower Yukon in latitude 63°, is the only
instance known of its capture in Alaska, although on the eastern side of the continent it has
S. Mis. 156--—21
162 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

strayed even to Greenland, where, at Nenortalik, it was obtained August 29,1840. It is very com-
mon in Washington Territory, and the types of the species were obtained from the Sas-
katchewan in latitude 54°, north of which, until the present, there appears to be no record but
that from Greenland. The natives informed me that it is not uncommon in the vicinity of Anvik,
where my specimens were secured, and they described its usual habit of perching on the top
of tall trees, whence it makes forays for insects, so there is little chance that they were mis-
taken. It probably reaches as far north in the Rocky Mountain region as the preceding species, and
along the coast north of Washington Territory probably to.the Sitkan region. Like a number
of other birds its northern range will be considerably extended when a careful summer survey
has been made through the wooded portions of Northern Alaska, the animal life of which, at
present, is but little known.

EMPIDONAX DIFFICILIS Baird. Baird’s Flycatcher.

A single specimen taken by Dr. Bean on June 5, 1880, at Sitka, is the only record of its capt-
ure in Alaska, but as others were seen at the same place it is probably a regular summer resident
in that district.

185. EMPIDONAX PUSILLUS (Swains.). Little Flycatcher.

A single male of this widely-spread little bird was brought me from Nulato in the spring of
1878, and a second specimen was secured at Saint Michaels the same season. The natives knew
the bird and told me it was not common. Hartlaub records a single specimen seen in Lower
Dejiih Valley May 24. The above specimens comprise all the known Alaskan examples. It may be
considered as an irregular, though probably not abundant, summer resident. Kennicott and
others found it nesting in alder-bushes near Fort Resolution in latitude 62° north, in the Hudson’s
Bay country, and it probably extends its range far beyond this on the Yukon and Mackenzie
Rivers.

OTOCORIS ALPESTRIS LEUCOLMA (Coues). Pallid Horned Lark.

‘Throughout Alaska this species appears to be very rare. Two specimens were taken in the
vicinity of Saint Michaels during my residence there, and three were secured on the Upper Yukon
by Mr. McQuesten on April3 and 30,1879. All of these birds are spring males and typical of this
variety. Itismuch more common on the headwaters of the Yukon during spring and summer than
along the shores of Bering Sea, where it can only be counted a very rare straggler. It has not
been recorded from any of the Bering Sea islands nor from the adjoining Asiatic coast. Nota
single individual was seen by us during the summer of 1881 anywhere along the Alaskan coast
north to Point Barrow. In addition to the specimens obtained by me is a single bird secured on
the Yukon by Dall. All of these birds are very pale, but are far less bleached than the peculiar
variety in the National Museum collection from Astrakhan, which is labeled “ variety bei.” This
bird has almost uniformly faded to a pale grayish ashy above and white below,. and probably
represents a well-marked local race. The typical alpestris apparently does not occur in Alaska,
and the specimens taken at Portage Bay and at Dejah Pass, in the southeastern part of the Territory,
and recorded by Hartlaub, are doubtless referable here. In Oregon and Washington Territory,
and perhaps throughout British Columbia, is found a small, very brightly-colored form, with the
rufous of the back and the yellow, which in some specimens extends over the throat and entire under
parts, very intense. Whether this form extends its range to the southern border of the Territory
cannot be ascertained until that region has been visited and morethoroughly examined thanit has at
present. Richardson found the Shore Lark on the coast of the Arctic at the mouth of the Mac-
kenzie River, and a single wandering specimen has been taken in Greenland. *

 

* Alauda arvensis, quoted in the History of North American Birds [vol. II, p. 186], as occurring on the Aleutian
Islands, apparently rests its claim upon the fact of Steller having found au allied species on the Kurile and Com-
mander Islanés, near the Kamchatkan coast, which, of course, does not warrant its being included here,
BIRDS. 163

Pica PICA HUDSONIOA (Sab.). American Magpie. ,

This handsome bird is limited in its distribution to a comparatively small portion of the
Territory, occurring as aresident and abundant species along that portion of the coast-line
extending from the Shumagin Islands east and south. It is abundant on Kadiak Island and in the
vicinity of Sitka. Mr. Turner tells me that, during his visit to Kadiak Island, he saw a considerable
number of the nests of this bird built in trees close about the village at that place. North of
the Alaskan Mountains it is comparatively rare, although in the interior, about the head of Bristol
Bay, it is not very rare, and even reaches, in some instauces, as far as the Lower Yukon, a single
specimen having been taken in midwinter in 1880, at Mission, on the lower course of this stream.
Two specimens were brought me from the upper portion of the Yukon by Mr. McQuesten, who
obtained them at Fort Reliance. These include all of the Alaskan records of this bird. The two
specimens from Fort Reliance place its range close to the Arctic Circle. These birds extend their
range west on the Shumagin Islands and on the peninsula of Aliaska to Isanotsky Pass, where the
alder-bushes and the mainland of Alaska find their western limit together. The alders are used
by the magpies to support their nests, and the lack of such support further west is probably the
chief reason for the birds’ absence beyond. Their northern limit on the Upper Yukon is near the
Arctic Circle at Fort Yukon, but on the Lower Yukon and its tributaries it is in about latitude
63° or 64°.

The two specimens taken at Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, measure as follows:

 

 

 

 

Oneal Sex. | Date. | Wing. | Tail. |Tarsus.| Culmen. a of
1137 Q | Nov.15 8 11.5 1. 82 1, 29 55
1136 9 |May16| 7.5] 10 1.76 1.20 58

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A comparison of birds from Europe and tliis continent shows that they intergrade and that
there are no constant differences of coloration. The pattern of wing-coloration is subject to
great individual variation, but none of the American examples seen show such a large amount of
white as do some specimens from continental Europe.

The shape of the spurious primary varies greatly among individuals.

PICA HUDSONICA.

 

 

    

 

   

 

 

 

 

Eq 2) line 3
Oo vo
oA a ae a
g 2 os G3 # 2.
Ae Locality. Be | ss] 2] ¢ | a8
a2 =) 3 & E os
gs. ee | sf | >! 8 2
Sak é So om $ 3 2
Bao oad A mo kK a
a02 3 4 a a a a ®
yy A wn E a a (aa) A
COlOVAdO icc stats ctcrcrely veichioaterenga ct June q 8.20} 11.5 | 1.90] 1.29 60
ING V8 oie saci assists je ema mrredeetieierermaraienl sas o24 oe 9 7.90 | 11.2 | 1.89 | 1.26 52
Kadiak Island, Alaska . & 8.00 | 10.4 | 1.90 | 1.42 60
Carson, Nev.... wisi joS.Spaserc sae apna aia laste vesip iad ad. 7.80) 11.6 | 1.78 | 1.28 -51
--| Washington Ter ad. 7.60} 10.2 | 1.78 | 1.18 50
-| Nevada ..........4 . 2 8.10 | 11.85 | 1.83 | 1.40 - 56
aaiewiel WO iciiaceis saiticcinawen cue uteceapamest DOC: cs 8.25) 11.8 | 1.87 | 1.32 - 58
European specimens.
--| Europe (rustica) .... ad. 7 8.80 | 1.88 | 1.20 51
-| Hungary (rustica) . g 6, 90 8.60 | 1.80 | 1.19 45
Bergen, Norway (ru 2 7.40 | 10.20 | 1.89 | 1.21 -55
Saxony (rustica) oe Cs 7.00 8.65 | 1.78 | 1.10 - 50
Hungary (rustica)...... s 7.40 8.50 | 1.87 | 1.20 - 50
Siar cl iaperataimnd Europe (caudata).....--..0.....22-202- 2 7.42 9.00 | 1.90 | 1.20 53
wexaneesos| SEROBY (COMOAIA) . 25. cncccenemcescasemslansnune c 7.35 9.90 | 1.86 | 1.23 +50
weutdasiene France (rustica)........-2. 02.02. e ees [eee eee] ad, 7.68 | 10.35 | 1.88 | 1.22 55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CYANOCITTA STELLERI (Gmel.). Steller’s Jay.

At Sitka this is an abundant bird, and undoubtedly it occurs still farther to the north, possi-
bly even across the Alaskan Mountains. From accounts derived from the natives I believe that
this jay may reach even the Upper Kuskoquim River. They informed me of a bird found on the
164 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

wooded mountains to the south of that river, which has a large crest on its head; but the
rest of the description was so vague that it was hard to determine to just what bird it referred.
The heavy snowfall and severe winters, in the region named, would seem to negative the possi-
bility of the bird’s occurrence, though it may be a migrant there. Specimens are in the National
Museum collection from Sitka taken in October and January, thus proving it to be a winter resi-
dent north at least to this point. Sitkan examples of this jay are typical of the variety. Dr. Bean
found this jay at George’s Island in June.

PERISOREUS CANADENSIS (Linn.). Canada Jay.

From the headwaters of the Yukon to the mouth of the Tanana River occur birds which are
almost typical representatives of the jay found in British America, and thence down to Canada.
A large majority of them approximate, or are typical of, Mr. Ridgway’s variety fumifrons.

PERISOREUS CANADENSIS FUMIFRONS Ridgw. Alaskan Jay (Esk. Ki-pa-ni-
tkh-ptik).

As noted under the preceding species, many specimens from the Upper Yukon are nearly typ-
ical canadensis, but the present form gradually replaces it lower down this stream until, near Nulato
to the coast, birds approaching the canadensis style are almost unknown. The present form is the
only Perisoreus found throughout the Sitkan and Kadiak region, and thence north along the region
bordering the Bering Sea coast and up the wooded interior.

On June 9, 1880, I saw a single specimen at Cape Romanzoff, just north of the Yukon mouth,
on the coast of Bering Sea, and in the winter of 1878 I saw this jay on the Lower Kuskoquim, and
specimens were brought me which were taken at the head of Norton Bay, so that it appears to
range to the coast of Bering Sea wherever alder-bushes occur to afford it shelter. It has been
taken also at Kenai by Bischoff. Dall took a nest with four half-grown young on April 20, at
Nulato; it is evident, therefore, that the bird must nest during the latter part of March, and fre-
quently while the temperature ranges well down toward the freezing point of mercury.

Dall’s statement that this bird is not found south of the Yukon is erroneous, since it occurs
throughout the Territory wherever timber is found. A young bird of the year, taken the last
of July, at Fort Kenai, is just beginning to assume the adult plumage. The range of this form
includes all of Alaska, probably down to the coast of British Columbia, meeting there the ground
of obscurus. Typical examples of fumifrons are in the National Museum from Fort Kenai, Fort
Yukon, Fort Reliance, Nulato, and Saint Michaels; this must also be the form found in the Lower
Mackenzie Valley and, perhaps, through a large portion of Northern British America. Through-
out its range occur specimens which closely approach canadensis. Comparing the large series of
specimens from Eastern and Northwestern America I find the following characters to distinguish

canadensis from the present variety:
CANADENSIS, from Nova Scotia. Fumirrons, from Alaska.

Back duli smoky-brown with an ashy shade; Back ashy-brown. Crown dark blackish-brown

crown dark sooty-brown, sharply defined by
the white of the frontal, cheek, and nape area.
The nuchal collar of white, separating the
dark area oi the crown from back, well marked,
Sides of head and neck, as well as throat
and most of breast, silvery white. The white
on upper breast shades thence into light
smoky-brownish, which usually occupies the
sides and flanks. The two forms run closely
together, in this particular, in a number of
cases.

 

with an ashy wash, the dark area encroach-
ing upon frontal space until the latter may be
almost absent or it may be present nearly as in
canadensis, but this rarely. Nuchal color of
whits usually obsolescent. Sides of head,
neckand throat dull white in most cases, much
shaded with ashy-brown. The white is limited
to the throat and is replaced on the breast by
color of abdomen, which shades into the light
on upper breast. The color of abdomen isa
smoky brownish-gray, with a dark ashy shade
predominating on sides and flanks.

The Alaskan birds are a little larger than specimens of typical canadensis from Eastern North
America.
PLATE Zl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALASKAN JAY
Ferisovews canadensis fiemifrons
BIRDS. 165

Two nests were brought me from the mouth of the Tanana River by Mr. Frangois Mercier,
who obtained them the 1st of April, 1880, after considerable persuasion and an offer of a large
reward in flour to the natives during a time of scarcity. By these means he succeeded in getting
a native to go out and search for the nests of this bird. The young fellow returned in a few hours
with two nests, each containing half-grown young. Walking into the house he told the trader to
take the nests and birds at once, for he was sure some evil would result from his act, and taking
his flour he hurried away before the birds and nests were examined. All the old crones and men
of the vicinity prophesied that the weather would turn cold, and that a very late spring would
ensue as a result of this robbery. As chance would have it the prophesies of the old soothsayers
came true in a remarkable degree, and the spring was the coldest and most backward by nearly a
month of any year since the Americans have had possession of the country. On the following
spring (of 1881) I asked the same trader to try and get me eggs of this bird by sending out na.
tives earlier in the season. He complied and offered still greater rewards than on the first occa-
sion, but the natives could not be bribed to risk the visitation of the birds’ anger, and the old
people positively forbade any of the younger ones to have anything to do with the matter; therefore
the attempt was abandoned. One point was gained, however, and that was the information how the
natives found the nests so readily. They told the trader that these nests could always be easily
found by examining the snow at the base of each bushy-topped spruce, and whenever a number
of small dry twigs were found lying near together upon the snow under a tree there was a great
probability of a jay’s nest being snugly ensconced in the thick branches overhead.

These two nests, now before me, are built of a matted mass of a cotton-like down of some plant;
about the upper edge and in the cavity are pieces of rabbit-fur, a few Horned Owl feathers,
and fine strips of bark. The entire nest rests upon a horizontal branch nearly 2 inches in diam-
eter, and a scanty number of small dead spruce twigs, 6 to 8 inches long, loosely woven into the
structure, give it consistency and prevent it from being easily damaged. This nest is 44 inches
high by 6 broad, with a cavity 24 inches deep by 33? inches across the top. The other nest was
placed in the fork of a small branch less than half an inch in diameter, and rests on a rough plat-
form of slender spruce twigs. The main part of the nest is made of the same cottony substance
as is the first, and is also interwoven with twigs. Above this is a layer of fine fibrous black moss
such as occurs on spruce trees. The inside of the cavity is slightly lined with fine grass. This
nest measures 4 inches high by 6 inches broad, and the cavity 2 inches deep by 22 inches across
the top.

Hearne says that it is well known that the Whisky Jack lays up great stores of berries for a
winter supply, and speaks of its power of mimicry.

CORVUS CORAX STINUATUS (Wagl.). American Raven (Esk. Ti-li-kat-ghitk).

Everywhere throughout the entire Territory of Alaska, including the shores of the Arctic
Ocean and Bering Sea, and the various Islands of the latter, this bird is a well-known resident.
Here, as in some more civilized regions, it bears a rather uncanny character, and many and strange
are the shapes it assumes in the folk-lore of the natives of these far off shores.

On Akoutan, one of the Aleutian Islands, May 13, 1877, | found a pair of these birds nesting
on a shelf about 50 feet above the beach, and, as usual, their home was inaccessible. Bean
found it an abundant resident on the Near Islands. On Saint Matthew’s Island Elliott found
several, and on Saint Lawrence Island they were seen by Elliott and myself. Strangely enough,
however, the bird is unknown upon the Fur Seal Islands, although these are only a little over 150
miles to the northward of the Aleutian chain. An attempt has even.been made to populate the
Seal Islands by capturing ravens on the neighboring Aleutian Islands and taking them across by
vessel, but the unwilling emigrants refused to colonize their new abode and took the first oppor-
tunity to make their way back to their former home. This is especially remarkable, since the
annual slaughter of fur seals on these islands strews the land on every side with innumerable
carcasses, which one might suppose would render the islands peculiarly attractive to these cun-
ning birds.
166 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS JN ALASKA.

Throughout the Territory the Raven is a rather common but scattered species, becoming
abundant only along the southeast coast and the entire length of the Aleutian chain, where is
found its center of abundance. North of the Aleutian chain, wherever a jutting ragged cape or
bold cliff faces the sea and defies the grinding ice and surging waves, one or more pairs of these
birds may be found to have taken up their residence, safely out of reach of predatory raids from
above or below. In passing these cliffs, during stormy winter days, when the wind whistles
around the arches and jagged points of the rocks, I have frequently heard the strange notes of
the ravens, and caught glimpses of their dark forms as they showed themselves for an instant
through a rift in the storm, gliding back and forth, uttering their wild cries, and apparently
enjoying the fierce gales and in full accord with the wild surroundings. A particular instance is
especially impressed upon my mind. It was during a journey in midwinter when we arrived at a
rocky promontory just as a terrible gale of wind and snowset in. Our road for several miles
lay around the base of a series of cliffs. On the left arose sheer black walls of rock around whose
angles and spurs the wind swirled and beat the sharp fragments of snow in blinding masses.
Along the path which we were forced to travel, lay a shelving mass of fallen rock, a few yards
wide, and covered with ice formed by the spray dashed up from the sea, which surged, inky-black,
against the foot of the cliff some 10 feet below. We crept around the narrow shelf, every muscle
strained to keep the sledges from being dashed over the edge of the rock into the sea; suddenly,
directly overhead, came with startling distinctness the hoarse cry of a raven. A hasty glance
upward showed one of these birds floating directly over us upon motionless wings, and until we
were safe on the farther side of the cape this bird kept above us, uttering repeatedly its harsh
notes, which superstitions fancy might easily, under the circumstances, have construed as of evil
omen. It is to such scenes as these, doubtless, with the occasional accidents attending them, that
is due the occult standing enjoyed by this bird among the ignorant and superstitious.

At Unalaska, one of the eastern Aleutian Islands, the raven is extremely numerous and famil-
iar. It keeps about the village and is scarcely more shy than the domestic fowls. On wild,
stormy days it appears to delight in soaring high overhead in large numbers. During the time
when fierce gales are rushing over the mountain-tops and down the gorges into the confined
valleys, thirty or forty of these birds may be seen at a time circling overhead on outspread wings,
in involved circles, uttering a medley of odd “ cork-drawing” and other strange notes. The birds
appear to be animated by a frolicsome disposition, and pursue one another playfully as if exult-
ing in the fierce dashes of scud and rain that are driven before the wind. At other times they
feed along the shore and make the roof of the Russian church, in the center of the village, a
general meeting place to rest and doze. They have a common habit of rising high overhead with
a sea-urchin (Hehinus) in their beaks, and after reaching an elevation of several hundred feet of
allowing the shell-fish to fall. As a consequence, it is common to find the shells of these radiates
scattered all over the hill-sides in the vicinity of the sea; apparently the ravens do not do this with
the intention of gaining readier access to the contents of the shell, and I do not recall a single in-
stance where a raven followed the shell to the ground, although on several instances I have seen the
birds dive hastily after the falling shell and capture it in their beaks before it reached the ground,
apparently in sport.

In spite of their familiarity at Unalaska they are wise enough to place their nests on almost
inaccessible cliffs some distance from the village and beyond the reach of mischevious boys. At
Nulato, on the Lower Yukon, they lay their eggs about April 20, and there, as elsewhere, the
birds exhibit much anxiety if their nests are approached.

Liitke tells us that—— :

The ravens are the police of Sitka. No poultry can be raised, since the ravens devour the fledglings as fast as
they appear, making only one mouthful of them, The porkers are too large to be overcome in the same manner, and
the ravens are obliged to satisfy their greediness by keeping the pigs’ tails close cropped. This is the reason why
Sitka pigs have no tails.

In spite of this ancient persecution, we are assured by Mr. Dall that the pigs of the present
day have caudal appendages of the usual length.
BIRDS. 167

.

Both the Eskimo and Indians unite in accusing this bird of pecking out the eyes of new-
born reindeer and afterwards killing them, and they are notoriously mischievous in robbing
traps of bait, as is well known throughout the fur countries, though the thief frequently pays the
penalty by getting a foot in the trap.

Although the common crow (. americanus) has not been taken within the limits of the Terri-
tory, yet its known occurrence as far north as the Lower Anderson River, within the Arctic Circle,
would appear to render it highly probable that they will be found on the Upper Yukon when more
careful explorations have been made. While wintering at. Cumberland Gulf, on the west coast of
Davis Strait, Kumlien found the ravens resident, and notes the fact that the Greenland birds are
much smaller than those from the mainland. He credits the raven with plucking out the eyes of
the reindeer and killing it, and also of capturing young seals. In this latter operation great intelli-
gence is shown. As an instance he observed that one bird dropped directly into the seal’s hole
through the ice, thus barring its only means of escape; then the second bird attacked the helpless
victim and brained it on the spot. Another pair he observed giving chase and capturing the
northern hare after a long pursuit. They were in the habit of keeping about the camps and were
seen even after dark and on moonlight nights when food was scarce. The last English Arctic
expedition found ravens north to latitude 81° 44’, which Captain Feilden thinks is their northern
limit.

The eggs obtained in Alaska are light green, with a variable amount of dark brown spotting,
These spots are usually scattered uniformly over the shell, but they vary greatly in size from small
rounded points to large irregular blotches. Six of these eggs from the Lower Yukon measured as
follows: 2 by 1.41; 1.98 by 1.42; 2 by 1.43; 1.92 by 1.43; 1.92 by 1.38; and 1.90 by 1.38.

CORVUS CORAX SINUATUS.

 

 

 
  

    
  
   
 
 
  

 

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= B Locality. es “4 3 2 4 : % a
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45 an | A a | ala A
85843 | Greenland ....... 2.02. ceeeee cece eee ee eee 16.70 | 10.10} 2.40] 2.90 98 1.15
18613 |...... do ... 16. 90 9.90 | 2.50 | 2.95 99 1.04
18870 | Labrador ..-.-. .- 16. 85 9.30 | 2.55] 2.80 99 1,11
29453*| New Brunswick - ober --| 16.60 9.80 | 2.61) 2.90] 1.04 1.17
18831 | Lower Canada........--..--------------- 17.05 | 10.35 | 2.66 90 - 99 1.17
Meme An example from the Arakmachichi Isl-
ands in Bering Sea on the east coast of
Siberia is dull-colored like European
SPCCIMEDS).....Atwsesesesesespeseesaeese|eciacce 16.84] 10.50] 2.52] 2.90} 1.01 1.11
45631 California...--...----seseee cennee coer eeee lisence 16.10 9.45 | 2.57] 2.28 - 82 «99
Rinceselaiata's Upper Yukon, Alaska . eee aa] oo 17.50 | 10.20] 2.65] 2.75} 1.00 1.05
iiaretete: tes al|iaia nies 0 sia siniediarcisisieieenanreis @ 16. 54 9.55 | 2.70 | 2.70 +97 1.06
iseiamtatersl|eottn arc OO x icccicincweiece tes 20 c 17.65) 10.50] 2.67] 2.85 97 1.10
ceaccecs Saint Michaels, Alaska siarabbiaia: tall “ag 17.25 | 10.38] 2.55) 2.95] 1.00 1.10
41126 | Vancouver Island........2.22..-.0-e0ee0-| eee 17.50] 10.95] 2.85} 3.00 | 1.00 1.15
6857 | Utah...--.--.------ wees --| 16.75 9,60 | 2.59 | 2,51 81 -99
83910 | Nevada.-.....-...- mal --| 16.23] 10.05 | 2.80] 2.78 - 98 1.01
5186 | Missouri River .... Sie --| 17.00] 11.00) 2.60] 2.70 . 90 1.00
. 83911 | Nevada.........- 16. 50 9.60 | 2.58] 2.69 86 - 98
58962 | Tehuantepec 17.40 | 10.50] 2.99] 2,88] 1.00 1,06
do. 17.00 9.70 | 2,82] 2.80 - 98 1.04
= 16.40] 10.00] 2.63] 2.66 .89 1. 04
33623 | Guatemala. 16. 60 9.95 | 2.94} 2.80 - 90 1.10
20486 |...-.. do .... 17.00 | 10.15 | 2.78] 2.66 - 90 1.00
diwials awe Germany -. 17.65} 10.22) 2.75] 2.84] 1.04 1.18
syiteaae'd acUOG esti sisi eoasoie! L690 9.90 | 2.63] 2.60} 1.00 1.17
ge grciaeti|tesecta O sicieamnsig siete 2 15. 50 9.00 | 2.67] 2.80] 1.04 1.17
seabeisineine Syria see0cc005< aiscecanere s 16. 50 9.75} 2.82] 3.00} 1.03 1.12
eSecisicpaiay’ JerusalOmt sccassiaceiacrsersrascssewecses| —O 17.36} 10.00 | 2.78] 2.61] 1.00 1.10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* This epee is like the European birds in color and proportions, with even a heavier bill than that
of the Syrian specimen.
tAn adult bird, but with a remarkably small bill and very slender feet and legs.

The foregoing measurements of the ravens in the National Museum collection were made
under the impression that sufficient variation could be found to separate the Old and New
World birds into well-marked races.

As the measurements show, however, specimens from various widely-separated North American
localities have as large an amount of variation as can be found between American and Old World
168 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

birds, and in both cases many examples are found uniting the various extremes. The recognition
of the American and European birds as races would involve the separation of the American bird
into three races.

The Old World birds usually have heavier bills than the American. The bill is deeper at
the base, whence the culmen has a full, well-marked curve to the tip of the bill. There is less of
the purple gloss on the feathers, but one specimen shows this gloss as in American birds, and
among the latter may be found the heavy bills and dull plumage apparently most common among
European birds.

CORVUS CAURINUS Baird. Northwest Crow.

Bischoff obtained numerous specimens of this little known bird at Sitka. Dr. Bean found
it abundant at Sitka in June and saw others at George Island. From Sitka down the coast to
Washington Territory it is very abundant. An egg of this bird from Sitka has the ground color
light sea-green, with markings and blotches of olive-brown, varying in size and of different shades.

Scarcely anything is known of the habits of this fish-crow, and of the meager account which
we possess I quote the most important. According to Mr. J. K. Lord it abandons the sea-coast of
British Columbia early in May, and builds its nest on trees or bushes on the borders of small
prairies in the interior. Their nests are precisely like those of the magpie, arched over with
sticks. The bird enters by a hole on one side and leaves by an exit on the opposite. The inside
is plastered with mud and a few grass stalks strewn loosely on the bottom keep the eggs from
rolling. He examined great numbers of nests on this prairie and on the Columbia, but invariably
found the same habit ef doming prevailing. While the birds remain inland their food consists of
small reptiles, insects, mollusks, and it even captures butterflies on the wing. Both male and female
defend the nest fiercely from all intrusion of bird or mammal. They lay from five to seven eggs,
which are smaller and lighter colored than those of the common crow. The breeding season over,
they return to the sea-coast, the immediate vicinity of which they frequent with the common crow,
feeding along the shore at low tide. Mr. Lord’s opinion of the specific identity of this bird is
upheld by later investigations, particularly those of Mr. Henshaw, though until further work is
done, and a larger series of birds at hand, the subject of the crows of the northwest coast cannot
be satisfactorily concluded. In the interior of North America Richardson found the Corvus ameri-
canus extending to latitude 61° north, near the Great Slave Lake, and it is to be looked for in the
Upper Yukon region and thereabout.

At Puget Sound Mr. Henshaw found these birds abundant and saw them frequenting the
exposed reefs, where they gathered shell-fish during low tide, and carried them high over the
rocks to drop and break the shell, thus rendering the contents more accessible. This was repeated
again and again and appeared to be their ordinary manner of feeding.

PICICORVUS COLUMBIANUS (Wils.). Clarke’s Nutcracker.

Since the capture of a single Sitkan specimen taken in August by Bischoff, no Alaskan record
of this bird has been made. It is likely to be found all along the heavily-wooded coast region
from British Columbia, where we learn it is an abundant species, north to the beginning of the
peninsula of Aliaska, since this entire stretch of coast region has approximately the same charac-
teristics.

The first account of the nesting of this species was given by Mr. Lord, who found a nest at
Fort Colville, Wash. The eggs of this nest, however, were destroyed by felling the tree, so the
description of the eggs and a satisfactory account of the nest still remained to be made, and it
was only a comparatively short time since that Captain Bendire was able to throw further light
upon this interesting subject. In the vicinityof Camp Harney, Oregon, on April 22, and again on
the 27th of this month, in 1876, nests of this jay were found by him. The first nest he obtained
upon the extremity of a pine branch about 25 feet from the ground, and well protected from view
by the longer branches projecting both above and below the nest. It was bulky, like all the
others he found. The nest proper rested upon a platform of small sticks of white sage placed upon
pine branches, and is composed of dry grass, vegetable fibers, and the fine inner bark of the western
BIRDS. 169

juniper. The latter mass is well woven and makes a warm, comfortable structure. The outer
diameter.of the nest is 84 inches; the inner diameter 44 inches; the inside depth 32 inches, and
the outside depth 5 inches.

The two eggs measure, respectively, 1.22 by .95 and 1.20 by .90. The ground-color is light gray-
ish-green, speckled and blotched with grayish, principally about the larger end. On the smaller
egg the spots are finer and more evenly distributed, half of them being rather of a lavender color
than gray. These eggs resemble in shape those. of Maximilian’s Jay, two of whose eggs I have
from Mr, Aiken out of a nest found by him in Colorado.

All the nests found by Captain Bendire were placed in pines, well out on the branches, and
generally 20 or 40 feet from the ground. The edges of forests are preferred and trees well
supplied with branches. The female sits closely, and seems devoted to her eggs and young.
When the first nest was visited the bird refused to leave until some of her tail-feathers were pulled
out in removing her, and she returned to her nest before the man had left it. On the second visit,
in order to see how much disturbance these birds would bear when on the nest, he fired a shot
into the limb on which the nest was placed. He threw sticks at the nest, striking the base once
or twice; still no bird appeared; but when he sent a man to examine it, and the latter approached
within a foot or so, the bird left.

Mr. Lord tells us that a few of these birds-winter in British Columbia, the majority leaving
for the south in September. ‘On their arrival in May and early June they assemble in immense
flocks, and keep up a nearly constant discord, screaming and chattering, and raising such a din
that one is deafened by it. During about a week of this reassemblage all their wooing is done,
and the best birds carry off the fairest partners. The single nest he found was in a pine tree
about 200 feet above the ground. It was large, built of fir twigs and bits of bark, with pine-needles,
root fibers, some moss and gray lichen mixed carelessly in it. The eggs were destroyed when the
tree fell and the nest ‘was much damaged.

STURNELLA MAGNA NEGLECTA (Aud.). Western Meadow Lark.

In J. K. Lord’s entertaining Naturalist in British Columbia, we learn that these birds ‘‘are
generally distributed throughout British Columbia, extending north to Sitka and even farther for
aught I know.” The preceding is the only record of this species from Alaska, and as later col-
lections from Sitka do not contain this bird it can scarcely be common there. Mr. Lord continues
in his pleasant style concerning these birds in British Columbia (Vol. IT, 148):

After being shut up, and closely imprisoned by the bitter cold and deep snows of a North-Western winter, one
hails with delight the first heralds, announcing the prospect of speedy relief—sunshine and summer. The Meadow
Larks (or starlings, more correctly) are amongst the earliest arrivals, making their appearance in the interior of
British Columbia before the snow has begun to thaw even from the roofs of the log huts. Their custom, on first
arriving, is to sit on the extreme tops of the sprays that project above the snow. The brilliant golden yellow, deck-
ing their breasts, and the rich browns on the back and wings, are in such vivid contrast with the intense white on
every side, that one is almost tempted to imagine that some magi’s hand had conjured gorgeous blossoms on the Jeaf-
less sticks; until the mellow plaintive songs, pealing over the wintry waste, tells you that life is there, with hope and
confidence in coming events. Leaves, flowers, grass, insects, all are missing, still the birds know they are sure to come;

their instincts are true, and so they patiently await the change from bleak winter to genial spring, as joyous as if
they had not quitted the sunny south.

SCOLECOPHAGUS CAROLINUS (Miill.). Rusty Blackbird.

Dall noted the arrival of this widely-ranging bird at Nulato on May 20, where it was
abundant and tame, and he saw one nest commenced about the end of the month. The eggs
have been taken at Fort Yukon, while skins are in the National Museum collection from Sitka and
Fort Kenai. It arrives in the British fur country at Great Bear Lake, latitude 65° north, by the
3d of May, and breeds throughout the northern extreme of the continental land, reaching the
farthest limit of the wooded region on the Lower Anderson and Mackenzie Rivers. In Northern
Alaska it reaches latitude 70°. On the Bering Sea and Arctic coast of this Territory from the
mouth of the Kuskoquim Rver the bird is a regular but not numerous summer resident wherever
trees and bushes are found reaching the vicinity of the sea-coast.

S. Mis. 15622
170 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS TIN ALASKA.

During the migrations it is a rather common visitant to this coast; but I found it abundant
only at the Yukon mouth, where the widely-extended areas of bush-grown country offered it suit-
able shelter, and where it consequently nested in considerable numbers; thence being found along
this river throughout its entire length. Wherever the bushes on the streams flowing into Bering
Sea or the Arctic Ocean afford shelter, it delights to make its summer home, and the males may
be seen on all sides mounted upon projecting branches uttering their cheerful but not musical
notes, or busily searching for food around the shallow pools and along the muddy banks of streams,
and they even become so familiar as to join with the snowbirds and fox-colored sparrows in search-
ing about the fur-traders’ doorsteps for food. In autumn they remain until well into September,
and are still more frequently found in the vicinity of the houses at this season than in spring-
time.

In May, 1879, while I was living for a time with a fur trader at the mouth of the Yukon,
these blackbirds were very common in the vicinity, frequenting the dense growth of willows and
alders which stood a few yards from the log huts. They were very indifferent to the presence of
the natives and others, who were continually passing about, and here they annually came to
carry on their love affairs and rear their young, as I was assured by the residents. I did not remain
there long enough to investigate their housekeeping, so I can only quote what Dr. Brewer tells
us concerning some eggs sent to the National Museum from Fort Yukon. These eggs measured 1.03
by .75 of an inch, and were scarcely distinguishable from the eggs of Brewer’s Blackbird. He
also informs us that all the Fort Yukon eggs of this bird he had seen had a ground color of
very light green, very thickly covered with blotches and finer dottings of a mixture of' fer-
ruginous and purplish brown. There appears to be very little individual variation in these birds,
as was shown by an examination of a considerable series of skins from the north.

PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR (Linn.). Pine Grosbeak (Esk. N¢-kiib0-ii-gliakh-tiikh-tik).

Along the entire west and northwest coast of America, from Vancouver Island north to
within the Arctic Circle, this bird occurs in greater or less abundance. The only breaks in this
range are the treeless areas which occur along the coast of Bering Sea. Throughout the interior
of the above region it is an abundant species. On the Kaviak Peninsula, in the vicinity of Bering
Straits, it is found among the stunted spruces to longitude 165° west, thence through the entire
Territory of Alaska to the British boundary line itis abundant; at Sitka and Kadiak it was found
numerous by Bischoff, during the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, and specimens were
brought me from points along nearly the entire course of the Yukon. It is limited by the range
of spruce, pine, and cotton-wood forests. Dall found the crops of these Grosbeaks filled with
cottou-wood buds at Nulato, on the Yukon. During winter, while traveling along the frozen
surfaces of the water-courses of the interior, it is common to note a party of these birds busy among
the cotton-wood tops uttering their cheerful lisping notes as they move from tree to tree. I have
frequently passed a pleasant half hour on the wintry banks of the Yukon while making a mid-day
halt, and waiting for the natives to melt the snow for our tea, listening to the chirping and
fluttering of these birds as they came trooping along the edges of the snow-laden woods in small
parties. They rarely paid any attention to us, but kept on their way, and were, ere long, lost to
sight in the midst of the bending tree-tops, and silence again pervaded the dim vistas of the low
woods. These birds withstand the severest cold in these forests, even within the Arctic Circle,
and appear to be about equally distributed throughout the wooded region. Unfortunately my
opportunities for observing them were confined entirely to the short glimpses obtained in the
manner cited, and I can add nothing to their history during the summer and breeding season.
Beyond the faint, soft call-note uttered as the birds trooped along through the forests, I never
heard them make any other sound. The American authors appear to have overlooked, or not

-.noted, the song of this species, which is said to be—especially in the European bird—very ihiasaut
and musical.

In their Monographie des Loxiens, Bonaparte and Schlegel say they can only find that the
American birds differ from the European by having “les teintes tant soit peu plus vives que ceux
@Europe.” They also inform us that the song of the European bird is exceedingly ‘agreeable,
BIRDS. 171

varied, melodious, sonorous—sometimes strong, sometimes soft. It imitates the voices of other
birds, and its song recalls sometimes that of the Thrush (Turdus musicus), sometimes that of Chry-
somitris spinus, and that of the Willow Warbler.” From the close relationship of the two we would
infer that our bird has equal powers of song.

The young of this species, in the first dress, has the usual soft, loose plumage common to
young birds, and the entire under surface is covered with a smoky brownish shade, palest on
the abdomen; on the back the smoky shade is present, but washed over with dull yellowish, which
is strongest on the crown and rump. The tail and wings are the same as in the adult,
but are a little more dingy and duller colored. A careful comparison of the large series of
Pine Gresbeaks in the National Museum collection, in conjunction with my own specimens, results
in the determination of three appreciable geographical races, of which two (enucleator and cana-
densis) have been recently united in Mr. Ridgway’s Catalogue of the Birds of North America. The
third is a new race, found only along the south coast of Alaska, extending south, perhaps, to Wash-
ington Territory. There are specimens of it in the National Museum collection from Sitka and
Kadiak.

I find that the European and American forms may be separated by certain appreciable and
pretty constant characters, mainly differences of proportion. Specimens from Alaska—north of
the Alaskan Mountains, and from Bering Straits east to the Mackenzie River, and thence south
through the Rocky Mountains—agree in the different shape of the bill and in the clearer ashiness
of the plumage as compared with specimens from the Eastern United States and especially from
Southeastern Alaska, and as compared with Scandinavian specimens of the European form. The
northwest coast birds and those from Europe agree in having a wash of dark olive in marked
contrast to the clear and almost uniform ashiness in many of the Rocky Mountain and North
Alaskan birds. The color of the adult males of the Northern Alaskan bird is like those from the
Eastern United States and Europe. The Kadiak birds and thence south to Oregon have a rich
shade of red in summer. A male from Sitka has the head, breast, avd rump bright scarlet. The
scarlet of a male from Kadiak—shot during the winter—is pale like some specimens from Enrope
and America in winter, so it is probable that in the matter of coloration alone there are no dis-
tinctive racial characters. We find, however, that differences of proportion are apparently suffi-
ciently constant for the discrimination of the several forms. The beak of the Kadiak bird is longer
and slenderer and less full, or swollen, on the sides than the birds from Northern Alaska, and the
under mandible is disproportionately heavy as compared with the other forms. The birds from
Northern Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and the Mackenzie River region have the bill much
inflated, and the tip of the upper mandible is not strongly decurved and lengthened as in Kadiak
specimens. There are two young birds in the first plumage, from Kadiak, which have a much
larger bill than a young bird in the same stage of plumage killed in Utah during the month of
September. The former also have more of a greenish-yellow shade on the head and rump. The
birds of the Eastern United States are recognizable as a rule from Rocky Mountain or Alaskan
specimens by their smaller and much less inflated beaks. Oregon specimens are very much like
those from Kadiak and Sitka in proportions and general appearance, but are larger, thus approach-
ing the Rocky Mountain form, which would indicate that it is along this portion of their range
that the two races intergrade.*

 

* Two races of the North American bird are recognized by Mr, Ridgway, in his Manual of North American Birds,
as P. euncleator canadensis and P. enucleator kodiaka, the latter being the race which Mr. Nelson suggested, but did not
name.—H. W. H. ,
172 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The series of measurements will show the differences in proportion upon which the races might

be based :
PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR.

 

 

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ae a Q. a
ae Se | ae a
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Locality. oe Ba a g | ss
2. 5 | 23) 3} 2 | g@
a 8 4 a z 2/2) 8
nae 3 3 Sat =
zal & E a a|a8 |e
Yukon and Mackenzie Rivers -...---..---------+- +--+ ----+--- 17 c 4. 66 4.21 91 52 395
DOizsevimecsteceeaa sive 16 Q 4. 57 4.14 91 52 9

   
 
  

0
Largest male... .--
Largest female ......-

 

As the largest dimensions of ; diffe i
1 aggregate these in the following list taken from the males -!......|....------ 4,75 4.33 | .94]) .58| .42
Smallest dimensions of the males are.........-2--- 2.00. \seeeee[eeeeeeeeee 4. 60 4.10 | .87] .50| .36
Largest dimensions of the females .......-...--.--------[s-e-ee[eeee ee eens 4.70 4.33 | .94] .55] .41
Smallest dimensions of the females.....-.....-----------|.----- fone eee eee 4, 40 4.00 | .87] .50] .37

The largest specimen in the Smithsonian collection is from
Montana, and Measmresi.a ce: sacs soccsecarcnecsacssnemaicaeias é 5. 00 4.40] .93 |) .55 | .42
A series from the Eastern States average... 5s J and 9 4.40 3.94] .90| .55] .37
A series from Alaska averaxe ..--..-..-------see ee eee eee eee 33 | gS and 9 4,61 4.18 | .91] .52] .39
The largest aggregate measurements from the Eastern States..|....-. o and 4.60 4.00 | .92| .59] .40
The smallest aggregate measurements from the Eastern States.|...... o and 4.15 3.70] .88| .52) .34

The average of the ten examples from the Hastern States given
above included an example from Racine, Wis., and another

  

from the Red River of the North.
These two examples measure respectively ......-......-|--.--- f =! - a : 12 e : Pe a
And are intermediate between the east coast birds and those
from the Rocky Mountain region. Eliminating these two
specimens from the Eastern States series, the average from
that region is as follows......-..--..-2+.--s2-2-c-ecceeeenenes 8} gd and 2 4, 36 3.89 | .90| .54] .87
Specimens from Kadiak Island and Sitka, Alaska, are identical,
and average as follOWS......-.. 00-6. e ee eee eee w eee e ence eee eee g and 9 4.40 3.74] .89| .60] .39
Maximum dimensions -- A 4. 50 3.80] .91{ .62| .40
Minimum dimensions. « 5.22.91 02% sccce cise cocci pease see 4.30 3.65] .88] .59| .38

A male and female from Camp Harney, Oregon, are very much
like Kadiak birds in general appearance, and also in size as 4.58 4.00 90 60 38
shown by the following measurements. ....-...------2- eee [eee eee § g 4.50 400 | 190} 1571 139

The Oregon birds differ from the Kadiak form in their larger
size, thus agreeing with the form found both north and south
in the Rocky Mountains.

The dimensions of a small series of European birds is shown
below, all of which are from Sweden

Largest measurements .........- f° fe * ‘
Smallest measurements....-.-------.2eee eee eee ee eee e ee 4,10 3.69} .88| .60| .36
The largest bird in this series is a female.

4.23 3.71) .89} .61) .37

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PYRRHULA CASSINI (Baird). Cassin’s Bullfinch.

The presence of this bird, as a member of the North American fauna, rests solely upon the
capture of a specimen at Nulato, on the Middle Yukon, June 10, 1867, by Mr. W. H. Dall. In the
Transactions of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, wherein are recorded the results of the orni-
thological work done during this expedition, Professor Baird describes this bird as a new species.
For some years thereafter nothing more was learned of it, but after a time there came a record
from the interior of Siberia, in the vicinity of Lake Baikal, where we now know the bird is a rather
common resident, and a considerable number of specimens have been obtained from there. As
no additional specimens have been secured in Alaska, notwithstanding the labors of several natural-
ists, we are forced to conclude that, strangely enough, the type-specimen of this species was an acci-
dental straggler, hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from its home. A record has been cited in
several instances of this bird’s occurrence in Belgium, but I am informed by Dr. Stejneger that this
record was based upon a female specimen of the ordinary coccinea; hence the range of this hand-
some species is confined, so far as known, to Eastern Siberia, the occurrence of the single specimen
noted above in northern Alaska being, apparently, quite accidental.

During my residence in Alaska I frequently described the bird to natives from Nulato,
and showed them a cut of it, and they declared, in repeated instances, that they knew the bird
and had found it nesting to the north of Nulato during the spring-time. This statement, however,
is very untrustworthy, as the natives very likely mistook it for the Pine Grosbeak or some other
bird. As still further indicating its scarcity in the Yukon region, 1 may mention that the bird
was carefully described to various fur traders and natives, and a large reward offered for its
BIRDS. 173

capture, but not a single individual was secured or reported as having been seen during my four
years’ residence in the Territory. It is to be hoped that more careful work in the interior may
result in finding it a regular inhabitant of the Territory, for its elegant coloration and the well-
known beautiful notes of all the birds of this genus render it a valuable and interesting member
of the bird-life of any region. ;

LOXIA CURVIROSTRA MINOR (Brehm). American Crossbill.

Along the southeastern coast of the Territory, in the vicinity of Sitka and the adjoining
regions, this is a rather common bird. North of the Alaskan Mountains, however, it has been
obtained only in a single instance; this was a male, taken by L. M. Turner in the vicinity of Saint
Michaels during the winter. It is an immature bird, with a mixed red and yellow plumage, and,
like all the specimens I have examined from Sitka and Kadiak, as well as Shoalwater Bay, Wash-
ington Territory, is very small as compared with birds from the Eastern United States and the
Rocky Mountains. Although a large number of the white-winged species were brought me from
various points on the Yukon, and others were obtained by myself in the interior, not a single Red
Cross-bill was seen, nor was it found by the Western Union Telegraph explorers; so its rarity in the
northern portion of the Territory is established. In the National Museum collection is a specimen
from Fort Rae which is differently colored from any other example in the entire series, It is of
a dark maroon color with a clear ashy suffasion on the back. There are two distinct dusky stripes
on the cheek, one on the upper edge of the ear-coverts, the other along the lower edge. The
lining of the wing is without the red tint, which appears in all the other specimens of true americana
and mexicana. The wings and tail are a pure sepia-brown, quite different from the others, and
the feathers show no red margins. The lower mandible is very much curved. This specimen is
noted in the History of North American Birds, and is certainly in very curious plumage. It
would not be surprising to find that it is a stray representative of the Northeastern Siberia race,
although it is possible that it is merely a remarkable individual variation of the ordinary bird.

This species, like several other hardy birds, attends to its nesting and the rearing of its young
during the most inhospitable part of the year. Commencing early in March, they continue the
duties of incubation through the frequently intense cold of their northern home with the same
success as the Whisky Jack and one or two other species. They are strange, wandering birds,
abundant in a locality at one season and disappearing again may be for years, to turn up again
as unexpectedly as they left. In the Old World it is represented by a closely-related form, which
in Asia extends as far south as the limits of the Palearctic region.

Middendorf observed it along the Yenesei above latitude 62° N., and flocks were seen at
Ivikulik early in October. It is recorded as tolerably common in Japan, also in Northern China,
where it is kept by the people as a cage-bird.

In describing the nesting habits of this bird in the north of Scotland, Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown
writes that the female is always on the nest while incubating, and is fed constantly by the male,
and that the young birds are found sometimes as early as, March 10. The size of the beak varies,
and the birds from Scotland are said to show a range reaching from variety americana to variety
pityopsittacus, or the heavy-beaked European form, answering closely to our mexicana. A young
female from Sweden is of a little lighter color than the American bird of the same plumage and sex.
The average length of sixteen European eggs is seven-eighths by five-eighths of an inch.

The half dozen Alaskan and northwest coast specimens of this Crossbill are very different in size
from the ordinary bird of the remainder of North America, and agree so uniformly among them-
selves that it would appear as though here was another northwest coast race. The small num-
ber of specimens, however, render it hazardous to venture a definite conclusion. Among the large
series of specimens in the National Museum collection from various parts of North America the
only specimens of the diminutive size of those from the northwest coast are two taken in New York
State. Should the diminutive size of the birds from the northwest coast prove to be uniform it may
be necessary to recognize them as a distinct race.*

 

*The Alaskan specimens here alluded to by Mr. Nelson agree with the small eastern examples to which Mr
Ridgway would restrict (Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., II, 105, 1884) the name L. americana.—H. W. H.
174 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The subjoined set of measurements will show the characters of these birds as exhibited in
series from various portions of tbeir North American range:

LOXIA MINOR.

 

 

   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

a8 ee: 3
52 . 2 3 =
eg $ Ss c=

= 5 as S5 43 eo.

Ae Localit; 54 28 2 e S 2

ae vy &2 | 62) 3 5 4
ég é oo sn 3 a 3
38 eigie |S |ele |e
aS A |a |e a a/a@i4a

Washington Terrivory..-----..------------ Mar...| ¢& 3. 42 2, 22 70 . 61 35

Fort Crook, California ... -| Mar.. ov 3.40 2.30 67 67 38

Saint Michaels, Alaska -| Mar...1 of 3. 20 2,00 63 57 33

New York cece -ccece ewses| Mar...| 3.40 2.25 61 52 32

Massachusetts. -| Mar.. cs 3. 50 2.31 .70 70 42

Maryland 0:14:00 -j0sees -| Mar c 3.54 2.24 . 69 70 40

Fort Rae, British America. -| Mar o 3.55 2.20 . 64 62 38

.| Sitka, Alaska............ Cet s nslscecies 3.25 2.45 - 63 52 .o
Kadiak, Alas karossos csessaeteecenestessees OCb wadlewsers \ 3.20 2. 00 . 62 - 50 34
AVOTAQO ..ceceeeeeeeeeee eee arveasa:[bostane: bossa | 3. 38 | 2.22| .65| .60| .36
ALASKAN EXAMPLES OF AMERICANA.

Kadiak; Alaskan... -.o0cicbnmosenndieeeetee Oct ... g 3. 25 2. 00 - 60 - 53 = 35

cll mcrae do ..-.... -.| Oct . 3. 28 2. 05 . 60 -50 -33

.| Sitka, Alaska........ --| Oct -..| 9 3.30 2.15 61 -53 - 32

.| Saint Michaels, Alaska .....-.-..-. --| Oct..-| of 3. 20 2.00 . 62 .55 2
Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory....| Oct ...|...-.. 3. 20 2.00 . 60 - 56 .3L
BV OLALG oasis cisidian sorirrcoseweectewca esl ae gaacis| sommes 3. 25 2.05 61 - 53 -32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

68441 | Arizona. Oct .-.| o 4.00 2. 55 73 77 46
79574 do Oct...) o 4.00 2. 50 72 79 48
69462 do Oct - cs 8. 92 2.61 -70 76 46
69463 |. -do. Oct. -| ¢ 4.05 2. 60 71 18 45
83370 | Colorado Oct ...| o 3.70 2.30 70 75 42

  

 

 

Average. es se vill asidinbicise | eas areas 3.93 2.51 -71 17 ~45

 

LOXIA CURVIROSTRA.

 

T1010 | Hate piyssen scot Sa esccee, soeweesiniecs Oct ...| o& 3. 80 2.40 . 68 275 41
17011 | ....-. UD ais opercle aise ies bns Giz suteafoieheia ajecslz mic eeroenaset Oct ..-| 9 3. 82 2.15 -70 71 44

 

LOXIA BIFASCIATA.

 

34129 | -Stockhol tts was2<e crs eneg acca cinenenws edceies Oct -.-| & 3.70 2.55 . 60 .70 43
34132 |...--. DOS especie enemetinmanmannse Semces seis Oct ...| 9 3. 60 2. 52 . 62 - 69 41

 

LOXIA LEUCOPTERA.

 

Now Jersey seseeccseeececeewareseescaane ce Oct ...
-| Philadelphia... .

3.50 2. 60 + 63 61 82
-| Alaska (Anvik River)

c

fo _ 2 3
Oct .-- ¢ 3.55 2.51 62 - G4 235

Ss

    

 

 

 

 

 

ALD Oo cho end ciais id che slelpamamee aca Oct... 3. 60 2.6 >
Great Slave Lake, British America ...__... Oct... a5] 261] les onl 88
Ay arapobiaie mice a taateeceic neh A oe eeua ula “abl 257] 163] .0a! a5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LoX!IA LEUCOPTERA Gmel. White-winged Crossbill.

Although the preceding species is thus far known only as an excessively rare visitant in the
northern portion of the Territory, the present bird is found in the greatest abundance wherever trees
occur to afford it shelter. Itis in even greater numbers than the Pine Grosbeak, and shares with
the latter its range. It is more familiar than the Grosbeak, frequently coming low down among the
smaller growth, and it is a common sight to see parties of them swinging about in every conceiva-
BIRDS. 175

ble position from the twigs on the tops of the cotton-woods or birch trees, where the birds are
busily engaged in feeding upon the buds. They pay no heed to a passing party of sleds except,
perhaps, that an individual will fly down to some convenient bush, whence he curiously examines
the strange procession, and, his curiosity satisfied or confidence restored, back he goes to his com-
panions and continues his feeding. When fired at they utter chirps of alarm and call to each
other with a long, sweet note, something similar to that of the ordinary Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).
They keep up acoustant cheeping repetition of this note when feeding in parties, and if one of their
number is shot the others approach closer and closer to the hunter, and gaze with mingled curi-
osity and sympathy upon their fluttering companion.

It winters through its range within the tree-limit and was found in the Hoasun’s Bay country
up to the twenty-eighth parallel of north latitude by Richardson, and there are several records of
its occurrence in South Greenland. Dall states that they are not found about Nulato during the
summer; but, from their retiring habits during this season, they were undoubtedly overlooked,
since they surely breed throughout the timbered portions of the northern part of Alaska. On
the coast of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound itis found merely as a very rare straggler, mainly
during the autumn and spring, at which times occasional wandering parties or solitary birds oceur.

Reinhardt records five Greenland examples of this bird, and one of its peculiarities is its appa-
rent fondness for ranging to the eastward over the Atlantic.

Kumlien took a young bird on board the Florence, August 15, 1877, in the bay of Newfound-
land. In the List of Occurrence of North American Birds in Europe,* Dalgleish gives seven in-
stances, which he appears to cousider authentic, of this bird’s occurrence in Great Britain, all be-
tween 1838 and 1870. He quotes Gray as authority for the statement that the late Dr. Dewin, of
Glasgow, when crossing the Atlantic some years ago, saw a flock of these birds 600 miles off New-
foundland, flying east before a westerly wind, and ten or twelve of the birds were captured. He
adds, however, that the numerous Swedish records of nearly a dozen instances are not authenti-
cated. It appears to be limited mainly to the eastern portion of North America, reaching the west
coast in Alaska north of the Alaskan Mountains, but in the Western United States it very rarely
reaches the Rocky Mountains.

In its variations of plumage there are a number of interesting special phases found in the col-
lection. In finely-plumaged birds an irregular black band across the back unites the scapulars, and
the red bars range from dingy to a clear bright rose-color, approaching carmine in some specimens.
One bird from Fort Yukon, February 16, 1876, has a rich blending of saffron yellow and rose-
tipped feathers over the entire body, the colors becoming especially rich upon the throat, breast,
and rump, the yellow of these parts becoming a richlemon. An adult, taken May 13, 1876, has the
edges of the feathers worn so that the greenish-yellow shade is partly obsolete, and the dark shaft-
markings of the feathers are thus brought out and rendered prominent. One adult, a male
specimen from the Northwestern United States, is dull scarlet, with a slight metallic luster in cer-
tain lights. A full-grown young male from Fort Yukon, April 29, 1877, has the feathers above
and below with broad, dark, longitudinal shaft-streaks of blackish-brown. On the crown and
middle of the back the dark shaft-streaks are heavier than on the rest of the body. The feathers on
the crown, neck, and throat are edged with grayish-white. Those of the back, rump, and upper tail-
coverts are edged with a dingy fulvous; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts with a pale yellow-
ish gray edging. The white markings of wings are shaded with yellowish. Wing and tail feathers
edged with grayish white. Bill and feet pale. Another young bird, taken by Kumlien on the
Florence, as before mentioned, is older than the one just described, and shows the effect of wearing.
It is very dark and almost black above, being almost uniform blackish brown on the neck, crown,
and back, with ashy-gray edgings. Rump lighter, owing to the broader yellowish-white edging
to feathers. Below, the feathers are marked uniformly with sharp narrow shaft-markings, with
ashy-gray edgings. The bill is larger and longer than in the young Alaskan specimen. The wing-
bars are pure white and there is no trace of yellowish shading excepton the rump. In Bonaparte
and Schlegel’s Mon des Laxiens is recorded and figured a specimen from the Himalayas said to
belong to this species, but it shows certain differences which would indicate, in addition to the
extreme extralimital range, that this bird should be referred rather to some Himalayan species.

 

*Bull. N. 0. C.
176 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The Loxia bifasciata of Europe and Siberia is very much like leucoptera, but differs in having a
larger and more robust form throughout. The red of the male is dull scarlet, in contrast to the
rose-red and purplish-red of leucoptera. In its stout proportions it resembles curvirostra, while in
some of the color-markings, especially in the female, it resembles leucoptera, so that it appears to
unite several of the characteristic marks of the two species and to merit an intermediate position
between the plain and the banded winged species.

LEUCOSTICTE GRISEONUCHA (Brandt). Aleutian Leucosticte.

On the Aleutian Islands from ene extreme to the other is found this large and beautiful finch,
extending its habitat thence north to include the Seal Island group and the small island of Saint
Matthews, still further to the north. East of the Aleutian chain it reaches Kadiak Island.. Upon
all these islands, with the exception of Saint Matthews and the Fur Seal group, it is a permanent
resident.

For a knowledge of its habits we are indebted mainly to the observations of Messrs. Dall and
Elliott. The latter saw a few on the island of Saint Matthews August 9, 1874, and this forms our
only record from that point. On the Seal Island group the same observer found it abundant, and
tells us nearly all we have concerning its breeding habits. We learn that on these strange islets
the “ Pahtoshkie,” as it is termed by the creole inhabitants of the island—

Nests in a chink or crevice of the cliffs, building a warm, snug home for its little ones, of dried grasses and moss,
very neatly put together, and then lined with a few superfluous feathers. The eggs vary in number from three to six;
there generally is four. They are pure white with a delicate rosy blush, when fresh, and measure 0.97 by 0.67 of an
inch. The young break the shell at the expiration of twenty or twenty-two days’ incubation, the labor of which is
not shared by the male; he, however, brings food to his mate, singing as most birds do of his kind, highly elated by
the prospects of paternity. The chicks, at first, are sparsely covered with a sprinkling of dark-gray down, and in
two or three weeks gain their feathers, fitting them for flight, though they do not acquire the ash and black of the
head, while the chocolate-brown on the back is rich, and the rosy tints of their feather-tips turn to crimson. -These
bright hues of adolescence do not appear until they are one year old; between the old birds, however, there is no
outward dissimilarity in size and coloration, the male and female being exactly alike. They feed upon various seeds
and insects, as well as the Jarvis which swarm on the killing-grounds. They are fearless and confiding, fluttering in
the most familiar manner around the village huts. In the summer of 1873 a pair built their nests and reared a brood
under the eaves of the old Greek church, that tottered on its rotten foundations, at St. George.

This bird has no song, but utters a low, mellow chirp. It seems to pair permaneitly, aud
never assembles in flocks. Dall adds that it has no song at any season, but a clear chirp-like
weet-a-weet-a-reet-weet. He reports it as on the wing a great part of the time, avoiding the ground,
but darting rapidly in a series of ascending and descending curves, now springing on the broad
top of some umbelliferous plant, now alighting on the ledge of a perpendicular bluff, jumping
from point to point, seemingly delighted at its own agility. The nest which he found on the
Aleutian Islands was in a small hollow on one of the ledges, provided with a few straws and bits
of moss. The eggs are deposited in May, and in August the young are fully-fledged. He considers
the birds as almost wholly gramnivorous, but found several beetles in the crop of one. At Una-
laska he found it especially numerous, and on May 24 took its nest from a crevice in a rocky bank
on the shore of Captain’s Harbor. The structure was of grass, very neatly woven together, and
lined with fine grass and a few feathers. It contained five eggs, newly laid, and was about 12
feet above the beach. The birds were found singly or in pairs frequenting the grassy banks and
rocky bluffs near the shore. It was not found at elevated points on the mountains.

During my residence at Unalaska, in May and June, 1877, I saw but a single individual of
this species, the last of May, as it was fluttering from point to point along the face of a high cliff,
at such a distance that it escaped my shot and disappeared over the brow of the precipice. I spent
considerable time searching for them in every suitable location, from my arrival up to the date of
leaving—the Ist of June—but none were to be found; yet only a few seasons before they had been
found numerous by Mr. Dall, over exactly the same ground—an additional illustration of the fa-
miliar fact that a bird may be numerous at a place in one season and the next finds that locality
without a single example. Ou my return to the Aleutian Islands, the last of September, 1881, up
to our leaving, on October 4, of the same season, I again made search for this finch, but with the
same lack of success which attended my previous efforts.
BIRDS. 177

A single specimen of this bird is recorded from Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, June 1, 1862,
but this reference undoubtedly belongs to littoralis. Mr. Ridgway is in¢lined to consider this bird
a well-defined species, and to separate it from the form to which it has been referred, claiming
that the two do not intergade, as has been supposed. This supposition may be true, but it is diffi-
cult to definitely settle the matter until more is known of the geographical range of the two. L.
arctoa has been ascribed to the Aleutian Islands, but apparently upon insufficient evidence,
although Bonaparte and Schlegel, in their work (doe. cit.), state that they have seen specimens of
this bird which were killed upon the islands. It was recorded by Steller as one of the birds he
found upon Bering Island, and it is well known from the Kurile Islands and the coast of Kam-
chatka,

On the Commander Islands Stejneger found grisconucha resident, and most numerous on Copper
Island, where they frequented the rugged coast-line. This observer notes them as a shore-loving
species during the breeding season, but when the young are able to follow the parents lead them
inland along the streams in search of insects. He shot full-fledged young on July 7, and adds
that many pairs raise two broods in a season.

It winters in Southeastern Siberia, frequenting the vicinity of villages, and becomes very
familiar, approaching the houses for its food. A young griseonucha, about two-thirds grown, obtained
on Saint George Island, on July 12, by Elliott, has the entire body fuscous-brown or umber-brown.
A dingy rusty wash on back and breast. The head may be called a dark umber with a grayish
wash. The outer edges of secondaries and wing-coverts pale rose. Tertials edged with rusty.
Wing and tail feathers dark brown-edged with a narrow pale border. The basil half of feathers on
body dull, pale plumbeous, which shows through on the abdomen, and less distinctly on other
parts of the body, giving a peculiar shade to the general tint. A full-grown bird of this species,
in this plumage, is figured with an adult in Bonaparte and Schlegel. (Loc. cit.)

Toward the close of the last century, Sauer, a member of Billings’s Expedition, writes that the
Unalaskan Aleuts prized this bird for its feathers, which they used for ornamental purposes on

their clothing.
LEUCOSTICTE TEPHROCOTIS LITTORALIS (Baird). Hepburn’s Leucosticte.

The types of this form came from Sitka, where they were obtained during the explorations of
the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition, and the original description is contained in a com-
munication by Professor Baird in the Transactions of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, p. 318.
Since then specimens have been obtained from Sitka, Kadiak, British Columbia, Wyoming, and
various portions of the central Rocky Mountain region, as far south as Colorado. We learn from
Mr. Ridgway, in his monograph of this genus,* that littoralis occurs in winter with tephrocotis
throughout the latter’s southward range, the abundance of the former increasing to the westward.
‘“ We have seen it in the winter plumage from Kadiak and Sitka of the Alaskan coast, from Fort
Simpson, British Columbia, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, while it is known to extend in very
severe winters as far southward as the parallel of 39° in the Sierra Nevada and contiguous ranges
to the eastward. On the Cascade Mountains J. K. Lord found them in October.”

In summer plumage this race has been obtained only in Colorado, where Mr. Aiken shot
it from flocks of tephrocotis as they were passing to the northward in the spring. From the fact
that it has been found during winter in the northwest, from the island of Kadiak southward, it is
exceedingly probable that the breeding ground of this race is the coast system of mountain ranges
of Southeastern Alaska and British Columbia, possibly extending southward to the alpine sum-
mits of the Cascades of Washington Territory and Oregon. Mr. Ridgway further states that a
series of eleven winter specimens in the National Museum collection, representing the “ campestris”
style, forms a connection between littoralis and tephrocotis. On Kadiak Island littoralis and
griseonucha occur in company, and it,is possible that further study, in this and the adjoining region,
may show that the two forms intergrade. For a most complete and satisfactory treatment of
this genus those interested are referred to Mr. Ridgway’s monograph, previously cited. The
Kadiak specimens, obtained in February, are indistinguishable in general coloration from the

 

* Bull. U. 8. Geol. and Geog. Surv., I, No. 2, second series, 1875, p. 62.
S. Mis. 156 23

 
178 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

specimens of griseonucha obtained at the same time, except that they are smaller size and have
lighter chocolate tints. A typical specimen of this form is in the National Museum collection
from Gilmer, Wyo., sent in with a number of tephrocotis. The breeding habitat and distinctive
habits of this species, if it possess any, are as yet totally unknown.

ACANTHIS HORNEMANNII EXILIPES (Coues). Hoary Redpoll (Esk. O-kwikh-ta-
ghitk).

This is the prevailing species of the genus throughout Northern Alaska, where it occurs in great
numbers. Its habits and range are shared by the common Redpoll, and the two are almost indis-
tinguishable, excepting for the differences in coloration. Their notes, nesting-sites, nest, and eggs
areindistinguishable. Both forms are summer and winter residents, making a partial migration into
the interior during the severe weather of winter. The series obtained by me contains both forms
from various points along the Yukon from the sea to the British boundary line. They are usually
found in parties of varying size comprising both forms, although, owing to the greater abundance
of exilipes, parties composed wholly of it are found at times. It is found on the Commander
Islands in limited numbers during the winter.

Young ecilipes, taken at Saint Michaels in July, have the bill dark horn-color; feet pale in
young specimens, but in full-fledged birds the feet and tarsus are dark horn-color. The feathers on
the top of head, back, and rump, sides of neck, breast, and body each with a shaft-streak cf dull
blackish-brown, and feathers of crown and rump edged with more or less asby or grayish, and in
some cases the gray extends down the middle of the back. Jar-coverts, edges of dorsal, and
scapular-feathers buff, or dull fulvous-brownish. The two wing-bars and tertiaries are edged with
a lighter shade of buff ; edges of primaries and rectrices grayish, washed more or less heavily with
a fulvous shade; the abdomen ashy-white; chin occupied by a concealed patch of sooty-brown
feathers with a dull white wash; there are black shaft-streaks on the throat and sides of neck, the
feathers edged with dull grayish-white washed with more or less of the fulvous shade. Very young
birds are darker than those full-fledged, and show much less grayish-white on the crown and ramp.

The nests vary from 1} inches in height by 3 inches broad to 24 inches high by 5inches broad.
The central cavity is sometimes shallow and sometimes deep, and is usually more or less warmly
lined with ptarmigan-feathers and the cottony down from willows and other plants. The eggs
vary from three to five in number, and are light-blue in color, with an occasional shade of green.
They are variously marked, some being thickly covered with fine pale reddish-brown or rusty-
brown specks, much more numerous about the large end. Others are sparsely dotted here and
there with fine brownish spots or purplish-ashy markings, which become more numerous about the
large end in the form of a ring of straggling irregular dark markings, much smaller and less de-
cided than the irregular markings of an oriole’s egg, though resembling the latter. In one instance,
however, these dark-brown marks are very distinct and are very much like the eggs mentioned.

Dr. Brewer characterizes the eggs of this bird as pale bluish-white. Those I have seen, how-
ever, are decidedly blue or bluish-green, which color is found in all American specimens, except,
perhaps, such as are much faded by exposure to light after being blown.

A large series of eggs, consisting of thirty-four specimens from Saint Michaels, measure as
follows:

ACANTHIS EXILIPES.

 

.70 by .52 | .70 by .51 | .71 by .52 | .67 by .54 | .70 by . 50
.70 by .51 | .69 by .51 | .70 by 152 “69 by 252 “71 by 80
. 64 by .50 | . 67 by .52 | .70 by .51 | .70 by .51 | 165 by .50

 

 

 

 

Largest, .73 by .52. Smallest, .64 by .50. Average, .69 by .51.

Dr. Brewer gives the measurements of an egg from Greenland referable to hornemanni as .75
by .60 of an inch.
BIRDS. 179

The habits of this species are included in the description of the following bird, as they are
indistinguishable. Be it remembered, however, that exilipes is the prevailing form at Saint Mich-
aels, and the observations refer mainly to it.

AGCANTHIS LINARIA (Linn.). Redpoll (Esk. O-kwikh-td-ghtk.)

This species is found in Alaska in smaller numbers than the preceding. On the southeast-
ern coast of the Territory, including the Kadiak and Sitkan region, the present bird is found to
the exclusion of the other, as also to the south along the coast to Washington Territory and Brit-
ish Columbia, where Mr. Lord found it resident. Taken at Cook’s Inlet on July 1, on August
31 at Chamisso Island, Kotzebue Sound, by Bean. In Kamchatka it is the common breeding
form, and on the Commander Islands it is the most common form in winter. It is not consid-
ered by Stejneger to be a summer resident there.

This and the closely-allied species commence to nest in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, even
as early as May 22, and in 1878, before the ground was free from snow, and while the sea and
smali streams were still covered with ice, we found a nest of this bird cunningly placed in a cavity
in a stout branch projecting from a log of drift-wood, which a high tide, many years before, had
stranded on the bare tundra several miles from the sea. In the bottom of the shallow cavity, to
which the bird gained access by a small knot-hole, was placed a compact structure of fine straw
and grass, lined with ptarmagin-feathers and containing three eggs. The log was from 20 to 25
feet in length, and while a native sat at the farther end the female entered the nest, the male keep-
ing close by and continually uttering his cheerful notes, as if to assure his partner of his presence

A pair of these birds built their nest early the same season within the shelter afforded.
by my inverted kyak, as it lay upoa the staging close by the house, and nests were found all about
in bushes, or tufts of grass, indifferently, according to the locality. The material used by them is
as varied as the sites chosen, and appears to consist of such material as comesfirst tohand. One,
for instance, is composed entirely of an irregular mass of fine dry twigs with avery few ptarmigan-
feathers for lining; another, is a fine, compact, cup-shaped structure of dry, coarse grass, warmly
lined with a finer material of the same, united with feathers and the cotton obtained from willows
and other plants.

It has been recorded from the Aleutian Islands, at Unalaska in E.lis’s voyage, and this is the
only record from those islands. To the north I found it and evxilipes on both shores of Bering Sea
to the Arctic. On the Alaskan coast the two were common about Kotzebue Sound, exilipes,
however, being the predominating species. Inthe vicinity of East Cape and adjoining portions of
the Siberian coast the two forms occur, exilipes being in the majority there, as it is on our shore.

The first nests are built early in spring, as noted, and from the middle of May until the last of
June and first of July they are seen but rarely in the vicinity of the houses. After about the Ist of
July, however, they come trooping about, young and old, in large parties, with great confidence and
a peculiar pertness, taking possession of the premises and using the roofs and fences for convenient
perches, making excursious thence to whatever point appears likely to yield food, or chasing each
other playfully about. In spring they are beautiful objects, with their bright rosy hues and
fluffy plumage. On warm sunshiny days during April they come familiarly upto the very windows
and doors, and peer about with an odd mixture of confidence and curiosity, examining everything,
and scarcely deigning to move aside as the people pass back and forth. By the 8th of June their
young are frequently hatched, and by the 1st of July are fully fledged. All through July and
August they are extremely abundant, but in September the number commences to diminish,
until toward the end of September the majority are gone, and but comparatively few are seen in
the vicinity of the coast until. spring approaches. Flocks of considerable size, however, unite at this
season and remain about the country, frequenting the bushy tracts on the hill-sides until into
November, when all but a few of the hardiest leave. The migrants mainly flock to the interior,
where they brave the severest weather. The last of March and early in April they reappear on
the sea-coast and make their first visits to the houses. Their movements at this season are rather
erratic. They sometimes appear in considerable numbers and remain permanently, and again
remain for a few days or hours, and then disappear for several weeks.
180 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS (Liun.). The Snowflake (Esk. Am-d-go-hli-gik).

The Snowflake is a well-known summer bird in all the circumpolar regions, and none of
the various Arctic expeditions have extended their explorations beyond the points where this hand-
some species is found. It chooses indifferently the bleak shores of the Arctic islands encircled by
an icy sea, or the warmer shores to the south as far as the Aleutian Islands, and nearly as far on
the opposite Siberian shore of Bering Sea, Although it rears its young far from the usual haunts
of man, it passes to the south and is one of the most familiar and well-known birds through
the Northern States. But few remain during this season in Alaska, and these mainly on
the Aleutian chain and the southeast shore of the Territory, where the climate is comparatively
mild. To the north of this the intense cold and violent storms permit the presence of only a small
number of the most hardy. Before the winter is fairly broken—by the 6th of April—they com-
mence to return to the north, and are found onthis date at Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon,
and thence they advance slowly with the returning sun until during this month they have regained
nearly all their summer haunts within the Territory. Along the north coast of Asia, Nordenskjold
mentions finding it at nearly every stopping-place of the Vega during his famous voyage, and
notes its arrival af Tapkan, on the Siberian Arctic shore, northwest of Bering Straits, on April 23.
During the summer of 1881, while with the Corwin, I found it common on the Arctic coast of
Alaska to Point Barrow, along the entire northeast Siberian coast, and again on Herald and
Wrangel Islands.

Elliott found it resident on the Seal Islands in Being Sea, and informs us that—

This bird builds an elegant and elaborate nest of soft, dry mossand grass, and lines it warmly again with a thick
bed of feathers. It is placed on the ground beneath some heavy lava shelf or at the foot of an enormous bowlder.
Five eggs are usually laid, about the 1st of June. They are an inch long by two-thirds broad, of a grayish or
greenish white, spotted sometimes all ovir, sometimes at or around the larger end only, with various shades of rich
dark brown, purple-brown, and palerneutral tints. Sometimes the whole surface is quite closely clouded with diffuse
reddish-brown markings. Upon the female the entire labor of the three weeks’ incubation required for the hatching
of her brood devolves. During this period the male is assiduous in bringing food; and at frequent intervals sings his
simple but sweet song, rising, as he begins it, high up in the air, as the skylark does, and at the end of the strain drops
suddenly tothe ground again. * * * The food of this species consists of the various seeds and insects peculiar to
the rough, higher ground it frequents, being especially fond of the small coleopterous beetles found on the island. * * *
I¢ cannot be called at any season of the year gregarious, likeits immediate relative, the Lapland longspur, with which
itis associated on these sea-girt islands.

Dall found it resident throughout the Aleutian Islands, and on June 20 and 23, 1873, he found
two nests, one with five fresh eggs and the other with four, much incubated. These nests were
built on low grassy banks on Attu Island, one of the extreme westernmost of the Aleutian
chain. At Unalaska, in the eastern section of these islands, he found it frequenting the mountains in
summer, and only approaching the shore when the heavy snows rendered the heights uninhabitable.
The Snow Bunting is also found breeding on all the other islands of Bering Sea and in mountain-
ous localities along the entire shore-line to that portion of the Arctic coast north of Kotzebue
Sound; here it frequents the low, flat, pebbly shores and breeds close to the sea-level. In pro-
portion to the distance south of the Arctic regions it is found, it resorts to higher and higher
altitudes in summer.

At Point Barrow Mr. Murdoch found the Snow Bunting to be a common summer resident,
arriving from the 9th to the 16th of April; breeding in early June and moving south again the
last of September. Upon the Commander Islands, according to Stejneger, it is resident, and
in winter frequents the shore at low tide, and feeds in company with Coues’s Sandpiper. The
first broods are hatched on these islands about the 1st of June, and a second brood is under way
in July. On the Shumagins Bean found young just able to fly on the 16th of July, and Turner
reports them as common residents on the Near Islands. Sauer notes their arrival at Unalaska
about the end of September.

About Plover Bay, on the high mountains rising abruptly from the water, I found it com-
mon and breeding the last of June, 1881, and on June 24, the same season, it was also found in
fine breeding’ plumage at the southwest cape of Saint Lawrence Island, where we landed from
the Corwin. At the base of this bluff were the ruined huts of the famine-stricken Eskimo, and
BIRDS. 181

the steep hill-side was studded with the glistening skulls of the victims. Every large depression
held a heavy snow-bank, and the tops of the hills were gray with masses of lichen-covered rocks or
a stunted vegetation. On the summit overlooking this desolate scene were two walrus-hide huts,
sheltering a few survivors of a village which contained nearly two hundred inhabitants a little
over a year before. As we made our way up to these huts we were greeted by the hard rattling
chir-r-r of. several Snow Buntings as they flew from place to place before us. Their note was dif-
ferent from any that I have ever heard them utter during their winter visit to the south, and was
one of protest or alarm, as shown by the uneasiness of the birds as they flitted overhead. We
suspected they were nesting from their movements, and asked three or four native children,
who ran to meet us, if they knew where the birds had their eggs. In an instant a broad smile
illuminated each grimy countenance, and away they scampered, each eager to be the first to reach
the spot and gain the prize. Just back of the huts, about 100 yards distant on the hill-side, and
sheltered by a slight tussock, was placed a warm closely-made structure of fine grass stems inter-
woven throughout with feathers and the cottony seed-tops of plants. The central depression was
built uniformly hike the rest of the nest, and the entire structure measured 2} inches high by
44 inches across the top, and 24 inches across the central depression, which latter was 14 inches
deep, and contained one fresh egg. Its ground color is dull grayish-white with a tint of bluish ;
over this is spread an abundance of reddish-brown markings, in the form of dots and irregular
spots, which are larger and form a ring around the large end of theegg. The nest was taken, and
the female was shot, while she hovered restlessly about, uttering her sharp chirring note. As we
returned slowly toward the shore, the male flew about us continually, uttering a loud plaintive
call-note like the syllables “p-chir,” prolonged at the end, the entire time of our stay in the neigh-
borhood. It exhibited the greatest distress, and appeared to be perfectly aware of our having
the female in our possession, for the vicinity of its rifled nest was deserted, and it followed us
over 100 yards, circling about and keeping close by, perfectly regardless of any danger to itself.

Later in the season, during the latter half of July and first of August, the young Snow Buntings
were found fully-fledged and accompanying the parents wherever we landed on tbe shore of the
Arctic either on the American or Asiatic coasts. It was also seen on Wrangel and Herald Islands,
and on the former, two pair of adults with their young broods greeted us as we set foot upon that
previously unknown shore. When these Buntings prepare for their northward flight in spring
in Northern Illinois they gather in flocks, and I once heard a flock utter a sweet warbling song in
a low musical chorus as they were perched in the tree-tops on a street in the city of Chicago. In
the far north, however, I have never heard this, and can only recall the rolling call-note previously
mentioned, and therichclear and rather hard song which is uttered by the male during the mating
season and for a short time afterwards.

Hearne tells us that the Snowflake may be kept alive for a long time in a cage, and.if placed
near a canary learns the song of the latter and sings both winter and summer, thus showing that
the bird possesses considerable musical ability as well as power of mimicry.

At Plover Bay, East Siberia, I heard it uttering a loud clear whistling song from the jutting
points of the rocks on the hill-side. The song consisted of a few short notes, which were repeated
at intervals of a few minutes in a clear wild tone, striking the ear harmoniously amid the sur-
rounding wilderness of bare, rocky, mountain slopes.

Along the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea it is not an abundant breeding species, but a pair or
two may be found at almost any point where the coast is rugged and high land is found in the
vicinity. It arrives there during the last half of April and lingers until winter sets in.

At Cumberland Gulf, on the west coast of Davis’s Strait, its arrival is recorded by Kumlien
as occurring on the 1st of May, and the first eggs were obtained there by him June 20. It nests
there in the fissures in the rocks and among the Eskimo graves and cairns, and one nest of
this bird has been found constructed in the cavity of an Eskimo skull. All accounts agree in
stating that it is a bulky structure of grass, lined with feathers, and containing from four to six eggs,

During the Nares Expedition Captain Feilden found a Snow Bunting’s nest June 24, in lati-
tude 82° north. The nest contained four eggs and was within 20 feet of a Snowy Owl’s nest. It
was made of grass and lined with the owl’s feathers. Another nest was lined with the fine wool
of the Musk Ox.
182 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

There is avery decided amount of individual variation among the specimens of this bird in my
collection, which is composed mainly of winter birds. This variation appears to be, however, as
stated, purely individual, since a comparison between birds of this species from various localities
on the two continents shows no geographical difference. The range of individual variation ap.
pears much greater than is shown among the allied species, and I append notes of some of the most
remarkable states of plumage. Its fondness for wandering from place to place is exhibited in the
north, as well as south, and in summer, except during the breeding season, it is found scattered
everywhere throughout its northern range. The parents and young wander restlessly wherever
their inclination leads, until, at the approach of winter, they band together in parties of various
sizes and betake themselves to the south.

One specimen, a female, obtained at Saint Michaels, April, 1879, is pure white over the entire
body, with the exception only of the tips of the primaries for an inch from their ends. This part
of the primaries is jet black, mainly on the inner web, with a narrow edge of white at the tip, but
the shaft and most of the outer web are white. The tail is pure white without a trace of black.
The bases of the feathers are not black, as is usually the case with this bird, but are dark sooty-
plumbeous. Feet black, bill pale. This bird is not an albino, as is shown by the black wing tips,
which have much the same color arrangement as is exhibited in the gulls. Another specimen
somewhat similar has the tips of the two middle tail-feathers black and black-shaft lines on the tips
of the other tail-feathers. It has also black wing-tips and black tips to the tertials with the bases
of these feathers white. The crown and back are washed with rusty. This bird was taken at
Unalaska Island in January.* The third curious plumage shown in a bird taken at Saint Michaels
in February, 1879, has the four outer tail-feathers white, with the other half of the shaft black.
The ceutral tail-feathers are very dark brown, edged with white, with the basal parts of webs,
excepting the two middle feathers, white. The wings are dark brown and colored much as usual,
but the dark bases of the feathers on the back terminate in long narrow pointed shaft-lines edged
with dull, yellowish white, which gives the back a striated appearance of brownish lines and
yellowish-white interspaces.

A female taken at Saint Michaels August 24, 1879, is in full winter dress, and a fine series
from Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, taken early in April, shows conclusively that this bird
does not pass through a spring moult, but that the rusty edges or tips of feathers wear away and
leave exposed the beautifully contrasted black and white characteristic of the breeding birds.

The female—parent of the egg described from Saint Lawrence Island—though much worn,
has the feathers still edged with dingy yellowish on the head and grayish-white on the back,
and thus appears much duller than the summer male. The rapid wearing away of the feathers
in spring is similar to the process undergone by the fur-bearing mammals at that season—the rays
of the sun, with the fierce reflection from the snow, bleaches the dark color of the winter fur to a
much lighter shade, and renders the ends of the hair so brittle and harsh that by the last of March
and first of April the skins of the foxes and other fur-bearing animals are worthless. Animals
killed at this season show that the hair becomes shorter and shorter, by abrasion, as the season
advances. Compared with the fine, glossy fur of winter, the difference is very striking, and would
seem to show that shedding had taken place were we not aware of the actual cause.

It is to be supposed that the feathers of birds, when the breeding season approaches, receive
additional coloring matter which vivify the tints of the plumage, as is best exemplified in the
gulls, which are rose-tinted in spring.

PLECTROPHENAX HYPERBOREUS Ridgw. McKay’s Snowflake.

This species was described in Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vii, June 11, 1884, p. 68,
from specimens taken by Mr. Nelson at Saint Michaels, and by Mr. McKay at Nushagak, Bristol
Bay. At both localities the bird appears to be a migrant only. Recently Mr. Townsend has found
the bird breeding in abundance on Hall Island, Bering Sea, and the species is likely to prove an
insular form, with its breeding- ground restricted to this and perhaps the neighboring islands of Saint

* The specimens here alluded to by Mr. Nelson, with others taken by McKay at Nushagak, were subsequently
described by Mr. Ridgway as the P. hyperboreus.
BIRDS. 183

Matthews and Pinnacle. It being an insular form its summer habitat might be supposed to include
Saint Lawrence Island, to the north of Saint Matthews. Such, however, is not the case. The
Plectrophenax of this island is known to be true nivalis. The form resident on the Prybilov Islands,
to the south, is distinct from either of the above, and has recently been described by Mr. Ridgway
as a race of hyperboreus (P. hyperboreus townsendi). H. W. H.

CALCARIUS LAPPONICUS (Linn.). Laplavd Longspur. (Esk. Tik-t-chi-ling-tk.)

Like the preceding species, the Lapland Longspur is a widely-spread circumpolar’ bird, whose
presence is recorded from nearly every point visited by explorers along the shores of the Arctic
coast. It is found breeding in Iceland, Greenland, and on nearly all those islands lying in the
icy sea just to the north of the continental mainlands. In the territory covered by the present
paper itis an extremely abundant and familiar bird, found, perhaps, more numerously upon the
mainland, but also known from the various islands of Bering Sea. It was found by Dallas a
summer resident on the western portion of the Aleutian chain; it was also found resident on the
Seal Islands by Elliott, and on Saint Lawrence Island was found by myself during the summer of
1881. It is a summer resident on the Near Islands and abundaut about Point Barrow, where it
arrives about May 20 and lays the first eggs the beginning of June. It returns south from that
point the last of August and first of September. On the Commander Islands it is one of the
commonest Jand birds, arriving about the 21st of April and leaving the end of October. On the
north coast of Siberia it was found with its young during the same season, but was not seen on
either Wrangel or Herald Islands during our visit. Regarding its presence on the Seal Islands
Elliott tells us that “this bird is the vocalist par excellence of the Prybilov group, singing all
through the month of June in the most exquisite manner, rising high in the air and hovering on
fluttering wings over its sitting mate. The song is so sweet that it is always too short.” * * *

According to Dall it arrives at Nulato, on the Middle Yukon, about May 12, but this must be
exceptionally late, since it frequently arrives at Saint Michaels on the sea-coast the last days of
April or 1st of May, and they are known to arrive in the south of Greenland by the 1st of May.
The naturalist just quoted found it an abundant summer resident on the Western Aleutians, and
obtained a nest with four eggs much incubated the 18th of June. He also tells us that they leave
these islands in autumn, and I doubt if any winter in the Territory, with the possible exception of
the Kadiak and Sitkan region.

During my residence at Saint Michaels over thirty nests were obtained, and the number might
readily have been doubled. Their nests were so abundant everywhere on the grassy flats that
one could scarcely walk over the tundra for half an hour during the proper season without finding
from one to a half dozen of them. By the middle of May the males are numerous and in full song
along the coast of Norton Sound, having arrived about this time or a little earlier in flocks, and
spread rapidly over their breeding ground. Its range during the nesting season is from Fort
Kenai and Kadiak, on the southeast coast of Alaska, north through the entire Territory to the
Arctic coast. In July and August Kumlien found the eggs and young of this bird on Disco Island,
Greenland, and notes that they keep back from the coast, having a greater preference for the inte-
rior than the Snow Bunting. I have noted this peculiarity wherever I have had an opportunity
of observing their habits along the shores of Bering Sea and the adjoining Arctic coasts. When
they arrive early in May the ground is still largely covered with snow with the exception of grassy
spots along southern exposures and the more favorably situated portions of the tundra, and here
may be found these birds in all the beauty of their elegant summer dress. The males, as if con-
scious of their handsome plumage, choose the tops of the only breaks in the monotonous level,
which are small rounded knolls and tussocks. The male utters its song as it flies upward from
one of these knolls and when it reaches the height of 10 or 15 yards it extends the points of its
wings upwards, forming a large V-shaped figure, and floats gently to the ground, uttering, as it
slowly sinks, its liquid tones, which fall in tinkling succession upon the ear, and are perhaps the
sweetest notes that one hears during the entire spring-time in these regions. It is an exquisite
jingling melody, having much less power than that of the Bobolink, but with the same general
character, and, though shorter, it has even more melody than the song of that well known bird.
There is such joyous exultation in the song that the songster assumes a new place in one’s regard.
184 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

By the last of May or the first of June the birds are mated, and each pair has its snug nest
carefully placed in the midst of a sheltering tussock, or on a dry knoll, where are deposited
from four to seven eggs, which is a quota. The young are out on the wing sometimes as early
as the 1st of July, but more generally by the 10th of this month, from which time they nnite
in small bands, frequenting the vicinity of the trading-posts and native villages, where they
remain in great abundance until the last of August or first of September, when they commence
their straggling departure for the south. While in the neighborhood of houses they are extremely
heedless of the presence of people, and are nearly as familiar as are the English sparrows in our
cities. By the last of September or the first of October the last one has passed away towards
the south, and none are seen until returning spring brings them north again. Some doubtless
remain to winter along the southeast coast of the Territory, but none are found in tbe north, nor
do they occur at this season on the islands of Bering Sea.

The nest is generally placed on the drier portions of the flats; a hummock or tuft of grass
is chosen, or perhaps a projecting bunch of dwarf willow stems, and as one comes directly upon
it, the female usually flutters off under one’s feet; the male keeps in the immediate vicinity, and
joins with his mate in a cheeping protest at the intrusion. If the eggs are nearly ready to hatch
the females show the greatest solicitude, as they do also in case the nest contains young. In
one instance a parent was driven from her eggs just as they were about to hatch, and she ran
along the ground for a few yards, uttering a plaintive note, like chéé chéé-chéé, in a fine, vibrating,
metallic tone, at the same time dragging her outspread wings and tail upon the ground, and flut-
tering as though in mortal agony. Ordinarily they hover about or fly restlessly from tuft to tuft,
uttering a chirp of alarm and protest, until the intruder has left the vicinity. The males remain
in song but a comparatively short period, for by the middle of June scarcely a note is heard. The
adults change their summer to winter plumage toward the end of July.

Iu a series of twenty-six nests, obtained in the vicinity of Saint Michaels during the first
half of June, is to be found so great a variation that it may be safely said no two are alike.
The nests vary in size from 22 inches in depth by 5 inches across the top, and in size of central
cavity from 2 inches deep by 3 inches across the top. The walls are thick and strong, composed
of an abundance of material, or they may be a mere cup shaped shell, barely sufficient to hold
the eggs. The majority of nests are composed of rather coarse grass, sometimes with moss
interwoven, forming a thick layer, which was frequently as thoroughly water-soaked as a wet
sponge when the nest was collected. The amount of material used depexds greatly upon the
locality; in damp places a much greater amount is made use of, while in dry places the nests
are much lighter. Though the outer part of the nest was frequently formed of old and often
grimy or partly decayed vegetable matter, the interior was invariably composed of fine, soft, dry,
yellow blades of last year’s grasses. These in many instances are unmixed with other material,
and in others are combined with feathers of the Ptarmigan or other wild fowl. In a few cases the
lining of the nest is a warm cup of feathers resting upon fine grass, and one has a thick lining of
feathers and dogs’ hair. Some nests are so small that they may be inclosed in the hand, while
others can scarcely be inclosed by both, and the smallest nest collected may be inserted eutire into
the cavity of the largest one. The largest nest contained also the largest eggs, and probably
belonged to an unusually large bird.

The ground-color of the eggs (when it can be seen) throughout the entire series is a light clay
with a pale greenish tinge. The eggs of one set (No. 386), numbering four, obtained at Saint
Michaels, on June 5, 1881, measure respectively .90 by .65, .93 by .64, .95 by .65, and .92 by .68.
These eggs have a pale greenish clay-colored ground, and are covered irregularly with a coarse
blotching of reddish brown most plentiful at the large end. The markings occupy over half the
surface. Another set (No. 210), obtained also at Saint Michaels, in June, is marked somewhat in
the same manner, and the eggs measure respectively .80 by .57, .83 by .61, .79 by .59, .80 by .60,
and .81 by .61. In this set there are dark zigzag markings on every egg in addition to the other
marks or spots. The third set (No. 114), obtained on June 5, 1880, at the same locality, has the
ground-color concealed by the close light-brown markings which are so light that the ground-color
skows through and produces a decided olive-brown over the entire egg. They measure respectively
81 by .61, .82 by .59, and .81 by .60. This set of eggs resembles in coloration the ordinary style of
BIRDS. 185

the eggs of Budytes flavus leucostriatus so closely that had they not been identified by means
of the parent it would have been impossible to distinguish them, and in the preliminary separa-
tion of eggs which I made prior to looking up the numbers in my note-book I included them
in the series of Yellow Wagtail’s eggs. Set No. 80 has the same appearance. The smallest
eggs are set No. 345, from the same locality. These have the ground-color almost concealed
by the fine reddish-brown specking, and measure respectively .75 by .57, .75 by .58, .76 by .57,
77 by .56, and .76 by .55. From the sets marked by spots, or by spots and irregular blotches
sparsely enough distributed to allow the ground-color to be distinctly seen, there is a regular grada-
tion, the markings becoming heavier, darker colored, and more abundant, until the ground-color
may be entirely concealed under the rich, warm chocolate-brown, which reveals only a very faint
mottling of olive-brownish where the ground-color is less thickly overlaid. Many of the sets are
more or less plentifully marked with irregular zigzag markings of dark umber-brown, very much
as in the eggs of the Orioles, but less decided than in the latter. The pattern and style of
coloration vary greatly, but are pretty well defined by the variations described in the preceding
notes. It may be remarked that eggs of the same set rarely show very much individual variation.

Notes on plumage.—Partly-fledged birds taken the last of June or first of J uly have the feath-
ers of the crown, back, rump, breast, and throat with black or very dark-brown shaft-lines, which,
upon the breast and throat, are narrowed to about one third the width of the feather. On the
crown and back the black central markings occupy over half this width. The feathers of the
crown are edged with a dingy yellowish-buff; those on the nape with grayish or dull ashy, and
on the back and rump with a dingy yellowish-gray or buffy. There are two indistinct white wing-
bars. The throat is dingy ashy. The edges of breast-feathers are soiled yellowish, which washes
the feathers of the entire under-surface. Tertiaries, secondaries, and greater coverts broadly edged
with a dull shade of chestnut. Primaries lightly edged with a paler shade of the same. Quill
and tail feathers dark-brown, the latter edged with reddish-brown. A little later the bird attains
its growth, and by abrasion the feathers soon lose a great part of their fluffy immature appear-
ance. The dingy yellowish of the abdomen changes to soiled whitish; the throat also becomes
lighter and the yellowish borders of the feathers on neck and breast wear so that the dark shaft-
markings appear less diffused, and are more sharply defined. The crown is occupied by a well-
defined area of feathers with black centers and rusty reddish edges. A dingy white area begins
on the lores at base of bill on each side, and passes back, encircling the eye to the nape. This
area is dotted with fine, dark shaft-lines. Ear-coverts dull rusty reddish. Back, shoulders, and
rump feathers with heavy dark centers, edged with grayish or yellowish gray and dull buff. The
pattern of tail-feathers is the same as in adult. Wing and tail feathers brown, the latter darkest.
Wing-coverts tipped with white, forming indistinct wing-bars. Tertiaries, secondaries, and prima-
ries with dull ashy-white tips.

This state of plumage is scarcely attained before if begins to give place to the fall and winter
dress with which we are familiar when the birds come trooping down from the north at the
commencement of winter. Beginning on the lower part of the breast the feathers are gradually
moulted and replaced, the change extending slowly toward the bill. I am inclined to think that
the moult commences about the tail and rump, and slowly extends forward. It begins the last of
July and first of August, at which time the old birds are already far advanced in their autumnal
change. In my collection are adult males with nearly complete winter dress taken July 22, and
probably some make the change even earlier than this. They begin to move south before they
have fully moulted, so that only tbe comparatively few individuals which have completed the moult
in September are found in perfect winter dress on their northern breeding grounds.

The males reach the Upper Yukon on their returnin spring by the 5th to the 18th of Apri] in
nearly perfect breeding dress, and from the examination of specimens obtained there by Mr.
McQuesten, as also of others taken in full breeding plumage, I am led to believe that, like the Snow
Bunting, this bird does not undergo a spring moult, but attains its breeding plumage merely by
the wearing away of the light edges to the feathers ; at the same time the feathers are imbued with
a richer shade and a greater amount of coloring matter. There is considerable individual varia-
tion in these birds, which, however, consists mainly of a variable intensity of coloration rather
than a change of pattern. In the males the postocular stripe varies from a pure white to a richer
186 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

buffy-yellow. The chestnut cervical collar varies from dark to light, and the general color of the
back in some birds is very dark, while in others it is much lighter, though this depends to a great
extent on the amount of wearing the feathers have undergone. Birds from Labrador and Green-
land appear to be uniformly darker than the majority of Alaskan examples, but the small series
in the National Museum collection from the first named regions does not suffice for a satisfactory
comparison. It would be interesting to compare a large series of this bird from various parts of
its extended habitat and ascertain the amount of geographical variation.

The Lapland Longspur winters in various parts of Central Europe, through Asia to China and
Japan, and in the United States, where its distribution at this season is well known.

CALCARIUS PICTUS (Swains.). Smith's Longspur.

This species has been taken at Fort Yukon by Strachan Jones, but there is no other recoid
of its occurrence in the Territory, though its abundance in the adjoining Mackenzie River district
renders it extremely probable that it occurs more or less regularly in the neighboring portions of
Alaska. Next to the two preceding species the present bird is the most northerly in its distri-
bution of the species in this group; it differs, however, from the Snow Bunting and Longspur in its
narrowly-restricted range.

It breeds on the northern shores and through the northern central districts of British America,
and penetrates during winter into the Mississippi Valley and interior plains of the United States,
turning towards its northern haunts at the first approach of spring. In Northern Dlinois it passes
to the north by the last of March or first of April, just as it is commencing to assume spring liv-.
ery. That the species passes through a spring moult is certain, since a number of specimens,
secured by me, were in the first stages of this moult.

The biography of this species is, as yet, almost entirely unknown; we possess a few facts of
its distribution, and some skins of the birds in breeding plumage, with their eggs, have reached
the National Museum from the Lower Anderson River, close to the Arctic shore.

According to Dr. Coues, it arrives in Northern Dakota the last of September, and associates
with Calcarius ornatus. Ihave found it passing north through Northern Illinois the last of March
and first of April. There is about the same range of variation in the markings and intensity of
color among these birds as occurs in the Lapland Longspur. The autumnal plumage of the young
is well described by Dr. Coues in Birds of the Northwest, p. 121.

AMMODRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS (Gmel.). Sandwich Sparrow.

This species occurs during summer along the entire Aleutian chain and the island of Kadiak,
in. addition to the southeastern shore of the Territory. Dall cites it from Unalaska, where he
found it numerous, as he did also thence to the eastward; but he did not find it to the west of
that island. On the Shumagins this Sparrow was found to be rather common. At Unalaska, the
10th of May, 1877, I found it common. It had just arrived from the south, and on the 15th of the
same month it was seen at Sanak Island, over 100 miles to the eastward.

It was ascertained to prefer the rocky beaches, where, like Melospiza cinerea, it was certain to
be found at all times, but it frequently occurred on grassy flats. Its song was a short, weak suc-
cession of notes, somewhat similar to those of alaudinus, which latter bird I did not see at this
point. According to Bean, it was common at Belkovsky, on Aliaska Peninsula, the last of July,
1880, and a spring and summer resident on the Near Islands.

Nothing is known of its breeding habits, and its wintering ground is but slightly known.

It has been recorded from California in winter. Mr. Henshaw secured several specimens in
Middle Oregon, and other naturalists have found them elsewhere along the coast of Oregon aud
Washington Territory. In the History of North American Birds, I, p. 539, Baird, Brewer, and Ridg-
way say:

Specimens of this race from Sitka are absolutely undistinguishable from eastern savanna, except in size, the
colors and proportions of bill being the same, A young bird from Kadiak differs from that of savanna in larger size,
and bright reddish-fulvous tinge to upper parts, and deep yellowish-fulvous tinge on jugulum and along the sides.

This variety is the northwest coast form of the common Savanna Sparrow, and is found during the summer from
Oregon to Alaska.
BIRDS. 187

To extend the range of the Savanna Sparrow proper “northwest to Alaska,” as is done in
the History of North American Birds, is a mistake, and Mr. Ridgway assures me he has never seen
a specimen of typical savanna from that region. All the numerous skins in the National Museum
collection from the Anderson and Mackenzie Rivers, as well as from Alaska, belong to alaudinus,
excepting those of the larger race, sandwichensis, which is peculiar to the Aleutian Islands, and
thence south along the coast. The Savanna Sparrow proper probably does not breed in the interior
of the continent north of Hudson’s Bay, and the chain of lakes extending northwest from Winnipeg
may form its western and northwestern boundary. Specimens from Sitka, and the northwest coast,
are referable either to sandwichensis or alaudinus, the former being the resident form in summer in
Southeast Alaska, and the latter occurring as a migrant there and a summer resident throughout
the rest of the Territory.

AMMODRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS ALAUDINUS (Bonap.). Western Savanna Sparrow
(Esk. Mv-jit-kitk).

Next to the Lapland Longspur, the Western Savanna Sparrow is the most abundant of the
sparrow tribe throughout the Bering Sea coast region of Alaska, and it extends thence north to the
Arctic shores of the Territory. In order to ascertain positively whether more than a single form
of this bird occurred in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, I made a practice during my stay of shooting
every Savanna Sparrow which appeared at a hasty glance to differ from the ordinary form, alaudi-
nus. Asa result, I secured about fifty skins, every one of which is referable to the present bird ;
and if it is taken into consideration that, in addition to the skins saved, at least a hundred speci-
mnens were examined, but not preserved, it will be apparent that no other form is likely to have
been overlooked.

This form was found to be common at Cook’s Inlet and Kadiak Bay by Bean in July, 1880.

In the paper of Messrs Dall and Bannister (loc. cit.) the statement of the occurrence of P. anthinus
at Saint Michaels is erroneous. The specimens upon which this identification was based are at
present in the National Museum collection, and are typical examples of alaudinus. Elliott does not
mention a single Passerculus from the Seal Islands, though one or both forms undoubtedly occur
there, as sandwichensis is common at Unalaska, only a comparatively short distance to the south.
In the notes of Messrs. Dall and Bannister, before mentioned, all accounts of the occurrence of P.
savanna, P. anthinus, and P. alaudinus are to be referred, without exception, to the latter form.

The P. savanna, cited as common on the Yukon, yet rare at Saint Michaels and Unalaklik,
and as being found at Sitka by Bischoff, must be referred to alaudinus, as is shown by an exam-
jnation of the specimens upon which these records were made. Bonaparte places the habitat of
P. anthinus in Russian America and that of alaudinus in California, in his original description,
and, as is stated in a foot-note in the History of North American Birds, from the fact that this
form, anthinus, is not found in any part of Alaska, nor, indeed, north of California, it is probable
that the localities of the two forms were transposed in Bonaparte’s original description. Anthinus
appears to be a narrowly-limited Californian coast race, almost wholly confined to the salt marshes
and vicinity of the sea-shore. On the other hand, we have in alaudinus a widely-extended interior
race, which reaches the shores of the Arctic Ocean on the Anderson and Mackenzie Rivers, and
along the coast of Alaska, while it passes the summer at various points to the south, along the
interior Rocky Mountain country to Utah, and across to the Pacific side of the Sierra Nevadas,
where it has been found breeding even to Santa Barbara, Cal., where a recently-fledged young has
been taken.

At Saint Michaels, on Norton Sound, these birds arrive in early seasons by May 10, but usually
about the 15th of this month, and become more and more abundant until about the Ist of June,
when all are back in their summer haunts and have already paired. In a short time they have
chosen their nesting-sites and constructed the light structure which is to contain their eggs.
Towards the last of June the young are out, and are fully fledged early in July, after which, with
the adults, they come in abundance about wet places in the vicinity of houses. Most of them
leave early in September, and they are rarely seen after the middle of this month. The site where
the nest is placed varies considerably with the locality. I have discovered nests on open, grassy
188 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

flats or on mossy knoils, where they were concealed by an overhanging bunch of moss and a few
scattered grass blades, or a steep side of a bank is chosen, where the overhanging tussocks afford
a viche in which the nest is placed. If the nest is among the grass, and the female is not taken
too quickly by surprise, she glides off and runs away, mouse-like, through the grass-stews, and
when at a safe distance, comes into view and exhibits great anxiety for her home, hovering about,
and flitting restlessly from point to point, or hopping along the ground, and uttering a sharp
tsip, tsip, tsip. The male sings his short, monotonous ditty for hours at a time, from some promi-
nent point, choosing a small tuft of grass, a tall weed or stump.

The song is a low, weak, and rather harsh series of notes, which are difficult to characterize.
The song is not—like that of the Longspurs—confined to the breeding season, but may be heard
during the entire time of the bird’s residence in the north. They are never shy, and are usually
heedless of one’s presence.

Among the various nests of this bird before me (all secured in the vicinity of Saint Michaels)
there is considerable variation in size, but very little in material. They vary from 3 to 5
inches in diameter and from 1 to 24 inches in height. The central cavity is from 2 to 24 inches
in diameter, and 1 to 14 inches deep. Five of the eight nests have a thick layer of moss form-
ing the outer part of the wall. Inside of this is a layer of coarse grass; the egg-cavity in each
is neatly lined with very fine dry grass, prettily arranged in a circular layer. The nests are com-
pactly built and*are very pretty specimens of bird-architecture. Those lacking the outer layer of
moss differ in no other manner from the others. It appears a little odd that no feathers should be
used in the nests of this species, yet in the only nest where any of this material has been used a
bunch of down has been combined with the moss in the outer wall, apparently by chance.

The eggs vary from five to six innumber. Their ground-color is a greenish clayey-white,
mor? or less thickly covered with reddish-brown, varying to chocolate-brown, spots. These mark-
ings vary in form from fine spots, which may cover the shell so thickly as to almost conceal the
ground-color, to a coarse, irregular blotching and spotting scattered over the shell, but most
marked at the larger end. In some cases shell-markings of pale lavender or purple may be seen.
The eggs vary in size as follows: .67 by .55, .67 by .58, .68 by .57, .66 by .58, .69 by .57. In set
No. 314, taken June 19, 1880, at Saint Michaels, and set No. 322, taken June 24, 1880, at the
same locality, the eggs measure respectively .80 by .60, .80 by .60, .79 by .60, .78 by .58, and .79 by
60. The average, however, is nearer to the last set of measurements than to the first, as appears
in the average of twenty-four eggs, which equals .75 by .58 inch.

A fully-fledged bird which I took at Saint Michaels, on July 12, has the crown feathers with
dark-brown shaft-streaks and dark rusty-brown edgings. In some specimens, however, these
edgings are much darker than in the adult. The dark area along the shafts of the feathers on the
shoulder and back is large, oval or rounded at the end, and bordered with grayish or grayish buff.
These dark-brown or black shaft-spots are larger than in the adults. The outer edgin g of scapulars
and secondaries is warm chestnut-brown. Wing and tail feathers dark brown, the latter edged
with dull grayish. Breast and sides are marked, as in adult, with dark shaft-lines, but in this
young specimen, the shaft-lines are sooty black and are edged with dingy yellowish. Rump with
dark shaft-streaks edged with yellowish-brown. The usual fluffy appearance of the feathers of
young birds of this age is present, with a dingy yellowish suffusion on the breast and sides.
The yellowish or dingy buff of the back constitutes the most striking difference between the
young and old birds. This plumage is barely attained when it is replaced by the autumnal
feathering. In this latter dress the adults can almost always be distinguished from the young
by the lighter and grayer color and by the smaller amount of warm buffy tint about the head and
breast. The spring adults are readily told from the fall birds by the large clear edging of the
feathers on the back and head, and by the lack of butfy shade about the head and breast, the
markings and pattern of coloration thus showing in sharper contrast. The adults perform their
fa]l moult in July and the Ist of August, by which latter time the young are in nearly perfect fall
dress.
BIRDS. 189

The following measurements are of five spring adults taken at Saint Michaels in June and
show the normal amount of variation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Length Length
Sex. of Tail. Tarsus. of eee
wing. culmen,
2 2.70 2.00 79 40 21
2 2. 67 2. 00 -78 39 »20
c 2. 80 2.17 «19 389 19
¢ 2.73 2.10 78 40 20
co 2.75 2,11 78 40 20

 

The females are in worn plumage.

ZONOTRICHIA INTERMEDIA Ridgw. Intermediate Sparrow.

Everywhere in Alaska the presence of bushes and timber is an almost certain indication of
this bird’s presence in summer. It is the only White-crowned Sparrow reaching these high lati-
tudes, and it ranges to the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. In the northern half of British
America, extending entirely across that country along the Arctic shore and thence west through-
out Alaska, it is a very abundant and familiar bird. It arrives on the Upper Yukon at the Arctic
Circle by the 15th or 20th of May and begins nesting about the 20th of this month. It has been
taken on the south coast of the Territory at Fort Kenai and is given by Dall as common at Nulato
and very common at Fort Yukon. It is said to arrive at Nulato about the 20th of May, and Dall
secured a nest and set of eggs from an Indian at Nowikakat, some distance farther up the Yukon.
A single specimen taken at Point Barrow by Murdoch in September extends its range to this
point, but only as a straggler.

In Dall and Bannister’s paper on the birds of Alaska (loc. cit.) the notes under the heading
of Z. gambeli are referable to this form. To this bird also must be referred all the Arctic and
Alaskan references to ‘‘gambeli” given in the History of North American Birds. It is the most
abundant sparrow on the Mackenzie River, aud it was found breeding in great numbers on the
Upper Yukon and thence east to the Anderson River, where MacFarlane, Lockhart, and Ross
found it breeding. Thenests fourd were mostly placed upon the ground or in low bushes and were
lined with deer-hair and feathers. A nest in my collection, obtained at Nulato June 1, 1880, is
composed of fine dry grass with a slight lining of club-moss in the bottom of the cavity. The
eggs are four in number, measuring respectively .90 by .63, .84 by .64, .89 by .63, .87 by .64. They
have a clayey-white ground-color, thickly covered with small reddish spots, which are only a trifle
more numerous at the larger end.

This sparrow reaches the coast of Bering Sea, in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, by May 10 in
early seasons and in others not before the 19th or 25th of this month. Its arrival is accompanied
by the short but pleasant songs uttered from the top of a wood-pile, or any vantage-point of similar
character about the houses. After lingering for a few days in the vicinity of the dwellings it
seeks its breeding ground among the alder-patches along the neighboring hill-sides. Its eggs are
laid during the first of June, and the young are fully fledged early in July. By the 25th of July
they come about the houses in considerable numbers, joining with the various other sparrows and
small birds. As the cold storms of August commence they gradually pass to the south until, as
this month draws to a close, they have al]l disappeared.

A young bird of the year, in its first plumage, taken at Saint Michaels July 28, 1877, has the
crown almost uniform blackish-brown, with a few brownish-yellow edgings along the median line.
Lores dingy yellowish-gray. Postocular stripe dingy-gray, each feather with a narrow dark
shaft-line. Ear-coverts buffy-brown. Back very much darker than in the adult, as dark as
the back of adult Z. coronata. The feathers of nape, back, and rump with dark blackish-brown
shaft-lines, bordered with dark fulvous brown. The wings and tail are dark brown, darker than
in adult coronata. Throat, sides of neck, and breast have the feathers each with a dark shaft-
line and a dingy grayish border. Feathers of sides are very similar and the abdomen is dingy
whitish. Bill and feet pale. Bend of wing white. Tertials edged with dull bay, and two indis-
tinct white wing-bars are formed by light tips of the coverts. This plumage is replaced almost as
190 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

soon as gained by the ordinary autumnal dress, which is well known in its southern range. In
spring adults the intensity of coloration on the back differs considerably, being much darker in
some than in others. At what point in the north lewcophrys is replaced by intermedia cannot be
told at present, since the comparatively recent separation of intermedia from the eastern bird has
complicated the matter, rendering it uncertain to which form each author has referred. That
leucophrys occupies the northeastern part of British America and thence into Greenland is proba-
ble, but apparently it does not occur to the north and west of Great Slave Lake. It is a strange
fact that Z. albicollis is not known from the Upper Yukon region, Richardson having found them
in the breeding season north to the sixty-sixth degree along the Mackenzie. In the vicinity of
Great Slave Lake this bird and intermedia are found together, but the latter is the most numerous
and soon wholly replaces albicollis to the north of this point.

ZONOTRICHIA CORONATA (Pall). Golden-crowned Sparrow.

During the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition our knowledge of the northern range of
this bird was considerably extended. Numerous examples were secured at various places in British
Columbia, Sitka, Kadiak, and at Kenai, where it breeds; thence north to the Lower Yukon and
Nortou Sound it is a frequent summer resident, penetrating even beyond to the Arctic Circle, in
the Kotzebue Sound region, where, however, it is much less common. It was taken on Kadiak
Island and on the Shumagins in July by Bean. The last of May, from the 25th to 30th, it arrives
in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, and breeds sparingly all along the Bering Sea coast of the
Territory, and more rarely on the shores of Kotzebue Sound. From the peninsula of Aliaska
south to Puget Sound it is a common summer resident. I obtained partly-fledged young of the
year at Saint Michaels, and numbers of specimens were brought me from still farther north
about the head of Norton Bay; like Hesperocichla nevia, it extends its range across to Kotzebue
Sound, within the Arctic Circle. It is found at Saint Michaels usually from May 25 to the 15th
of August, about which latter time it passes south with the young, which now are assuming their
autumn plumage. While moving south it comes fearlessly about the houses for food, with troops
of other sparrows, and is not so shy asin the spring. Its breeding ground is in the alder-patches
along the hill-sides, where the various bush-loving species make their homes in the matted thickets,
well protected from birds of prey and most other foes by an almost impenetrable wall of gnarled
and twisted branches. On the Shumagin Islands, just south of the Aliaskan Peninsula, it is com-
mon and breeds; but west of this, on the Aleutian chain—as upon the various other islands in
Bering Sea—it is unknown, its absence being easily accounted for by the bare and unattractive
character of these islands.

SPIZELLA MONTICOLA OCHRACEA Brewst. Western Tree-sparrow.

Of the various species of sparrows which frequent the bushes in the north, especially along
the coast of Bering Sea, the present bird is the most numerous. It arrives at Saint Michaels early
in May and remains until the 15th of September, sometimes even later.

Upon its first arrival it comes about the trading posts and native villages, frequenting the
weed-patches. After a short visit here, and when the snow has melted from portions of their
bushy retreats, they leave the vicinity of man and betake themselves to the hill-sides, where they
assume the duties of the season. In the course of time the nests are made; the young are hatched
and become fully fledged early in July. Toward the last of this month—sometimes by the mid-
dle—the young and old come trooping back to the vicinity of the houses again ready to feast with
numbers of their fellows in a motley crowd among the weed patches and in the garden plot.
They are extremely heedless and familiar at this season, like the various other species with which
they associate. During the last half of July and the entire month of August, with various others
of their kind, they may be found flitting about the buildings, or even coming within the yard and
up to the very doorsteps, their bright black eyes carefully searching every inch of ground for
morsels of food.

In spring these birds attain their breeding plumage by the wearing away of the grayish tips
of the ordinary winter dress, thus exposing the deeper and more decided tint below. The crown
BIRDS. 191

becomes a decided clear light rufous, with a line of the same extending back from the eye and
a patch of the same on the body at the bend of wing. The rufous edge of the scapulars becomes
distinct, as do the dark brown centers of the dorsal feathers. The back and sides of neck are clear
ashy, and the rump ashy-brown, with a faint olive shade. The under surface differs from the
back; there are clearer and better defined areas of ashy on the throat and breast and a dingy
yellowish-white on abdomen. This plumage is exchanged for the winter dress the last of July
and first of August. The colors become clearer toward the end of May than they are when the
bird first arrives. The fully-fledged young of the year, taken the middle of July, or earlier, are
marked on the crown and back with shaft-streaks of dark brown, each feather being edged with
dark ashy-brown or buffy-brown. The throat, breast, and sides of head, neck, and most of abdo-
men, have on each feather a central tip of dark smoky-brown, larger and more diffused on throat
and breast. Each feather is edged with soiled ashy-brown. On the fore part of abdomen these
dark tips are much smaller and the feathers are dingy-white or buffy-whitish. This plumage is
barely assumed when it is moulted, commencing posteriorly, and is replaced by the ordinary
autumnal dress, which can scarcely be distinguished from that of the adult, except, perhaps, by the
greater amount of ashy edgings to the feathers of the crown and back. By the first of August the
fall plumage has been assumed by nearly all, old and young, but they linger about a month or more
longer.

The nesting commences the last of May or the first of Jane. A nest (No. 321), containing
four fresh egy's, obtained in an alder-thicket near Saint Michaels on June 20, was placed upon
the ground, and well concealed by the overhanging bushes and the dead leaves and grass of
the previous year. It measures 24 inches in height by 44 broad, with a central cavity 1? inches
deep, by 24 inches across. It is composed of rather fine dry grass aud a few fragments of moss
scattered through the circumference. The lining of the cavity is fine dry grass and a few dog-
hairs. This lining is cross-woven in place of the usual circular arrangement. The nest is a light
and rather loosely-built structure, but is nearly as bulky as the nest of the Lapland Longspur. The
eggs measure respectively .83 by .65, .85 by .65, .83 by .64, and .62 by .65. Their ground-color is
dull greenish with an irregular mottling or dotting of reddish-brown, purplish, and chocolate color.
These markings are gathered abcut the large end, almost concealing the ground-color in three spec-
inens, and in the fourth they are only a trifle more numerous there than on other parts of the egg.

In the National Museum collection there is a specimen from Sitka, and the bird has been found
breeding abundantly all along the Yukon. The S. monticola proper occurs at various places in the
Northern United States during the winter. The present form has also been taken at the mouth of
the Columbia River in September, as also at The Dalles ofthatriver. It is one of the most common
birds along the western shore of Alaska from the mouth of the Yukon north, wherever groups of
stunted willows and alders occur. On entering almost any northern thicket the protesting tsip of
this gentle little bird may be heard greeting the intruder upon all sides; if one sits in the midst of
their covert and keeps quiet he soon becomes the center of an inquiring party, the members of
which flit about in the bushes, their bright black eyes peering about from the leafy covert all
around until they finally decide that the interloper is kindly disposed or harmless, and then back
they go, one by one, to their former occupations.

The flocks are broken when they reach the far north in spring and the birds are mated soon
after. In the north, before taking leave for their winter home, they gather in flocks on the
bushy borders of the woods, and their low, sweet chorus is heard rising and falling as they tune
their gentle pipes for the songs they are to utter later in the season. Its power of song, however,
is not great, and its music is, perhaps, most pleasing when thus heard in chorus. It is unknown
from the Aleutian and other islands in Bering Sea, though it undoubtedly occurs on Kadiak, and
it may winter on the adjoining parts of the southeast shore.

JUNCO HYEMALIS (Linn.). Slate-colored Junco.

This is one of the rarest sparrows visiting the coast of Bering Sea. It is, however, much
more numerous in the interior, and is found more or less common along the entire course of the
Yukon, at the mouth of which it breeds. It reaches Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, by April
192 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

30, and I have found it at the Yukon mouth by the 11th of May, althongh the earliest record at
Saint Michaels is the 19th of this month. At Nulato it was tound common by Dall, who records
its arrival on the Ist of June. In the Hudson Bay Territory Kennicott found it breeding abun-
dantly to latitude 65° north, and it is known to arrive on the Mackenzie River by the 20th of April.
While I was camping at the Yukon mouth, the last of May, 1879, it was a common bird, and at
Kotlik it was found numerous about the trading post, searching the ground close to the doorstep
for food. Its occurrence at Saint Michaels is merely accidental during the migration, a few sol-
itary individuals being seen at considerable intervals. I did not find it there during the fall. A
specimen taken May 24, by Murdoch, extends its range to Point Barrow.

One of my collectors brought me a nest from Nulato, obtained the Ist of June, 1880, which
was built on the ground and contained five eggs. The nest is made of fine dry grass-stems, and
measures 2 inches deep by 3 across the top. The cavity is 2 inches across the top and 14 inches
deep, and is lined with reindeer-hair.

The eggs measure respectively .75 by 58, .75 by .57, .75 by .59, .76 by .59, and .15 by .57. They
havea pale clayey-white ground dotted over with a varying amount of fine rusty or reddish brown,
which forms a close well-marked ring about the large end in sharp contrast with the sparsely-
marked larger ends.

This bird extends its summer range along the Norton Sound shore of Bering Sea and the
coast of the Arctic about Kotzebue Sound, yet there is no record of its having been taken on the
coast of Southeastern Alaska, nor does it occur on any of the islands in Bering Sea.

JUNCO HYEMALIS OREGONUS (Towns.). Oregon Junco.

The occurrence of this bird in Alaska was first made known by the capture of eight specimens
at Sitka by Bischoff. It was again found at Sitka by Bean. It has not been taken elsewhere in
the Territory, to my knowledge, though it is very likely to be found along the timbered coast of
the southeast part of the Territory reaching Kadiak Island and the adjoining mainland. Like
many species of southern or middle latitude its northern distribution has not been definitely
settled. The fact that in Southeastern Alaska southern birds occupy only a narrow Strip of ter-
ritory, 20 to 30 miles in width, along the coast, and on the other side are replaced by a Canadian
and subarctic avifauna, is not well known even now, except to those who have made a special
study of the Alaskan region. The various larger Sitkan and Oregon forms extend their range
and are resident along this portion of Alaska, which is to be classed with that rainy northwest
coast country which produces such a marked and characteristic influence on its animal life. The
skin of a Junco brought me from Anvik in spring had a well-marked dull-rusty area on the back,
as also a shade of rusty on the flanks, suggestive of oregonus, but the specimen was so badly
damaged that it could not be ascertained just what its relations were.

MELOsPIZA FASCIATA RUFINA (Bonap.). Sooty Song-sparrow.

In the wooded coast region of Southeastern Alaska, including Sitka, and thence northwest to
Lituya Bay and Kadiak, this bird is abundant; but beyond this limited region it is unknown at
present. The few specimens in the National Museum collection from the points named are typical
of this race. In the History of North American Birds (vol. 2, p. 29), Melospiza guttata is cited
as an abundant species at Sitka. This is evidently a slip of the pen, and refers to the present
species, rufina, since guttata has never been found anywhere in this or the adjacent region.
Nothing is known of the habits of the Rufous Song-sparrow in its northern range, nor have
we any knowledge of its relationship to its gigantic relative, cinerea, to the westward.

On June 19, 1880, at George Island, on the southeastern coast of the Territory, Dr. T. H.
Bean secured the only nest known of this bird. Unfortunately the eggs were hatched. It isa
large, extremely loose structure, made externally of coarse grasses and stems of other plants
mixed with broad strips of bark armed with thorns, and probably taken from the Panax horridum ;
this forms the bulk of the nest. The interior is prettily lined with fine, soft, light-yellow grass.

The nest was built in a large plant 2 feet above the ground and was hidden by the surrounding
grasses.
BIRDS. 193

MELOSPIZA CINEREA (Gmel.). Aleutian Song-sparrow.

Among the several insular forms occurring in the Aleutian Islands and rarely extending their
range to the adjacent mainland of Southeastern Alaska, this large, hardy bird, a veritable giant
among its congeners, is the most peculiar. The well known Song-sparrow of the wayside hedges
and fences in Hastern North America, as is well known to the naturalist, is represented by
several geographical races between its eastern limit and the northwest coast of the continent,
where it culminates in the present bird of the western Alaskan islands. The connecting chain,
however, which unites this bird with its relatives of the east has been found to be but partly
complete.

At Unalaska, on May 10, 1887, upon my first arrival in the Aleutian Islands, I found this bird
common and in full song, although the surroundings were desolate and forbidding in the extreme.
Long banks of snow lay in ragged outline on the sheltered sides of the mountains and capped
their summits. Day by day cold rain with fierce gales or squalls of snow beat through the val-
leys and the inner harbors. With characteristic changeability, the weather at times cleared for a
few hours, and, taking advantage of the temporary sunshine, this hardy songster gave utter-
ance to its pleasant notes from the tops of jutting rocks or even the roofs of the houses in the
village. On the 15th of this month, at Sanak Island, about 100 miles east of Unalaska, it was
also found abundant, and its song was heard repeatedly in rather loud, clear tones, having a certain
wild melody harmonizing well with the rude surroundings. The song may be imperfectly repre-
sented by the syllables zwee-e-tu-tu-tu-chi-e-e-e; the first syllables clear and the last three or four
slightly hard. It was mating at this season, and invariably found in pairs, generally searching
along its favorite haunts at the water’s edge on the rocky and most rugged portious of the beach.
It is a resident throughout the Aleutian Islands, and is limited to the rocky shores and low flats
with bordering beaches, never going far inland, nor does it reach any considerable altitude.
Strangely enough it does not pass to the northward, even so far as the Seal Islands, where the
much smaller Alaskan Winter Wren has gained a foothold. To the eastward, however, it is
abundant on the Shumagin Islands and Kadiak, but whether it reaches the peninsula of Aliaska
or not is still unknown.

Its eggs are thus far unknown, but the nearly full grown young were found in July, at Kyska
Island, near the western end of the Aleutian chain, by Mr. Dall.

On the 23d of September, 1881, when the Corwin arrived at Unalaska, and from then on until
we left early in October, these sparrows were in full song whenever the weather was propitious.
The songster which came most under our attention, from its nearness to the vessel, would re-
main sometimes for an hour or more on its perch, repeating its song at short intervals. The notes
were somewhat louder than those of its eastern relative, but bore a considerable likeness to them,
and since my return to Washington, during April of the present year (1882), I heard the common
Song-sparrow in the Smithsonian grounds uttering a series of notes which reminded me strikingly
of the familiar song of the Aleutian Sparrow heard the previous autumn. This song uttered by
the common Song-sparrow was not its usual spring note, but one of the shorter and slightly harsher
modifications of its ordinary ditty.

During our stay at Unalaska in the fall, these sparrows were common everywhere along the
shore, especially favoring the jutting faces of rocky bluffs and the rugged points descending
abruptly to the water, where they flit from rock to rock, and scramble in and out of the clefts and
jutting points like the Rock-wren (Salpinctes); or they search the stones at the water’s edge for
food cast up by the breaking wavelets, ranning out and in close to the edge of the rising and
falling water.

In a paper on the different forms of Mf. melodia (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, p. 159, July, 1879) Mr.
Henshaw, after examining a large amount of material contained in the National Museum collection,
remarks:

This gigantic sparrow is distinguished, in addition to its great size, by a much paler, grayer phase of color
than its nearest geographical neighbor, rufina. The streaks, instead of being nearly or quite obsolete as in that
form, are well defined and of an umber-brown.

S. Mis. 136 25

 
194 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Continuing, Mr. Henshaw quotes Baird and Ridgway on insignis as follows: .

Between M. melodia of the Atlantic States and UM. insignis of Kodiak the difference seems wide, but the con-
necting links in the inter-regions bridge this over so completely that, with a series of hundreds of specimens before
us, we abandon the attempt at specific separation.

Mr. Henshaw adds:

It needs but a glance to determine that the var. rujina is nearer insignis by many degrees than the melodia of the
east, and, as has been indicated, nothing is wanting in the chain of evidence to establish the connection between
rufina and melodia. But while admitting a possibility, perhaps even probability, that the relations between insignis
and rufina may be as close as that of races, we feel justified in asserting that the intergradation necessary to estab-
lish this cannot be shown from the material accumulated up to the present time. Measurements appended below
demoustrate that between the largest specimens of rufina in the collection and the smallest insignis there is a by no
means inconsiderable gap. Nor does there appear to be any known law of geographical variation by which this dis-
crepancy of size can be accounted for.

The law of increase of size with increased latitude, while applying to the preceding members of this group, fails
of application in the case of insignis; since Sitka, the metropolis of rufina, is in the same latitude with Kodiak, that of
insignis ; while one specimen of rufina, and that by no means the largest, is present from Lituya Bay, which is slightly
farther north than Kodiak.

And he might have added that Sitka is farther north than a large portion of the Aleutian
Island chain, a great portion of the habitat of insignis thus being south of the center of abundance
of rufina. Our author adds:

Possibly its insular habitat may be deemed sufficient to account for the marked peculiarities of this giant among
Sparrows. So far, in fact, as color is concerned, although in this respect insignis is well marked, the step from rufina
appears an inconsiderable one as compared with that of size. But, as has been stated, no intermediate specimens
are at hand to prove such a close relationship.

The author concludes that cinerea should be allowed to retain its former position as a distinct
species pending the collection of further evidence. The true relationship of this form requires for
its satisfactory. determination a considerable amount of material from the region where it meets
rufina. M. cinerea is an abundant resident of the Near Islands, and birds from there, according
to Dr. Bean, have considerably smaller bills than those from the eastern part of its range.

In the National Museum collection are various interesting stages of plumage, upon the most
interesting of which I subjoin remarks, prefacing the notes by stating that there are three well
marked plu mages exhibited—the spring and fall adults and the young of the year in fall.

The adult plumage of fall birds from Unalaska differs from the spring plumage in having a
greater amount of rufous on the crown, back, edges of the wing-feathers, and on the tail. In the
spring bird these parts are dull ashy-gray, nearly uniform, excepting where the slightly darker-
brown centers of ihe feathers on the back break the uniformity. The rump in spring is ashy-brown
and is olive or fulvous-brown in fall. The rusty-brown of the spots on the breast in spring birds,
and the ashy on the sides, the large amount of white or ashy-white of throat, breast, and abdomen,
all give place in fall to the greatly enlarged reddish centers of the neck and breast feathers, and
the large fulvous-brown areas on the sides, which latter color extends as a wash over most of the
abdomen, so that the birds of the two seasons appear quite different when laid side by side. The
young birds of the first autumn are to be known by their uniformly dark coloration and the obso-
lete character of the markings on the back. In some specimens the dark centers are almost
entirely absent, as are the chestnut crown markings, which are usually dark brown in the young.
Kadiak birds average slightly darker than these from Unalaska and the Aleutian chain.

A young male, two-thirds grown, taken July 15, 1872, on Kyska Island, by Mr. Dall, has
the crown and nape plumbeous ashy, with a dingy fulvous-brown wash, which is much darker
along each side of the crown, outlining the indistinct chestnut Stripes of the adult. Feathers of
back each with a dark blackish-brown shaft marking on terminal half of the feather, and bordered
with dull fulvous-brown, which occupies the rump and outer tail-coverts except for the narrow,
dark tip seen on some of the rump feathers. Wings and tail dark brown, considerably darker
than in theadult. The tertials are edged exteriorly with dark rufous, which also borders the other
wing-feathers with a duller shade of the same, and extends even to the coverts. The rufous
of the coverts, however, is shaded with a light brownish buff, which forms an indistinct tip
to coverts aud tertials. The tail-feathers are edged with dark rusty-red, shaded with brown. The
feathers of the rump in one specimen have fine blackish shaft-lines, The superciliary line is dull
ashy, each feather with a reddish-brown shaft-line. The auricular patch dull reddish-brown, mot-
BIRDS. 195

tled by the gray shaft-lines of the feathers. A light line extends back from the sides of the man-
dible and is shaded and mottled with brown. The chin is ashy or grayish white. The throat,
breast, and abdomen a dingy shade of ashy-white. The feathers of throat and breast each with
an indistinctly marked central shaft-tip of smoky fulvous-brown, which gives the breast of the bird
at this stage an indistinct smoky or mottled appearance; on the sides there is a uviform shade
of dingy fulvous-brown, which may be uniform or, as in some specimens, the feathers have faint
dark shaft-lines.

MELOSPIZA LINCOLNI (Aud.). Lincoln’s Sparrow.

At Nulato this bird is rare, but thence it becomes more and more numerous towards the east,
and at Fort Yukon it is considerably more abundant; its eggs have been sent to the National
Museum from that place. It has been found breeding throughout the northern portions of British
America to the Arctic Ocean, and in Northern Alaska extending down the Yukon to Nulato, and
perhaps even still farther, to the shores of Bering Sea. It occurs commonly along the coast of
California as a winter resident and migrant in spring, which is an argument for its presence along
the southern shore of Alaska, but we have no record of it from that part of the Territory.

During the middle of April, 1877, I found it numerous in the vicinity of San Francisco, as it
was passing north with numerous other species. Like various other birds, however, which extend
their northern breeding range far within Arctic lands, this sparrow is found rearing its young
also under sunnier skies, and has been taken during the nesting season in Oregon, California, at
the southern end of Lake Michigan, and at various other points in middle latitudes.

PASSERELLA ILIACA (Merr.). Fox Sparrow.

Along the coast of Norton Sound this bird is an abundant summer resident, sharing with the
Tree-sparrows the bushy shelter of the alder thickets on the hill-sides and sheltered ravines. Wher-
ever, along the northern coast, a fair-sized alder patch occurs, this hardy species may confidently be
looked for. Its presence is first noted at Saint Michaels from the 10th to the 15th of May each
spring, frequently when the ground is still largely covered with snow. The alder thickets, which are
to give them shelter later, are now half buried beneath the wintry snow banks, and, their chosem
haunts being thus closed to them, the birds keep about the houses or native villages, where the:
snow disappears quickest, and the small patches of bare ground afford them spots where they may
obtain their food. The small garden patch at Saint Michaels, which bordered the south side of’
the kitchen, was a favorite gathering place for these birds ; sometimes two or three might be seem
at once in the small plot, scratching away with vigorous claws, sending the dirt right and left,
pausing every few moments and looking about for any insect or seeds they might have turned up.
Their mode of procedure is odd in these cases. In place of scratching first with one foot and then
with the other, as gallinaceous birds do, they worked with both feet at once, so that they appeared
to be continually hopping, and the pieces of dirt or small fragments of chips flew right and left in
a perfect shower, some of them being thrown to a distance of 2 to 3 feet or more by the vigorous
strokes of the bird’s claws.

On pleasant frosty mornings at this season the males take their stand upon the roof of the
highest building, or the cross upon the Greek church—just back of the dwellings—whence they
pour forth their clear, thrush-like whistle. The song is clear and melodious, but far too short.
The notes may be indicated by the syllables pew-e-e-didy-péw, these notes being uttered in a clear,
musical whistle, with a rising accent to the middle and then falling rapidiy, with considerable
inflection at the end. The effect is very pleasing, and on clear, frosty mornings toward the end of
May, a concert raised by four or five of these birds perched upon the tallest bushes rising over an
alder thicket, is very fine, and affords, perhaps, the sweetest and most melodious series of bird-
notes with which we are fevoreil in that region. If the songster is approached, he ceases his song,
and, after watching the motions of the intruder for a few moments, dives precipitately into the shelter
of the thicket, only to reappear, however, at a considerable distance further on, where he suddenly
perches upon a projecting bush and recommences his song, as if undisturbed. This manenver he
will repeat again and again until thoroughly frightened ; but by remaining quiet one may be sure he
196 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

will repeat the song after a very short silence. At this time it is almost impossible to get within
gunshot of them, but while they are about the houses they are tame and unsuspicions, and will
allow one to approach very close without taking alarm.

At the mouth of the Yukon, the last of May and the first few days of June, 18:9, they were
extremely common, and every pleasant day the bush-covered banks of the numerous channels
cutting the delta of this stream re-echoed with the beautiful notes of these birds; by the 7th of
June, however, they were mated and had their nests ; after this their notes ceased suddenly and
were not heard again.

On June 5, 1880, a pair was shot in a thicket near Saint Michaels and the nest secured. The
nest obtained is a very strong, compact structure, 43 inches across by 22 inches high, having a
central cavity 13 inches deep by 23 across. The outer part of the nest is made of a thin, compact
layer of green moss with a few dead leaves. Inside is a thin layer of dry grass running circularly
up the inside of the nest; this again is lined with a handsomely cross-woven layer of wiry black
moss fibers and chestnut club-moss stems, the whole being a very well made and bandsome struct-
ure, in which were three eggs with a clayey greenish ground-color; two of them are thickly
and uniformly dotted with dull reddish-brown; between the dots the ground-color shows plainly
in many places. The third egg is so densely dotted with reddish-brown and chocolate that the
ground color can barely be traced in afew places. This egg measures $0 by .70; the other two .89
by .68, and .90 by .68.

Towards the end of July and first of August the males renew their songs and are less shy
than in the spring, but by the end of July the young are on the wing, and, with their parents, come
about the houses. They have now much the same skulking ways as the cat-bird in southern lati-
tudes. They come boldly about, but skurry away into the midst of the weed-patches and other
convenient shelter at the first alarm, only to come back again the moment danger has passed,
flirting their tails, apparently as bold and as defiant as ever. It leaves the coast of Bering Sea
by the last of August. At Fort Simpson, British America, they arrive the middle of May and
leave the middle of September, and it is an abundant species along the entire northern extreme
of British America. MacFarlane and Kennicott found it nesting either on trees, sometimes 8 feet
from the ground, or upon the ground. Its known range is apparently limited only by the limit
of the bushes. There is a considerable variation among the North Alaskan series in the exact size
and shape of the bill, as well as in the exact shade of color; but this is merely individual, and
Alaska specimens show no apparent intergradation with their southern relative.

Owing to its predilection for bushy places, this fine sparrow is unknown from any of the
Bering Sea Islands, but it occurs on the southeastern coast in the Sitkan region, and may be
classed as a summer resident on all the Alaskan mainland, reaching Bering Straits on the west
and the bush limit on the north in about latitude 69°.

PASSERELLA ILIACA UNALASCHENSIS (Gwmel.). Townsend’s Sparrow.

But very little is known of this bird’s habits, and nothing of its nesting.

There are four specimens in the National Museum collection from Sitka and several from
Kadiak, and the species undoubtedly occurs along the coast to the north of Kadiak, where the
surroundings and climate are similar, and thence along the mainland coast to Sitka. Itwas found
at Cook’s Inlet and Kadiak by Bean and also on the Shumagins, where it was associated with
Titlarks and Snow Buntings. It appears to have its breeding rauge north of Washington Territory,
and passes south to Central California during the winter season.

A young male taken at Kadiak, April 26, 1868, has the crown and back, to the rump, dingy
rusty brown. The tail-coverts are a lighter rusty. Wing-coverts a dusky shade of rusty brown
tothe tail. The wings dark brown, edged with a dark reddish-brown shade. The tail is almost
exactly asin the adult. The wings have morerustyreddish. Sides of head dark brownish, mottled
lightly with whitish. Throat and breast grayish-white, with feathers tipped and edged with brown,
and a reddish shade on the breast. Abdomen fulvous white. The sides of the body heavily
washed with a dingy fulvous brown; the central shaft-streaks of pale dingy reddish brown.
BIRDS. 197

The under parts have a diffused smoky appearance, owing to the wash of fulvous brown. There is
considerable variation between adults of the same locality, but the National Museum series does
not appear to indicate any geographical differences.

PETROCHELIDON LUNIFRONS (Say). Cliff-swallow.

The lack of proper surroundings on the coast of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean appears to
limit the range of this bird to the interior, and although I kept a continual lookout for it during
my residence in the north I did not see a single individual. At Nulato Dall records its arrival
from May 10 to 16, and from these dates up to the 24th. At the same place he found it nesting com-
monly about the trading stations, and was told by the natives that it nested on the faces of the
sandstone cliffs along the Yukon before the advent of the white man placed at its disposal the
convenient shelter of the trading posts. Tbe birds were quick to take advantage of the hospitality
offered them, and to change from their primitive nesting-sites to civilized domiciles.

It is also found breeding at Fort Yukon. Mr. Dall records the presence of this bird at
Saint Michaels, but not one was seen during the four years passed by me at that place, and the
evidence seems to point toa mistaken identification whereby the common Barn Swallow (which
is very common there) was mistaken for the present bird. These swallows are recorded from Point
Lake, in latitude 65°, in British North America, and in Alaska they are known to extend north
of the Arctic Circle. Its extension north to the Arctic Ocean is doubtful—at least in our Territory—
owing to the low and unsuitable nature of the country, in addition to the harsh and repelling
climate. There is a single specimen in. the National Museum collection obtained by Kennicott at
Fort Resolution June 23, and this and the points previously given constitute the northernmost
limits of its known range. There is no evidence of its presence in the southeastern part of the
Territory.

CHELIDON ERYTHROGASTER (Bodd.). Barn Swallow (Esk. Tu-lé-kiigh-ti-nd-guk.)

This bird is the most common and widely distributed of the swallows throughout the north,
In Alaska it is found along the southeastern coast, extending thence over nearly the entire
Aleutian chain, and north along the coast of the mainland to Kotzebue Sound, and thence east
throughout the Territory wherever suitable situations occur. It arrives at Saint Michaels from
May 17 to 26, and leaves toward the end of August. At Port Clarence, in Bering Straits, Dr.
Adams found them breeding in the summer of 1851. At Unalaska, June 2 and 3, 1877, Isawa
number of these swallows skimming about and over the village. Dall found them at various points
on the Aleutian Islands, and they nest at Unalaska. The latter reports seeing a swallow at Atka
Island, at the extreme western part of the chain, which was undoubtedly this species. About the
middle of May they arrive at Nulato, where they breed, as they do also at Fort Yukon and the
other fur-trading stations along the Yukon.

Gmelin’s Hirundo aoonalashkensis is undoubtedly referable to the common Barn Swallow, from
the fact that among the various naturalists who have visited these islands—since Gmelin’s bird
was obtained—no one has recorded any but the ordinary Barn Swallow, and this has been found
by nearly every one visiting this portion of the Territory during summer.

Before the advent of the fur traders these birds nested in the deserted huts of the natives, as,
in fact, they do in many instances, at present, and sometimes they even share with their owners
the summer-houses on the Lower Yukon. On the north coast of Kotzebue Sound, in the autumn
of 1881, I found two nests of these birds in a large cleft of the rocks, into which the waves beat.
Their nests were seen in deserted huts on the same shore.

This swallow arrives as soon as mild spring weather sets in, generally from the 18th to the
23d of May. The sea is still covered with an unbroken surface of ice as far as the eye can reach,
and wiuter appears to be hardly gone when the first arrivals reach Saint Michaels and come
fluttering about their former nesting sites. Those whose nests were in the old out-houses, the
windows of which are left open in summer, but are now closed, try vainly to enter, and flutter just
before the glass, until exhausted and driven to perch on the roofs of the buildings, or upon an
a
198 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

adjoining fence. Within a few days they are seen glancing all about the place or gliding in wide
circles over the brown tundra, which at this time is still marked here and there by heavy snow-
drifts. Their arrival may be followed by frosty nights, and even snow-squalls are by no means
rare, while raw, misty rains are common. Still the birds appear to endure the unpleasant
weather without harm, and shelter themselves in cld nests or other places until the sun shines
once more. These old nesting sites are re-occupied after being repaired, and all manner of shel-
tering nooks are chosen as building sites for the new-comers. Usually a number of pairs raise
two broods in a season, if autumn does not come too early. When August arrives young and
old are seen sunning themselves in noisy parties upon the low roofs of the log houses, which
form a favorite chattering-place. Day by day passes in teaching the young the use of their
uncertain wings, and sad work some of them make of it at first, affording amusement to the
dwellers of the houses. Before long, however, they fly as well as the old ones, and some fine
morning we wake to find a blank in place of the vivacious throng, that, like many another
source of pleasure, is uot fully appreciated until lost. The sky seems to assume a sadder and
more dreary aspect, the brown earth looks duller, and the presence of a gloomy autumn is made
more apparent by the cheerless silence. Many days shall not pass before the snow-capped hill-
tops, like the tents of outposts along the coast, announce the rapid appreach of a long, weari-
some winter. Occasionally a pair have their unfledged young still in the nest, or just com-
mencing to take flight, at the time the other birds leave for the south, and I have known a pair
or two to remain a week or so behind the main migration iu order to prepare their young for the
journey before them. But this is uncommon, the nesting being usually ended and all the young
on the wing at about the same time. Their first eggs are laid on the last days of May or first of
June. In the British fur countries Richardson found these birds nesting to latitude 69° 30/ north,
and Hepburn traced them on the west coast of America, from British Columbia north to Sitka.
Richardson notes their arrival at Fort Chippewayan about May 15, and they were also com.
mon at Fort Good Hope in latitude 69° 30’, the most northerly post of the Hudson Bay Fur
Company. After rearing a single brood he tells us they leave these high latitudes early in
August. A comparison of specimens of this bird from various Alaskan localities with others
from Eastern North America does not show the slightest appreciable difference.

TACHYCINETA BICOLOR (Vieill.). Tree Swallow (Esk. Hdu-tagh i-yé-ghih).

Although having even a wider northern range than the Barn Swallow this bird does not
accept the shelter afforded by man, but retains its ancient habit of occupying holes in banks or
trees, and, as a consequence, its distribution along the Arctic coast and shores of Bering Sea is
limited to those portions where the proper positions for its nesting sites are afforded. At the
Yukon delta, the 1st of June, 1879, and at Saint Michaels, the 24th and 25th of May, 1880, they
were common, and although they nest at the former place, where the river banks and dead tree-
trunks afford them proper sites, yet in the latter place they are unknown, except as visitants in
fall or during the spring migration, when, as on the dates mentioned, they were found quarter-
ing over a series of small lakes and grassy flats, hunting insects and enjoying the genial sunshine,
which lasts for a short time at this season. It is also found as a straggler, generally the young
birds of the year, for a few days during the middle of August, when it departs, thus leaving for
the south or its interior haunts considerably earlier than the Barn Swallow. Richardson found
them nesting in hollow trees on the Mackenzie River, in latitude 65° north, and during Parry’s
first voyage a species of swallow was seen in about latitude 73° north, which was probably this
bird. In the spring, during their short visits to Saint Michaels, they occur at the same season as
the Black Brant; and while lying prone on my back upon a grassy knoll, on the open tundra,
watching for geese, I have frequently amused myself by observing the silent flitting to and fro of
these pretty creatures as they skim the surfaces of lakelets and bogs, gliding here and there as if
floating on the faint pufts of air which appeared to hold them poised, and then to waft them about
in graceful curves.

The icy sea and partly snow-covered country appear to offer a very inhospitable welcome in
spring, yet this bird and the Barn Swallow do not seem to suffer the least inconvenience from
these untoward surroundings.

This species is unknown on the islands of Bering Sea.
BIRDS. 199

CLIVICOLA RIPARIA (Linn.). Bank Swallow.

Along the Arctic sea-coast, as well as the shores of Bering Sea, this is an extremely rare visitant,
occurring merely as a straggler during its migration. On the river courses of the interior, how-
ever, it is one of the most abundant, if not the most abundant, species of swallow. Dall found it
nesting in great numbers on the Yukon, and counted over seven hundred swallows in a sand-bluff
near Nuklukhayet; he found from two to six eggs in the nests which he examined. These eggs
were laid upon scanty beds of fine twigs without straw or other lining. Richardson found colonies
numbering thousands of these birds about the mouth of the Mackenzie River in latitude 69°, and
it is common all along the rivers of Arctic America. A single bird taken by the Point Barrow
party, and a few others seen there the last of July and first of August, show that this species
extends its range to the extreme northern point of the mainland. In Northern Asia also it is a
very common species along the river courses, nesting to latitude 69° north, and passing south to
the shores of the Indian Ocean during the winter. It arrives at the Yukon mouth from the 20th
to the 25th of May, and leaves that region the last of August.

There is no record of the Bank Swallow’s presence on the southeast coast of the Territory,
though it is to be expected there owing to its wide distribution. It is unknown on the islands of
Bering Sea.

AMPELIS GARRULUS Linn. Bohemian Waxwing.

There is no record of this bird’s occurrence anywhere along the shores of Bering Sea or the
Arctic. In the interior, however, it is rather common, and specimens were brought me which were
obtained in May at Nulato, and at Fort Reliance from October 2 to 16 and on May 9. Dall states
that it arrives at Nulato about June 10, when it becomes common, and undoubtedly breeds in the
vicinity. That it arrives earlier in the season is shown by the specimens brought me from that
locality. By Mr. Dall’s observations it appears that the bird is migratory in that section of the
Territory.

The only American examples of the Waxwing’s nest anil egg were taken by Kennicott at Fort
Yukon July 4,1861. The nest was placed on the side of a branch of a small spruce which was
growing on the edge of a clump on low ground. The nest was at an elevation of about 18 feet.
It was large, the base being made of dry spruce twigs, and the nest itself constructed of fine
grass and moose-hair, lined internally with large feathers. The female was shot as she left
the nest. The single egg obtained measures .90 by .65 of an inch, and has a grayish-slaty or
stone-colored ground. The spots are dark brown with a deep violet shade. This nest and egg
remain unique among American collections, notwithstanding the presence of the bird in consid-
erable numbers in various parts of Arctic America.

The nest described above is considerably smaller than the European nests of the Waxwing,
The eggs of the European bird are also much larger, being an inch long and from .70 to .69 of an
inch in breadth. Hundreds of these birds’ eggs were obtained in Lapland by Wolley and others.

Through the labors of this last-named naturalist and of various other ornithologists, it has
been ascertained that these birds breed in the northern part of the Old World from the last of
May to the end of June, but most of them have their complement of eggs by the second week of
June. Their breeding range varies so much in different years that a locality where many of its
eggs are found in one season may not yield a single set the next. There is no record of the Wax-
wing’s presence on the southeastern coast of the Territory, although undoubtedly it is found there.

LANIUS BOREALIS Vieill. Northern Shrike (Esk. Ti-ki-chit-witk).

The only specimen of this bird from Southeastern Alaska in the National Museum collection is a
full-plumaged male, which was obtained at Fort Kenai, Cook’s Inlet, May 19, 1869, and it has
not been taken on any of the islands in Bering Sea. Hartlaub records a specimen seen January
4 at the mouth of Chilcat River and a second on Lynn Canal. Over the entire northern portion of
the Territory from Bering Sea east to the British boundary, and north of the Alaskan Mountains,
it is a resident, rather common in some places but nowhere abundant. It is found as a rare visitor
200 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

along the open coast of Bering Sea and the adjoining portion of the Arctic; but it is far more
numerous inland, and apparently is most abundant high up the Yukon, as the greater number of the
specimens brought me by the fur traders were from Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, near the
British boundary line.

Nuttall tells us that in some parts of New England this Shrike is called the ‘ Mocking-bird,”
on account of its imitation of the notes of smaller birds, though its more usual notes resemble the
discordant creaking of a sign-board hinge. On November 10 he heard one uttering a low, soft
warble resembling that of the Song-sparrow, changing the note immediately afterward to that of
the Cat-bird.

While at the Yukon mouth the last of May, 1879, I had the good fortune to observe this
bird several times, and also to hear its song. On May, 1879, while the ground was still largely
covered with snow, I was’ passing through a thicket where the winter’s drifts still lay deep
enough to half bury the bushes, when suddenly a low, soft, musical whistle, consisting of a half
dozen liquid trills, ending in two or three strange grating notes, fell upon my ear. After a
slight pause this was repeated, and with some difficulty, a moment later, I made out the indistinct
form of a bird close to the ground in a dense bush, about 20 yards in advance, where it had evi-
dently concealed itself on my approach. I hastily fired into the bush to secure, as I supposed,
some rarity, and, hurrying forward to gain the prize, was more surprised than pleased to find noth-
ing but the ordinary Shrike. On another occasion I was led a long chase through a piece of
tangled wood, bordering one of the Yukon channels in the delta, by some strange and musical
notes unlike anything I had ever heard before, which appeared to be uttered close at hand,
and a moment later to be far away. After a considerable time, as the wood became more open,
the author of these notes was found skulking from tree to tree, in advance, and a long shot
brought down another Shrike.

In his list of the birds of the Territory, Mr. Dall records but a single specimen of this bird,
which was brought him at Nulato by a native in winter and he considered it uncommon.

A considerable number of specimens brought me by the fur traders trom the various parts of
the Territory show, however, that it is a rather common, if not an abundant, species in the in-
terior, although on the sea-coast it is to be classed as uncommon or rare. Specimens were brought
me by Eskimo from the head of Kotzebue Sound aud Norton Bay.

Kennicott noticed this species at Fort Simpson in September, and again in October, and heard
them uttering a low, irregular, and varied but musical song. It breeds far to the north, as is shown
by a female bird in the National Museum collection, taken the 11th of June, 1863, in the An-
derson River region, latitude 69°, with six eggs. This specimen is in immature plumage, and is
probably a bird of the preceding year. The summer and winter plumages of the perfectly adult
birds can Be distinguished, as is stated in the History of North American Birds, by the lores,
which are jet black in summer and gray in winter; the clear ashy-gray of the back and
crown is a little less clear in winter, the white beneath less pure. The young require from
two to three years to attain the perfect state, as is shown in a large series before me. A female
shot at the Yukon mouth, May 13, which was mating, has the entire lores grayish white and the
frontal patch of the same. The back, wings, and under surface cannot be told from the ordinary
winter birds. Other summer specimens show the same characters grading into the perfect
plumage by several stages. Among about a dozen specimens from Alaska only three are adults.
The undulating vermiculated bars which cover the entire lower surface of the young of the year
are gradually restricted until, in the adult, they occupy the breast and a portion of the sides, leav-
ing the throat and abdomen immaculate. The feather markings producing this vermiculation are
less obvious in the adult bird.

I do not think that the Shrikes nest along the open sea-coast except where, as at the Yukon
mouth and the head of Norton Bay, dense bushes and trees abound.

TIELMINTHOPHAGA CELATA (Say). Orange-crowned Warbler (Esk. same as Ken-
nicott’s Warbler).

Throughout the wooded region of Northern Alaska, from the British boundary line west to
the shores of Bering Sea, and from the Alaskan range of mountains north within the Arctic Circle
BIRDS. 201

as far as the tree-limit, this species is a rather common summer resident. It is known along the
shores of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound mainly as an autumn migrant, as it straggles to the
southward at the end of the breeding season. Wherever bushes occur along the northern coast
of the Territory it is found at this season, and at Saint Michaels it was a common bird each summer
from the last of July up to about the middle of August, after which it became rare and soon dis-
appeared. I have never noted it on the sea-coast during the spring migration. The latest date
which I have recorded is August 24. The birds seen at this time were mainly young of the year,
as was shown by the numerous examples obtained.

aAs remarked in describing the habits of Kennicott’s Warbler, in fall this species frequents
the vicinity of dwellings and native villages, where it searches the crevices of the fences and log
houses for insects. It breeds throughout the interior, and Kennicott secured a set of its eggs at
Fort Yukon on the 10th of June, and another on the 15th of the same month. <A young bird of
the year, in its first plumage, obtained at Saint Michaels August 3, 1878, presents the following
characters :

Feathers of crown ashy at base, tipped with smoky-brown; a brownish, dull olive-green
shade on the back; rump and upper tail-feathers fulvous-olive; wings and tail brown, edged with
olive-green; two dull fulvous wing-bars formed by the tips of coverts; throat and abdomen
dingy with an ashy whitish wash; sides of neck, breast, and body smoky fulvous-brown; axilla-
ries, bend of wing, and under tail-coverts with a sulphur-yellow wash; bill and feet dull brownish
horn color.

From the state of plumage just described, in which there is very little greenish-yellow wash,
there are all steps to the adult plumage of autumn.

The young of lutescens is readily distinguishable in this stage by the decided greenish-yellow
shade which pervades the entire bird, especially on the lower surface ; whereas, celata, in the same
stage, is characterized by ashy shades, especially the entire head and lower surface.

HELMINTHOPHAGA CELATA LUTESCENS (Ridgw.). Lutescent Warbler.

Extending up the Pacific coast this bird is found as a common summer resident of the wooded
southeastern shore of the Territory, where it replaces celata. Bischoff secured a specimen from
Fort Kenai, and it occurs also at Kadiak and Sitka. Nothing is known of its breeding habits in
Alaska, nor is it known to pass north of the Alaskan Mountains and thus intrude on the territory
of its relative. ;

A young bird of this form, obtained at Chilkat Depot, Washington Territory, July 7, 1879,
by Dr. Kennerly, now in the National Museum collection, is dull, smoky, yellowish-olive brown on
the crown, neck, and back. A buffy shade from the rump to shoulders. On the back of the neck
and crown a yellowish-olive cast is moreapparent. Lores yellow like chin; wing and tail brown ;
feathers edged with clear greenish-yellow very similar to the color of the adult, but a trifle more
brownish. Two faint wing-bars formed by the dusky-buff tips of wing-coverts. Entire under sur-
face greenish-yellow, which approaches a clear yellow on the under tail-coverts and axillaries,
and with a dull smoky shade on throat, breast, and abdomen. -The bill and feet are pale.

The dates of arrival and departure of this form are unknown, as is, to a great extent, its
biography.

DENDROICA £S1IVA (Gmel.). Yellow Warbler (Esk. Chiing-wk chi-tig-ti-niih).

This is, perhaps, the most abundant warbler throughout Alaska. It is found everywhere in
the woodeil interior, on the bushy borders of the water-courses, or frequenting the scattered clumps
of stunted alders on the shores of Bering Sea, and the coast of the Arctic about Kotzebue Sound,
or on the southeast coast of the Territory. Its arrival has been recorded in the northwest
in British Columbia, by May 1, and by the 10th of May it reaches the Lower Yukon. In the
northern part of British America Richardson noted its arrival at Fort Franklin, in latitude 66°,
on May 15; and on May 25, 1879, while I was camping on the bush-grown islands in the Yukon
delta, its song was heard on every hand for some days before the birds scattered, apparently making
the river their highway, whence they reached the adjoining region. It has been taken on Kadiak
202 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Island the 1st of July, and skins were brought me from various points aloug the course of the
Yukon from where this river crosses the British boundary line to its mouth. It breeds to the shores
of the Arctic Ocean wherever it can find a willow or alder patch wherein to place its nest and shelter
its young. Its well-known breeding range thence south, reaching far within the temperate zone,
and from one side of the continent to the other, gives it the most extensive breeding habitat of
any American Warbler. Its lively presence, even among the pleasant surroundings of the south,
lends animation to the scene, and even more impressive is its presence under the dismal skies
and in the damp, depressing climate of the north, where such visitants are only too rare. Its
bright form, full of sprightly gaiety, is seen flitting about the dark-green alder-patches, and its
lisping song greets the ear like a memory of the past. But a change in the weather drives it to
shelter within the low but densely clustering masses of foliage. In spite of the untoward sur-
roundings in its far northern home, the little fellow takes matters as they come, and makes him-
self merry while opportunity is afforded. In fall, from the last of July to towards the last of
August, they come about the houses and native villages to feast on the fare they find provided
abundantly in those localities, until, a little later in the season, a few chilling storms send them
trooping away with others of their kind to far distant winter quarters.

This species, as also several others, arrives at or near the Arctic Circle, along the Lower Mac-
kenzie, and the whole course of the Yukon, at almost the same date that it reaches the Middle
States. The autumn migration occurs from the 1st to the 20th of August, mainly about the middle

-of this month, after which the bird is very rare.

It is the only warbler, with the exception of the Black-capped Flycatcher. which nests in the

alder-thickets in the vicinity of Saint Michaels.

DENDROICA CORONATA (Linn.). Myrtle Warbler.

This species is the hardiest of the American warblers. Even during its winter visit to the
south it frequently passes this entire scason in parts of the country where there is abundant snow
and severe cold. In spring, by May 5, it reaches Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, and by the
15th of May it is recorded at Nulato and reaches Saint Michaels from the 18th to 20th of this
month in ordinary seasons. For comparison with the dates of its arrival in the north, I may add
here that this warbler is recorded as reaching Northern Vermont on the Ist of May, and on the
15th of this month, Eastern Maine. It occurs along the open coast of Bering Sea merely as a
straggler or passing migrant, and after being observed for a day or two about the houses in the
spring it is not seen again until it returns towards the south during the first half of August. By
the 3d of June it lays its eggs on the shores of Great Slave Lake, in the interior of British
America, and it has been recorded as breeding also along the Anderson River. Kumlien obtained
a Single specimen July 31, at Godhaven, Greenland, and in Alaska it breeds to the northern tree-
limit, considerably inside the Arctic Circle. I have no record of its occurrence on the southeastern
coast of the Territory, although it is undoubtedly a visitant to that portion. A strange point in
the history of this bird is the fact that it has been found breeding ou the island of J amaica, thus
connecting the tropics with the extreme Arctic in its breeding range, although it is unknown
during the summer in most of the intermediate region. Its nests in the north are placed on
low spruces or even on the ground, according to MacFarlane, who found nests thus placed on the
Anderson River. During its visit to the sea-coast, like various other species of warblers, the
Myrtle Warbler makes its headquarters in the vicinity of the trading posts or the native villages,
where if apparently finds an abundant supply of its favorite food. The garden plot and fences at
Saint Michaels afford this and several other kinds of warblers favorite gathering places, where
they feed in passing to and fro in their migrations.

DENDROICA STRIATA (Forst.). Black-poll Warbler.

Although this species has its breeding ground in the wooded interior, it occurs along the sea-
coast of Norton Sound during the spring migration. I have noted it as early as May 27 at the
Yukon mouth, where it breeds, and from this date on to the 5th or 6th of June it continues to
BIRDS. 203

arrive in this region. A specimen in the National Museum collection was obtained at Fort Kenai,
June §, and they probably breed as far south as this point along the coast, if not still farther. On
June 4 specimens were obtained at Saint Michaels, and on the Sth and 10th of June its eggs have
been taken at Fort Yukon. Mr. Dall notes its arrival at Nulato about May 15. Its early arrival
here is very remarkable, since Mr. Allen has never noted it in Western Massachusetts earlier
than May 20, whereas the bird arrives in the far north, near the Arctic Circle, five days earlier
than it is known to arrive in Western Massachusetts. It is also recorded as the last of the
migrants in Central Vermont, where it is seen only for a few days in early June. In the autumn
it starts on its return to the south about the-lst of August, the last being seen about the 20th of
this month. On the shores of Norton Sound in fall, as in spring, it frequents the vicinity of the
dwellings, and searches industriously over old board fences and log houses for insects. It is
stated that it usually builds its nest in bushes, a few feet from the ground; but some Arctic
nests are placed directly upon the ground. This latter variation in habit probably accords with
the locality, since it nests in bushes when the latter are to be found.

A young male commencing to lose its first plumage, taken on the 1st of August, 1879, at Saint
Michaels, presents the following characteristics :

Feathers of the back gray with a central shaft-line of black, edged along the tip with dark,
giving an irregular faintly-barred appearance. The crown is dull olive-green, this color having
evidently replaced a shade similar to that on the rump, but darker. The first plumage remains,
however, as an obsolescent superciliary line, which is dark grayish, mottled and bordered with
dusky. Sides of the head the same as the superciliary stripe. An olive-green wash extends from -
the feathers of back to the sides of head and neck, and includes the edges of the wing-feathers,
where it is brightest on edges of primaries. Wings dark ashy-brown; tertiaries edged with white,
washed with olive green. Coverts broadly tipped with white, forming two very distinct wing-
bars. Secondaries and inner primaries slightly tipped with white. Tail-coverts and outer edges
of tail-feathers ashy; the former lightest. Tail brown, with a white spot close to the tip of the
two tail-feathers; in size and pattern exactly like the adult. On the third tail-feather on inner
web near the tip is a small white spot, which, though small, is distinct. Abdomen and under
tail-coverts dingy white, faintly streaked along the shaft and tipped with dark. Throat, breast,
and sides dingy grayish-white, finely tipped on the edges with black, and faintly washed with
dusky greenish-yellow. The breast and sides are strongly marked with a distinct greenish yellow
area, owing to the presence of feathers belonging to the second plumage. From what is left of
the first plumage it is evident that, in this stage, the bird is dingy gray with dark edging and
shaft-streaks washed with a faint yellowish, producing an indistinct dingy yellow.

DENDROICA TOWNSENDI (Nuit.). Townsend’s Warbler.

Hartlaub (Jour. Orn. Deut. Cent., July, 1883, p. 267) states that this species was seen once by
Dr. Krause, on May 27, in conifers of Upper Dejih Valley, Alaska, which is probably the most
northern point from which it has yet been recorded. He also adds that there is a single specimen
of this species from Sitka in the Bremen and Stockholm collection.

SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS (Linn.). Oven-bird.

From Fort Yukon some distance down the river this bird is known to breed. Dall tells us
that it is not common in that region, and on May 30 he secured a single specimen above Nulato;
he adds that the natives called it the grandfather of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. At Mission, on
the Lower Yukon, a single dried skin was seen in an Eskimo hut, in the winter, which is-the only
addition I can make to the history of the bird within the limits of the Territory. It is thus far
unknown from the coast and islands of Bering Sea, as well as the coast region of Southeastern
Alaska, apparently penetrating the Territory by the way of the Upper Yukon, from its range
through the British fur countries to the east.

Its nesting range extends within the Arctic Circle on the Upper Yukon and Lower Mackenzie
Rivers.
204 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

SEIURUS NOVEBORACENSIS (Gmel.). Water Thrush (Esk. Chi f-chi-w0-gitk).

From about May 25 to June 1 these Water Thrusbes reach the mouth of the Yukon, and at
this time their clear, sweet songs may be heard from along the bush-grown banks of the river
and its numerous tributaries. The barren coast of Bering Sea north and south from this point
affords it but little shelter at this season, hence its extreme rarity there in sprivg. It occurs in
spring where the dense growth of bushes about Kotzebue Sound affords it available breeding
places. In the wooded interior, as at the Yukon mouth, it is abundant, and, in fact, is one of the
most common bush-frequenting birds throughout the entire fur countries, extending north even
beyond the tree limit. In the autumn migration it is found scattered about the country more gen-
erally than in spring, visiting even such points on the sea-coast as Saint Michaels, where, entirely
outside of its usual range, it is found in friendly companionship with the Titlarks and Yellow Wag-
tails, frequenting the borders of damp spots and muddy paths close to the buildings, where its only
shelter is afforded by the overhanging grasses. Its presence, however, at this place is to be looked
for only from about the 25th of July to the 15th of August, after which time it passes south. I
have found no record of its occurrence on the southeast coast of the Territory. At Fort Yukon
Dall found a nest containing two eggs, in a bushy spruce, on the 1st of June; but he saw none of
the birds at Nulato, and considered it uncommon. My own experience at the Yukon mouth proves
the bird to be one of the commouest species breeding at that place. Its favorite haunts, in the
midst of dense thickets, shelter it from the observation of one pot accustomed to its song, which,
however, is one of the most striking that reaches the ear of the traveler in that region; but the
songster, perched on some low branch, is quick to take alarm, and skulks away beyond the sight
of one penetrating its haunts.

At Fort Yukon Lockhart shot a bird from its nest on June 2L. This nest was concealed under
a small pile of drift close to the river bank, under a large willow tree. Another nest taken near
by was similarly placed and made of moss lined with very fine grass. In the National Museum
collection is a nest containing five eggs, from Peale’s River, which is composed of moss and grass
and lined with mouse and rabbit fur. There are also other eggs in the same collection, which
were obtained from Fort Yukon during the middle of June.

SYLVANIA PUSILLA (Wils.), Wilson’s Warbler.

The movements of this handsomelittle species agree closely with those of the Yellow Warbler,
as does its distribution, at least, so far as is shown by my experience in the north. On the
Upper Yukon its nest and eggs have been taken by May 20, and by the middle of this month,
or soon after, its presence is noted on the coast of Bering Sea, where it is a summer resident,
occupying the same alder-thickets as the Yellow Warbler. It first makes its appearance, like
the latter, about the houses in spring, but soon strays away to its summer haunts on the
hill sides, where it is confined until the nesting season has passed and, about the end of July
and 1st of August, it returns with its young to pay a last visit to the solitary group of houses
on the open sea-shore at Saint Michaels before it passes to the south. It is one of the commonest
of the bush-frequenting species in the north and extends its breeding range to the shores of the
Arctic Ocean, where it is found breeding about Kotzebue Sound as well as along the entire coast
of Norton Sound wherever shelter is afforded. Like most others of the wood-frequenting species,
this bird is not known on the barren rocky islands of Bering Sea, but on the mainland it forms a
striking and pleasant addition to the fauna so strangely attracted to these apparently forbidding
regions during the short and unpleasant Arcticsummer. Its range in the Territory is confined, like
that of H. celata, to the region north of the Alaskan Mountains, and like the latter it is represented
to the south of these mountains by a closely-allied geographical race.

SYLVANIA PUSILLA PILEOLATA (Pall.). Pileolated Warbler.

Early in May these birds have been found in Oregon, and by the 12th of this month some were
feeding their yong there. From this region it extends north and occupies the entire Pacific
shore of the Alaskan mainland. It is common according to Bean at Yakutat Bay and Kadiak in
BIRDS. 205

June and July, but it is not found on any of the Aleutian chain nor on the mainland north of the
Alaskan Mountains. From these mountains southward it is abundant, however, and its nest and
eggs have been obtained at Sitka. Its times of arrival and departure are unknown, aud its biog-
raphy in this part of its range yet remains to be written.

A comparison of specimens of this and of the other form from Northern Alaska and Eastern
North America shows that the race pileolata is based upon a general and constant intensity of
coloration.

MOTACILLA OCULARIS Swinh. Swinhoe’s Wagtail.

Although this bird has been taken repeatedly at Plover Bay, Siberia, and thence throughout
a large portion of Northeastern Asia, including China and Formosa, to the Lake Baikal region, it
appears to be almost unknown in Alaska. In fact its claim as a bird of the Territory rests upon
the capture of a single specimen, a young bird in summer plumage, by Captain Kellett and Lieu-
tenant Wood in “ Northwest America,” as recorded in the Brit. Mus. Cat. Birds, X, 473.

The Wagtail seen by Mr. Turner on Attu Island, on the western extreme of the Aleutian chain,
may possibly have been of this species, but it is far more probable thatit was the Mf. lugens which
Dr. Stejneger found common upon the Commander Islands.

A single specimen of ocularis was taken by Mr. Belding at La Paz, Lower California, during
the winter of 188182. Itis scarcely necessary to add that itsoccurrence at this point, so far
from its home, is entirely accidental.

The western limit of this bird in Siberia is given by Seebohm as the water-shed between the
Yenesei and the Lena Rivers; thence east it has been taken in many portions of the continent, in-
cluding Mongolia, Chukchi land, and the localities previously mentioned.

A fine adult male secured by me June 26, 1881, at Plover Bay, Siberia, presents the following
characters: The back is nearly uniform ashy, changing on the upper tail-coverts to blackish, edged
with dark-ashy. All but the two outer feathers black. The two outer feathers are white with
their bases black and a narrowing longitudinal band of the same along the edge of the inner web
of each, vanishing towards the end of the feather. A black line extends along and near the shaft
on the outer web of the next to outer tail-feather, becoming broken and disappearing toward the
end of the feather. The wings are light-brown, but the tertiaries are much darker and edged with
white. The latter color so broadly edges the greater and lesser wing-coverts as to overlap and
conceal the dark-brown centers, and forms a large uniform patch on the upper surface of the wing.
A broad frontal patch of white extends from the bill back on the middle of crown to a line connect-
ing the posterior edge of orbits; this white is continued back nearly to the occiput as a superciliary
stripe. A narrow black line extends from the gape through the eye, uniting on the back of the
neck with a nearly square black patch, which occupies the occipital and nuchal area, and extends
partly down the sides of the neck. From the base of lower mandible on either side a widening
band of white extends back under the eye, on the cheeks, and down the sides of the neck, separat-
ing the black crown patch from the large black area, which extends from base of under mandible
over the throat and breast. The rest of the under surface is dingy white with a wash of ashy on
the sides and flanks. Bill and feet black, iris dark hazel. Fall specimens exhibit a somewhat sim-
ilar pattern, with the black and white areas on the head and neck much broken up and intermixed.

BUDYTES FLAVUS LEUCOSTRIATUS (Hom.). Siberian Yellow Wagtail (Esk. Psit-
gitk).

On the west coast of Europe, and extending across the entire northern portion of the Old
World, is found a series of closely-allied Wagtails, of which the form under consideration repre-
sents the easternmost. The literature bearing upon these birds is in a state of considerable
confusion, owing to the variability and close inter-relationship between the several varieties.
The Yellow Wagtail of Eastern Siberia, extending across Bering Sea into that portion of Alaska
in the region of Bering Strait, is one of the handsomest among its several related forms; and of
the several additions made to the North American fauna by the explorers of the Western Union
Telegraph Expedition, this was one of the most interesting. The first specimens were obtained
206 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

from the vicinity of Saint Michaels, where it was found abundant during the summer of 1866-67.
It was previously observed by Dr. Adams, of the English navy, during the summer of 1851; but
this observation was not made publie until recently. The original specimen from Alaska was
forwarded to Mr. Tristram, who stated that “the specimen with a white superciliary stripe was
identical with forms in breeding plumage from the Atlas, Palestine, and Lapland.”

In Alaska I found this bird along the coast as far south as the Yukon mouth, where it arrived
May 28, 1879, but was extremely rare. Specimens have been taken since by Mr. McKay as far
south as the head of Bristol Bay, and it was noted as a late summer visitor on the Near Islands
by Turner. Saint Michaels, on Norton Sound, appears to be the center of its abundance on our
coast, and thence north it becomes rarer, until at Kotzebue Sound it is, as at the Yukon mouth,
very rare. I saw but two or three specimens at different points on the shore of Kotzebue Sound
during our visits there in the summer of 1881, the farthest northern record being just on the Arctic
Circle. In Eastern Siberia it is an abundant species and is found along the entire Bering Sea
coast, wherever suitable localities are found, extending its range to Saint Matthews and Saint
Lawrence Islands; East Cape, Plover Bay, and various other localities on the Siberian coast are
well-known points of occurrence.

In the vicinity of Saint Michaels it is one of the most familiar and common land birds, and as
one walks over the open tundra its familiar clinking, metallic note strikes pleasantly on the
ear. It usually has a preference for the boggy, moss-grown portions of the country, and upon its
first arrival appears rather shy. Even during the breeding season they are ever on the alert, and
the approach of a stranger to their haunts is sure to bring several of them from bush or flat to
protest against the right of way. They may be distinguished, while yet far away, by their long,
easy, swinging flight, undulating in their course like Spinus tristis, or a Woodpecker; drawing
near, they circle slowly overhead, constantly uttering the sharp plé-plé-plé, or alighting for a mo-
ment upon a small bush or hummock, flirting their tails and moving restlessly about, apparently
consumed with nervous impatience, and scarcely have they touched the ground ere they are again
on the wing. A gunshot or two, however, is enough to send them to a safe distance, even though
their nest be near by, although occasionally they show great recklessness and are as heedless of
danger as most other breeding birds.

Their nests are usually placed under the edge of a tussock or slightly overhanging bank, bunch
of grass, or in fact of any similar shelter, under which they can partially or wholly conceal the
nest. Their preference, however, is for grassy borders of a rather steeply sloping bank, along the
brow of which they place their nests. As one walks over the grass-covered places frequented by
these birds, during the breeding season, he is likely to sce a female flutter off her eggs at his feet,
and, flying away a few yards, alight and glide away, mouse-like, among the grass with such
rapidity that, unless closely watched, she quickly disappears. In some cases she will lie thus
concealed for some time, and at other times she joius the male at once and circles about overhead.
‘When the male pays his addresses to the female in spring a peculiar performance takes place,
somewhat like that of the Yellow Chat. The male starts up from a bank or clump of bushes, and,
rising for 20 or 30 yards at a sharp angle, suddenly stiffens and decurves his wings, at the
same time slowly spreading and elevating his tail nearly perpendicularly to his body, and in this
curious position he floats slowly down until within a foot or two of the ground, uttering a low,
clear and rapid medley of jingling notes which can only be compared to the sound made by lightly
rattling together the links of a small steel chain. This performance is very commonly executed
over a large snow-bank, as if the bird appreciated the contrast afforded by such a background.
As he approaches the ground in his descent he suddenly glides away to a neighboring
knoll, whence he repeats the maneuver.

They arrive in the vicinity of Saint Michaels from the 27th of May tothe 3d of June. Usually
present in full numbers by the 5th of this latter month, and quickly pairing, they seek out their
nesting ground. In a very short time they have their complement of eggs. By the middle of
July the young are fledged, and soon small parties come about the houses and frequent the rocky
sea-shore, where they find food in abundance. Many of the adults at this season gather about
patches of bushes and dry hill-sides.

bush or
BIRDS. 207

Early in August the old birds commence to gradually disappear, and by the middle of the
month are seen only occasionally, although on the 18th of August they have been noted on Saint
Lawrence Island. The young remain longer and are found in scattered parties all about the
settlements and native houses in the same localities favored by the common Water Wagtail, which
occurs sparingly along the coast at this season. The Yellow Wagtail trips daintily along the
grassy margins of the muddy spots, its vibratiug tail and slender form distinguishing it among the
motley crowd of Savanna Sparrows, Lapland Longspurs, and common Wagtails which keep it
company. The complement of eggs ranges from four to seven, and much variation exists in
the marking of the considerable series in my collection. No two of the seven nests are alike;
nor are the sets of eggs similar, although there is a general likeness running through the series.
The nests measure externally about 34 by 4 inches across by 14 to 2 inches deep, with the central
depression 4 to 14 inches deep, and from 2 to 24 inches in diameter. The outer portion is usually
composed of bits of grass and moss, pretty compactly arranged, with the central cavity well lined
with some warm material,such as the hair of dogs and men, or Ptarmigan feathers, or a com-
bination of the three. One nest is built mainly of fine grass lined with a closely-felted layer of
dogs’ hair. The second nest has a thin layer of moss and grass followed by one of feathers, and
the six eggs it contains rest upon a layer of silky-brown club-mosses. The third is composed of
a felted layer of dogs’ hair on the bottom, followed above by a thin layer of feathers; this is
succeeded by a still thinner layer of club-moss, and the eggs rest upon a felted layer of dogs’ hair.
The fourth nest is composed of a uniform loosely-joined structure of feathers and pieces of grass
all mingled into a heterogeneous mass. The ground color of the eggs varies from a pale-greenish
clay to a clayey white, over which extends a profuse confluent mottling, varying from slaty to red-
dish brown, which, in some cases, almost hides the ground color; in others the spots are large
and Jess numerous, and do not cover the shells so completely. The eggs of the same set usually
are of a similar shade and marking, and in but one set can the slightest traces of zigzag markings
be found about the larger ends. A series of thirty-two eggs ranges within the following limits:
Extreme length, .79; extreme breadth, .60; average length of entire series, .748; average breadth
of the entire series, .562; least length, .70; least breadth, .54.

The following characteristics are taken from a series of twenty-six adult birds and eleven
young of the year, all obtained from the region about Saint Michaels:

The sexes are very similar. In freshly-killed specimens the males are frequently brighter
colored than the females, but richly-plumaged females are much more brightly colored than the
duller males at the same season.

Adult male and female in Spring.—On the crown and nape, extending down the sides of the
neck the color is clear ashy, becoming shaded more or less with brown in poor or worn plumage.
The back rich olive-green, especially upon the rump and upper tail-feathers, and extending to
just back of the ashy crown-patch. The intermediate region between the shoulders and on the
scapulars is shaded more or less strongly with brown, becoming ashy-brown or of a darker shade
than the crown in some specimens. The wings are brown. The tertiaries and coverts edged with
pale-yellowish white, the tips of the coverts forming two dull wing-bars. This light edging of
coverts varies in amount, and in worn specimens is sometimes nearly obliterated. The middle
tail-feathers are dark-brown, becoming nearly black in some specimens. Two outer tail-feathers
have their basal quarter brown, with a narrowing band of the same extending from the dark base
along the inner half of inner web, reaching nearly to the tip of feather. A narrow line of brown
close to the shaft on the outer web to the next to the outer feather. The remainder of these feathers
are white, including the entire tip of each and their shafts. The narrow white superciliary stripe
usually commences at the nostril and reaches to the nape; but in some specimens it is obsolete in
front of the eye, and is frequently barely discernible. A dark-brownish ashy line includes the
lores, eye, and ear-coverts. Chin white, shading into rich greenish-yellow, which occupies the
entire under parts, including the under tail-coverts. The precise chain of the white area as well
as the intensity of the yellow varies greatly with individuals. The olive-green of back extends
on the sides of the neck and breast, forming a more or less obsolete and slightly clouded band
across the breast, the basal half of each feather being olive-green with a yellowish tip; some-
times the yellowish tip is obsolete, rendering the green more apparent. In some specimens sev-
208 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

eral pure olive-green feathers are scattered here and there among the yellow feathers of this part.
A strong wash of olive-green extends along the sides and flanks. The under wing-corerts are
yellowish-white. The iris is dark hazel. The bill and feet black.

In fall adults are nearly uniform olive-brown above, with a grayish shade on the crown and
grayish on the rump. The tail and wing feathers are of a softer shade than in the spring, and
tinted with a mixture of olive. The superciliary line white, sometimes yellow shaded. The white
chin-patch extends to the breast and the yellow or fulvous of breast surrounds it posteriorly; this
fulvous-brown shade extends across the breast. Abdomen dingy yellowish; sides and flanks dingy
olive. Bill and feet dark horn color.

Young of the year—The top of the head and back is nearly uniform fulvous brown, varying
to olive-brown. Wings and tail almost precisely as in the adult. The younger specimens have
more of a light fulvous brownish shade throughout, which becomes darker and more ashy in older
birds. The light superciliary line is fine and less marked than in the adults and oftener obso-
lescent anterior to the orbit. The white chin-patch is much extended, frequently reaching far
down on the throat, where it is more or Jess washed with pale fulvous. In very young specimens a
band of feathers tipped with black or very dark sooty-brown, with light-colored bases, extends
from each side of the lower mandible down the sides of the neck and continues across the
breast, thus inclosing the throat-patch. The dark area does not form a continuous surface, but has
a broken and mottled appearance. It is in striking contrast with the inclosed whitish space. The
abdomen and under tail-coverts are a very pale dingy-yellowish, with a fulvous wash in some
cases. The sides are washed with dingy olive-brown. Bill and legs pale fleshy horn-color.

A young bird from Saint Michaels is in the following rather strange plumage: A faintly
outlined blackish-brown cap mixed with dull olive-brown. The black is most marked as a supra-
orbital line. There is a postocular yellowish-white stripe. Nape, back, and rump dull grayish
olive-brown. Wings and tail as in the ordinary young bird. An oval area of dingy whitish occu-
pies the chin and throat nearly to the breast. This area is outlined and limited by an irregular
sooty-black border, which takes its origin on each side of the head at the base of the lower man-
dible, and extends down the sides of the neck forming a breast-band, patterned very much as the
black border of throat-patch in Sturnella magna. The abdomen is yellowish, breast and sides a
dull olive-brown.

ANTHUS PENSILVANICUS (Lath.). American Pipit (Esk. Clit-ching-ik).

On the 8th of May, 1877, during a storm of snow and sleet, the first Pipit was seen at
Unalaska, on the Aleutian Islands. The following days they appeared to be still more numerous,
and on the 19th of the month the Aleuts told me that these birds already had eggs on the
hillsides. On the Upper Yukon, at Fort Reliance, they arrive as early as May 1, leaving about
the 5th of October or later. Hartlaub records the species at Portage Bay by April 28, and
numerous by May 11. They do not remain here in summer. August 15 they have been taken on
Saint George Island of the Fur Seal group, and numerous specimens have been obtained from Sitka,
Kadiak, and thence north along the coast to the peninsula of Aliaska and through Bering Strait to
the shores of the Arctic. It was noted in July on the Shumagins, and at Cape Lisburne in August.
On the Near Islands it is an occasional summer resident. At Nulato, on the Yukon, it arrives May
10, and its arrival has been recorded on the Lower Mackenzie River as late as May 21. It appears
at times on the shore of Bering Sea in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, and, like various other species,
is rare, except during the early autumnal migrations, when it is present for a short time about the
middle of August.

Kumlien records its arrival at Cumberland Gulf on May 30, while the ground was still covered
with snow, and it was forced to obtain food by wading about and hunting in the edge of
the water, feeding on small crustacea and mollusca. The 1st of June he thinks many perished
during a severe snow-storm, during which many took shelter about his quarters and were so over.
come by exhaustion that they allowed themselves to be taken by hand. Near his winter quarters
they nested in crevices among the rocks; but in Greenland he found them nesting in tussocks of
grass like sparrows. He aiso tells us that the Eskimo regard this bird as an enemy, and accuse
BIRDS. 209

u

it of telling the reindeer when a man is in pursuit; and it is also said to tell the deer whether or
not a man is a good shot. Kumlien adds that he has seen an Eskimo waste his last charge in
vainly trying to kill one of these birds, although a herd of deer was near by.

In examining a large series of these birds, contained in the National Museum collection, great
variation is observed between specimens from the same locality, and it is difficult to distinguish
any difference which may be ascribed to geographical influence. Spring specimens from the
Upper Yukon have a decided ashy shade on the crown, nape, and back, though toward the ramp
and upper tail-coverts there is a more brownish shade. The dark centers of the feathers over this
region, the wings, and the tail are brown-edged, especially on the back, with a lighter shade. The
dark ashy of the nape extends forward on the ear-coverts, and the rest of the cheek, superciliary
stripe, and the entire under surface are of a nearly uniform buff or a yellowish-brown of vary-
ing intensity. Thechin and tail-coverts are a little paler. A series of small, poorly-marked black
and brown spots extends down the sides of throat from the bill and reaches across the breast, thence
continuing towards the sides. A young bird obtained at Saint Michaels, July 29, 1877, has the
crown and sides of the head brown, and the nape has an ashy wash of buff; the superciliary
stripe is faintly outlined. Back brown, with dark central areas to feathers, asin adult. The wings
dark-brown edged with fulvous-brown. Tail similar to adult. A well-marked series of dark
spots and shaft-streaks extends down the sides of the neck to bill and forms a heavily-marked area
across the breast, and a less strongly-marked series extends along the sides and flanks. In the
youngest specimens the buffy shade is less marked than in those which have attained their
second plumage or are in the process of moulting. Bill, feet, and legs are pale in young birds.
The spring birds from the northwest appear grayer and more ashy above than specimens from the
Eastern United States at the same season.

ANTHUS CERVINUS (Pallas). Red-throated Pipit.

This species was accredited to the Aleutian Islands in Zander, Cab., Jour. fiir Orn., Extra-
heft 1, 14, 1853.

A specimen was recorded by Mr. Dall, at Saint Michaels, during the Russian Telegraph
Expedition. This specimen has been alluded to by myself, Ridgway, and others, erroneously, as
A. pratensis, which latter species is not known from Alaska.

CINCLUS MEXICANUS Swains. American Dipper (Esk. Kathl-ki-gd-yik).

Throughout the Territory, wherever clear, swift-running streams afford suitable locations, this
bird is found. It has been obtained at Sitka and on the island of Unalaska, in the middle of the
Aleutian chain, and by Turner in the Near Islands, in August, and I have specimens from Fort
Reliance, at the headwaters of the Yukon, as well as from various points along the lower course
of this stream, and along the shores of Norton and Kotzebue Sounds, where the small streams flow
into the sea. Some natives from the interior, near the northeastern part of Kotzebue Sound, in
about latitude 69° N., described to me a little black bird that remains all winter about open spots
in the ice on the swift-running streams, and swims and dives in the water like aduck; this is
undoubtedly the Ouzel, and I received specimens from several localities in that region. Several
were obtained and brought me in mid-winter from the head of Norton Sound, during acold period
when the thermometer registered as low as —50° at Saint Michaels, and they must frequently
endure a temperature of —60°, or even lower, since in the interior the cold is almost invariably
much more severe than along the coast. On the Upper Yukon it is also a resident, whence the fur
traders brought me wintering specimens. In this region also the cold is intense, as shown by the
fact that in one instance a bottle of mercury suspended on the south side of a house remained
frozen for six weeks, during which time there were no means of ascertaining how low the temper-
ature descended below the —42° necessary to produce this result. Throughout this period these
hardy little birds were busily seeking their food as usual about the open places in the ice marking
the rapids in the smaller streams, the icy waters and the frigid temperature of the air not appearing
to affect them in the least except, perhaps, to make them a trifle less active than usual. It seems

S, Miss, 156——27
210 NATURAL HISTORY CULLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

scarcely credible that a bird of this group can successfully brave such extreme cold, yet the fact
is supported by ample proof. It is, perhaps, the only bird of its kind which winters within the
Arctic Circle.

Although this Ouzel is found throughout North Ameriva from far within the tropics north to
within the frigid zone, yet a comparison of my scries of eight specimens obtained in Alaska with
specimens from Southern United States and Guatemala shows nothing bué a trifling individual
variation. As usual, the fall and winter specimens have light-colored bills, and the secondaries
and the feathers of the lower surface are slightly edged with grayish. Although this bird is found
on the Aleutian Islands, it is not known to occur on the bleak, rocky islands elsewhere in Bering
Sea. It is resident wherever found in Alaska, although, strangely enough, it is partly migratory
in some portions of its range in middle latitudes. An allied species occurs in Eastern Asia.

TROGLODYTES HIEMALIS PACIFICUS Baird. Western Winter Wren.

From Sitka, Bischoff sent in four specimens during his collecting there, which are mentioned
in Dall’s paper as Troglodytes hyemalis, and others have been secured from Kadiak. Since then
nothing new concerning its northern distribution and habits in the Territory has been ascertained.
South of Sitka it is known to nest in abundance according to Cooper and Suckley. Specimens
from Sitka and Kadiak are identical with others from Chiloweyuck, Washington Territory, and
other localities to the south along the coast. Northern specimens appear to be alike, being some-
what more intensely colored, but the small series does not allow any definite statement in this
regard. The geographical race pacificus is very distinct from the eastern hiemalis. The dark tint,
which is so marked in birds trom the northwest coast extending down to the middle Californian
coast region, is apparently constant. Its breeding range appears to include the entire extent of
its habitat in this region, and the National Museum has recently received its eggs from the
Coast Range in the vicinity of Santa Cruz, Cal.; the parent of these eggs cannot be distinguished
from specimens obtained at more northern localities.

TROGLODYTES ALASCENSIS Baird. Alaskan Wren.

The type specimen of this Wren was obtained by Mr. Dall at Saint George Island, Alaska,
during the explorations of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, and is a young bird of the
year in its first plumage, and much darker than the adult, of which there is a considerable series
in the National Museum collection. It is an abundant resident on the Near Islands.

On the Commander Islands Stejneger found the Alaskan Wren replaced by an allied species,
which Mr. Ridgway has named T. pallescens. At present, although there are many skins in the
collection from various localities throughout the known range of the bird, nothing definite is yet
known of its nests and eggs, except a statement made by the Aleuts, and recorded by Dall, that
it breeds in May, building a nest of moss in the crevices of rocks, where it lays six eggs, and a
similar record by Hlliott, that it breeds in the holes and crevices of cliffs, where it lays from eight
to ten eggs in a nest which is made of dried grass and feathers roofed over, with an entrance
to the nest-chamber at the side. This last statement is from the natives of Saint George Island.

It is found throughout the Aleutian Islands and upon the island of Saint George, of the,Seal
Island group. Throughout this somewhat limited territory it is 2 common resident. One of the
most peculiar facts in its history is its abundance on the island of Saint George, which is about 180
miles north of the Aleutian Islands, whereas, on Saint Paul Island, only 27 miles distant from Saint
George, and apparently suitable in every way for its presence, there is not a single record of its
occurrence; and Elliott states that he searched carefully for it during his residence at that place.
He also tells me that, during exceptionally severe winters on the island of Saint George, large
numbers of these birds die of exposure, so that only the hardiest among them survive. But the
rapidity with which they multiply brings their numbers up to the former standard in a very few
seasons.

On May 13, 1877, I landed, during a heavy gale, on the island of Akoutan, just east of
Unalaska, and was making my way cautiously along the rock-strewn beach, half expecting a fall
BIRDS. 211

of fragments from the beetiling cliffs above to join the rocky mass which had already fallen. While
occupied in searching cautiously for a firm footing, a faint, wiry note struck my ear and brought
me toa sudden standstill. All about lay huge blocks of riven lava, from which arose the over-
hanging crags; a little back a more sloping bluff presented its face, the inequalities of which were
dotted by scattered grass and other vegetation, now dead and yellow, or in spots were flecked -with
patches of snow. As my eye scanned this abrupt slope, the author of the notes was seen clinging
to a dwarf willow bush at the very brow of the bluff, over which the wind came with great force,
beating the bush back and forth as if it would uproot it. I put in a shell with No. 6 shot, and
fired. To my joy I saw a small brown body drop down the face of the bluff and lodge in a bunch
of grass. With eager haste I reached the spot, raised the little songster, and made my first
acquaintance with this hardy Wren. Glowing with pleasure, I sat for some time examining my
prize, and then continued my way, filled with that peculiar exhilaration enjoyed by the field natu-
ralist when he finds a coveted prize.

The last of September and first of October, 1881, while the Corwin lay at Unataatea, I bad still
further opportunities for studying this little-known species in its home. They were very common
everywhere on the lower portions of the island, wherever the rank grass and other plants, combined
with the stunted bushes, offered a fitting shelter. Here the birds were seen repeatedly, swinging
on the projecting sprays or flitting busily from point to point, and sho wing a peculiar sprightliness
and activity common to it and its kind. Specimens have been taken along the entire Aleutian
chain, but it is unknown on the coast to the eastward of these islands. (

The original description of the species gives the character of the young in the first plumage
sufficiently well. They may be distinguished from the adult by a smoky brown shade on the sides
of the head, chin, and throat, and a brighter rusty-red on the back, especially on the rump. In
the adults the bill is longer and proportionally slenderer, and the faint, light superciliary line is
better marked. The crown is dull brown, shading into a dingy rufous brown on the rump and
tail. Below, the adults are indistinguishable in coloration from rufous specimens of the common
Winter Wren obtained in Virginia and Illinois. Young specimens of alascensis approach nearer
hiemalis in the amount of rufous on the back and in the size of the bill. Another character is the
lack of maculations on the back and rump of alascensis. The latter then may be characterized as
grayer, larger, and longer-billed than the common hiemalis and its variety pacificus, and is, per-
haps, less differentiated from hiemalis than Melospiza insignis is from the eastern M. melodia. Thus
far, however, comparison of the Winter Wrens from the adjoining coast of Alaska with those of
the Aleutian Islands shows a greater amount of difference than exists between the Aleutian Wren
and its eastern congener. This argues in favor of the specific distinctness of alascensis.

CERTHIA FAMILIARIS AMERICANA (Bonap.). Brown Creeper.

In the National Museum collection is a single specimen of this bird obtained at Fort Kenaj
May 6, 1869, by Bischoff. According to Hartlaub it was seen at Sitka by Kittlitz. These are the
only records of its occurrence in the Territory, although from its presence at the localities named
it is to be inferred that it occurs in the intermediate country, thence to Washington Territory,
where the bird is known to be abundant.

PARUS ATRICAPILLUS SEPTENTRIONALIS (Harris). Long-tailed Chickadee
(Esk. Chi-hti-pi-pt-@-1ik).

Throughout the wooded region of Alaska, from the moist, heavily-wooded coast in the Sitkan
and Kadiak region north throughout the entire Yukon and adjoining country, this bird isa common
resident. Specimens were secured both at Cook’s Inlet and Kadiak by Dr. Bean. I secured speci-
mens from various places throughout the northern portion of the Territory, at times even along
the barren sea-coast, where it only found shelter in the stunted alder or weed patches. Its visits
to the coast, however, were mainly in roving parties during spring or fall. <A few days of mild
weather, at this season, are almost sure to bring some of these familiar birds about the coast set-
tlements, and its familiar dee-dee-dee is a welcome sound on the clear frosty mornings which usher
in the stinging blasts of winter, or announce the approach of spring. One meets it again while
212 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

traveling through the silent snow-clad forests of the Yukon, as he tramps wearisomely on, until the
mind is unconsciously affected by the lack of animation. At such times, as we move mechanically
forward, the shrill, strident note of the Chickadee, as the bird eyes us from its swinging perch on
a bush close at hand, breaks the silence and diverts the mind. Frequently the chorus of their
Lilliputian cries arise from the bushes all about as the jolly company of harlequins swing and
balance their tiny bodies and pass on as though too busily intent upon affairs of importance to
stop. After their passage the forest resumes its cheerless silence once more, and the heavy
breathing of the icy wind through the tree-tops or the sharp report of the contracting ice in the
river are the only accompaniments of the toilsome march.

Their habits and appearance are like those of the well-known Black Cap in southern localities,
from which it is to be distinguished merely by its larger size and the greater amount of white
bordering the wings and tail, in addition to the general lighter color of the back. These dis-
tinctions are likely to vary considerably in individual specimens; and, in fact, it is frequently
difficult to distinguish the two forms either by color or size differences. The western and northern
varieties are usually distinguishable at a glance by the much grayer back and lighter flanks of
septentrionalis. Among many specimens of the latter from Saint Michaels and the Lower Yukon,
the wash of brown on the sides is almost totally lacking, and in two specimens no differences of
shade can be found in the flanks or abdomen. In the south the differences in shade between these
two parts become more and more striking. Although the northern birds are usually larger,
there are exceptions to the rule. Neither in midsummer nor in midwinter does this bird reach
the coast of Bering Sea, and its breeding range is co-extensive with the wooded country of the
interior and the timbered coast in the southeast part of the Territory.

PARUS ATRICAPILLUS OCCIDENTALIS (Baird). Oregon Chickadee.

Hartlaub records two specimens of this Chickadee taken at Chileat; he adds also “on Feb-
ruary 17 seen on low bushes and deciduous trees near shore. Summer and winter always in low
thickets near coast.”

PARUS CINCTUS OBTECTUS (Cab.). Siberian Chickadee.

The first record of this species from America was published in the Bulletin of the Nuttall
Ornithological Club, January, 1878, in which mention is made of several specimens, obtained by
Mr. L. M. Turner from Saint Michaels. The first American specimen of this bird, however, is a
female, which was sent to the Smithsonian Institution with seven eggs, from the Lower Ander-
:son River, June 1, 1864, by MacFarlane, to whom credit is thus due for obtaining it first on this
continent.

The habitat of this bird includes, so far as known, the spruce forests in Northeastern Siberia,
extending across a very similar region in the northern half of Alaska, and reaching the Anderson
River on the east. Its range does not appear to extend to the south along the Upper Yukon, as
a considerable series of Titmice, brought me from that region by the fur traders, does not contain
a single example. From the vicinity of Nulato, thence down the Yukon, and to the north and
northeast, this form appears to be as abundant as the Hudsonian Titmouse, whose range it shares
iin this region. From about Lake Baikal, in Eastern Siberia, west through Northern Siberia and
Northern Europe, extends the range of a close relative of the present form, known as Parus cinctus,
with which this bird has been confused until very recently. The original American reference
was given as P. cinctus, but a careful comparison of the large series of Alaskan birds in my collec-
tion with specimens of cinctus from Northern Europe shows a well-marked geographical difference,
which will be referred to below.

Like most others of its kind, the Siberian Titmouse nests in hollows of trees, and has been
known to eject the rightful owner of a cavity and seize upon the site for its own nest. Its eggs
are usually placed upon a mass of hairs of the lemming and hare, combined with fine moss or
vegetable down. It lays from seven to nine eggs, which are grayish-white, with reddish-violet and
reddish-brown spots often collected at the larger end. The eggs are broad in proportion to their
length. The North European bird is resident and comes about the houses in winter, where it
searches for food among the refuse heaps, and becomes extremely familiar. In Lapland this bird
uses natural cavities in trees, or such as are excavated by woodpeckers. Its cry is expressed
BIRDS. 213
by the syllables ‘ pistéé-téé,” uttered in a hissing tone. From this it receives its Fiunish name, and
the superstitious among the Finns regard it as a bird of bad omen, and predict a bootless errand
for the bear or squirrel hunter who chances to meet oue of these busy little pistéé tainen, as he starts
for the forest. The Alaskan and East Siberian form is closely related to P. hudsonicus, but the
following characters will serve to distinguish the two:

P,. HUDSONICUS.

Crown dark smoky brown.

Back brownish, much lighter than crown, and of a
more fulvous tint.

Lores and cheek-patch white.

Sides of neck ashy-gray, and an indistinct shade
of the same across the nuchal region separat-
ing the crown from the back.

Wings and tail brown, edged with a pale ashy-
gray.

Cheeks and throat-patch smoky-black.

Breast and abdomen dingy-white, and a large
flank-patch of dull vinaceous-brown.

The average dimensions of a series of these birds,
numbering fourteen are: length of wing 2.57 ;
tail, 2.73; tarsus, .65; culmen, .36.

P. CINCTUS.

Crown ashy-brown, rather dark.

Back a lighter shade of the same, washed with very
pale fulvous.

Lores, cheeks, and side of neck white, the white
sometimes forming a very slight nuchal collar.

Wings and tail brownish-gray, edged with pale
silvery gray or white. :

Cheek and throat black.

Breast and abdomen white, washed with a slight
shade of pale brown, which covers the flanks.

The feet and claws of this bird appear to average
stouter and heavier than in hudsonicus, although
there is a considerable amount of individual
variation in this respect in both species.

A series of nine specimens average: length of wing,

 

2.65; tail, 2.81; taraus, .62; culmen, .30.

The East Siberian form is distinguished from its European and West Siberian relative mainly
by its longer tail and wings and shorter tarsus. In the Ibis for 1879, Seebohm states that his Lake
Baikal specimens show less rusty-brown on the flanks than do the European birds, and ought to
be referred to the variety gricescens of Sharp and Dresser. By a direct comparison of my Alaskan
series with two specimens from Lapland, in the National Museum collection, I find that the smoky-
brown of the crown, in the latter specimens, is very similar in shade to the crown of P. hudson-
icus of Alaska; but the contrast between the crown and back is considerably more marked in
cinctus than in hudsonicus, and much more marked in cinctus than in obtectus. The whole back
and rump of cinctus are rusty or reddish-brown, and a little paler than the rusty-brown of the
flanks, which latter color is a little paler than the brown on the flanks of hudsonicus. In obtectus
the flank-wash is frequently no heavier than in examples of P. septentrionalis, and in the darkest
specimens is but little darker than in cinctus proper, while the flanks are invariably strikingly
paler. The color of this flank-wash is faintly traceable on the back and rump of some Alaskan
specimens, and absent in others, but an almost uniform tint of crown and back is generally char-
acteristic of obtectus. The throat-patch is dark smoky-brown, with a wash of reddish-brown in
cinctus, and smoky-black with a brownish wash in obtectus. The latter is also distinguishable by
the clear silver ashy-gray of the wing and tail feathers with the whitish edging of the former,
whereas the wings and tail of cinctus are of a dull ashy-gray with a smoky shade of brownish.
The comparative measurements of two Lapland and two Alaskan birds are as follows:

 

 

National Depth of
Name. Locality. Sex. |Museum| Wing. Tail. Tarsus. | Culmen. Bat
No. | at base.
Parus cinctus..-...... Lapland ........ f g Be = e a : e a ye
P. cinctus obtectus ...| Nulato, Alaska.. ; 3 f i Be 2 a “a oe a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside of certain differences in proportions, as shown in the measurements given, obtectus may
be said to differ from typical cinctus very much as septentrionalis varies from typical atricapillus.

PARUS HUDSONICUS Forst. Hudsonian Chickadee.

This bird has been found throughout the wooded portion of Alaska, from its southern coast-
line at Fort Kenai, north through the Kuskoquim and Yukon River regions to the northern tree-
limit, well within the Arctic Circle. In the southern portion of its range its habitat overlaps.that
214 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

of rufescens, while to-the north it is found mingling with the Long-tailed and the Siberian Gray
Titmouse. From the wooded interior in the north it occasionally wanders to the open sea-coast
along the shore of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound, where a few bushy ravines and hill-sides
afford ittemporary shelter. These visits are usually made during the falland spring, as is the case
with other Titmice, and at such times it frequently comes about the houses and is as familiar as
the other Titmice. It mainly keeps within the range of the white sprace of the north and the pine
forests of the southeastern coast, and is of very ufusual occurrence outside of these limits. Within
its proper territory it is a very common bird, and from its Alaskan range near Bering Straits, east
throughout the fur countries, and occasionally reaching as far south as the United States, it is one
of the most abundant of its kind. Owing toits being confined to the interior, I had no opportunity
of learning anything of interest concerning its habits, a few examples seen now and then, while
passing through the forests on the Yukon in winter, being the extent of my experience with the
bird in life, although large numbers of their skins were brought me by the fur traders and natives
from various portions of the interior, including the entire course of the Yukon to the British
boundary.

PARUS RUFESCENS Towns. Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

From about 602 north latitude on the southeastern coast of Alaska, south into California, this
Titmouse is abundaut and breeds throughout the greater part of its range. On May 16, 1874, Dall
obtained a specimen at Lituya Bay, and Bischof secured numerous skins at Sitka. Hartlaub
records specimens from Portage Bay in Decenber, January, and February. As the ornithology
of this portion of Alaska is almost unknown, the distribution of this bird will probably be found
to extend a considerable distance farther along the wooded coast and the interior. It may be
remarked, also, that the field in this portion of Alaska is one of the richest open to American
naturalists, especially in the northern portion of the continent. Lhave nothing new to add regard-
ing the habits of this interesting species, and it remains only to call attention to the description of
the nests and eggs of this bird which is found in the appendix to volume iii of the History of
North American Birds.

PHYLLOPSEUSTES BOREALIS (Blas.). Kennicott’s Willow Warbler (Esk. Chung-
Ukh-ta@-tik).

The original record of this warbler in America was based upon the capture of a single speci-
men at Saint Michaels, on August 16, 1866, by the naturalist of the Western Union Telegraph
Expedition. A second specimen—an alcoholic bird in the National Museum collection, without
a label—is in the same plumage, and is to be doubtfully referred to the same locality. Since the
original capture, up to the summer of 1877, uo additional examples were secured by the various
naturalists who have visited the Territory. During this summer, on July 26 and 31, I obtained
two specimens, one on each of the days mentioned, as they were searching the old board fences
surrounding the houses at Saint Michaels. Later in the season, at the end of August, another
example was taken, and the succeeding summer others were seen, but very sparingly, and none
were obtained. At the time of the capture of the specimens noted they were in company with
numerous young Orange-crowned Warblers, which were feeding about the crevices of the fences
and Jog-houses, finding an abundance of spiders and other small insects in the lurking-places
there afforded. The Kennicott?s Warblers were so similar to the Orange-crowned Warblers in
motions and appearance that it was almost, if not quite, impossible to distinguish them until shot
and examined in hand. One of the birds obtained was a youug one in rather immature plum-
age, and the others were adults. The season of their occurrence and other circumstances lead me
to think that it breeds in small numbers along the northwest coast of Alaska in the vicinity of
Bering Straits, perhaps reaching Kotzebue Sound, and certainly extending as far to the south as
the mouth of the Yukon. Owing to the little known character of the avian fauna along the north-
west coast of Alaska, itis not known whether this bird migrates from Northern Alaska to the
south along the American coast or returns across Bering Straits to seek a winter resort with its
relatives in Southeastern Asia and adjoining islands.
BIRDS. 215

The bird is well known to be a great wanderer, resorting in winter to the southern portion of
Asia, migrating through Japan, China, and Formosa, and reaching the Malayan Peninsula and
Archipelago; while in summer it seeks the high latitudes of Asia, extending to Northern Russia
and thence east even to Alaska, as recorded. At Tapkan, northwest of Bering Straits, on the
Siberian shore, Nordenskjold tells us that considerable flocks of these birds visited the vessel
during June, before the ground was free from snow. They appeared much exhausted and remained
about the vessel for some days. The abundance.of this bird here at this season would indicate
its presence in considerable numbers throughout the Chukchi Peninsula during summer. During
my visits to this shore in the summer of 1881 it was not found, as might have been anticipated from
the lack of bushes and suitable locations along the immediate coast where we landed.

Its habits while in America are almost unknown, hence we must draw upon the records
furnished us by European naturalists, who have visited its haunts in Northern Europe and Asia.
Seebohm found it on the Lower Yenesei, where it arrived a fortnight later than P. trochilus,
P. tristis, and P. superciliosus. His account (Ibis, IIT, 9, 1879) is as follows: ,

I had given up P. borealis in despair, when suddenly it arrived in great numbers, and became the commonest
of the four species. The song is almost exactly like the trill of the Redpole, but not quite so rapid, and a little more
melodious. Its call-note is generally a single monotonous ‘‘dzit,” but sometimes made into a double note by dwelling
on the first part, ‘‘d—z, zit.” It is less restless than the other Wilow-Warblers, by no means shy, and is easy to shoot.
When I left the Arctic Circle it had probably not commenced to breed; but on the 6th of July I had the good fortune
to shoot a bird from its nest at Egaska, in latitude 67°. ‘The eggs are larger Lhan those of our Willow Warbler’s, pure
white, and profusely spotted all over with very small and very pale pink spots. They were five in number. The
nest was built on the ground in a wood thinly scattered with trees, and was placed in a recess on the side of a tus-
sock or little mound of grass and other plants. It was semidomed, the outside being composed of moss, and the
inside of fine dry grass. There was-neither feather nor hair used in the construction. I did not see this bird farther
north than lat. 69°.

From the same author we learn that this species breeds in the north of Asia, at: or near the limit
of forest growth and in a similar climate to the subalpine districts of Southern Siberia. It passes
through China on its migrations, and winters in the Kast Indian Islands and the islands surround-
.ing the Burmah Peninsula. 1t unites an extreme southeastern winter range with a wider northern
range than any other species of the genus. Collett has recently obtained it in Finmark, and it
is not uncommon at Archangel. It has been shot on the Mesen and on the Petchoya. It occurs
as far east as the Ochotsk, and breeds in Southeastern Mongolia. It has been taken in Japan and
west to Heligoland, and passes in great numbers through Amoy in spring and autumn.

The following description is taken from specimens obtained by me at Saint Michaels: Entire
dorsal surface, including broad edging of wing and tail feather, nearly uniform olive-green,
brightening on the wings to a shade very similar to that on the back of the Golden-crowned
Warbler. The under surface white, washed with a pale yellow like that of Vireo philadelphicus.
Across the breast and along the flanks is a wash of a dull olive-brown, heavier on the flanks, and
with a well marked superciliary stripe of greenish-yellow extending from beak over the lores to the
nape. Extending from bill through the lores and including the eye, ending coincident with the
superciliary stripe, is a dusky-greenish band; thence down the cheeks extends a dusky greenish
yellow shade, which changes to a yellowish-white on the neck and throat. The bend of wings and
edges of axillaries are clear yellow and the lower edge of tips of secondary coverts are pale yellowish-
white, forming a distinct wing-bar. The abdomen is grayish-white, with a faint yellowish shade,
and the upper surface is dull olive-green. The upper mandible, and sometimes the tip of lower
mandible, dusky-horn color. Lower mandible pale brown and legs olive-brown.

Measurements.

TYPE OF KENNICOTTI.

 

 

 

 

Date. Locality. Sex. Total length. aa Tae of} ait, | Tarsus. | Culmen.
Aug. 16, 1866 | Saint Michaels .. -| (7?) 4.75 6. 00 2.40 1.86 13 387
Aug. 31,1877 |....do.. Sab OtOe kee ae 2, 50 2.05 76 35
Aug. 24,1877 |....do -... () 2.40 1.93 72 34
‘Aug, 24) 1877 |....do .... ra 2. 35 1.80 67 34

  

 

 

 

 

 

 
216 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Stejneger notes them as among the commonest summer birds in the birch and alder groves
about Petropaulski, Kamchatka. He also found them on Bering Island, and on comparing his
specimens with those from Alaska finds that the Alaskan specimens are smaller than the Chinese
and Kamchatkan birds. The difference, he thinks, may prove constant enough to warrant sub-
specific rank for the Alaskan bird, in which case it becomes P. borealis kennicotti (Bd.).

REGULUS SATRAPA OLIVACEUS Baird. Western Golden-crowned Kinglet.

The Alaskan records of this species are limited to the southeastern coast, where it has been
obtained at Sitka and Kadiak. Although this is a common bird at Sitka and Kadiak it is thus
far unknown to the north of the Alaskan mountains. The occurrence of satrapa is to be expected
on the headwaters of the Yukon and adjacent parts of the wooded interior.

REGULUS CALENDULA (Linn.). Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

This handsome species has been secured from various portions of the Territory. The various
Alaskan records include Fort Yukon, Nulato, and Anvik, in the north, with Sitka and Fort
Kenai on the southeastern coast. Its range is restricted to the wooded portion of the Territory,
and it has not been recorded from any part of the open sea-coast in the north. Various specimens
show a wide range of variation, which is merely individual, although the extended distribution of
the bird through North America might lead one to expect geographical variation. This supposi-
tion, however, is not sustained by an examination of a large series in the National Museum col-
lection, although the peculiar form from the Guadalupe Islands is an exception. In the spring
of 1868 Dall found it abundant at Nulato, where it preferred the alder-thickets away from the
river. It was very courageous, and a pair which appeared about to commence a nest in a small clump
of bushes tore to pieces a half-finished nest of the Rusty-headed Blackbird, and upon the return of
the female Blackbird the pair of pigmies attacked and drove her away. This was repeated sev-
eral times, and when Mr. Dall left Nulato on June 2 the quarrel was still unsettled. The Indian
name of this bird is said to be Z’lik. They say he is a little chief, and that the Golden-crowned-
Thrush is his grandfather. The Ruby Crown is to be found to the tree-limit within the Arctic
Circle, but rarely approaches the damp, cold sea-shores of this region.

TURDUS ALICIHZ Baird. Gray-cheeked Thrush (Esk. Kw-gi-a-chak).

This species is common throughout all the northern portion of Alaska wherever willow and
alder thickets afford it shelter. Its western range extends to Bering Straits and beyond, and it
has been recorded from Kamchatka, and probably occurs on the Chukchi Peninsula. Along
the entire Yukon, and other streams bordered by trees or bushes in this region, it is present in
great abundance during the breeding season. On the Ist of June, 1879, as I came down the
Yukon by boat, large numbers of their old nests were seen in the leafless bushes along the river-
banks. A number of these nests were close to the ground—within 2 or 3 feet—while others were
from 8 to 12 feet high at the division of two stout branches where the compact structure of fine
grass and leaves was placed. The species reaches the mouth of the Yukon and adjacent coast in
large numbers the last of May or first of June. The earliest arrival which I have recorded is on
May 24. They are soon found in every thicket, whence their low sweet song is frequently heard:
but they are very shy, and, at the first alarm, dive into the dense bushes for shelter. As soon as
the breeding season is over they become less retiring and frequent the vicinity of villages and
more open spots, where many are killed by the native boys, armed with their bows and arrows.
Their skins are removed and hung in rows or bunches to dry in the smoky huts and are preserved
as trophies of the young hunters’ prowess. In the winter festivals, when the older hunters bring
out the trophies of their skill, the boys proudly display the skins of these thrushes and hang them
alongside.

On the sea-coast every alder-patch has a pair or more of these birds, and its presence at Sitka
and Kadiak is attested by numerous specimens in the National Museum collection. Dall records a
nest obtained from an elevation of about 6 feet in a small alder. This nest was made of hair, lined
BIRDS. Z17

with scraps of deer-hair, feathers, and a little moss. A nest obtained by me near Saint Michaels
on the 1st of June is an extremely small, loose structure, formed by lining a small depression at
the base of a shrub in the midst of an alder-thicket with fine soft grass leaves. The material of
the nest is uniform throughout, and in this particular partly bears out Dr. Brewer’s statement in
the History of North American Birds, which is: ‘The nests [of alicie] are also quite different in
their appearance and style of structure. The Hypnum mosses, so marked a feature in the nests of
T. swainsoni, as also in those of 7. ustulatus, are wholly wanting in those of Tf. alicie.” This state-
ment is not confirmed, however, by the examination of other nests. A second example, obtained
at Saint Michaels on June 20, was composed mainly of these mosses mixed with a small amount of
coarse grass. This nest was placed upon the branching base of a small alder only a few inches from
the ground. The nest first mentioned measured 33 inches across the top by 2 inches deep, and the
eggs which it contained measure respectively .93.by .62, .90 by .64, and .93 by .68. These eggs
are blue, with a varying amount of reddish-brown specking, which is most abundant at the larger
end. In two specimens of this set the spots are thinly scattered over the shell, while in the other
two itis so distributed that over half the surface is concealed by it. Of the specimens in the
National Museum collection some are scarcely marked at all, while in others the ground-color is
nearly hidden. The single egg found in the second nest measures .92 by .69. This nest —
inches in depth by 4 inches in width, the central cavity being 2 inches deep.

It may be remarked here that the nest just described is typical of the structure made by
swainsoni, according to Dr. Brewer, but, as every field-ornithologist is aware, any attempt to make
an exact science of zoology and of the study of the nests of birds must fail. Observation shows
that in building their nests birds are necessarily influenced by the surroundings and by the nature
of the material near their nesting-sites. The so-called instinct which has been supposcd to lead
birds of one species to almost invariably select a certain kind of material and a certain position for
their nests has little foundation in fact. The nesting-range of the Gray-cheeked Thrush extends
throughout Alaska, as specimens have been obtained in all parts of the Territory, during the breed-
ing season, except, however, the islands of Bering Sea and the Aleutian chain.

Fall specimens possess much more of the warm, buffy tint on the breast than spring birds,
although many of the latter have more or less, and in some specimens obtained by me from the
Yukon the buff is nearly as intense and widely spread as upon typical exawples of swainsoni. The
full-grown young of this species, obtained on the Lower Yukon, in August, 1877, has the dorsal sur-
face of a dull brownish-olive, nearly uniform, but with a lighter shade and a decided brownish wash
on the outer edges of the wing-feathers and on the tail, especially near the tip. The feathers on the
side of the head, embracing the eyes and extending back to the nape, including the scapulars and
intermediate feathers of the back, are each marked with a well-defined oval, lanceolate, or saggitate
central area, of a dingy whitish shade, which in some places becomes pale buffy-yellowish. The
feathers on the throat, neck, and breast are pale buffy-white, with black tips. These tips are larger
and more intense on the breast. They are centrally located and somewhat oval or arrow-shaped on
the throat, but on the breast they become a squarely-cut black edging to the feathers, which limit
the white by a nearly straight line. These tips pass to faint edgings of black on the white of the
middle of abdomen, and shade gradually into a brownish-olive on sides and flanks. The feathers on
the sides and rump are dingy yellowish-brown indistinctly barred with blackish. The middle of the
crown and rump are immaculate. The second specimen, obtained at Saint Michaels, August 25, is
in a little more advanced stage than the one just described, and has the pale buff shade across the
breast and sides of the neck of the second plumage. The lores are grayish-white, and the spots on
the breast are nearly as in the adult. The bill is dull horn-color, lighter at the base of the lower
mandible. Both of the specimens just described are merging into the second or adult plumage, but
the first is but very little changed, and has lost only the spots on the crown and rump and the white
tips on the wing-coverts. The second specimen, though a little older, still retains the faint wing.
bars formed by the light tips to the coverts.

TURDUS USTULATUS (Nutt.). Russet-backed Thrush.

At present this bird is known only from the coast of the southeastern portion of the Territory,
where Bischoff obtained several specimens, in the vicinity of Sitka. These specimens are the must
&, Miss. 156——28
218 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

rufous of any in the National Museum collection, excepting those from Shoalwater Bay, Washington
Territory, and the palest skins are those from California and the neighboring region, although Mr.
Ridgway informs me that specimens as dark as those from the northwest coast are taken in Cen-
tral America; so that the above difference may be merely individual; the series from Alaska is
too small to settle the matter. Nothing is known of the habits of this thrush, and very little of its
distribution in the Territory, though it probably occurs throughout the heavily-wooded coast
-region from its well known habitat in Washington Territory north to the vicinity of Cook’s Inlet,
_and perhaps to the limit of the wooded coast west of this locality.

TURDUS USTULATUS SWAINSONII (Cab.). Olive-backed Thrush.

On the coast of Bering Sea, where the Gray-cheeked Thrush is abundant,this species is very
rare or does not occur at all. In the interior, however, it appears to increase in numbers as the
distance from the sea-coast increases. Among a considerable series of thrushes secured there are
but two specimens of this bird, one of which is from Nulato and the other from Anvik, both on
the Yukon, several hundred miles from its mouth. Dall speaks of this as a common bird, breed-
ing all along the Yukon to the sea-coast, but he evidently referred to the Gray-cheeked Thrush,

@pich is abundant along the Lower Yukon; whereas swainsoni is comparatively rare, as shown by
its rarity in the collections brought me by the fur traders and natives from various parts of the
Territory, and from the fact that I did not find it at the mouth of the Yukon during the spring of
1879. Among my series of alicie are a number having a distinct buff shade on the breast and
upon the sides of the neck, thus resembling swainsoni; and it wouid not be surprising to find occa-
sional cases of crossing, since the two occupy the same territory in many places.

The subject of this article has been found to be a common breeding species on the Upper
Yukon, whence eggs have been sent the Smithsonian from several points, including Fort Yukon.
I have seen a specimen from Anvik, which is my lowest record on the Yukon. A set of eggs was
bronght me in June, 1578, from Nulato, and they measure respectively .89 by .65 and .94 by .67
inches. The ground-color is blue, exactly like the eggs of alicie, with scattered purplish shell-
markings and fine specks of reddish-brown, which latter are much more numerous at the larger
end. The nest is composed of dried grass-stems with a few fragments of moss, which is scattered
through the structure as if by accident. The eggs of this species and of alicie are absolutely indis-
tinguishable, both in size and shape, as are also the nests, according to the observations I have
been able to make. Both species breed together throughout, perhaps, the entire course of the
Yukon; but on the lower portion of the river alicie is far more numerous. ‘There is no record of
this species from the coast region of Southeastern Alaska, nor from the islands of Bering Sea;
nor is it likely to occur in the latter portion of the Territory, owing to its preference for a wooded
region.

From the observations and collections made on the Upper Yukon, the Olive-backed Thrush
appears to be a common summer resident there, and thus extends its breeding range within the
Arctic Circle. It appears to be influenced to a great extent in its range by the presence or absence
of woods, and its northern limit may be marked as coinciding with the tree-limit. Aliciw, on the
contrary, extends beyond this, wherever a bunch of dwarf willows will give it shelter, to the very
shores of the Arctic and Bering Seas.

TURDUS AONALASCHK& Gmel. Dwarf Hermit Thrush.

Specimens of this bird are in the National Museum collection, from various points along the
timbered coast of Southeastern Alaska, including Cook’s Inlet, Sitka, Kadiak, and Chugatchik Bay.
It breeds in this part of the Territory, but appears to be limited to the mild climate and wooded
shores of this region, as there are no records of its occurrence beyond to the north and west.

Mr. Ridgway has referred the Turdus aoonalascensis of Gmelin to this bird, the type of which
came from Unalaska Island, according to the author of the name.

Since the Unalaska Thrush was described not a single specimen of any species of Hylocichla
has been found on this island by the various naturalists who have visited its shores—a fact of
itself calculated to raise suspicion as to the correctness of the identification of Gmelin’s name.
BIRDS. 219

Altogether the reference of Gmelin’s name of 7. aoonalascensis to the above species appears to me of
doubtful propriety. Latham’s original description, upon which Gmelin’s name was based, is as
follows :

“Aoonalashka Thrush.—Size of the lark; crown and back brown, marked with obscure dusky
spots; breast yellow, spotted with black; wing-coverts, prime quills, and tail dusky, edged with
testaceous. Inhabits Aoonalashka.”

The description 1s evidently of a bird in its first plumage, and while perhaps more applicable
to the young of the Dwarf Thrush than to that of the Gray-cheeked form, these being the only
two thrushes inhabiting this part of Alaska, it is too vague and unsatisfactory to be received as
properly diagnostic of a species. Only by the process of exclusion can it be made to apply to the
present species, and even then its pertinency is by no means assured. The guttata of Pallas was
clearly based upon the present bird and the exchange of Gmelin’s name, the pertinence of which
must ever remain doubtful, for the guttata of Pallas, accompanied, as the latter is, by a carefully
drawn description, appears to me extremely desirable.

MERULA MIGRATORIA (Linn.). American Robin.

Throughout the entire wooded portion of the Territory this bird is found more or less numer-
ous during summer, and along the treeless coast of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound it appears
merely as a straggler in the migrations. Along the Yukon and other rivers of the Territory it
is numerous as low down their course as the spruce forests extend, and thence, toward the mouths.
becomes more and more uncommon. <A single specimen was found, storm-bound, on the Seal Islands
by Elliott, and the natives informed him that it usually occurred annually in this manner.
It reaches the Yukon, in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle, about May 15, and nests as far north as
the tree-limit extends, in about 69° north. It arrives at Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, May
5, and my earliest record at Saint Michaels is the 18th of the same month. MHartlaub records it
at Portage Bay April 30, and again in large flocks the end of August. During the first half of
September it commences its southern migration, but is found close under the Arctic Circle as late
as the lst of November. No appropriate localities for nesting-sites are afforded on the Bering
Sea coast north of Bristol Bay, hence the robins are limited to the interior at this season. There
is one exception, however, on the north coast of Norton Sound, where the spruce forest approaches
the sea, and here they are found in summer. Such stragglers as are found in the vicinity of
Saint Michaels, numbering several every summer, usually approach the houses for food in early
spring and remain but a few hours. They are rather suspicious and easily alarmed, and all
I saw were invariably silent, apparently depressed by the forbidding surroundings, and inclined
to hasten back to the more hospitable region in the interior. Their nests and nesting habits are
precisely the same in the north as they are in its southern locations, except that in the north
they are limited more strictly to the wild woods. All of the considerable series brought home by
me are typical of the eastern form, and not one is referable to the western propinguus. They are
unknown on the Aleutian and other islands in Bering Sea, except occasionally on the Seal Islauds,
as mentioned.

HESPEROCICHLA N2viA (Ginel.). Varied Thrush.

Until within a comparatively recent time this bird was supposed to be confined to the milder
region on the northwest coast. That this idea was erroneous was shown when Dall reported
the bird as found on the Yukon, in the vicinity of Nulato, and Richardson noted its arrival on
the Mackenzie in spring, soon after the robin and summer yellow-bird. According to my own
observations this is a regular and not rare summer resident in all congenial portions of Northern
Alaska, even within the Arctic Circle, and undoubtedly it extends its range as far to the north as
the common robin. I have received specimens from the interior north of Kotzebue Sound,
as also from the coast-line of that sound, and of Bering Sea about the shore of Norton Sound. It
arrives from the middle to the 25th of May, passing, like the robin, directly to its breeding ground,
and returns to the south the last of August and during September.
220 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Dall secured a nest and two eggs of this bird near Nulato, May 22, 1867, and states that the
birds arrive there about May 15, and frequent the vicinity of the smaller streams. He found its
nests along the Yukon to Fort Yukon and near Nulato.

According to this observer, the Varied Thrush was not very common at Nulato, nor, according
to the information I have been able to secure, is it numerous anywhere in the northern portion of
the Territory, though generally distributed and of regular occurrence. A few pairs breed every
summer in the alder and willow thickets about the shores of Norton Sound, and a single specimen
was brought me from latitude 68°, north of Kotzebue Sound. I had no opportunity of observin g
the little known habits of this interesting species, but learned that it generally arrives before the
ground is free from snow, during the middle and last of May, and leaves before the cold storms
of autumn commence. The nest found by Dall was built in the midst of a large heap of rubbish
in a group of willows, about 2 feet above the ground, and close to the river bank. The eggs
were bluish, speckled with brown.

As noted above, this handsome Thrush ranges north to the Lower Mackenzie River, where it
nests. All the wooded country to the west and south of this to the shores of Bering Sea, and
along the coast of the North Pacific south to Washington and Oregon, may be included in its
breeding range, thus including within its summer habitat both Arctic and temperate climates, as
well as the very dissimilar Canadian and northwest coast faunal provinces.

CYANECULA SUECICA (Linn.) Red-spotted Blue-throat.

On the 5th of June, 1851, Dr. Adams found a flock of seven of these handsome birds feeding
about some willows in the vicinity of Saint Michaels. They were very shy, and he succeeded in
obtaining but a single specimen. They were not seen afterwards, and the natives were said
not to be familiar with them. This is the solitary record by which this interesting species
claims place as an American bird. In Northern Siberia, Seebohm found it extending its range to
latitude 71° north, and in this List of the Birds of the Lower Petchora, Ibis VI, 125, 1876, Seebohm
and Harvie Brown write as follows of this species:

The Swedish Nightingale is an exceedingly abundant species in Northern Russia; and in early summer it enlivens
by its admirable mimicry every patch of under-wood in the forests of pine and juniper on the sides of the valleys
near Ust Zylma. It is abundant also in the birch- and-willow thickets and swamps along the river banks, and on the
islands all the way north to Stanavoialachta. Even such dips and hollows of the tundra as can boast of a patch of
willow-scrab holdsa few pairs. * * *

Often we were puzzled by the mimicry of this fine songster. On one occasion, after listening for some time to
the well-known musical cry of the Terek Sandpiper, tirr-r-r-whui, blended with the songs of scores of other birds on
approaching we saw our little friend perched high in a willow bush, with throat distended, bill rapidly vibrating, and
uttering the tirr-r-r-whui with perfect distinctness. We have heard the Blue-throated Warbler also imitate, among
other bird voices, the trilling first notes of the wood-Sandpiper, or the full rich song of the Redwing. Sometimes he
runs these together in such a way as to form a perfect medley of bird music, defying one who is not watching to
say whether or not the whole bird population of that part of the forest are equally engaged in the concert at the
same time.

Throughout the north of Europe and Siberia this bird breeds. Seebohm gives it as one of
the earliest insect-eating species to arrive on the Lower Yenesei. He states also that for a week
or two they were very common, but as the snow disappeared they gradually left, only a few re-
maining to breed. As before stated, he found that they extend their range to latitude 71° north,
where they disappeared. It makes its nest in bushes and weeds, generally close to the ground.
The structure is a simple one, and contains five or six eggs of a greenish-olive or greenish-blue
shotted with a deeper shade of the same color, the spots sometimes being scarcely visible. The
eggs measure 0™, 02 to 0™, 014 or 0™, 015. In Northern Europe, the Swedish Nightingale, as this
bird is termed, frequents, by preference, the rocky or bush-grown banks of small streams. The fol-
lowing description is taken from specimens in the collection of the National Museum. As the
bird represents a genus as well as a species which has never been described in any American
work on ornithology, I give the generic characters as well as the specific. It may be prefaced that
this genus is closely related to Sazicola :

Generic characters.—Bill slenderer than in Sazicola; gape bristled; nostrils bare and ovoid 2
tail about three-fourths of wing; feet, claws, and tarsus long and slender in comparison with
PLATE AIL,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ing.1. RED-SPOTTED BLUE-THROAT.

Cvaneculd SiUCICa

( ADULT MALE )

Tig.2. KENNICOTT'S WILLOW WARBLER.
rs yopseustes be reals.

( ADULT )
BIRDS. 221

Saxicola. The middle toe and claw are contained one and one-third times in tarsus; spurious
primary two-fifths of first primary; second primary longest; third and fourth quills are a trifle
shorter; tail slightly rounded.

Specific characters.—Adult male. Heligoland, May, 1878. Back brown; feathers grayish at
edges and darker anteriorly, especially on the crown, where the dark centers become nearly black ;
wings of a darker shade of brown than the back; two middle tail-feathers dark brown, the basal
half of the remaining tail-feathers rusty-red, with their distal portion blackish-brown; the distribu-
tion of color on the tail is very similar to the pattern on the tail of the common Redstart or in
Saxicola. The chin, throat, and the upper breast are bright blue, inclosing a large rusty-red
patch on the lower part of the throat; bordering the blue below is a crescentic band of black, suc-
ceeded by a band of rusty-red paler than the throat-patch; each of the feathers on the breast
is edged with white; the remainder of the under surface is a dingy white; the under wing-coverts
are a pale buff; the lores are black, and there is a faint supraloral and ocular line of white. Bill,
feet, and legs dark horn-color.

Adult female (Heligoland, May, 1878).—Upper surface almost precisely like that of the male,
including the tail and wings; chin and throat white, tinged with pale buff, and this area is bordered
by a narrow band of black-tipped feathers ; this band is followed by a broader one of dark brown,
each feather narrowly white-edged. Below this the feathers are faintly dark-tipped, succeeded by
dingy-white on the remainder of the lower surface, except on the flanks, where a brown ora brown-
ish yellow shade is present. The supraorbital stripe is much more marked than in the male. The
lores and ear-coverts are dark with a shade of brownish-yellow on the latter. Specimens in fall
plumage exhibit the same pattern of coloration, but the colors are very much paler, especially on
the throat of the male. There is a strong wash of buff on the sides of the head, including the
cheeks, loral and supraocular stripe. The flanks and lower tail-coverts are heavily washed with
the same.

The dimensions of the two birds just described are as follows:

 

 

 

 

Sex. ne J of Culmen. Tarsus,
Sine SiS wiaiw wyainiaincie ain Sisiegore 3.10 2. 30 44 1.05
Oise cnmoasmaswadsmiocioe 2.75 2.20 41 98

 

 

 

 

 

SAXICOLA G@NANTHE (Linn.). Wheatear.

During the Western Union Telegraph Expedition Mr. Dall saw several large flocks of these
birds near Nulato, on May 23 and 24, 1868, and learned from the natives of their abundance upon
the stony hill-tops back from the river. This was the first record of the Wheatear from Northwest
America, but since this time it has been obtained by several collectors. At Saint Michaels, Nor.
ton Sound, I found them to occur in spring and fall rather irregularly. They were not very rare,
and the natives informed me that they were common upon the bare mountain tops in the interior,
frequenting the summer range of the reindeer. Several specimens secured by me were found
about the houses, where they were searching for food. They were never shy, but when pursued
skulked among the stones and pieces of drift-wood for protection, and crept in and out among the
crevices so quickly that it was with considerable difficulty they could be dislodged and killed. My
spring specimens were obtained on the 26th and 28th of May, and in autumn from the 20th to the
25th of August. The Wheatear was also found at Port Clarence, in Bering Straits, at the head of
Kotzebue Sound, at Cape Lisburne by Dr. Bean, and at Point Barrow by Mr. Murdoch. In the spring
of 1882 they were rather common at the latter place, the first one arriving on May 19, when the ground
was still covered with snow, except in a few places. They remained only a few days and passed on
to the northeast, and were not seen again by Mr. Murdoch, whose observations confirm the curiously
irregular distribution of this bird in Alaska on different seasons. Thus, in 1880, they were not
uncommon on the coast from Kotzebue Sound to Cape Lisburne. In 1881 I visited the same district
without finding a single individual. In the spring of 1882 they were noted at Point Barrow, and
again failed to appear the season of 1883. The specimens secured by Mr. Dall were transmitted
222 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

to Mr. Tristram to be compared with European specimens, with the result of determining that
birds secured in Lapland, at the same season, were jdentical with the Alaskan examples. I have
made a hasty comparison of my skins with those in the National Museum from Greenland and
several Old World localities, and find no differences other than individual.

This species is one of the few which extends its breeding range around the entire northern
Polar regions, with the apparent strange exception, however, of the extreme northeastern portion
of Siberia. Another remarkable circumstance in the history of this wanderer is the great rarity
of its occurrence in the United States during winter, notwithstanding its comparative abundance
in the northern portions of the continent during the breeding season. Where these birds pass
the winter is one of the numerous ornithological puzzles which still remain to be solved. Single
specimens have been taken in Eastern Maine, New Yori State, and south to the Bermudas, besides
several other United States and Canadian localities in autumn; but these rare instances do not
account for the considerable number of Stone Chats which are found in the north. A possible,
but apparently improbable, supposition is that they pass to Europe by the way of Greenland,
in autumn, and thence back again during their spring migration. To do this, however, the bird
must leave Northern Europe, cross the Atlantic to Greenland, thence to Arctic America, and
traverse the entire northern portion of our continent to become a common summer resident in
Northern Alaska. However, the bird is unknown from the Chukchi Peninsula, though I saw a
single skin brought off to the Corwin from King Island, in Bering Straits, by a native, in July,
1881, and the next record is from China, northwest of Pekin, and again on the Lower Lena.
Ust Zylma and Krasnoyarsk are the easternmost records of its presence in Eastern Asia. The
bird is unknown on the Aleutian and other islands in Bering Sea, nor has it been taken south
of the Yukon any where in Alaska.

In some remarks made by Professor Newton upon various Alaskan birds, and this species in
particular, he assumes that the bird reaches Northwest America by the way of Greenland, and
considers that this supposition may, in a measure, indorse Petermann’s- suggestion that Green-
land extends across the pole north to the coast of Asia and Alaska. The investigations of the
several exploring vessels during the last few seasons in the Arctic have, to a certain extent,
disproved this theory, for the Chat arrives at Saint Michaels the last of May, while the lands
about the pole are still held by the rigid hand of winter, and are totally unfitted for a bird of
this character.

SIALIA ARCTICA (Swains.). Mountain Bluebird.

This species is recorded by Hartlaub from Dejaih, Southeastern Alaska, April 20,21. As this
author states that it was seen only at this point, and on these two days, it would seem to be
not at all common even in this portion of the Territory; further north than this it appears to be
unknown.

 
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALASKAN ORNITHOLOGY.

The subjoined list of titles covers nearly everything accessible which refers particularly to the
birds of the Territory :

1811. Patias (PETRUS). Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica, sistens omnium animalium in extenso Imperio Rossico, ete.
Petropoli in officina caes. academiae scientiarum impress, mdecexi [1811]. Edit. mdcecxxxi [1831].

2 vols., 49,26 colored plates of birds. Imperii Rossici Aves, vol. i, pp. 297-568; vol. ii, pp. 1-374,

This work, though printed in 1811, appears not to have been issued until 1831.

1831. SwAINSON (WILLIAM) and RICHARDSON (JOHN). Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the northern parts of British
America: containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expe-
ditions under command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N. Part second, The Birds. By William Swainson,
Esq., F. R.8., F. L.8., honorary [etc., one line], and John Richardson, M.D.,F.R.S8.,F.L.8.,member [etc.,
three lines]. London: John Murray, Albemarle-Street. mdcecexxxi [1831].

Pp. i-lxvi, 1-524, 4°, 73 plates of birds. Forms part second of Richardson (John), Fauna Boreali-
Americana, London, 1829-1837, 4 vols., 4°.

1839. Vicors (NICHOLAS AYLWARD). Ornithology; by N. A. Vigors, Esq., A.M.,F.R.S., &c.

In Richardson (John) and others, The zoology of Captain Beechey’s voyage * * * * performed in
his majesty’s ship Blossom * * * * pp, 13-42, London, mdccexxxix [1839], 4°, 12 colored
plates of birds.

1842, BLASCHKE (EDUARD). Topographia medica portus Novi-Archangelscensis, sedis principalis coloniarum Rossi-
carum in Septentrionali America, edita ab Eduardo Blaschke, medicinae doctore [etc., two lines, followed by
quotation two lines]. Accedunt tabulae tres geographicae in lap. delineatae. Petropoli. Typis K.Wienhéberi
et Filii. 1842.

Printed cover, 2 prel. Il., pp. 1-82, 211., tables and maps.

Pp. 22-24 treat of birds, 51 species being enumerated. In the preface the author acknowledges his in-
debtedness to Dr. Brandt for annotations on birds, and in the text he says again: ‘The number of wild
birds, especially marine birds, is very great, and I will enumerate them according to the classification
of the distinguished Academician Brandt.”

1847. BRANDT (JOHANN Frigprico). Fuligulam (Lampronettam) Fischeri, novam avium Rossicarum speciem prae-
missis observationibus ad fuligularum yeneris sectionum et subgenerum quorundam characteres et affinitates
spectantibus descripsit.

In Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, Memoirs, 6th series, vol. viii (nat. sc. vol. vi), pp.
1-19, St. Petersburg, 1849, 4°, 1 plate. First appeared, in separate form, in 1847.

Title from Catalogue des livres publiés par Académie impériale des sciences, ii, Publications en langues
étrangéres, p. 41, St.-Pétersbourg, 1877, 8°.

{ ? ]. Branpt (JOHANN FRIEDRICH). Icones avium Rossicarum, tabula vii, inedita.

The text to these plates was never published, but some impressions were distributed to ornithologists.
Plates i-vii represented forty-eight species of birds from Alaska, to which Dr. Otto Finsch has fur-
nished a systematic index in the Abhandlungen der Wissenschaft-Verein zu Bremen, 1873, p. 19.

1856. Cassin (JOHN). Illustrations of the birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America. In-
tended to contain descriptions and figures of all North American Birds not given by former American authors,
and a general synopsis of North American ornithology. By John Cassin, member [etc., five lines]. 1853 to
1855. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1856. :

Pp. i-viii, 1-298, 4°, 50 plates of birds.

1858. Kitruitz (F. H. von). Denkwiirdigkeiten einer Reise nach dem russischen Amerika, nach Mikronesien und
durch Kamtschatka von F. H. v. Kittlitz. Erster [-Zweiter] Band. Gotha. Verlag von Justus Perthes. 1858,

2 vols., 8°.

Some additional observations appear in the Journal fiir Ornithologie, vol. vi, pp. 387-390, Cassel, 1858,
8°; and a notice or review of the work in vol. vii of the same journal, pp. 45-49, Cassel, 1859, 8°.

223
 

224 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

1860. CormnDE (JEAN PavL). Notice sur la faune ornithologique de Vile de Saint-Paul suivie de Pénumération de
quelques espéces d’insectes (Coléoptéres) des Aléoutiennes et du Kamtschatka; par J. P. Coinde, zoologiste.

In Revue et Magasin de Zoologie pure et appliquée, 2d series, vol. xii, pp. 396-405, Paris [1860], 8°.

1869. BairD (SPENCER FULLERTON). On Additions to the Bird-Fauna of North America, made by the Scientific
Corps of the Russo-American Telegraph Expedition. By 8S. F. Baird. ; ;

In Chicago Academy of Sciences, Trans., vol. i, part ii, pp. 311-325, plates xxvii-xxxiv, Chicago, 1869, 8°,

In this paper Phyllopneuste kennicotti, Troglodytes alascensis, Pyrrhula coccinea var. cassinii, Leucosticte lit-
toralis, and Sterna aleutica are described as new to science.

1669. DaLy (WiLLI4AM Hrarey) and BANNISTER (HENRY MaRtyYN). List of the Birds of Alaska, with Biographical
Notes, by Wm. H. Dall and H. M. Bannister.

In Chicago Academy of Sciences, Trans., vol. i, part ii, pp. 267-310, Chicago, 1869, 6°. ;

This important paper was the first list of the birds of Alaska published in English, and in addition to
naming several species new to the North American fauna it gives biographical notes concerning
many species but little known at the time.

1870. DaLy (W1LLIAM HEaey). Alaska and its Resources. By William H. Dall, Director [etc., two lines]. Boston:
Lee and Shepard. 1870.

Pp. i-xii, 1-628, 8°, map and 15 plates.

A nominal list of 212 species, in the appendix.

1871. HaARTING (James EDMUND). Catalogue of an Arctic Collection of Birds presented by Mr. John Barrow, F.R.S.,
to the University Museum at Oxford; with Notes on the Species.

In Zoological Society of London, Proc., vol. xxxix, pp. 110-123, London [1871], 8°.

Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus and Atgialitis mongolicus were noted from the head of Kotzebue Sound, where the
Franklin search party, that secured the specimens, wintered.

1871. TRIsTRAM (HENRY BAKER). Notes on some Passerine Birds, chiefly Palearctic. By H. B. Tristram, L. L. D.,
F.R.S.

In The Ibis, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, 3d series, vol. i, pp. 231-234, London, 1371, 8°.

The palearctic forms obtained by Dall and Bannister in Alaska furnish the subject of some of Mr. Tris-
tram’s notes, the specimens having been sent to him for comparison. Mr. Tristram accompanies
his remarks with a brief synopsis of the nine species of Pyrrhula.

1872, FinscH (OTTO). Zur Ornithologie Nordwest-Amerikas

In Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein zu Bremen, Abhandlungen, vol. iii, pp. 17-86, Bremen, 1873, 8°.

A review of previous literature, with summary.

1873. DAaLL (WILLIAM HEALEY). Notes on the Avi-fauna of the Aleutian Islands, from Unalashka eastward.

In California Academy of Sciences, Proc., vol. v, pp. 25-35, San Francisco, June, 1875, 8°. Also printed
in advance, February 8, 1873.

This paper is an annotated list of 53 species observed by the author during a winter passed in the eastern
part of the Aleutian chain. Reissued by the Naturalists’ Agency, Salem, Mass.

1874. DaLL (WILLI4aM HEALEY). Notes on the Avifauna of the Aleutian Islands, especially those West of Unalashka.

In California Academy of Sciences, Proc., vol. v, pp. 270-281, San Francisco, June, 1875, 8°, Also
printed in advance, March 14, 1874.

Valuable notes on 45 species observed during the season of 1873. Reissued by Naturalists’ Agency,
Salem, Mass., 1874, pp. 1-12.

1874, RipGway (ROBERT). Birds new to the fauna of North America.

In American Naturalist, vol. viii, pp. 434-435, Salem, Mass., 1874, 8°.

Records ‘‘ Falco gyrfalco Linn.,” Numenius femoralis Peale.

1875. CovEs (ELLIoTT). Ornithology of the Pribylov Islands. (Based on Mr. H. W. Elliott’s manuscripts and
collections. )

In Elliott (Henry W. ), A report upon the condition of affairs in the Territory of Alaska, by Henry W. Elliott,
special agent, Treasury Department, pp. 168-212, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1875, 8°.

This important paper forms chapter ix of the report, and the birds of the Fur Seal Islands are treated in
a very thorough manner. Charadrius fulvus is first announced here as occurring in America, and
Tringa ptilocnemis is described.

1875. HaRTING (JAMES EpMunD). The faunaof the Prybilov Islands, abridged from the ‘‘ Report on the Prybilov Group
or Seal Islands of Alaska,” by Henry W. Elliott; with an Appendix on the Ornithology by Dr. Elliott Coues.
London: Reprinted from the natural history columns of ‘The Field ” for private circulation. 1875.

Pp. 1-38, 12°, 1 plate.

1878. ADams (Surgeon E.). Notes on the birds of Michaelaski (Saint Michaels), Norton Sound.

In The Ibis, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, 4th series, vol. ii, pp. 420-442, London, 1878, 8°.

An annotated list of 49 species, in which is announced the first capture of Cyanecula suecica on this con-
ee These notes were made in 1850, while Dr. Adams was on one of the Franklin Search Expe-

itions,

1878. Nevson (Epwarp Witt1aM). The Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris) in the Aleutian Islands.

In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol. ili, p. 38, Cambridge, Mass., 1878, 8°.

This bind has been described since as Lagopus rupestris nelsoni Stejneger.
1878.

1880.

1881.

1881.

1882,

1882.

1882.

1883.

1883.

1883.

1884.

1884.

1884.

1884.

1854.

1884,

PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALASKAN ORNITHOLOGY. 225

RipGway (RoBeRrt). Three Additions to the Avifauna of North America.
In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol. iii, pp. 37-38, Cambridge, Mass., 1878, 8°.
- The three species are Parus cinctus, Bodd., Syrnium lapponicum, Retz., and Surnia ulula, Linn,

. B[REWER] (T[HomMas] M.). [Review of Mr. Edward] Adams’s Notes on the Birds of Alaska.

In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol. iv, pp. 52-53, Cambridge, Mass., 1879, 8°.

. ELLIOTT (HENRY Woop). A few sea-birds.

In Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, vol. lviii, pp. 497-505, New York, 1879, 8°.

A popular account of the most abundant sea-fowl about the Fur Seal Islands,

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). An afternoon in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, Alaska. By E. W. Nelson.

In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol. v, pp. 33-36, Cambridge, Mass., 1880, 8°.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). Door-yard birds of the Far North. By E. W. Nelson.

In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol. vi, pp. 1-6, Cambridge, Mass., 1831, 8°.

Popular account of a number of species noted about Saint Michaels.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). Habits of the Black Brant [B. nigricans] in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, Alaska.

By E. W. Nelson.

In Nuttall Ornithological Club, Bull., vol, vi, pp. 131-138, Cambridge, Mass., 1281, 8°.

Popular account of the bird’s habits in Alaska.

BEAN (TARLETON HOFFMAN). Notes on birds collected during the summer of 1880 in Alaska and Siberia.

In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. v, pp. 144-173, Washington, 1883, 8°.

An annotated list of 77 species. LEmpidonax diffcilis, Buteo borealis calurus, and Larus marinus are added to
the Alaskan fauna, but the latter species was introduced through an erroneous identification, as the
specimens upon which it was based have been identified since as Larus schistisagus Stejneger.

ELLIoTT (HENRY Woop). A Monograph of the Seal-Islands of Alaska. By Henry W. Elliott. Reprinted, with

additions, from the report on the fishery industries of the Tenth Census. Washington: Government Printing
Office. 1882.

Pp. 1-176, 4°.

(Cf. The Ibis, October, 1882, p. 600. )

TURNER (LUCIEN McSHaN). On Lagopus mutus Leach, and itsallies. By Lucien M. Turner.

In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. v, pp. 225-233, Washington, 1883, 8°.

Lagopus mutus atkhensis is described from the extreme western end of the Aleutian Islands.

HaRTLAvuB (Gustav). Beitrag zur Ornithologie von Alaska. Nach den Sammlungen und Noten von Dr, Arthur

Krause und Dr. Aurel Krause. Von. Dr. G. Hartlaub.’

In Journal fiir Ornithologie, vol. xxxi, pp. 257-286, Leipzig, 1883, 8°.

This is a list of eighty species of birds collected in Alaska by Dr. Arthur Krause, with field-notes.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. By E. W. Nelson.

In Cruise of the revenue-steamer Corwin in Alaska and the N. W. Arctic Ocean in 1881; Notes and memo-
randa: medicaland anthropological, botanical, ornithological, pp. 55-118; Washington, Government
Printing Office, 1883, 4°, 4 colored plates.

The American and Siberian shores of Bering Sea and the adjacent Arctic basin, with all the included
islands, comprise the field covered by this paper; 192 species are enumerated, with more or less
extensive notes upon each.

RipGway (ROBERT). Description of a new Petrel from Alaska. By Robert Ridgway, curator, Department of

Birds, United States National Museum.

In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. v, pp. 656-658, Washington, 1883, 8°.

Gstrelata fisheri is described from a specimen taken at Kadiak Island.

Hensiaw (HENRY WETHERBEE). On anew gull from Alaska. By H. W. Henshaw.

In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. i, pp. 250-2&2, Boston, Mass., 1884, 8°.

Describes Larus nelsoni.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). Brief diagnoses of two new races of North American birds. By E. W. Nelson.
In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. i, pp. 165-166, Boston, Mass., 1884, 8°.

Picoides tridactylus alascensis and Astur atricapillus henshawi.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). The breeding habits of the Pectoral Sandpiper (Actodromas maculata). By E. W.

Nelson.

In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. i, pp. 218-221, Roston, Mass., 1884. 8°,

The first account of the peculiar breeding habits of this species.

Ripaway (Rosrert). Melanetta fusca (Linn.) in Alaska. By Robert Ridgway.

In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. vii, p. 68, Washington, 1835, S-.

This records the typical European bird and not the fusca previously named as a bir
which is another species.

RipGway (ROBERT). Description of a new Snow Bunting from Alaska. By Robert Ridgway.
In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. vii, pp. 62-70, Washington, 1885, 8°.
Plectrophenax hyperboreus. \

Ripeway (RoBert). Descriptions of some new North American birds. By Robert Ridgway.
In Biological Society of Washington, Proc., vol. ii, pp. 89-95, Washington, 1885, 8°.
Parus atricapillus turneri, var. nov., from Saint Michaels.

8. Mis. 156 29

‘

 
226

1884,

18835.

1885.

1885.

1886.

NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

STEJNEGER (LEONHARD). Remarks on the species of the genus Cepphus. By Leonhard Stejneger.
In United States National Museum, Proc., vol. vii, pp. 210-229, Washington, 1885, 8°.
Contains remarks on the range in Alaska of Cepphus grylle and Cepphus carbo.

. MurpocH (JoHN). [Report on the birds observed at Point Barrow during the stay of the Polar Expedition

in 1881-82-23. ]

In Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, pp. 104-128, Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1885, 4°.

This is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the birds of that region. Rhodostethia rosea was found
common in fall, and Pelidna subarquata was taken for the first time in Western America. The range
of various other species is considerably extended.

Murpocu (JouN). Notes on some species of birds attributed to Point Barrow, Alaska. By John Murdoch.

In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. ii, pp. 200-201, Boston, Mass., 1885, 8°.

An unjustifiable rejection of certain species of birds attributed to Point Barrow by the writer in the
Cruise of the Corwin.

NELSON (EDWARD WILLIAM). Counter- “Notes on some species of birds attributed to Point Barrow, Alaska.” By
E. W. Nelson.
In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. ii, pp. 239-241, Boston, Mass., 1885, 8°.
Reply to Mr. Murdoch’s criticism.

. STEJNEGER (LEONHARD). Results of ornithological explorations in the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka.

Forms Ball. No. 29 of United States National Museum, pp. 1-382, Washington, Government Printing Office,
1885, 8°, 9 plates.
This excellent report contains numerous references to Alaskan birds.
TURNER (LUCIEN McSuan). Notes on the birds of the Nearer Islands, Alaska. By Lucien M. Turner.
In The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, vol. ii, pp. 154-159, Boston, Mass., 1885, 8°.
A list of 69 species, with very brief notes.

TURNER (LuciEN McSuan). Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska. Results of investigations made
chiefly in the Yukon District and the Aleutian Islands; conducted under the auspices of the Signal Service,
United States Army, extending from May, 1874, to August,1881. Washington: Government Printing Office.
1886.

Pp. 1-216, 4°, plates.
 

 

PART IT.

MAMMALS OF NORTHERN ALASKA.

E. W. NELSON anv F. W. TRUE.

 

 

227
INTRODUCTION.

The material upon which the following notes are based consists of specimens and field-notes
obtained by me during my explorations in Alaska, between the Ist of May, 1877, and the autumn
of 1881. During this time my personal observations extended over most of the Bering Sea and
Arctic coasts of the Territory, and much of the interior. In addition, many specimens and facts
were secured through the cordial co-operation of the fur traders.

This contribution to the history of Alaskan mammals is not intended to do more than convey
the information obtained by me while in the Territory, and, in consequence, does not contain any
account of a number of species found either-on the land or sea within the region covered by my
work, As stated in the general introductory remarks, a large portion of the Territory is Arctic
or sub-Arctic in climate and in its animal and vegetable life. The southern portion of the main-
land offers an exception to this general rule, and, as a consequence, we find a number of species of
mammals that reach their northern limit in that portion of the country. Other species, particu-
larly the Sea Otter and some of the seals, have a restricted distribution; but by far the greater
number of the mammals are widely distributed. No species of mammal is peculiar to the Terri-
tory, although several bave their center of abundance located within its limits. Among these
may be mentioned the Sea Otter, Fur Seal, Ribbon Seal, Pacific Walrus, and Dall’s Sheep. The
discovery of this latter form was one of the most important results of my work among the mam-
mals of the Territory.

For remarks upon the distribution of species in connection with certain faunal divisions of the
Territory, the reader is referred to the introductory notes to the ornithological portion of this report.
Since preparing the manuscript of this report, and too late to be incorporated therein, I have re-
ceived a letter from my friend, Mr. Rudolph Neumann, the Alaska Commercial Company’s agent
in the Aleutian Islands, which contains some interesting information concerning some of the
mammals of those islands. These remarks I quote entire, as they are an interesting addition to
our knowledge of the mammals of that region:

BLISANI (NEARER) IsLANDS.—Aitu: Blue foxes only, very rarely a white one. Rat Islands: No foxes,

ANDRAENOFSKI IsLanps.—Altha: Silver, cross, red, and blue foxes; white foxes rare. Amlia: Amlia foxes are,
I suppose, a cross between the silver and the blue foxes; white foxes rare. -

Fox Istanps.—Oumnak : Silver, cross, and red foxes; nowhite ones. Unalaska: Silver, crcss, and red foxes; no
white ones. Akoutan: Silver, cross, and red foxes; no white ones. <Ahoun: Silver, cross, and red foxes; no white
ones. Ounimak: Silver, cross, and red foxes; no white ones,

SnumaGin IsLanps.—Silver, cross, and red foxes; no white ones,

PRIBYLOV IsLANDS.—Blue foxes; white ones rare.

The Russians brought the blue foxes from Copper and Bering Islands and placed them on Attu, Atka, Saint
Paul, and Saint George Islands. Amlia was stocked with Alaskan silver foxes, but being close to Atka I think they
must have crossed (interbred) with the blue foxes of that island.

29
230 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Unalga Island was also stocked with silver foxes, but they have been long since exterminated. One difference
between the silver and blue foxes of the mainland and the islands is that the under fur of the island foxes is not so
thickly covered with the longer hairs as in individuals inhabiting the mainland. This is also true of the other foxes,
but is not so noticeable. Again, the pelts of all foxes, except the blue ones, are generally paler on the islands than
on the mainland. The blue foxes are generally better (i. e., darker) here than on the mainland. The best blue foxes
come from Saint Paul and Saint George.

The foxes of Umnak, Unalaska, Akutan, Akun, Unimak, and the Shumagin Islands are indigenous. The Kadiak
furs are about the same as those obtained from the timbered districts of the Yukon. Sea otters have decreased all
along the coast from Japan to Sitka. The western part of the Alaskan Islands is nearly deserted by them, their
movement having been to the castward.

For repeated kindly aid during my residence in the north, I am under obligations to every one
of the fur traders and agents of the Alaska Commercial Company with whom I came in contact,
and to my associates at Saint Michaels, Messrs. Rudolph and Henry Neumann and M, Lorenz, is
due much of the success which attended my work.

I can never forget the cordial interest with which these gentlemen were ever ready to forward
my plans, even at considerable personal inconvenience to themselves.

To Mr. L. N. McQuesten I am under obligations for many specimens from the Upper Yukon,
including the types of Ovis Dalli.

To General W. B. Hazen and Prof. 8. F. Baird I owe the encouragement and support which
enabled me to conduct the work in the field and prepare the results for the press.

Owing to my unavoidable absence from Washington, I have been obliged to secure the co-
operation of Mr. I’. W. True in the preparation of this report.

Mr. True has kindly made a tabular arrangement of most of the specimens secured by me, and
in many instances has given measurements and comments upon the species of particular interest.
The subjoined introductory remarks and lists of species are also his. The biographical notes are
entirely my own.

E. W. NELSON.

SPRINGERVILLE, ARiz., November 25, 1886.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

The Territory of Alaska being separated from the rest of the continent of America by no
barriers which are impassible to mammals, we shall not expect to discover a distinct mammalian
fauna within its borders. Lying partly within and partly without the Arctic Circle, and being
* bisected by the isothermal of 32° F., we shall look in its southern portions for representatives
of the north-temperate fauna, and in its northern portions for representatives of the Arctic or
circumpolar fauna. The facts bear out these @ priori conclusions. We find no single species of
mammal within the boundaries of Alaska which is pot to be found also without those boundaries.
Some enter the Territory from the east, or perhaps from across Bering Straits; others from the
south. They are the familiar species of the United States, British America, or Siberia and the
circumpolar zone generally.

The interest attaching to the mammals of Alaska arises, therefore, not from their novelty,
but rather from the fact that they are the northernmost representatives of their species. It is in
Alaska, as in Arctic British America, that we find the northern boundaries of the range of a
number of American mammals. We find species characteristic of a temperate region contending
with the rigors of an Arctic climate, few in numbers, and, as Mr. Allen has pointed out, small in
size. On tha other hand, we find species rarely or never met with as far south as the United
States, having their center of distribution within the Arctic Circle, abundant and of large size.

In 1870 Mr. Dall published a list of the mammals of Alaska, including the aquatic species.
This list comprises 70 species and subspecies of recent mammals, of which 25 belong to the orders
Pinnipedia and Cetacea. Six of the species, however, are now generally regarded identical with
seven others in the list, and two additional species (Sorex Rossis and 8. pachypus) appear never to
have been described. The number of valid species aud subspecies is, therefore, reduced to 62.
The list is as follows: *

Sorex Forsteri. Putorius vison.
Sorex Cooperi. Putorius pusillus [=P. vulgaris].
Sorex pachypus (undescribed). Putorius noveboracensis ;
Sorex Rossii (undescribed). Putorius Richardsoni blep -erminea],
Lynx canadensis. Gulo luseus.
Vulpes fulvus. Dutra canadensis.
Canis occidentalis [= Canis lupus griseo- Enhydra marina.
albus. | Procyon lotor.
Vulpes fulvus decussatus. Ursus horribilis.
Vulpes fulvus argentatus. Ursus Richardsoni,
Vulpes lagopus. Ursus americanus.
Mustela Pennanti. Ursus maritimus.
Mustela americana.

 

 

*The fossil species given by Mr. Dall are purposely omitted here; also the Eskimo Dog, which may ormay not be
indigenous.

231
232

Phoca Richards \ i=e vitulina].
Phoca Pealit

Pagomys ? larga [=P. fetida].

“ Phoca” nauticus [=E. barbatus].
Erignathus barbatus.

Evignathus equestris [=Phoca Fasciata].
Callorhinus ursinus.

Eumetopias Stelleri.

Rosmarus obesus.

Sciurus hudsonius.

Spermophilus Parryi [=S. empetra].
Arctomys pruinosus.

Castor canadensis [=C. fiber].
Hesperomys leucopus.

Arvicola xanthognathus.

Arvicola Gappert
Arvicola rubricatus
Myodes hudsonius
Myodes greenlandicus
Myodes trimucronatus
Myodes helvolus

\ [=Evotomys rutilus].

; [=yodes obensis].

Erithrizon dorsatus [=E. dorsatus epixanthus],

Lepus glacialis [=L. timidus areticus].
Lepus campestris [Really Lepus americanus].
Alce americanus.

\ [= Cuniculus torquatus].

 

NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Rangifer grenlandicus [=R. tarandus gren-
landicus|.

Cervus columbianus [=Cariacus columbianus].

Aploceros montanus [=Mazama americana].

Ovis montana [= Ovis canadensis Dalli].

Ovibos moschatus.

Balena mysticetus.

Balena Sieboldii |=B. japonica}.

Balena cullamach [= ?]

Rhachianectes glaucus.

Megaptera versabilis.

Balenoptera velifera.

Sibbaldius sulphureus.

Physeter macrocephalus.

Globiocephalus Scammoni.

Orca ater.

Orca rectipinna.

Delphinus styx (7)

Delphinus obliquidens [=Lagenorhynchus obli-
quidens}.

Delphinapterus borealis [= Leucorhamphus bore-
alis|.

Phocena vomerina [=Phocene communis].

Beluga sp. [Delphinapterus catodon].

Taking for granted that the species believed to be identical are in reality so, the list includes
62 species and sub-species, divided among the different orders as follows: Carnivora, 19; Pinnipe-
dia, 7; Insectivora, 2; Rodentia, 12; Ungulata, 6; Cetacea, 16—total, 62.

Since the publication of Mr. Dall’s list, numerous collections of Alaskan mammals have found
their way into the National Museum.

In addition to Mr. Nelson’s collection, a greater or less number of specimens have been
received from Messrs. Turner, Murdoch, Dall, Bean, Fisher, the late Mr. McKay, and others.

Among these specimens are represented 12 species and subspecies not given in Mr. Dall’s list.
These are as follows:

Sciuropterus volucella hudsonius.
Sciurus hudsonius Richardsont.
Spermophilus empetra kodiacensis.
Arvicola riparius riparius.*
Arvicola riparius borealis.

Fiber zibethicus.

Zapus hudsonius.

Lagomys princeps.
Vespertilio lucifugus.
Rangifer tarandus caribou.
Balenoptera Davidsoni.
Phocena Datli.

Monodon monoceros.

The total number of species and subspecies hitherto found in Alaska is hereby raised to 74,
including the additional families Zapodide and Lagomyide, and the order Chiroptera.

Since Alaska reaches further to the north than other portions of the American mainland,
except the peninsula of Boothia, it is of interest to know what species are found at its northern-
most boundary, and what have a less extended range. With the name of each species in the fol-

lowing list is given the name of the most northern locality in which, according to authentic records,
individuals have been observed.

 

* Following the opinion of Dr. Coues we have made the ‘‘ Arvicola rubricatus, Rich.” of Mr. Dall’s list synony-
mous with Evotomys rutilus, but it seems probable that Mr. Dall had in mind Arvicola riparius.
 

 

   
   
 
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
  
  
    
 
   
     

 

    
     
    
  
 
    

  

    
     
 
 
 
   
 
   
    
    

Sciurus hudsonius Richardson:

 

Spermophilus empetra kodiacensis
Spermophilus empetra empetra ..
Arctomys pruinosus .
Mazama montana...
Ovis canadensis Dal
Ovibos moschatust --
Rangifer tarandus cariboa..
Rangifer tarandus greenland
Alces machlis ....-.... as
Cariacus columbianus
Balena mysticetus
Balena japonica. .

  

  

 

Balenoptera Davids
Megaptera versabilis -
Rhachianectes glaucus .
Physeter macrocephalu
Phocena Dalli ..
Phocena communis.
Delphinapterus cato
Delphinus styx?.-......
Lagenorhynchus obliqu
Leucorhamphus borealis....
Globiocephalus Scammoni . -
Orca rectipinna........-
Orca atra......e..ceee
Monodon monoceros.......-...+-------+

 
 

  

   
    
  

 

  
    
  
  
 
 
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
 

 

 
 

  
 
  
  

  
 

-| Cape Ommaney
-| Hoonyah Sound
.| Glacier Bay ..-.-.

 

   
    

 

 

 
  
     
 
     

 

Nulato...

   
  
  
  
  
      

MAMMALS.
Species. Northern limit. Authority.
Lynx canadensis ......-... ewes geateloaas Head of Nunatog River (lat. 69° N.)..} Nelson.
Canis lupus griseo-albus.. Meade River .......---.-00e- eee scene Murdoch.
Vulpes lagopus......... Point Barrow. .-.....-.+-seeee see ee Do.
Vulpes fulvus fulvus ... Head of Nunatog River (Jat. 69° N.)..| Nelson,
Vulpes fulvus argentatus . . -| Upper Meade River ..........-.---... Murdoch (fide abor.)
Vulpes fulvus decussatus . . Head of Nunatog River (lat. 69° N.) ..| Nelson.
Mustela americana ....... Head of Nunatog River (lat. 68° N.) .. Do.
Mustela Pennanti .. eat) GBS ON cicisuissisisia'sinis ewisisicinsaisine cis Coues,
Patorius erminea FOIE ATCO ton nn pina cccsamemitixw enlaces Murdoch.
Putorius vulgaris. Nunatog River Nelson.
Putorius vison.. Upper Nunatog River Do.
Gulo luscus..... alberta 0 nists seine sealers cine eexeiseepiacy Do.
Lutra canadensis Nunatog River Do.
BOW YVOGIS GG . nse nnn eivnnnninidinn evss| Nuchek, Copper River ...0004 ---.00+ Dall & Bean (U.S.
Nat. Mus.).
PLOCVOM LOCO « eswrncnenacieoceamneiincecs: Cook's Inletiiss cise socvnseteeaeanevcen Dixon.
Thalassarctos maritimus........ Point: Barro we ia. siesise csc cieag: sintoareteais wien Murdoch.
Ursus americanus cinnamoneus* Nunatog River .. -| Nelson.
Dreus horribiligy, .<cssncccae scien seswasics|mewee 00 seccveesc ces Do.
Ursus Richardsoni*. -| ? Meade River.. -| Murdoch.
Odobaunus obesust. . Point Barrow. . Do.
Erignathus barbatus - -| Point Barrow. . Do.
Phoca fasciata...... Capo Smyth... Do.
Phoca feetida ... Point Barrow “ Do.
Phoca Vitulins sjeciscesistenrs acosaisieaieceiicremieras | areerw wl OO pemaaie eure -| Murdoch (fide abor.)
Callorhinus ursinus -| Saint Michaels -| Nelson.
Eumetopias Stelleri Saint Matthew’s Island Dall.
Sorex Cooperi ...... -| Saint Michaels -....... Nelson.
Sorex Forsteri..-..... Meade River... Murdoch
Vespertilio lucifugus . Lake Iliamna.. McKay
Lepus amcricanus .... About lat. 69° N . Nelson.
Lepus timidus arcticus . Point Barrow .. Murdoch.
Lagomys princeps..-- South of Fort Yukon, 160 to 200 m Nelson.
Erithrizon dorsatus epixanthus Head of Nunatog River; 69° N ....... Do.
Zapus hudsonius.... | NDSHRGAK ccs. cccea ale siocs's -| McKay
Hesperomys Jeucop Kadiak ...- -| Bischoif.
Arvicola xanthognathus Fort Yukon | Kennicott.
Arvicola riparius borea! Cape Lisburn Nelson.
Evotomys rutilus. - Poreupiue Rive: -; Kennicott.
Myodes obensis. Point Barrow.. -| Murdoch.
Cuniculus torquatus.......--......-..--/...... do = : Do.
Fiber zibethicus . - Head of Nunatog Nelson.
Castor fiber. .... : Nunatog River ........ . Do.
Sciuropterus volucella huds Fort Tongass . -| King.
Sciurus hudsonius hudsonius. Nunatog Rive .| Nelson.

Nelson’s collec-
tion.

-| Bischoff.

-| Murdoch.
-| Nelson.
-| H. T, Allen.

?Mouth of Colville
Point Barrow....
Head of Kowok Rive:
Lat, 699 N
Sitka ..-.....
Arctic Ocean ..
Pribylov Island a
<

  

      
     
    

 

California
Oregon .....-
Arctic Ocean

 
  
  
  
     
 
 
 
    

  

Arctic coast off Point Barrow
“North Pacific”. i) aie wine cinia's

 

Poitit: Barrows. <eawawsniawe gasierainieciak
(2)
0)
Arctic Oceaniisnccnastasnednancwcciicas
POint: Barrow «ois eee siercasietesecesete cen

 
 

 

 

-| Nelson.
-| Murdoch,
Do.

‘| Nelson.
Do.
-| Bischoff.

Scammon.
Do

*(%)

-| Scammon.
0.

-| Nichols.
Do.

Murdoch.

-| Gray.

()
a ee abor.)

(%)
Scammon.
Murdoch (jide abor.)

 

 

*For remarks on the identity of these species, see pp. 257, 258. ;
+The range of this and some other of the aquatic species, especially the Cetaceans, extends to the

edge of the ice-fields.

{ This may be subfossil. The skull procured by Mr. Murdoch is very much broken and worn.

S. Mis. 156 30

 

233
234 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

SYSTEMATIC AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
FELIDA.
LYNX BOREALIS CANADENSIS (Gray). Canada Lynx. (Esk. Tukh-tu-lik).

In a series of fifteen adult skulls the largest has a basi-cranial length of 125™™ and a zygo-
matic width of 95™™. Itis presumably that of a male individual, but in this, as in the majority
of the remaining species to be considered, the sex was unfortunately not ascertained.

The largest skull in the National Museum collection (6216) from Peel River has a length* of
115™™ and a width of 89™ only. It is, however, a female. A skull of the European Lynx from
Sweden (1034) greatly exceeds in size the Alaskan skull previously mentioned. Its length is 144™*
and its width 1127".

The skull of the Canada Lynx may be distinguished at a glance from those of other Amer-
ican lynxes by the shape of the visible parts of the presphenoid and the position of the anterior
condylar foramen. The presphenoid is broadly flask-shaped, and the anterior condylar foramen
looks downward and is not confluent with foramen Jacerum posterius.

In other American lynxes the foramina referred to are confluent, and the visible portion of
the presphenoid is linear or triangular in outline. The European Lynx agrees with the Canada
Lynx in these details.

List of specimens and measurements.

 

 

 
 
  
 
   

  

  

Collector’s number.
‘ Greatest | Greatest
mm
Se Locality. Date. jength. | width.
Skin. Skull.
mm. | mm.

1 | Mountains near Unalakleet --..-. Winter Of 1877-78 ...205.-- sceeeee testainiete caret

De iftesiciares DO asiaissincixeviae ae oslammnes do 116) 90

114 | Nulato............---- January, 1880..... 112 99

142 | Mouth of Tanana River . February, 1880. ... 119 91
143 |..---- GO: see cies iscinigise ste teaierretar [awancine’ ° PUL. lecectenases

194 | Andraenofski....-.....----.-+--|-2--+- do 118 96

251 | Tanana River........--.------.- Spring of 1880 ......... 113 89

252 |... 6 oe-Bacce Lae aeetsers ease do 112 87

DOB. Mearns ors do .... wididessausisisislascieinie ls see 125 95

254 boca ee Ossie cokonmemeiateinaciomewalecisinas 113 91

QOD favaavise OO eiayciccirds sentra crinnieerenyers wiae'Sel arene 117 90

256 | wesw do 119 87

297. |W searerwietn do 115 90

258 |eocas- Owens a . anggart 118 90

266 | Mission ...... Srstve| wear eee ote 118 95

207, | Lanand Riverissssessssneeremens eaersese eerie tee eesce: 114 90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The range of the lynx is well defined by the extent of the forest area in
Alaska. It is a tree-loving species and rarely leaves the shelter of woods even to extend its forays
into the alder thickets which scantily replace the trees near the coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic
Ocean. Owing partly to this fondness for a wooded country it is unknown on the islands of
Bering Sea, and only reaches the shore of this sea at one point, where the spruce forest extends
to the coast at the head of Norton Sound. On the Arctie coast it is found near the shore at one
point near the head of Kotzebue Sound. Its range north is coincident with that of the trees, and
reaches about latitude 71°.

Lynxes are most numerous along the water-courses of the interior, where close thickets of
cottonwoods, alders, and willows, with spruces and white birches irregularly distributed, afford
them fine shelter. In these thickets, also, their favorite prey, the northern rabbit, is most
numerous. During winter the snow bears good evidence of their habits. Their tracks lead from

thicket to thicket, and, at times, from one piece of woods to another, but their irregular wandering
is mainly confined to the friendly shelter of the trees.

*Here, and on subsequent pages, the terms “length” and ‘ width,” as applied to skulls, refer to the basi-cranial
length and the zygomatic width respectively. The basi-cranial length is measured from the anterior margin of the
central pair of incisive alveoli to the center of a line joining the surfaces of the two occipital condyles. The zygo-
matic width is the greatest width between the opposite zygomatic arches.
MAMMALS. 235

Being to a great extent nocturnal in their habits, and excessively shy, they are rarely seen,
except when trapped, even by the natives, who spend much of their time in the forest.

Mr. McQuesten, a fur trader living at Fort Yukon, witnessed one winter day a combat
between a lynx and a red fox, which he described to me as follows: “The lynx sprang upon the
fox, in comparatively open ground, evidently trying to capture it for food. The fox instantly
made fight, and for a few moments the fur flew right and left. Then a short pause followed and
the fight was renewed. A second pause ensued, and after the two had glared at one another for
a few moments they slowly withdrew in opposite directions, the hair on each bristling defiance,
but each apparently satisfied to close accounts.” This lynx was probably weakened by hunger,
for a vigorous lynx is certainly more than a match for a fox.

So far as I could learn, they are never known to attack persons, and their principal food is the
white rabbit, which is abundant in all the wooded districts of the north. Ruffed Grouse, Ptarmigan,
and other birds are preyed upon, but the fur traders and natives agree in stating that the abun-
dance of lynxes in a district is directly proportioned to the abundance of rabbits.

When rabbits increase in a district for a number of years, the yield of lynx-skins is large,
until, suddenly, an epidemic breaks out among the rabbits and they are almost exterminated. The
succeeding seasons are marked by a heavy decrease in the number of lynx-skins secured by the
natives, and until the rabbits become common again the lynxes are scarce. Lynxes are trapped
by means of a strong sinew noose at the end of a bent sapling, with a bait and trigger so arranged
that when the bait is taken the sapling is freed and swings the lynx up in the noose.

Another mode is to heap up a lot of brush ina pile, 3 or 4 feet high, with a clear space
on the ground in the middle, where some fragments of meat are placed. A carelessly-made open-
ing leads to this on one side, and the bushes are laid close on all the other sides. A sinew noose
is then made fast to some stationary object and laid at the entrance, so that the animal is almost
certain to snare itself in getting the bait. Steel traps are sometimes used in place of the snare in
this latter style of trapping.

The district about the mouth of the Tanana and the head of the Kuskoquim River is the
center of abundance of this species in Alaska.

The fur traders and Indians of the Upper Yukon claim that the lynxes sometimes unite in par-
ties of five or sixand make rabbit drives on the small islands in the Yukon. They claim to have
heard the lynxes utter a sharp whistling noise, and to have found their tracks in the snow where
the line had swept the island, until each secured its prey, vear the farther end. The flesh of the
lynx is said by the natives to be white, tender, and excellent eating.

CANIDE.
CANIS FAMILIARIS BOREALIS (Desmarest). Eskimo Dog (Esk. Ki-mukii-ta).

In the icy regions of Arctic America the dog is indeed a faithful friend and valued ally of
man, more so, perhaps, than in any other portion of the world, although his services in other
regions have brought him well-earned praise. Without dogs the larger portion of the great
Eskimo family peopling the barren northern coast of America would find it impossible to exist in
its chosen home.

In winter, the hunter is accompanied by his sledge and dogs on every important hunt. The
dogs are invaluable aids in finding the game in many cases, and are used to drag it homeward
across the icy hummocks or snowy plains. They haul the sledges laden with household goods and
children when a change of abode becomes necessary, and are ever at hand for the unstinted amount
of work heaped upon them, spiced with a plenitude of kicks and blows. During the summer
months they are forced to shift for themselves, unless put into harness to tow a large boat along the
coast, or to accompany a hunter in the chase. On the Alaskan coast, when this latter office is
demanded of them, a pair of small leather panniers is strapped upon their backs, in which is placed
the small supply of food, and perhaps other small articles needed on the trip. In spite of much
ill usage, they are a rollicking lot, full of good nature and playfulness, fond of the society of man,
and, like a lot of school-boys, continually winding up their humor in pitched battle. They are
236 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

endowed with a well-developed vein of drollery, which they show in innumerable odd acts and
manners, affording one much amusement when traveling with them; and each one in a team
becomes known by some distinctive trait of character which is as marked in its way as the
differences between human individuals. Many of the writer’s lonely bivouacs have been made
cheerful by the presence of these companions.

A solitary camp-fire under the clear, cold sky of a winter night in the north is made doubly
-pleasant by the semicircle of bright, intelligent faces of the dogs opposite, inspiring a sense of
fellowship not easily expressed. A long residence where the use of these animals is common gives
one the power of distinguishing certain traits of character among them by their expression as
readily as certain expressions in the human face can be read. They possess a surprising diversity
of character and a great amount of reasoning power.

In all Alaska, among Indians and Eskimo alike, the only kind of domestic dog known, with
the exception of a few recently introduced by the fur traders, is that called the Eskimo Dog.
It is commonly used all over the Alaskan mainland and on the islands of Bering Straits. On
the Aleutian and Fur Seal Islands dogs are not used. Those kept by the Indians of the interior
of the mainland are less abundantly fed, and consequently more dwarfed and scrubby than those
found among the Eskimo on the coast. Among the latter people the food of the dogs is rarely cut
down except in case of great necessity, as the ability of the dogs to drag the sledge during their
hunts is of vital importance.

A large-sized, intelligent dog commands a good price among the Norton Sound Eskimo, and
I have known of-from $10 to $15 worth of goods being paid for a single animal. The owners in
gome cases refused to sell at any price. Ordinary dogs bring from $2 to $4. The winter fur trade
of Northern Alaska is carried on entirely by their aid, some of the trading stations having from
one to two hundred dogs employed.

A team of either seven or nine dogs is used. They are harnessed in pairs to a single long
leading line, with the most intelligent dog in advance, as a leader. Over average routes along the
coast or across country such teams will haul from 350 to 700 pounds on a sledge. In nearly every
instance the road must be made through the unbroken snow or over rough ice. Many factors
combine to vary the hauling capacity of a team, such as the state of the weather, the condition of
the snow, training, etc. During the winter of 187879, with a team of seven dogs, pulling a load
of over 300 pounds, the writer made a journey of over 1,200 miles in about two months’ time, and
the last 60 miles of this journey was made, over a bad road, in a continuous pull of twenty-one
hours’ duration. Such feats as this are by no means rare in the course of the winter’s work among
the fur traders, and show what powers of endurance these animals possess.

The moon has great influence over the dogs, and during fall moon half the night is passed by them
howling in chorus. During the entire winter at Saint Michaels we were invariably given a chorus
every moonlight night, and the dogs of two neighboring villages joined in the serenade. Their
howl is a long-drawn cry, rising and falling in somewhat regular cadence. ‘The chorus of a hun-
dred dogs, slightly softened by the distance, has a wierd, wild harmony in keeping with the sur-
roundings, and produces a strange and stirring effect upon the listener.

The influence of the moon upon the dogs is shown very strikingly also when traveling with them.
In many cases, after traveling during the day until at nightfall the dogs were dragging wearily
along, I have known them to brighten up when the moon arose, and, pricking up their ears, start
off with renewed energy, which did not diminish for many miles. This peculiarity is well known
to the fur traders, and they sometimes lie over during the day and travel at night, in order to take
advantage of it. :

Several large dogs of mixed descent, from Newfoundland and other blood, were kept at Saint
Michaels, and it was amusing to hear their attempts to join in the howlings of their Eskimo com-
panions. For a long time their attempts were most ignominious failures, but after some months
they succeeded in a passable imitation. The Eskimo Dog has no real bark, but rushes to meet a
stranger with a harsh growling and broken howl.

They rarely bite people, except in the case of some unusually surly brutes. Among the thou-
sands of them seen I only rememeber some half dozen cross, biting dogs. One of these would seize
anything within reach in blind fury, at the least provoeation. This dog was in one of my teams
MAMMALS. 2k

during a sledge trip, and at each crack of the whip he would turn and catch the leading rope in
his teeth in the greatest rage, and woe to the dog that came within reach of him at such times.
He was a perfect terror to my guides and before the end of the journey I was forced to kill him.

They change allegiance very quickly, and whoever feeds them for a week wins their hearts
from all former masters. The instances are extremely rare in which they recognize property
of their master’s or make any attempt to guard it.

When at home in the native villages in winter they keep about the entrances of the houses
to enjoy the warmth and often fill the long underground passageway. Going in or out of the
house one must, in this case, crawl upon hands and knees over a living carpet, but the dogs never
show the slightest sign of ill nature, although an occasional yelp tells when one is crowded too
closely. The puppies are usually kept indoors and roll about on the floor with the fur-clad babies in
the most fraternal manner. The women take the pups at frequent intervals and pull their limbs
iv different directions and knead their bodies to render them long-limbed and sinewy, they say.

There is a peculiar disease, very much akin to the madness of dogs in lower latitudes, which
the Eskimo Dog is subject to from Greenland to Bering Sea. A dog bitten by another afflicted
with this disease becomes afflicted in the same manner in a few days. I made careful inquiry, but
could learn of no authentic case where a person had been bitten, although I heard a vague account
of a man having died at Pastolik from the effect of such a bite. The natives have the greatest
fear of a dog in this condition, yet appear to have a superstitious dread of killing it. Both young
and old dogs have the disease, and I have seen a puppy only a few weeks old afflicted with it in
the most aggravated form. Asarule the first symptoms appear within four or tive days of the time
the bite is received. The dog refuses to eat, becomes restless and irritable, his head soon becomes
swollen, and his vision is affected. He then has alternating periods of stupid quietness and aimless
activity. During the latter he runs blindly about, staggering from side to side, but keeping, with
apparent difficulty, a nearly straight course until something turns him. When moving about in
this way he bites any dog or other living object in his path and frequently runs blindly into some
obstacle from which he starts off in a right angle to his former course. During this time his eyes
are fixed and glaring, and his head hangs down as if overweighted, and is slowly swayed from
side to side. They are easily avoided, and if kicked out of the way they rarely renew the attack,
and never with any spirit. The attack is sometimes preceded by a hemorrhage from the nose and
mouth; in rare cases a dog recovers, but usually they die in one or two days from the time of the
first symptoms. During some seasons great numbers of dogs die from this cause.

In some parts of the Territory the Eskimo expose their dead close to the village, and the dogs
quarrel over the remains, but this disgusting habit is becoming far less common than formerly.

The amount of cold these animals are -capable of enduring is remarkable. During a winter
sledge journey up an unexplored tributary of the Yukon I was delayed at a village for some days,
and during my stay the thermometer ranged from 30 to 35 degrees below zero. Tied to an alder
sapling near a hut was a female dog with two pups born the day I arrived. These pups were lying
upon the bare snow in the open air without a sign of any sbelter from the keen air. Oue died soon
after birth, but the other lived the two following days on its icy bed and was shivering and wrig-
gling about when I left the village, while the parent sat beside it shivering and lifting her feet
alternately to keep warm. The dog figures largely in northern mythology and is usually endowed
with supernatural powers. The Alaskan Eskimo have a firm belief in the transmigration of souls
from men to dogs, and particularly intelligent animals are supposed to be inhabited by the spirit of
some person.

CANIS LUPUS GRISEO-ALBUS (Linn.). Gray Wolf (Esk. Kt-gi-lwi-th).

This well-known animal is found over all of the Alaskan mainland and on some of the
most accessible adjoining islands. When game is plentiful the wolves are correspondingly numer-
ous and hunt in packs, sometimes numbering fifty or more, but usually containing from six to ten

‘individuals.

Formerly, before the Eskimo and Indians were generally supplied with fire-arms, the reindeer

were extremely numerous in Alaska and ranged over the country in great herds, always attended
238 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

on their feeding grounds by packs of wolves. The introduction of fire-arms has nearly exterminated
the reindeer, and the scarcity of the deer is fully equalled by that of the wolves in the coast region
of Northern Alaska. Near Saint Michaels wolves were very common ten or fifteen } ears ago but
during the past few years only two or three were noted each winter. About the headwaters of the
Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers they are still numerous, and several hundred skins are secured there
every year. Although endowed in the north with all the cunning and success in the chase for
which they are noted elsewhere, I could not learn of a single instance in which they had
destroyed human life or attempted todo so. Several instances were related to me of forays made
by them at night among the dogs at villages, in which some of the latter were carried off and
devoured, and in one instance they attacked the dogs at a neighboring post while I was at Saint
Michaels, but were beaten off by the latter. The Eskimo sometimes secure the cubs, and some
years ago an old Eskimo near Saint Michaels secured several, which he kept until winter and broke
them to haul his sledge. They worked well, but became so vicious that they were killed. The
natives also claim to have had crosses between wolves raised in this manner and dogs. This is not
surprising when the close resemblance between some of the dogs and a wolf is noted, and one can
easily believe that such crosses are fertile.

Among several thousand wolf-skins brought into Saint Michaels during my residence there
only a single albino was seen and this was a beautiful snow-white skin. Large numbers of the
black or melanistic variety were brought in, and it is a noteworthy fact that the headwaters of the
Yukon yielded a large majority of these black skins, and that from the same district come nearly
all of the black fox-skins obtained in Northern Alaska. These dark skins vary in endless grada-
tion from the ordinary gray to a glossy coal-black. As a rule the black skins are considerably
smaller than the gray ones and the fur is shorter upon them.

Few or no wolf-skins are shipped from Saint Michaels, and one season a lot was brought ~
there by steamer to supply the local trade. The Eskimo of the entire coast north of the Yukon
find difficulty in securing a sufficient number of wolf-skins to border the hoods of their fur coats.
The finest wolf-skins with a coat of long, heavy fur will bring a very high price in trade, sometimes
netting $25 or $30 worth of more marketable skins. The gray skins are the only ones that ever
bring a good price; the fur on the black skins is too short and the color is not liked.

The black and gray wolves hunt in the same packs, and are distributed over the same range.
The black kind predominates about the head of the Yukon, and the gray variety is most abundant
toward the coast region, but the difference seems to be too ill-defined for any definite line to be
drawn. The wolf ranges north to beyond the 71st degree of latitude to the Arctic coast, and in
Veniaminoff’s account of the Territory, written the first part of this century, it is stated that two
wolves were killed on Akun Island in 1830, and that they are amon g the resident animals of Uni-
mak Island. Both these islands are at the extreme eastern end of the Aleutian chain, and this
animal is unknown elsewhere among these islands.

The wolf is trapped by the Alaskan Eskimo in a peculiar manner, which is also practiced
among the Eskimo north of Hudson’s Bay. A piece of whalebone about 8 inches long and
the size of a flattened lead-pencil sharpened at both ends is soaked in water until it becomes
thoroughly softened. It is then bent on itself in folds about an inch long and is tied in this posi-
tion until dry. The cord is then removed and the coil retains its position. It is then covered
about an inch thick with tallow and laid out for the wolf to find. The latter picks up the morsel
of fat containing the whalebone, and not being able to chew it gulps it down entire. In a short
time the juices and warmth of the animal’s stomach act upon the whalebone and it slowly straight-
ens out and the sharp points transfix the stomach, and if they do not enter the heart or lungs
and produce death at once they cause the animal such agony that he lies down and becomes an
easy prey for the hunter who follows his trail.

The wolf figures largely in the mythology of the Alaskan Eskimo, as it does with the Tlinkets
of the coast farther south.

Among the Eskimo it is endowed with supernatural powers. Is one of their most prized
totemic animals, and the wolf gens is widely spread along the coast and interior.
MAMMALS. 239

VULPES LAGOPUS (Liun.). Arctic Fox (Esk. Ké-tdg-@-li-4-yth).

In addition to numerous skulls, the skins of two young individuals were obtained. One of
these (No. 13877 (46)), taken at Saint Michaels in August, 1877, is clothed throughout with rather
short wooly hair. On the back and the upper part of the extremities it is of a very light bluish
or purplish ash color; on the sides and belly, yellowish white. The tail and feet are bluish white.

The second specimen (No. 13878 (57)), taken at Saint Michaels, September 19, 1879, is similarly
colored, but the colors are dark. The head and legs are clothed with brownish and white hairs
intermingled. The tail is strongly bi-color. The under-fur above is purplish-ash colored at the
base and brown at the tip; mingled with it are long white hairs. Below, both under-fur and
longer hairs are white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

SKINS.
ai Collector’s number.
cho Locality. Date.
3 Skin. Skull.
*13877 AG Wocdecdance: Saint Michaels..........0.. 2-02. eee cece eee eee August, 1877.
*13878 84 B fsieaiens LO :saia'ain inte wi nieyera Tian \n' ele Mionetoralaraineie rarecciame ee September 19, 1879.
* Jay.
SKULLS.
B Saing. Michaela. icc sectinsisicinissicinieansatasiaisiamais saais November, 1879.
90 | Saint Michaels. ....2222000002 tiiisess.| November, 1879. 7777”
OL | aces do ..... Do.
02 |...... do ..... Do.
98. eee Oj si asiass ciecesctcsnig sremin jets orsie weieiwiciesassinvetainsl elects Do.
104 |...... CO artiaininss wetarrae OE Serene mieninien ge aaeibineaee eel January, 1880.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes. The White Stone Fox.—Along all of the belt of open coast country north
from the peninsula of Aliaska around all of the Bering-Sea and Arctic shores of the Territory these
beautiful little animals are common residents. They are also found upon such of the islands of Ber-
ing Sea as they can reach upon the ice. They rarely find their way to the Fur Seal group, but
are numerous on Nunevak, Saint Matthews, Saint Lawrence, and all the islands in Bering Straits.
They are extremely numerous in all the open country lying between the Lower Yukon and Kus.
koquim Rivers. Thence north to the Kaviak Peninsula they are less common, but in the latter
district become numerous again, and are abundant in all the coast country to the north. The
wilder and more sterile the country the more abundant this fox appears to be. During my long
winter journeys along the coast of Bering Sea the tracks of these foxes were found everywhere;
they were distinguishable from those of the red fox by their smaller size.

While cruising along the coast between Bering Straits and Point Barrow, during the summer
of 1881, hundreds of their skins were brought off to us by the Eskimo; they were found in
equal numbers along the opposite Siberian coast. The broad level tundra and the wildest and
most precipitous coast appear to be equally attractive to them. We also found them on Herald
and Wrangel Islands. In summer, when the ground is bare of snow, the White Fox is a very
conspicuous animal, but its pure white coat is so like the snow in winter that it is almost impos-
sible to follow one with the eye as it runs swiftly across the white expanse. They sometimes
make their presence known to travelers during the night, and I recall particularly that on a fine
night, in early January, when I camped at the mouth of the Kuskoquim River, a number of these
animals kept about for several hours, within from 75 to 100 yards of us, uttering an odd, weak,
querulous bark. We broke camp before daybreak the next morning, but none of our friends of the
previous evening were heard.

Parts of the country where rocky ledges occur are specially frequented by them, as the crevices
among the rocks give them welcome shelter. During summer they fare sumptuously upon the
breeding water-fowl, eggs, aud young birds which are found everywhere, but in winter comes
harder work and the ground is carefully searched for stray mice, lemmings, or an occasional ptar-
240 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

migan. In early spring, toward the end of March, when the seals begin to haul up on the ice
and the first young are born, thousands of these foxes go out seaward and live upon the ice the
rest of the season. The young seal’s offal, left by hunters and from other sources, gives them more
food there than the shore affords at this time.

At this season I have traveled along the coast and seen scores of their tracks leading sea-
ward, and not one directed toward the land. In fall a dead whale or other large sea animal cast
ashore forms a general feast for all the foxes and ravens from the country around until its bones
are polished.

The young of this species are born in May and June.

Our party scaled the precipitous walls of Herald Island and found these foxes in posses-
sion. As we were the first men to reach its summit, and but a single party had touched its
shore before us, the foxes were perfectly unsophisticated. A half-grown young one sat on a
huge rock over us as we gained the top, and kept uttering a squeaky bark of protest. I climbed
up to his perch and followed him as he kept 15 to 20 yards ahead of me until he disappeared over
the brow of a precipice of over a thousand feet nearly sheer and concealed himself in some crevice.
Their burrows were found everywhere, and about their entrances numerous tufts of freshly-pulled
mosses showed the material of which their beds were made. Near the entrance of one of these
burrows I inadvertently left a note-book, and when I returned for it an hour later it had disap-
peared, having been confiscated, no doubt, by the occupant of the hole. Their tracks were also
numerous on Wrangel Island, and I do not think any Arctic explorer has yet found a land too
desolate and forbidding to shelter the Stone Fox. During very stormy and severe winters they
have a difficult task to get food, and are driven to forage in the immediate vicinity of the villages.

While I was at Saint Michaels, one very snowy winter, a white fox came up on a snow-
drift and looked from the roof of a warehouse into the court-yard below, where a large num-
ber of dogs were lounging about. Some of the dogs spied the intruder, and he was overtaken by
a large white dog, after a chase of a couple of hundred yards through thedeep snow. The moment
the dog came close the fox threw himself upon his back and held up his paws as if to play; the dog
stopped short in amazement, and then began to frisk about as if in play with another dog. The
rest of the pack came up in a moment, and urged by their cries, the first dog ran in and tried to
seize the fox, but the latter caught him by the end of the nose with such a grip that the dog re-
treated toward the houses howling dolefully and dragging his plucky antagonist with him. It
was only when near the houses that the other dogs succeeded in tearing the fox loose, and with
him went part of his enemy’s nose and lip; a moment later the fox died in the midst of his enemies,
overcome by numbers.

The Eskimo trap them with a “figure-four” deadfall made of logs, stones, or slabs of ice or
snow. Steel traps obtained from the fur traders are also used.

The young are covered with a dingy or smoky plumbeous fur all summer until the last of
September or first of October, when the white winter fur begins to appear. In spring the fur
gets worn and is harsh and worthless by the middle of April; it becomes prime again about the
end of October.

The Blue Stone Fox.—Although the White Fox is unknown upon the Aleutian Islands, the
Blue Fox is found throughout the chain, and also upon the Fur Seal Islands. On the latter
islands it is very numerous, and as these foxes have a particularly fine fur here great care is exer-
cised to kill any stray specimens of the White Fox that the ice may bring over in winter, and thus
prevent any crossing between the two forms. On the Fur Seal Islands from one to two thousand
skins of the Blue Fox are taken annually. Owing to the climatic peculiarities and isolation of
these islands the fur of the Blue Foxes taken there is very dark and of an unusually fine quality,
bringing in the London market several times the price of a skin from the mainland. This pecu-
liarity is also shared, to a slightly less extent, by the Blue Foxes from the islands of Attu and
Atka, at the extreme western end of the Aleutian chain.

On the Fur Seal Islands these foxes are protected to a certain extent and are impudently
familiar. When one walks across the uplands the foxes sit by their holes and bark at him, and
often follow from place to place, yelping like ill-mannered curs.
MAMMALS. 241

At Saint Michaels, among the thousands of skins brought in each year, not over one Blue Fox
was observed among every fifteen or twenty White Foxes, and the proportion was sometimes less.
L afterwards found this proportion to hold good for the skins seen among the Eskimo of the Bering
straits islands and the Alaskan and Siberian Arctic coast in the vicinity of the Straits. Further to
the north the Blue Fox becomes more and more scarce. The habits of the two forms are identical.

From the foregoing it appears that at the southern extreme of their range in Alaska, on the
peninsula of Aliaska, perhaps, and certainly on the Aleutian and Fur Seal Islands, the Blue Fox
entirely replaces its white relative, and that as we pass farther north the number of blue individ-
uals decreases steadily, and the white form becomes more numerous proportionally, until near the
northern limit of the mainland the Blue Fox is almost entirely replaced by the white form. The color
of the White Fox for several months after it is born is very similar to that of the adult Blue Fox,
and the summer fur of the adult White Fox is very similar to the adult Blue Fox’s normal pelage.

' Taking these various points into consideration it appears very probable that the White Fox
is a special variety of a species originally made up entirely of blue individuals. Peculiar climatic
surroundings (which still exist) have impressed the change upon by far the greater part of the
individuals now representing the species. This being the case we find upon the Aleutian and Fur
Seal Islands at present the most typical representatives of the species, since there only do we find
the blue form i in its purity.

VULPES FULVUS FULVUS (Desmarest).. Red Fox (Esk. Ké-bvi-ih).

List of specimens.

 

 

. SKINS.
Collector's number.
Mneeutt a ey Locali ty. ‘* Date.
a Skin. Skull. ‘
aise 139 129 | Saint Michaels..........-2s2seceeeseeeeeeseees February, 1880.
*13876 85 9. fncween LO oinca oie ara atesntssd sin ta os Brainlasacordl pare aia Sleinamnieiee September 30, 1879.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Skin and skull; female.

SKULLS.

 

   

73 | Saint Michaels .... November, 1879.
. 0.

  
  

January, 1880.
Do.
Do.
Do.
February, 1880.

 
 
  
 
  
 

Mission..-...- de ne : Do.
180 ae

Spriag of 1880.
107 | Saint Mintasls - January, 1880,

144 | Mouth of Tanana River ....-.-...--+-s-0-+0-- February, 1880.
Andracnofski....... cc. c cece cen e cence cnenee .

    

: 0.
March, 1880.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Mis. 156——31
242 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Biographical notes.—The Red Fox of the north is a much handsomer animal than its southern
representative owing to its heavier and richer fur and somewhat larger size. Its range covers the
entire mainland of the Territory and extends over all of the Aleutian and other islands of the
Territory with the exception of the Fur Seal group. It is common on Kadiak Island and on the
mainland is one of the commonest fur-bearing mammals north to the extreme Arctic shore line in
about 71° of latitude. In the extreme north, however, it is less abundant than elsewhere.

Reynard in the north enjoys a reputation for far-seeing cunning fully as great as he has in the
southern part of his range, and he needs all of his sagacity there, since he is hunted from the
opening of winter until the strong sunlight in April spoils the value of his fur.

When traveling over the snowy tundra in winter I have frequently seen solitary Red Foxes
skurrying away in the distance and sometimes have found one crouching behind a tussock or other
place of concealment watching us with cunning eyes as we passed. They will rarely permit a
person to approach within rifle-shot of them.

During fairly mild winters, when mice, lemmings, and other sources of food supply are open
to them, only a comparatively light catch of Red Fox skins are taken, but during cold, snowy
seasons, their ordinary food supply being reduced, they are forced by starvation to pick up the
bait about the traps, and in consequence many more skins are secured in such a season than during
apn open winter.

The Eskimo make use of steel traps and also used, formerly, the coiled whalebone described
above as employed for the wolf.

In summer the breeding water-fowl furnish an abundant food supply and in winter dead fish
or anything else that may be secured is welcomed. 7

The Russian fur traders claim that these foxes lay up a supply of eggs for winter use. This idea
is based on the fact that the foxes are sometimes found eating old eggs on the marshes in winter,
but in the instances where I found them doing this the eggs had been found in old nests and dug
from under the snow by the hungry animals.

I found that during April and May many of the foxes lost all of the hair from the rump and
thighs. This was a mystery until I noted that although the sun was shining brightly and thawing
the snow a little directly under its rays, yet in the shade it was freezing. The foxes have the
habit of sitting on the ice or snow banks at this season, and while doing this their hair freezes
fast so that each time they get up they leave some of their fur behind. This is repeated until the
skin is uncovered and, in many cases, becomes sore.

The strong sunlight in April bleaches their hair and renders it brittle and valueless for com-
mercial purposes.

These foxes sometimes go out to sea on the ice in spring in search of food, but they prefer the
shore. In trade, one skin of the Red Fox is reckoned to have equal value with two skins of the
White or mainland Blue Foxes. The fox has its place in the Eskimo mythology like most other
Alaskan animals.

VULPES FULVUS DECUSSATUS (Desmarest). Cross Fox (Esk. I-lhd-jik).

The range of the Cross Fox in Alaska is almost identical with that of the Red Fox, extending
over the Aleutian Islands, the peninsula of Aliaska, Kadiak Island, and all the mainland except,
perhaps, the extreme northern point of the latter, although I have seen skins brought from close
to the 70th degree of latitude.

Among the fur traders a Cross Fox skin is reckoned equal in value to two Red Fox skins.
Among the large number of fox-skins brought into Saint Michaels during my residence there,
examples were seen presenting almost a perfect gradation between the typical Red and the Black
Fox, and in several instances the traders were puzzled how to class a skin.

The Cross Fox is far less common than the Red, occurring in most of the districts in the pro-
portion of about one to seventy-five or one hundred. In others it is less common, while in a few

as it is more abundant than the other species. Its habits are identical with those of the Red
‘Ox.
MAMMALS. 243

VULPES FULVUS ARGENTATUS (Shaw). Black or Silver Fox (Esk. Ké-bvi-whk-chil-chi’-
piltk, or A-gin-d-gdkii-tok).

This beautiful animal is much less common than the Cross Fox, into which it grades. Although
Black Foxes are taken wherever the Red Fox is found in the north, yet they are of extreme rarity
except in a few districts. The Hudson Bay Company obtains many of their finest Black Fox skins
from the Lower Mackenzie River country, and the adjacent district in Alaska, on the headwaters
of the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, is the most productive ground for this animal, both in num-
ber and quality. It is also numerous to the south of this district, and particularly on Kadiak
Island and the adjacent shore. Except in the districts named, not more than one Black Fox is
taken to every five hundred of the red kind, although occasional Black Foxes occur north to the
70th degree of latitude, and west to the vicinity of Bering Straits and on most of the Aleutian
Islands. In trade, a Black Fox skin brings from two to eight or ten times the value of a Red Fox
skin, according to its quality. As mentioned before, the district about the headwaters of the
Yukon, where the Black Foxes are most numerous, is also most productive of Black Wolf skins.

When the skin of a fox is removed by an Eskimo he makes a short incantation and dismisses
the animal’s spirit, hoping thereby to remove any ill will it may bear him for capturing it.

MUSTELIDE.

MUSTELA AMERICANA Turton. American Sable (Esk. Kaf-cht-chu-tk).

Two skins of this species were obtained. They represent very nearly the extremes of varia-
tion in color. One skin, No. 13879 (131), from Nulato, is of the usual snuff color ciouded with
blackish brown, which latter color becomes dominant on the tail and feet. The second skin, on the
contrary, is of a light orange tint, the extremity of the tail alone (the feet are wanting) being of a
dark brown color. This specimen, No. 13271 (149), is a hunter’s skin from Anvik.

Among the skulls obtained, the largest (No. 21395), from Shaktolik, has a length of 88"™" and a
width of 53". it is impossible to say, however, whether it is a male or female. There are in the
collection of the National Museum a female skull from Peel River (6087) which has a length of 897"
and a width of 46"", and two male skulls from Yukon having a length of 88™ and a width of 46"".

List of specimens and measurements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKINS.
+
ar Collector’s nwuber. &
useum . reatest | Greatest |'
number. Locality. Date. length. | width.
Skin. Skull.
\
mm. mm. |
13271 140) siareea areagees AVE asad rirdcorssatpecambauvacciear Winters 880 oc ccscesaael csccne cin eaycyecare siviciai|
18879 131 127 | Nulato: cccccessesraccceciercccccs HeDruaryy PBS 0 sce seni) sie nedeceins'|soeiamereta
SKULLS.
12T | Nullato: 2c. scececasecsesceccccees February, 1880
139 | Mouth of Tanana River o| Der cieieie do...
140) | scores On < sieeauneeussecavekeseaws|eeeeee do

    

   

 

14] bawcsws OO: cmsmcimessieeysenmae amar al emseis do
DG ||) MLSS OD osc, 'e,scacasieusincedieteoleiaisracaidll a wa eien do
U2 Niece Os. ceticesisooierordwiniecteaeeteteareail woos ark do .
VIS: | sosinie'e do .. ..do
174 | 2.06. do .. --do.
N15. esses CO xarewurea sac eamas seas -.do
WG | scene CO) sacesiteassandeeictiy do
177 | ..--. LO) sicinisiretrneincisr sim Baars do
178 |....-- 1.0) eda srute aie sieisrsia ore do
179 |ooc<s2 Oe cescnscemccwenis seve oes |>nacenO
200 | Andraenofski..... aoidi|setices do

222 | Shaktolik......... ---| Winter, 1879-'80.
Ose sce ioce 259 | Tanana River .... .--| Spring, 1880..... es
MN ceaieiae wleiets 260 |...... Ol sae satspavisisid newisie Basseisinicsswuilleeio aed OO racintccisisiemaedaa 76 41

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
244 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Biographical notes.—The Marten or Sable is a tree-frequenting species and rarely strays beyond
the borders of the northern coniferous forests. Wherever such forests occur in Alaska this animal is
more or less common. The lack of trees on the Aleutian and other islands of Bering Sea renders
them unknown in these localities, and also in the treeless belt of country bordering the coast of
Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The Martens follow the spruce forests, however, where the latter
reach the coast at the head of Norton Sound in Bering Sea, and at the head of Kotzebue Sound in
the Arctic Ocean. They are also found on Kadiak and the other wooded islands on the Pacific coast
of the Territory. From the luxuriant pine forests of the coast in Southeast Alaska, north to the
patches of dwarfed black spruces fringing the barren tundra in latitude 68° to 69°, and from the
vicinity of Bering Straits east to the British boundary line, the Marten is one of the most abundant
and valuable fur-producers of the Territory. In Northern Alaska they are most numerous in the in-
terior away from the dwarfed trees and scraggy vegetation, so general wherever the coast district
is approached in this part of the north. Their tracks are sometimes seen about clumps of bushes
miles from the nearest tree, but this is very unusual.

Those skins obtained nearest the coast in Northern Alaska are lighter colored, and have shorter,
harsher fur than those from farther inland, and a gradual change is readily noted from the region
nearest Bering Sea, back to the headwaters of the Yukon. In the latter district and the adjacent
interior of Alaska and British America their fur is long, silky, and dark colored in contrast with
that of skins obtained nearer the coast.

It should be noted that the spruce forests, with two or three exceptions, do not approach the
coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic within from 10 to 50 miles.

The martens of the heavily-wooded portions of Southe stern Alaska are long-haired and
darker than those from the Upper Yukon. Marten-skins are prime from the 1st of November
until April. During the first part of winter, however, very few are taken, as the frequent storms
and short days render trapping too uncertain.

The Indians, and such Eskimo as live within the tree-limit, go out to trap in February and early
March. Each man has a certain district allotted him, which he keeps by common consent from
year to year, and in this district he sets a series of “figure-four” deadfalls, extending in some
instances over a circuit of 30 or 40 miles. An energetic hunter usually has so many traps that it
requires from two to three days to make a circuit. On the best ground a round is made once in
from four to six days, and at the end of the season one hunter can rarely count over fifty skins while
the majority have less than a dozen each.

For these skins the natives receive about one dollar’s worth of goods from the traders. Along
the Yukon and the region tributary toit from five to six thousand skins are taken annually.
Martens are sometimes hunted with a small dog. The dog follows the fresh trail and trees the
animal, and the hunter, following on snow-shoes, shoots it through the head so that the skin is not
injured.

As is the case with most furs, marten-skius are not ready to be made up until they have passed
through the dyer’s hands. The amount of variation in color among these animals is remarkable,
and passes from the rich chestnut or blackish brown of ordinary specimens to the creamy white of
the albinos that are brought in at times. The most striking variety is of a beautiful rich orange-
reddish, which sometimes covers the entire animal, but is more often confined to the posterior half.

Their food consists of mice, small birds, and other game of that character, and necessitates
great activity during the winter months. At this season their broad-footed tracks are plentiful in
the woods of the interior, but without a dog one has little chance of overtaking one on foot. When
cornered or wounded they fight savagely and with effect for so small a beast.

According to the imperfect returns obtained from the traders there ‘have been shipped from
al] Alaska, between 1867 and 1880, 105,920 marten-skins, a number considerably below the true
one owing to lack of records in many cases.
MAMMALS. 245

PUTORIUS ERMINEA (Linn.). Ermine (Esk. A-khlivi-khui.,.

A very good series of skins of this species was obtained, the majority in the winter coat. A
male, No. 13902, taken at Saint Michaels in September, is still in the summer coat. A second male,
taken October 9, is in the transitional stage; the upper surfaces are still brown, though pale,
especially on the legs.

No skulls were obtained.

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
  
 
  
   

 

  

.
pera Cotes Locality. Date. Sex. Remarks. *
13024 9 | Saint Michaels ..........-.0...+ Dec., 1877; Q | Winter pelage.

5 15 | Unalakleet ...............-. --|Jan., 1878| @ Do.
6 8 | Saint Michaels --|Dec., 1877] o Do.
7 20 | Nulato.... Mar., 1878) ¢& Do.
8 16 | Unalakleet Jan., 1878) of Do.
9 19) fics do Os .cicseissaces 2 Do.
13030 41 | Fort Reliance . Oct. 1,1878}....-. Do.
1 5 | Unalakleet......... wadinu:siaei| Gameailamnn aes fs em'eisie Summer pelage.
2 28 tis waar QO sa sdasceiiacsecme ness Do.
3 11 | Norton Sound .............. Do.
10 |...06- CO wis sei se cies eeeasiscnens, , Do.
13890 77 | Upper Yukon . Dee. 2,1878| o | Winter pelage.
1 Gl Wseeraeiecs scien Noy. 11,1878| o¢ Do.
2 137, 182 | Saint pishaels Feb., 188, ¢ Do.
BY das ce cl Olencecwe ar., 1880|...-.. Do.
4 78 ingen: Yukon... Oct. 4,1878; of Do.
5 143 | Saint Michaels . Mar., 1880 }...... Do.
6 do Treb., 1880] @ Do.
7 200 sexeece: o Do.
8 Dec.,  1878}.....- Do.
9 --| Nov. 11,1878; o& Do.
13900 -| Dec. 1,1878] o Do.
1 Oct. 9, 1878| o | Transitional.
2 Sept. 30,1879; o | Summer pelage
3 Mar., 1880]..... Winter pelage.
13270 .| Summer .-..]....-. Summer pelage.
-| Mar., Skin and skull.
| Kull.
Do.
Do.
Skin.
Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This pretty animal is more or less numerous over all of the Alaskan main-
land and on the islands adjacent to the coast. Theislands of Bering Straits, Nunevak, the eastern-
most of the Aleutians, and most of the islands of Southeast Alaska are inhabited by them.
Although not very common in some localities, in others they may be classed as abundant. Their
numbers in a district depend largely upon the abundance of mice and lemmings, upon which
they prey. They appear to have a preference for a partly-wooded country, and in the district
back from the head of Kotzebue Sound and about Anvik, on the Lower Yukon, they are more
numerous than elsewhere.

Although showing a slight preference for semi-wooded country they are far from rare on the
barren open coast belt bordering the Arctic and Bering Sea, where they find shelter among rocky
ledges.

They winter at the extreme northern limit of the mainland and appear to be affected but
little by the cold so long as their food-supply continues to hold out. In winter they frequently
come about the native villages, attracted by the abundance of mice there at that season. At Saint
Michaels they were often quartered about the warehouses, where the mice congregated to feed
upon the flour stored there.

The great swiftness and prowess of this animal, as exhibited in its habits and the success with
which it sometimes attacks and destroys such disproportionately large animals as the white
ptarmigan or the northern rabbit, has had a remarkable effect upon the native mind. The
Eskimo look upon it with an almost superstitious fear. Its skin is often worn by them as a kind
of fetich and it. figures in their mythology. It is an important totem and is thought to bring
success in the chase to those favored by it.
246 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

About the Yukon mouth they take on their winter fur early in October, sometimes before the
first snow, and retain it until the last of May or first of June. There is no market for skins of
the Ermine, and in consequence they are not trapped except in small numbers.

PUTORIUS VULGARIS Linn. Least Weasel (Esk. Tukl-t-ytk).

A specimen of this weasel in the winter coat was obtained on the Upper Yukon in December,
1878. A second individual in summer pelage was captured at Saint Michaels May 25, 1880. A
third specimen, captured October 15, was in winter pelage.

List of specimens.

 

 

 
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ne Se Locality. Date. Sex. Remarks.
13904 59 | Upper Yukon ....-.....0--.000-- Dec., _ 1878!....-. Skin, winter pelage.
deaeeseecs 152 | Saint Michaels -| May 25,1880| ¢ | Skin, summer pelage.
13905 8S \ewsrews CO esecirees Oct. 15,1878} o | Skin, winter pelage.
5iSibje aistnish 246, 152 | .- May 25,1860 |......] Skull.

 

Biographical notes.—The Weasel has essentially the same distribution in Alaska as its larger
relative. It is much less common than the Ermine and its skins are more highly prized by the
Eskimo, among whom it is used as a fetich and is also one of their totemic animals. A skin was
brought me from the Upper Yukon by Mr. McQuesten; others were obtained at Saint Michaels,
and I saw skins from the Kuskoquim River and from the Kotzebue Sound district and from other
localities.

They were seen in use as fetiches among the Eskimo of widely-separated localities and speak-
ing different dialects. The people of the Kaviak Peninsula prize them so highly for this purpose
that they frequently pay the value of amarten-skin for one. The boys and young men wear them
in their belts in order to become successful hunters, and they are considered to be of great use to
the persons who wear them thus.

The quickness and boldness of this animal are remarkable. The only time I ever saw one of
these weasels alive was one morning late in May, near Saint Michaels. I was goose-hunting at
the time and first saw it close to the tent. The ground was still covered here and there with
patches of snow and the Weasel was searching among the dwarf willow stems about a snow-
drift, evidently looking for mice. It darted here and there among the willow stems so rapidly
that I lost track of it several times. At shortintervals it would dart upon the snow aud stare at
me a moment with its bead-like black eyes and then go on with its search although I was but a
few feet away all of the time. My Eskimo hunter came and stood by me, watching its movements
with great interest, until I finally went to the tent and got a charge of fine shot and added the
little hunter to my collection. Jt was in full summer pelage.

PUTORIUS VISON (Schreber). Mink (Esk. I-mig-di-myii-tith).

The series of skulls obtained indicate that the Mink attains constantly a very large size in
Alaska. Among the twenty-six skulls there are but three whose length falls below 66™™, one
whose length is 75™™, and five, 74™". Among 54 skulls in the National Museum all whose length
exceeds 66™™ (viz., 13) are from Alaska. Several adult skulls, from the Saranac Lake, New York
(which are at least yearlings), are but 55™™ long.
MAMMALS. 247

List of specimens and measurements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

SKINS.
a Collector's number.
useum : reatest | Greatest
number. Locality. ‘ Date. qo orate
Skin. Skull.
mm. mm,
*13880 153 (245) | Saint Michaels .........-......- March 23, 1880 20s0<25|scaceceves|ewceesesee
SIBSBL. |ioaminucalsl bead wena. Khsien MEKERMbSS Wadi AS anki aa dines [iad SESE ARERR RMR peewee ais | Sees sees
SKULLS.
20814 |........-.| | 160 | Mission....................--...| February, 1880 ........)..00...00.| eee ne ene
2209) AGT | DE cre Oi sceniauie cca somen wesc aes feiceses OU Obscura mne seman loasneieeoat|aesuawwies
21352 70 41
21353 70 39
21354 66 36
21355 70 42
21856 74 43
21357 73 43
21358 66 37
Q1S5E Voeniccirccs| = = BOB rence «OO! a annree nammacmaiina en aie:s| acme we snigne cea nenste:r|asiececeess| sacs seceee
21360 69 40
21361 67 36
21302) |eceseneece|) QLD Ne znes Oi scnce re cecon dec cenecuwswclicns aac O eccwewae smege sles |waeudms salaecasew sey
21363 66 36
21364 64 37
21365 71 40
21366 74 44
QI36E |recssscass) = 2G ravens Oisxssnsesscciasaassacumscans |bowsasi 0 wantenen case sdns| Naaseaceng seenes cose
21268 73 42
21369 95 42
21370 74 44
21371 74 42
21372 - weeny 73 40
D1BTS |necsacecns| 1260) NmIAtO:.. .o.0ce accmacise me ceienccinice January, 1880... ee 65 33
21374 February, 1880 ......-. 64 3
PASTS ||oacececss| “VSD somata caceaccenmmassecatrm |esieuinil Oi. wn ol 74 46
21376 -d 71 43
21377 a 75 44
21378 -do. 70 40
*21379 May 23, 1880 as aye 73 45
21380 lapis tae mans arate ihares octet seas 70 43
asad eats January, 1880.......--.|..0.------|e ee eee eee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The well-known Mink is found abundantly throughout all the northern
fur countries where marshes and sluggish streams abound. In Alaska they are found over all the
mainland extending north, nearly, or quite, to the coast, in latitude 68° to 70°, and reaching thé
coast of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea to the southward. Their range extends out on the
peninsula of Aliaska and across to Unimak Island, the nearest of the Aleutian chain, and they are
found on some of the islands bordering the coast in extreme Southeastern Alaska.

Although numerous in most parts of the Territory, yet on the low marshy tundras between,
and adjacent +o, the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers and about the head of Kotzebue Sound
they occur in the largest numbers. The triangular area of swampy tundra between the Lower
Yukon and Kuskoquim forms its center of abundance. The people living there are called “ mink
people” by the neighboring Eskimo. The country there is very low and flat, and in many
places the pools are brackish and tide-water from Bering Sea reaches many wiles inland. Over
all of its extent marshy lakes, ponds, and sluggish streams mark the country in every direction.
These lakes and streams connect with one another to such an extent that travel, except by boat,
is rendered impossible in summer. The muddy waters here swarm with myriads of the “Black-
fish” of the fur traders, which has been named Dalia pectoralis by Dr. Bean. This is a small fish
from 4 to 8 inches long, upon which the Mink feeds, and it is the cause of its abundance in this
part of the Territory.

Mr. True notes the large size of the Mink skulls from Alaska, and probably the species attains
its greatest development here.

In the district described, between the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim, from ten to fifteen
thousand mink-skins are taken annually, yet the supply seems inexhaustible. Steel traps are
much used by the natives, although one of their primitive methods is still used very successfully.
This method is to make a tight brush or wicker-work fence across a stream or small pond, and
248 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

place a wicker-work fyke fish-trap at the opening left for the purpose in the middle. The Minks
in trying to pass the obstacle enter the funnel-shaped entrance of the trap and soon drown. In
a good locality this may occur several times in a day, and in a number of cases that came to my
knowledge the hunter obtained from ten to fifteen Minks at a haul when he raised his trap.

Although the Mink confines itself mainly to a fish diet, yet when opportunity offers it is very
destructive to wild fowl. A tame Mink, kept at Saint Michaels, was turned into a room with a
ptarmigan which had a disabled wing. Although the Mink was well fed upon fish, yet it no sooner
saw the bird than it at once approached and sprang upon and killed its victim with all the ferocity
one might expect from a Weasel. Albino specimens occurred about once in every two thousand
skins taken by the Eskimo while I was at Saint Michaels.

The Mink is not very common immediately about Saint Michaels, owing to the pursuit of the
natives. At certain seasons of the year a few are killed with spears or arrows, but the number
obtained in this manner is unimportant. Their fur becomes prime about the last of October, and
begins to bleach the last of March, so that April skins have a harsh brittle fur and rusty color and
are of little or no value.

A good skin brings the native hunter about 50 cents’ worth of goods.

Mink-skins from the Upper Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, and thence south through South-
eastern Alaska, are much finer and darker than those from the rest of the Territory, but they
rarely equal prime Canadian skins. This species is resident wherever found in the north.

Mr. Petroff gives 71,213 as the number of mink-skins obtained in all of Alaska, except the
southeastern portion, between 1870 and 1880, but from the number taken at Saint Michaels during
my residence there I am convinced that this does not represent one-half the number actually ex-
ported, while thousands of worthless skins are taken every year and remain in the natives’ hands.

GULO LUSCUS (Linn.). Wolverine (Esk. Haf-chik).

The two skulls of this species obtained are of large size, one having a length of 147"™ and the
second of 144™™, The former is evidently the skull of an old male. There is in the National
Museum a similar skull from Fort Anderson, known to be a male, which exactly equals this in
length, but is a little narrower, 7. ¢., 98"™, as against 101™™.

One of the peculiarities of these skulls is the variation in shape exhibited by the auditory
bull. They are not only not alike in the two specimens collected by Mr. Nelson, but in one ot
the skulls, No. 21479, the two bulle differ widely from each other in contour. This peculiarity is
still more strongly marked in other specimens in the National Museum collection. It is observable
also in other species of the family.

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  
  
  
 

Museum | Collector's :
number, | number. Locality. Date.
21478 111. | UnalaklG6t 6: 2s ececqre conn salntwceneoeinss eevee adel Fall, 1879.
21479 224 | Mouth of the Yukon River ...-......-..---.00ee0000 March, 1880.
Measurements.
21478, | 21479.
mm. 4
AP eraHIe | JONGA ID -nsmasiaw siempmen nnn ean hw ndiey wn ea NEAs ARE Muu aie wcudeeaoee 147 mad
ZyGomatic. Width. o< secvcsmswaneeserecwead vale, aS Yee San cena cmncnce ve szanl TOL 98
Least width between orbits.....-.....----00-66+ ee8 = BL |eusmeeve
‘Width between outer surfaces of canines ata wages 40 35
Length of * palate... cccncsnons wes wemeesewsnesuuineea wee ane cc aire 79 17
Anterior margin of canine to posterior margin of last molar... — 54 49
Breadth between es 90 83
Greatest length of mandible ......... 104 99
Greatest vertical length of mandible. 52 49
Breadth of superior incisors (together). asia 22 19
Height anterior Naregp. 25-2). c0k0 aie dnc. mermeiee #08 asisnm ne nlathaciaaaianiaten demcinaias 24 21
WUE AMON OL Mar eS) oic:j02:2, co mcemsinnicedeyiatnan-idanemskidnacacm sane eaideninasemed 21 20

 

 

 

 
MAMMALS. 249

Biegraphical notes.—The Wolverine is one of the most detested animals found in all the fur
country. Its life is a continual warfare against all living things, and every man’s hand is against
it. They invariably steal the bait from traps whenever they have the opportunity, and very rarely
do they get caught Should they find an animal in the trap they make short work of it, and in
Northern Alaska, as elsewhere in the fur country, they sometimes take up a line of traps so persis-
tently that the hunter is forced to abandon it and look for a new route. They frequently fol-
low a sledge party in the interior for days, visiting every camp as soon as it is abandoned, in order
to pick up the scraps left, and anything left in a tree for safe-keeping is sure to be destroyed if
the Wolverine can get at it. The fur traders usually outwit them by a very simple plan. They
place the articles they wish to leave in a tree, and then remove the outer bark of the tree for 5 or
6 feet from the ground. The frost renders the smooth, bare trunk so hard that the animal’s claws
cannot obtain a hold and he is unable to climb the tree in consequence. Their greediness over-
matches their cunning at times, and a fur trader told me of an instance where a returning trapper
caught one of them in his cabin so gorged upon the dried meat he had found that he was unable to
escape through the chimney, by which he had entered, and so died ignominiously at the hands of
the enraged hunter. It is almost impossible to render a provision cache safe from them if it is left
for any considerable length of time.

I was assured by a fur trader who passed many years on the Kuskoquim that during very
severe winters, when the ponds freeze so that the beavers are confined to a narrow space about
their houses, the Wolverines sometimes dig through the roofs of the beavers’ houses and kill the
inmates.

Marten trappers sometimes mourn the destruction of an entire set of traps in a day, and when
one of these pests is caught there is great satisfaction.

‘The Yukon Indians have a superstitious dread of this animal, and on one occasion that came
to my hearing a hunter found a Wolverine caught and hung between heaven and earth in one of
his lynx-traps, about which the Wolverine had been prowling. Such an unusual occurrence as
this at once aroused the Indian’s suspicions of bad medicine, for who ever heard of a Wolverine
being caught in so simple a trap! Straightway the Indian returned home, and a grave consul-
tation was held among the elders of the village. It was finally decided that the hunter might
take the animal from the snare, but to avert possible bad consequences he was instructed to abuse
the white men all of the time, so as to make the spirit of the Wolverine believe it was owing to
their agency that he had been trapped. The hunter then returned with a companion to the trap
and removed the animal, repeating as he did so nearly his entire stock of English in saying
“G—— d—— the Americans, G—— d—— the Americans,” over and over again until well away
from the accursed spot.

The Wolverine is found over the entire mainland of Alaska, but is most numerous about the
headwaters of the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers. They are not rare wherever spruce timber
occurs, but are very uncommon on the open coast barrens, although they occur there, and extend
their range north to the extreme limit of the mainland at times.

Although their tracks are among the most common ones seen when traveling in the wooded
interior of the country in winter, yet the animal is always invisible, and ever on the alert to reap
some gai> from the visitor to his domain.

The Eskimo prize the skin of this animal very highly for trimming their fur clothing, and one
good skin about equals in value a fine gray wolf-skin.

This animal figures in the Eskimo folk-lore, always typifying combined cunning and prowess,
and it is one of their totemic animals.

The skins of this species exhibit an almost endless amount of variation, specimens from the
Upper Yukon averaging very much darker than those from nearer the Bering Sea and Arctic coast.

LUTRA CANADENSIS (Turton). North American Otter (Esk. Tsni-hitk).

There is nothing especially noteworthy in the four skulls of this species contained in the col-
lection under consideration. One, No. 21482, is rather large, having a length of 113"", but is sur-
passed in size by other specimens in the National Museum collection. No. 21480, though much

S Mis. 156—~—32
250 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

smaller (length 104"), appears to be considerably older. The teeth, especially of the mandible,
are much worn, and the canines are reduced to mere stumps. The region of the occipital condyles
exhibits signs of disease, but the remainder of the skull is normal.

List of specimens.

 

 

 

  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  

Museum | Collector's é
number. | number. Locality. | Date.
21480 112 | Unalakleet -. ae ne! | Fall of 1879 ..| Skull.
21481 165 | Mission. ..... irs spsecticateie secass February, 1880! Do.
21482 195 | Andraenofski wonie Orsi .ciaivs Sve Do.
21483 263 | Tanana River.......- jsieeis be cqois nsreyesisie’ Spring, 1880...| Do.
ites ease 224 | Yukon mouth.........-........0.-+-+---4-----| March, 1880...| Do.
Measurements.
21480. | 21481. | 21482. | 21483.
mm, | mim. mm. | mm
Basi-cranial length ....... 0222.2 222. eee acne cee eee eee 104 108 114 105
Zygomatic Width -....-... 2. .ce ce ewe e cee eee cence cece e neces 73 65 WG) hoscresinasars
Length of “palate”........2-2..----06--+ . 49 50 51 48
Width of interorbital constriction (leas 20 21 23 17
Height of nares........-....-200--02 ee eee aes 17 16 18 17
Width of nares ...---.-.--.------.+------ cit 16 16 17 15
Anterior may gin of superior canine to posterior margin last molar. 35 36 37 35

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This species is one of the most common and valuable fur-bearing mammals
in the north. It occurs in all the streams and lakes of the Alaskan mainland, excepting only the
barren coast region bordering the Arctic from Point Hope to the Mackenzie River. In Southern
Alaska they are found upon Kadiak and the Shumagin Islands and upon Unimak, the easternmost
of the Aleutians, as well as upon Nunevak Island, further to the north. Its range reaches to the
vicinity of latitude 69° in the interior.

They prefer streams or ponds in which fish are plentiful, and there they usually keep two or
three holes open from the bank under the ice in winter. These holes are often cu nningly concealed
by some natural object or by an overhanging snow-drift. The entrances to these holes are favorite
places for placing a trap, so that the animal is caught when going in or out. A steel trap is used,
or a strong square net is stretched across the opening under water, and made fast so that the otter
will become entangled in its meshes and drowned.

A district frequented by them is easily found in winter, as they move abo ut considerably and
leave a conspicuous trail in the snow. Toward the end of winter they frequently make a burrow
in a large snow-drift, and sometimes a party of five or six will be found occupying the place.
Such parties usually consist of the two old ones and the last season’s young. When the natives
find such a place they get strong clubs and stand at the entrance while a companion goes to the
farther side and drives the animals out and they are brained.

Instances sometimes occur of their following fish into wicker fish-traps and being drowned,
but this is rare. Now and then one is found moving about in winter and shot, but the greater
number are caught in steel traps at the entrance to their holes in the sides of streams or ponds.

When traveling through soft snow they move by a series of short leaps, and if frightened
they make rapid progress for such short-legged animals. At such times, however, a dog can easily
run one down, but when brought to bay they make desperate battle and are usually killed with a
heavy club or a gun.

An otter was one of the chief actors in a strange accident which occurred near the Yukon
mouth during my residence in the north. A hunter went out to inspect his fish traps, and, failing
to return in the course of a day or two, his friends began to look for him. He was found lying
dead by the side of a small lake with his throat torn open and the tail of a dead otter firmly grasped
in both hands. One of the otter’s feet was fast in a steel fox-trap, and it was supposed that on his
way home the hunter came across the otter in the trap and having no weapon with him and being
MAMMALS. 251

a powerful young man he tried to swing the otter over his head and kill it by dashing it against
the ground, but when in mid-air it turned suddenly and caught him by the throat, with the result as
described.

The districts where the “ blackfish ” are abundant on the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim form
the center of abundance of the otter in Alaska. There they frequent brackish pools and tide
creeks, like the mink. Petroff states that between 1870 and 1880 there were 18,964 of land-otter
skins shipped from Alaska, but this falls far short of the real number.

ENHYDRIS LUTRIS (Linn.). Sea Otter (Esk. A-mi/-kuk).

List of specimens.

 

Museum | Collector's 2
number. | number. Locality. |

 

 
 

April, 1877| Skull.
April, 1877 D

21GSS Wiese macewenee lenient do
sieleisie scien 1] Unalaska, Aleutian Islands...-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

Measurements.
21652, | 21653. |
mm. | mm.
‘Basi-cranial l6nth sos csiceresaanwiewenegeciisienie sins ese eneieeeewens cence hewesbencemsny 125 126
ZV POMALIC: WIG UH cerreca ste laia were a act nnicininin nS ER inne em op Siein dyey0id' wid stun dia Bremer nisinrainisininjereveie 100 100
idth of interorbital constriction ....-. 22.00.2202 2 cece cence eee eee ete eeen ee 26 29
MST EEE POLLO css nnins exe mio aricinasd vamicaieen alana mater pase eieanae ak manesner iemaanas 59 60
Anterior margin of caine to posterior margin last molar . ne 46 44
Height anterior Maresiiic cic coin ccisiaisieisicinsideawciatciaimeiiersisie sien Sta sinalsttiaiowaninemisrace 26 23
Width anterior nares occecccos rocco ge vee seesisieseeeeeeecis siiswigeenpsteonpaees 28 28

 

Biographical notes.—In 176065, when Bering and his party first explored the Aleutian Islands,
they found the Sea Otters so numerous that the Aleuts wore long mantles made of their skins, and
a scrap of old iron was enough to secure the finest skin. In 1840 Veniaminov wrote that the Sea
Otters in these islands ‘‘ are distinguished above everything on account of their great value and
small numbers. * * * There was a time when they were killed in thousands, now only by
hundreds. There are plenty of places where before there were great numbers of Sea Otters; now
not one is to be seen or found. The reason for this is most evident; every year hunted without
rest they have fled to places unknown and without danger.”

When the Fur Seal Islands were discovered these animals were very numerous, and two sailors
killed five thousand there the first year. The next year less than one thousand were killed, and from
the end of the next six years to the present day the Sea Otter has been unknown there. From the
Aleutian Islands south to Oregon the Russians found these otters so numerous that they were ob-
tained in numbers running from two to three thousand skins per year in many places, and in 1804
Baranov sailed from Alaska with a single cargo of fifteen thousand skins. At that time the dis-
trict about Unalaska Island furnished about one thousand skins annually. In 1826 only fifteen
skins were taken there; in 1835 about one hundred were taken, and at the time of the transfer of
the Territory in 1867 the entire Aleutian chain, with the adjacent coast south, only yielded to the
Russians from six to eight hundred skins annually. In 1873 the Americans secured nearly four
thousand skins from this same region, and iv 1880 and 1881 from six to eight thousand skins are
estimated to have been secured on the same ground. This great increase in the catch during the
later years is entirely due to the greater vigor with which the animal has been hunted, and the
introduction of fine long-range rifles.. Good rifles now replace, to a great extent, the primitive
spears.

There is little doubt that in the course of a few years, under the present regulations and mode
of hunting, this valuable animal will be exterminated, and in place of affording the Aleuts a live-
lihood will leave them dependent upon the Government.
252 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

During the last few years the catch of Sea Otters has produced in the neighborhood of three-
quarters of a million dollars annually to the companies engaged in trading in the Aleutian Islands
and the coast to the southeast.

The Sea Otter was found formerly all along the Aleutian chain, but they are now almost or
quite unknown over a great part of this ground, and their principal resort at present is among the
reefs and outlying islets surrounding Sanak Island, near the eastern end, and on the Pacific side
of the Aleutian chain. The Aleutian hunters are brought to this point from the entire length
of the chain in vessels belonging to the trading companies, and are landed with their kyaks or
seal-skin canoes and their implements of the chase. Here they remain for months, scouring the
sea in all directions or lying upon rocky points and islets, awaiting the approach of an otter
within long rifle-shot. Shot after shot is fired at the otter’s head until one takes effect, and the
body 1s brought in by the surf. The noise of the waves on the rocky shore drowns the noise of
the gun aud so prevents the animal becoming alarmed until it is hit.

The otters have a habit of rising with their head and nearly half their body out of the water,
while they deliberately examine the shore they are approaching, and this usually gives the hunter
an opportunity for a fatal shot.

While the writer was at Sanak Isiand in May, 1877, a large hunt was being arranged, and
some twenty-five or thirty men were preparing to go to a hunting place some 10 or 15 miles to
seaward in their small skin canoes. In a hunt of this character the boats form in a long line
on the hunting ground and then sweep the sea, watching for an otter. The moment one is seen
the nearest hunter throws his spear and stops where the animal went down. The other hunters
make a wide circle and watch for the animal’s reappearance. This mancuvre is repeated until the
otter becomes exhausted and is an easy prey.

Of necessity the hunters have rules governing the hunt, and one of the most important is
that when an animal is struck by several spears the owner of the spear nearest the head has the
prize.
In some places when the hunters go ashore after a successful hunt it has been the custom of
the Russian priests to be at the landing place, and after inspecting the catch to collect tithes at
once. As a result some of the finest skins went into the hands of the priests and from them
found their way into the hands of the traders at a round price.

In winter, when heavy gales sweep the Pacific from the north, the otters take refuge upon the
rocks lying out at sea, and frequently thrust their heads into bunches of kelp to protect them
from the wind and spray. As the gale shows signs of breaking some of the best and most daring
hunters leave Sanak and run down before the wind to these rocks, and under cover of the roar of
wind and sea they land, and, creeping silently up to the cowering otters, kill them by striking them
on the head with a heavy wooden club.

Elliott mentions an instance in which two brothers secured seventy-eight otters in less than
two hours in this manner, and I learned of a number of instances in which a smaller number were
secured. Another mode of capturing these animals was practiced by the Atka and Attu Aleuts
at the western end of the chain before the otters were almost exterminated there. Nets from 16
to 18 feet long and from 6 to 10 feet wide were spread on kelp beds frequented by the animals, and
when the latter came ashore they became entangled in the coarse meshes and seemed paralyzed by
fear, so that they were easily taken by the hunter. Sometimes several were taken at once in a
single net, and although the otter is a powerful animal yet they did not struggle sufficiently to
injure the net in the least. These nets were also set in holes and caves at the base of water-
washed cliffs, where otters were known to “ haul out.”

When the otter is surprised on sliore it starts at once for the water, and can only be stopped
by being killed. On land they move with a waddling motion if not alarmed, but if startled they
progress by a succession of short leaps.

The traders at Sanak told me that the greatest care is 2 eeoraised to keep all signs of human
occupation away from the beaches where the otters come out, and when the wind blows toward
the hunting-ground all fires are extinguished, as the animals ete an acute sense of smell and are
very shy. They rely more upon the sense of smell than either upon sight or hearing.
MAMMALS. 258

They sleep lying upon their backs in the water, and at such times the female carries her young
clasped in her fore-arms.

They are shorter and more heavily built animals than the land otter, and according to Elliott
are more like a beaver, with the skin in loose folds.

They range from 3} to 4 feet long in the flesh, but after the skin is removed by a single cut
across the hind legs it is turned and stretched until nearly double its original length.

Many of the finest skins have a grizzled or silvery gray muzzle, and the gray sometimes
extends to the nape, but the rest of the body is covered with a beautiful, soft, dark, velvety brown
or brownish-black far, with scattered white-tipped hairs over the body in some cases; in others the
color is unbroken.

The natives say that the single young one is brought forth in fine weather on kelp beds and
that the young are born in every month of the year. They are odd little grizzled or brownish
animals at this time and it is not until the third year that their fur becomes prime.

The females are very attentive to their young and protect them when threatened by clasping
the young in their fore paws and turning their own back tothe danger. Elliott’s account of their
playfulness, both with their young and with small objects, such as fragments of kelp, which they
toss about while lying on their backs in the water, was corroborated by several persons well
acquainted with the animal.

Their food consists of shell-fish, sea urchins, kelp, aud perhaps fish.

In former times this species ranged over nearly all of Bering Sea, but they are unknown
there at present.

From the Eskimo of Norton Sound and Bering Straits I had definite accounts of them, and
from the latter place some of the people claim that these animals occurred there very rarely up
to within a comparatively few years. The Sea Otter’s range is steadily decreasing. They are now
limited to the Pacific or southern side of the Aleutian chain and thence south along the coast,
but are rarely found on the southern part of their range, where a merciless fusilade is kept up
whenever one approaches the coast. They are numerous at present only at the extreme end of
the Aleutian chain in Alaska. There, about Sanak Island and the Shumagin group to the east-
ward, is their center of abundance. The once prolific grounds at the extreme western end of the
Aleutian chain is now almost entirely deserted by the otters.

‘The fur of these animals has greatly increased in value during the past few years. From
$80 to $100 in cash were paid by traders to the Aleuts in 1881 for particularly fine skins, and
from this down to a dollar or two for very young, poor skins. The finest skin sold in London from
the catch of 1880 brought £95 sterling or about $475 —a value unequalled by any other fur-bearing
animal in the world. :

Arguing from the fact that the annual yield of Sea Otter skins has been about the same for
some years past it is claimed by some that the number of the animals must be the same, or the
supply equal to the demand. This idea is erroneous, however, since, with the increase in value
of its fur, there has been a steady and perhaps disproportional increase in the vigor and per-
sistence with which its pursuit has been carried on. Taking this in consideration it is evident
that under existing conditions the Sea Otter is doomed to rapid extermination. White men with
improved rifles are joining in the chase, and some of them make an income of several thousand
dollars a year as a return for their marksmanship. Certain Treasury regulations restricting the
capture of these animals already exist but they are imperfect and almost entirely ignored. The
Aleuts depend almost wholly upon this animal for their support, and once without the Sea Otter
they will become dependent on the Government for a large portion of their supplies each year.
These animals could be as thoroughly protected as is the fur seal if proper regulations were framed
and provisions made for their rigid enforcement. All the expenses arising from such protection
could be met by a tax of one or two dollars upon each skin.
254 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

URSIDZ.
THALASSARCTOS MARITIMUS (Linn.). Polar Bear (Esk. Nii/-nu-6k).

Biographical notes.—As is well known, this species has a strictly maritime distribution. On
the mainland coast of Alaska it is almost unknown in summer, even along the extreme northern
shore. In winter it is rather common from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to Bering Straits,
with the exception of Kotzebue Sound, where the unbroken character of the winter ice prevents it
from securing food.

As the Arctic ice closes the sea north of Bering Straits in October and November large
numbers of Polar Bears are brought down on the floating pack and pass through the Straits with
the ice and reach Saint Lawrence and Saint Matthew Islands, where they are numerous all winter.
During severe winters, when the pack ice extends farther south than usual, a single specimen some
times reaches the Fur Seal Islands, but this is rare. On such seasons they reach the mainland
coast of the Territory south to the Yukon mouth, although they are extremely rare on the coast
south of the straits.

In the summer of 1880 a half-grown young Polar Bear was killed near Saint Michaels in
August, a very unusual occurrence; none had been killed there for many years.

In spring the bears keep along the border of the pack ice and with it pass north through the
straits and into the Arctic ocean. Every season, however, large numbers of these animals remain
on Saint Matthew Island, where they appear to be permanent residents, as they are, to a much
smaller extent, on Saint Lawrence Island.

During the summer of 1874 Mr. Elliott and Lieutenant Maynard found these bears extraor-
dinarily common on Saint Matthews, where Mr. Elliott estimates that there were several hundred
at the time of their visit in August. This island is only about 22 miles long and is very narrow.
It is essentially Arctic in its flora, the lowlands being covered with small flowering plants, grasses,
and mosses, while the hills and ridges are bare and rocky. As their boat approached Hall’s Island,
just off Saint Matthews, sixteen of these bears were seen, ten of which were on the beach together.
The party from the vessel killed fifteen or twenty bears and were satisfied to leave the others
undisturbed. The flesh of those killed was pronounced very good eating, perhaps owing to their
food being mainly vegetable matter at this time and so rendering the meat less rank than usual.
The bears were easily killed and did not show fight in a single instance, and as they were not at all
shy there was but little excitement in hunting them. They were fat and were easily approached
to within a few yards when asleep, but if they scented the party they at once took flight toward
the hills at a good speed. When surprised they arose and sniffed at the party as if curious to learn
whether they were friends or foes. This was on August 9, and the females and cubs, usually two,
were by themselves. Small parties of three or four young males were scattered about and the old
males were found singly. One of the latter measured 8 feet from nose to tail and was estimated
to weigh from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. The muscles of the fore-arm just back of the carpal joint
measured 24 inches after the skin was removed. The bears were “all eating grass and roots,
digging or browsing, or else heavily sleeping on the hillsides.” ‘“‘Their manner of browsing is
very similar to the action of a hog engaged in grazing.” Their well-beaten trails crossed the
island in every direction.

The foregoing notes present this great bear in quite a different light from the fish and seal-
eating animal usually described, and the good condition of the bears obtained by this party showed
that they found an abundance of nutritious food on the almost barren slopes of the island.

On the Siberian shore the southern limit of this species is in the vicinity of Plover Bay, just
opposite Saint Lawrence Island. On both shores of Bering Straits I found many white bear
skins among the Eskimo, which had been obtained in winter, and they were also numerous
among the natives along the north coast of Siberia.

The Chukchis, of the North Siberian coast, hunt these bears with dogs and lance, precisely
as was the mode formerly in Greenland.
MAMMALS. Zo)

The Eskimo of Saint Lawrence Island and the American coast are well supplied with fire-
arms, which they use when bear-hunting. In winter, north of the straits, the bears often become
thin and very savage from lack of food.

A number of Eskimo on the Alaskan coast show frightful scars obtained in contests with
them in winter. One man, who came on board the Corwin, had the entire skin and flesh torn
from one side of his head and face, including the eye and ear, yet had escaped and recovered.

One incident was related to me which occurred near Point Hope during the winter of 1880-81.
Two men went out from Point Hope during one of the long winter nights to attend to their seal-
nets, which were set through holes in the ice. While at work near each other, one of the men
heard a bear approaching over the frosty snow, and having no weapon but a small knife, and the
bear being between him and the shore, he threw himself upon his back on the ice and waited. The
bear came up in a few moments and smelled about the man from head to foot, and finally pressed
his cold nose against the man’s lips and nose and sniffed several times; each time the terrified
Eskimo held his breath until, as he afterwards said, his lungs nearly burst. The bear suddenly
heard the other man at work, and listening for a moment he started towards him at a gallop, while
the man he left sprang to his feet and ran for his life for the village and reached it safely. At
midday, when the sun had risen a little above the horizon, a large party went out to the spot and
found the bear finishing his feast upon the other hunter and soon dispatched him. Cases similar
to this occur occasionally all along the coast where the bear is found in winter.

In July and August, 1881, while the Corwin was cruising among the ice near Wrangel and
Herald Islands, we saw a considerable number of these anima}s and killed several of them. They
were usually upon the ice, and as we drew near made off at a lumbering gallop. Although clumsy
in their motions, yet they progressed with surprising speed across the rough and broken surface
of the ice. They are difficult to kill unless hit in the head, and a gun of heavy caliber is required
to do good work.

A female killed by the writer, the skin of which is in the National Museum, must have
weighed 1,000 pounds, and the male, which I shot a few minutes earlier and lost among the float-
ing ice, was very much larger. With this female was a yearling cub, and when the pursuit became
pressing and the cub began to tire, she swam behind it with her fore paws one on each side of its
back, thus shielding it from danger and urging it along. She continued to do this even after a
ball had shattered her spine above her hips, and until wounded in various places and finally
disabled.

They swim boldly far out to sea, and while the Corwin lay at anchor off the ice during a heavy
gale in August, a bear came swimming off to us in the face of the sleet and wind. He had prob-
ably smelled our smoke and came off to reconnoiter, but a warm reception changed his mind and he
turned and vanished in the fog again. The flesh of the bears we killed was tough and rank. They
are guided more by scent than by eyesight, and frequently swim silently along the edge of the ice
searching for their prey. Findivg a seal basking on the edge of the ice, they rise suddenly
between it and the water, crush its skull with a blow of the paw, and feast upon it at leisure.
The whalers claim that they capture fair-sized walruses by creeping up to the latter, while they
are asleep on the ice, and dragging them away from the water.

With the possible exception of the Californian Grizzly, these bears are unquestionably the
most powerful of their kind. In summer they rarely attack man, and usually fly from him. One
old whaling captain, who has since been lost with ship and crew among the ice, was surprised by
one while he was cutting tusks from some walruses on the ice; the bear came at him open-mouthed,
but a blow from the ax laid his skull open and closed the fight.

There is no record of the White Bear on the Aleutian Islands, where it is unknown; and, except
on Saint Lawrence and Saint Matthew Islands, they are virtually unknown south of Bering
Straits in summer.
256 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

URSUS AMERICANUS Pallas. Black Bear (Esk. Tin-t-gik-t-lik).

Mr. Nelson obtained a skull from Nulato which differs in no way from skulls of the Black
Bear from the State of New York. It is adult but not old, the fronto-parietal and other sutures
being plainly marked and the cusps of the molars but little worn. Its dimensions are as follows:

Measurements.

[Skull No. 21491 (250); Nulato.]

 

 

 
 
 
 

  

Millimeters.
Basi-cranial lon gti. 2csacceses ciecncecstecsince vonccacicemecaicd saieeeeee ew saaeanseetie nice’ 261
ZY SOMALI WAG 5 sities sin wiecee ease sewewsicsace sense cincoesicms sie miata alatetcratare 166
Least distance between orbits in front .......... ain gjaisia gis lesiaveistnbisies 64
Distance between post-orbital processes -- + 91
Length of nasal. 22.cece<sseescececccse 68
Length of ‘‘palate”..............- a 144
Anterior margin of canine to poste: ae 100
Greatest lope th oF mandible: ys simone ere.nrcis aeve:ne.e sie sin vine ese-ois ninioa wre aie eceiee esstwvel sie we sane 190
Height of mandible from extremity of angle to center of coronoid margin ............ 81 |

 

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Museum | Collector's . :

namber.| number. Locality. | Daie. |

sasha ees 198 ATATHENOES has sic Roledisis sdaewe twain Var Gadaccsses Autumn, 1879 | Skull. |
21491 250 DUA Ovo winisinint cere coin einen sjuseicrexesatayaie de miarceamic eyes Smell a syed sisfelea stenrelaie Do. |

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—Throughout the Territory, wherever trees and large bushes occur, this ani-
mal is found, but itis far more numerous in the interior than near the coast. North of Bristol Bay
they very rarely reach the immediate vicinity of the sea, but occur on the peninsula of Aliaska and
the adjacent island of Unimak. They are unknown on the remainder of the Aleutian chain and
the islands of Bering Sea, but occur on Kadiak Island and southward along the coast. The
headwaters of the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers seem to be their center of abundance in Northern
Alaska, although hundreds of their skins are obtained each year at Nulato and Anvik.

In November, or the last of October, when severe weather begins, these bears find some shel-
tered cleft or cavern in the rocks, where they prepare a bed of grasses and other soft material and
retire to hibernate until warm weather in April and May thaws them out again, On the Upper
Yukon the Indians shoot, spear, or trap them, and some of the bravest and most powerful hunters
sometimes attack and kill them with a hunting knife. This is not often tried, however, and before
the hunter makes the attack he wraps a blanket or his hunting shirt around his left fore-arm, and,
with the knife in his right hand, meets the bear. As the latter rises upon his haunches the.
protected arm is thrust out for the bear to seize with teeth and claws, and at the same time the
fatal thrust of the knife is made under the guard thus formed. .

In winter or spring, when the Indians find a bear’s den, the entrance is nearly closed with logs,
leaving a hole large enough for the bear to thrust out his head. The bear is then stirred up until
he awakes and rushes to the entrance of his den in a rage and receives a blow from an ax or a
bullet that kills him on the spot. The young men sometimes make the logs fast about the entrance,
so that the bear cannot escape, and then take the maidens of their choice out and let them shoot
the bear when it thrusts its head out of the small hole left for that purpose.

The Indian dogs are very useful in searching for these hiding places, and sometimes find them
under a considerable depth of snow. In spring these bears frequent the banks of streams, wlhiere the
dead or disabled salmon cast ashore afford them an abundance of food. Later in the season the
blueberries and other fruits growing on the hillsides furnish them forage, upon which they fatten
and become excellent eating. The fur traders all tell of occasionally seeing black bears with a
white spot on the chest in front; this white area is sometimes quite large.

Both Eskimo and Indians give bears credit for great knowledge and cunning. A hunter of
the former people religiously refrains from speaking ina disrespectful manner of a bear, and is also
MAMMALS. 257

very careful not to tell any one if he intends going on a bear hunt. They believe that the bear
would be instantly aware of their intention should they speak of it, and a person who speaks dis-
respectfully of bears or makes sport of them in any way is in danger of being attacked by them
when he goes into the hills on his next hunt.

The Black Bear figures very often in the religious dances of the Eskimo, and among the
masks obtained by me along the coast of Bering Sea are a number representing the head of this
animal.

Veniaminov, in writing of the animals of the Aleutian Islands, states that these bears were
found on the easternmost of the islands.

From Elliott’s translation of this account I quote the following notes, which refer also to the
Cinnamon Bear: ‘The hunters are only afraid of those which have torn ears.” Speaking of their
habits on the mainland, he says that “At the time of salmon running in the rivers, bears generally
go there and capture fish.” “The bears go into the water above their knees, stand up opposite the
stream, and watch a ait opportunity when they can grab or snatch the fish, which, when they see
it near, they instantly strike at with their paws, and most always hit; then they either throw or
carry their prey to the beach and rsturn to continue their work, until they have as many as they
want.” The bears only eat the head, as this is the fattest part of the fish.

URSUS AMERICANUS CINNAMONEUS Bachman. Cinnamon Bear. (Esk. Ti-hi-kd).

Biographical notes —This avimal has a more general distribution in Northern Alaska than its
black relative. The wooded country, the bare, rocky mountain sides and the desolate barrens ap-
pear to be almost equally favored by them, though at times an abundance of food draws them toward
certain districts. The fur traders from the entire course of the Yukon bring many of their skins
to Saint Michaels each spring, and the Red Bear is well known to all the mainland coast tribes of
the Territory from near the extreme northern part of the Arctic coast southward. They are re-
ported as being extremely numerous about the head of Bristol Bay, also at various points along the
peninsula of Aliaska and the adjacent Pacific coast to the eastward.

Although the natives, both Eskimo and Indian, do not consider the Black Bear a very for-
midable antagonist under ordinary circumstances, yet the Red Bear is almost universally dreaded
among them for its fierce and relentless temper. They have the reputation of exhibiting their
ferocious character even without provocation, and if wounded they become very dangerous. Many
native hunters will permit this bear to pass undisturbed unless they have him at great disadvan-
tage.

In common with the other kinds of bears this animal figures in the Eskimo and Indian legends.

They feed upon the same berries and fish as does the Black Bear, and in certain districts
about the peninsula of Aliaska in June and July, regular paths are trodden along the banks of the
larger streams where they search for the exhausted salmon which swarm in the streams at this
time.

In some instances when a natural shelter cannot be found in which they can pass the winter
the bears go intelligently at work to make one. Along the Pacific coast of the Territory this
shelter is often formed by an excavation ona steep hillside, but in the Lower Yukon Valley, where
the soil is perpetually frozen within a short distance of the surface, they are forced to adopt another
measure. Fragments of wood, long branches, and brush are piled up into a dome-shaped mass in
some secluded spot in the woods, and under this the bear ensconces himself for the winter, and the
first snowfall puts a good roof over his quarters.

During the winter of 1879~80 a couple of Indian boys were out hunting ptarmigan below Anvik,
on the Yukon, with an old shot-gun, and one of them felt the snow give way beneath his foot in
passing over a slight hummock in the woods. Finding a small opening extending down several
feet the boys got a long stick and began poking about in it. Very soon a large Cinnamon Bear
began stirring about and thrust his head partly out of the hole the boys had made, but, owing to
his brush-house being frozen fast to the ground, he was unable to get further, and one of the boys
placed the muzzle of the gun close to his head and killed him with bird-shot. The meat of this
animal was lean and tough, but was not noticably rank in flavor.

S. Mis. 156——33
25% NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The skin of this species is of very little commercial value compared with that of the Black
Bear. The traders buy but few of them and they are used by the natives for making dog har-
nesses, also for sleeping mats and for flaps to hang in the inner doors of their houses.

As with the Black Bear their hibernation lasts from October to April.

During the cruise of the Corwin I saw skins of this animal among the Eskimo north to the
vicinity of Point Barrow on the Alaskan coast, and on the Siberian side skins of what appeared
to be a precisely similar animal were rather common among the natives both on the Arctic and the
Bering Sea coasts. According to the Chukchi these skins were obtained in the neighboring hills,
and in some cases the bears were killed with the long lance, which all of the men there carry.

A few days before we visited the head of Plover Bay a Red Bear came down from the bills
and smelled around a skin tent pitched on the shore, and when he came to a spot where a pile
of blubber lay just inside he coolly tore a hole in the tent-coyer and thrusting in his head made
a feast while several women and children sat on the farther side of the tent shivering with fear.
The men were all absent at the time, so bruin walked off unmolested when he had finished.

The reindeer herders all carry long lances to protect themselves and their deer from these bears.

The amount of individual variation in the color of the fur of the Red Bear is extremely great
and extends from various shades of brown to a bright cinnamon-red.

URSUS HORRIBILIS Ord. Grizzly Bear (Esk. Td-ku-hi).

Biographical notes.—W herever the Red Bear occurs in Alaska thereis found alsoa bear of about
the same size but colored and marked precisely like the “Silver-tipped” Grizzly of the Central
Rocky Mountain region of the United States. The Grizzlies and the Red Bears of the Yukon Val-
ley offer an interminable amount of individual variation in color. The skins intergrade so that I
have frequently thought they formed but extremes of the same species. The Red Bear varies
from light rufous to a dark chestnut and reddish or cinnamon brown. The Grizzly often approaches
the latter color very closely, but is nearly always easily distinguishable by the gray tips on
the hairs. At times this is quite obsolete, and againit is present to an extreme degree, rendering
the skin a light gray or silvery brown.

Skins of both the Red and the Grizzly Bear average very much larger than those of the Black
Bear, so far as I could judge from the large number brought into Saint Michaels from the sur-
rounding region during my stay there.

Owing to the superstitious fears of the natives I found it nearly impossible to secure bear skulls,
and as I was confined to the vicinity of Saint Michaels during summer I was unable to make any
comparisons of these animals in the flesh.

As a rule the fur is longer upon the Grizzly than upon the Red Bear.

The habits and distribution of the two are nearly identical.

Both species find their extreme northern limit well within the Arctic circle in about 69° in
Alaska. As the Black and the Barren Ground Bear reach about the same latitude it will be seen
that the inland range to the north of all these bears laps the coastwise range of the Polar Bear by
seven or eight degrees. :

Petroff found the “ Brown Bear” (by which name he refers to both the Cinnamon and Grizzly)
very common on Kadiak Island and on the shores of Cook’s Inlet on the mainland, where the
largest specimens occur, A skin of one killed in the vicinity of Kenai Mission in the summer of
1880 was 14 feet and 2 inches long. He further states that brown bears occur in parties of twenty
or thirty on the mountains bordering the western side of Cook’s Inlet.

URSUsS RICHARDSONI Aud. & Bachm. Barren Ground Bear (Esk. Té-hi-ka).

Biographical notes.—This little-known animal occurs about the headwaters of the Yukon, and in
fact all along the eastern boundary of the Territory from about 68° south. From the rarity of its
skin among the large number of bear-skins brought to Saint Michaels each year by the fur traders,
the species may be considered very rare in the region mentioned. I did not see a skin from below
the mouth of the Tanana River on the Yukon, nor could I learn of its occurrence on the Pacific
slope of the Alaskan Mountains.
MAMMALS. 259

In Petroff’s Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of Alaska, Census Office,
1884, he classes the Cinnamon and the Grizzly Bears together under the heading of Brown Bears,
or Ursus richardsoni, and ignores the existence of the present animal.

The very light color of this species would render the name of Yellow Bear suitable for it.

The half-dozen skins which came under my notice were all very heavily furred, and ofa dingy
yellowish, in some cases approaching a whitish, but not in the least suggesting an albino. The fur
was dense and matted in all, and very much heavier than on the other bears taken at the same
time and place. The skins are not large, appearing to average about the size of a well-grown
Black Bear, and never reaching the great size of a large Cinnamon Bear.

The facts regarding its distribution were secured from the fur traders, who could not furnish
anything regarding its habits. The latter are probably not peculiar unless the animal’s light color
and heavy fur indicate that it spends a smaller part of the winter in its den than the other
species, which is not likely, as its range is in the part of the continent where the cold in winter is
very great and long periods of very low temperature prevail.

PHOCIDE.

ERIGNATHUS BARBATUS (FABR.). Bearded Seal (Esk. Mi-kldk).

Three skulls of this seal were obtained. No. 20783, adult, though not old, has the teeth worn
down to the roots, a condition which seems to be arrived at quite early in this species. Nos. 21466,
2146, having a basicranial length of 191°" and 187”, respectively, are still young; the occipito-
sphenoidal and other sutures are still open.

List of specimens.

 

 

 
 
 
  
   
  
 
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Museum | Collector’s i 5
number. | number. Locality. Date.
i :
20783 7 | September, 1878.| Skull.
21466 12 oa October, 1879 ..-.. Do.
21467 51 -.' Fall of 1879...... Do.
sisikiale aie 92 lustcsiavetaverederaie oleic acetate Do.
remaeaey 270, 157 --| September, 1880.) Skin and skull.
21468 § 180, 101 ‘ see 1879....} Foetal skin and skull.
oe 65 Sledge Island ..-. sissies Skin.
56 Cape Prince of Wales Do.
Measurements of three skulls.
$ oo Anterior edge of inter- |ES | 4 s|/e |85 138 = y AI ot q 2
ze |S mole (ee 12 ie" lee? 12 jeeleele.i ais |e es
8 i |g ab Zhe leg) Sila las la @,|/89/ se /a8/a)s E |e
uo | 3 € 3 ag/c ¥ 3 . Is 48|)4)/38 08 |3 wh | Ba aa /wo|] Ss |e & las
2/3] 2 /ag(/22/8 |c.1 2 | B= |e) 2] 28 (82 |*elag| Pe] “2 |aelala,! ¢ Es
Ele s |22|f2|63/88) 4/2 es [ea] 8] #4 Fe wa |ae [22 || 38/3/28) = [=
2] 8/88/48 /82/28! 2 ).8 lec es] es qlee £188) °s| "8/38 2/¢2] 2 leg
alsl @la°leel*2|.2/ 2 |S Bsa 2e)o) sales 22/58 /2= | 22/32 i247) = [ez
eo Hp a | Ss a} FD) a ne aD
siz 2/2 [e8/o"/22) 2] 2 as f° (S/ 2° gesl2 [F286] 22 /es ele | Se
sisl@la |S jf ja |e ees lela Bia [Ss [ee le4 sais | a BF
ees feels a
20783) 7 215 |} 129] 124] 125 77| 155] 146 51 77 | Al aL 14 | - 46 25 33 39 3 :
1466| 12 || 191 | 122] 122] 106] 66] 139/ 129) 45| 64/46; 23] 15}; 36] 24] 35) 30 eG 33 103 ot 32
21467| 51 187 | 116] 116] 102 66} 142] 124 41 65 | 39 30 th 31 22 35 29 84] 95] 107 | 121 51
I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The present species is the largest of the hair seals foundon the Alaskan
coast, and the males reach a weight of six or eight hundred pounds; the females are somewhat
smaller. Its distribution is more northerly than that of the Harbor Seal. On the south the limit
of its range coincides very closely with the northern limit of the range of the Sea Lion.
260 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The Bearded Seal is rather common along the Alaskan coast of Bering Sea south to Bristol
Bay, but itis not found on the Aleutian Islands nor about the Fur Seal group, except possibly as a
winter visitor with the pack-ice about the latter islands. On the coast south of Cape Vancouver
they are far less common than north of that point.

Wagner's record of this animal from Sitka, as quoted by Allen (N. A. Pinnipcds, p. 669), is
certainly erroneous, as this species is unknown from the American shore of the North Pacific.
This record probably arose through a misunderstanding.

Sitka was formerly a central distributing point of supplies for the Territory, and then, as now,
the Bearded Seal skins from Bering Sea were an article of commerce prized by the natives of the
coast and islands, so that the presence of a skin at Sitka does not necessarily imply that it was
captured there. This species is particularly fond of the ice-pack, and the warm water of the
Pacific about Sitka would not be very attractive to an animal which winters in the Arctic pack.

From Cape Vancouver north through Bering Straits and along the coast to Point Barrow, they
arefouud rather commonly, but always less numerous than the Harbor Seal. Like the latter species
they are valuable to the Eskimo, to whom their flesh and oil furnish food. Their skins are the
most highly-prized kind for covering the kyak and umiak and for boot-soles, and when cut into
strips make a very strong and durable cord.

They keep offshore and about the outlying islands and outer reefs more than does the Harbor
Seal. In autumn, however, they come into bays and along shore, so that in September and October
many of them are taken in nets set off the points. During March, April, and May they are hunted
along the seaward edge of the shore-ice before it breaks up, and also among the moving pack-ice.
At this latter season they haul up on the ice aud are shot, or are shot or speared in the tide.
cracks or among the loose ice. When killed in the water at this season they do not sink, owing
to the thickness of their blubber.

Their food consists mainly of fishes, judging from the stomachs of those I saw at Saint
Michaels; from the stomachs I obtained some small deep-water fishes almost intact.

The young are born from the end of March to the first of May. They appear disproportion-
ately large when first born, and will weigh in the neighborhood of 100 pounds. One young
Bearded Seal which I saw brought in by an Eskimo, who claimed to have removed it from
the mother, had the body entirely covered with the stiff steel-gray hairs, such as they have after
being born, and no signs of the woolly coat, such as the newly-born Harbor Seal exhibits, were to
be seen.

These animals move about with the pack-ice to a great extent, but they do not appear to have
any defined migratory movement, as they are found in Bering Sea all summer, although the pack-
ice usually disappears there in June, and Murdoch found them wintering in the vicinity of Point
Barrow when the ice was broken enough to permit, so they may be classed as resident wherever
found on the Alaskan shore. They are in no way gregarious, but sometimes two or three will be
found in company. -

The young are dark silvery gray, becoming lighter on the lower surface, and an appearance
of indistinct mottling is often found. The muzzle of both young and old is of a peculiar reddish
color, which is more marked in the adults and sometimes extends back to the eyes. The adults
are nearly uniform in color, being only a little paler below, and without spots or mottling in all
the specimens seen by me. The usual color is a silvery yellowish or very light grayish color, and
almost yellowish white in many instances. The sexes are alike, except that the female is smaller
than the male. ;

The flesh of this species is excellent eating when freshly killed, and the blubber is tasteless
apd much like very fat pork. If kept afew days, however, the flesh and blubber become rank
and repulsive to any but an educated taste.

Daring the summer of 1881 we found this species at Saint Lawrence and the Bering Straits
Islands and upon the Siberian Arctic coast west to North Cape, but they were not seen near
Wrangel or Herald Islands, although they undoubtedly occur there.

On the Siberian coast of Bering Sea we found them from the Straits to Plover Bay, and they
have been taken south to the mouth of the Amoor River on that coast.
MAMMALS. 261

PHOCA FASCIATA Zimmermann. Ribbon Seal (Esk. Méis-ghi-lik).

 

 

 

 

 

Collector’s ;
number. Locality. |
145 Cape Vaneouyer o scsccas idanessisnws veeasiea Clothes-bag. :
64 Cape Prince of Wales .......-.......--+-000+ Skin.

 

Biographical notes.—This is the handsomest and least known of the Alaskan seals. They are
found commonly at only a few points on the coast of Bering Sea. Their southern limit on the
mainland coast is reached about the rocky shores of Nunevak Is'and and Cape Vancouver. Stray
individuals may occur about the mouth of the Kuskoquim River, but if so they are very rare.
About Cape Rumiantzoff, or Romanzoff, just south of the Yukon mouth, they are rather common
in winter, and some are said to remain- there all summer. At the Yukon mouth and about the
shores of Norton Sound they are extremely rare, but they sometimes occur off the rocky head-
lands when the ice breaks up in spring, about the last of May or first of June. About the shore
and islands of Bering Straits they are rather common in spring and fall, going and coming with
the pack-ice.

The Eskimo living in the straits and along the adjacent coast make many of their skins into
clothes-bags, which are prized on account of the ornamental character of the coloring. The largest
specimens must attain a length of about 6 feet.

During the cruise of the Corwin, in the summer of 1881, we saw these seals repeatedly
upon the border of the ice-pack along the northern coast of Siberia and near Wrangel and Herald
Islands. -They were rathcr common in the vicinity of the two last named places and were usually
found basking singly upon a fragment of ice in the loose drift before we reached the main pack.

The contrasting dark chestnut-brown and light markings render them very conspicuous objects,
and they are easily recognized at a long distance when lying upon the ice. They were not shy,
and several times the steamer came within a hundred yards before they noticed it. They would
then raise their heads and after a deliberate stare tumble into the water, aud were seen for some
time swimming with the head well raised and intently watching the vessel.

We did not see them near Point Barrow, but Mr. Murdoch notes them as stragglers there,
and two were killed during his stay at that point.

The Eskimo prize the skin of this species very highly, aud the people of Bering Straits carry
them along the coast in every direction to barter them with the people whose territory does not
yield them.

The skins are tanned with the hair on and are entire, except for a slit in the abdomen. This
slit is provided with eyelet holes for lacing it up, and thus is improvised into what is considered a
fashionable traveling bag among the Eskimo. These bags are used for storing extra clothing,
furs, or other valuable articles likely to be lost or injured by lying about in the house or while
traveling.

On the Siberian coast south of Bering Straits this species ranges far to the southward, even
reaching the Kurile Islandg.

Scammon says that the natives of the Aleutian Islands recognized this species as sometimes
occurring there, but I never heard of an instance of its being taken either there or at the Fur Seal
Islands, and it must be extremely rare, if it occurs there at all. This species is more migratory
than any of the other hair seals of Bering Sea. They keep with the ice-pack to a great extent, and
the Eskimo living in Bering Straits informed me that they were common there only in fall and
spring. In fall they come down from the north with the ice-pack and pass to the southward, and
in spring, as the pack retreats through the straits to the north, it is accompanied by these seals.
The examples seen by us in the pack during the summer of 1881 were all males.

The females are very much lighter colored than the males and the “ribbon” chestnut markings
of the male are but faintly outlined on the female. From the fact that this species ranges so
much farther south on the coast of Siberia than it does on the opposite American coast, and that
262 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

all of the numerous specimens seen by us in the pack were just north of the Siberian coast, it
appears that this species is much more numerous and more widely distributed on the Asiatic shore
than on the adjoining American coast.

Although we saw only males in the pack-ice, yet the females must summer there also, since the
people obtain both females and young there with the males in the migration.

PHOCA Fa&TIDA Fabricius. Ringed Seal (Esk. Tsh-6-g’th).

This species occurs with P. vitulina at Saint Michaels. Five skulls were obtained, one, No.
21473, having the crowns of the teeth entirely worn away.

The species was obtained by Mr. Murdoch at Point Barrow, but has not apparently been
reported hitherto as far south as Norton Sound.

The specimens referred to are from Unalakleet and Saint Michaels. In the smallest skull, No.
21471, having a basi-cranial length of 145™", the occipito-sphenoidal suture is still open. In propor-
tions they agree entirely with specimens from the North Atlantic, as will appear upon comparison
of the subjoined measurements with those given by Allen.

. A young individual, about 630™" from nose to tail, agrees very closely with a yearling brought
from Cumberland Gulf by Mr. Kumlien. The basal portion of the hairs is not so dark, the whis-
kers are less full, and the claws are unworn; otherwise the two specimens present a similar

appearance.
Measurements of five skulls of Phoca fetida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

é 3, | Anterior edge of inter-|2% | . |S iB 2 a ae 5 33
B |S 7 maxille to— ze | 3 pe le te & h ¢ g [28
elale |S ; #> | 8 ja. 38/8 |®.)a¢/% e |4 & {8
B12 13 ls le | 4 e323 |Seig8 |2 [22/28 )22; § 18.) 3 le
5 a se | S de. } 3 a \s3 33 ee SB, | ee lee i ee q |ss p 18 oo
3 8 a l@gige | & .| 8 2 |g | @ |$e8|2h | 28/28 /%a|ee)] & | 84] 2 Ss
aj) 2|2/]88/32#/e.]/o8/ 28) 8 2 2 \/ES|Ae |Se/S5/"2 es] 8 | BS] 2 fee
8 |e |Be ee) eei 2218) Ss be, € PSs led (sei of| bel 2 18/2 G,
| |e] | 8824/28/28) 2 | igen se] .g (oe | 28) bei 28) 22) 3 |e] 3 28
g 8 la gic ae set Sia |a 2 oe, es 5| = [See
2/3 /818 |23:34/591 2) 3 83 2B B2s)8 |2s]e8i62| 3 | 2°| 4 [ess
2/2/23 /2 |2 js |B"|2)]8 Ssh Ble S82 (8 jel | BIE | & [B8s
4/5 /a /a |o | a |R |e Si" Als m8 [4 Je |e | Alo | 4 fe
Cans ees ae
21471 99} 145 91 86 74 45 99 91 351 30 10 6 21| 7 25 19 67 81 89 39
21473 | 116 | 172 107 107 89 55 | 120 112 40 wares Ti hawceees 26! 6 25 24 70 84 107 47
21472 80 172 106 | 106 90 55 | 122) 112 39 40 1L 6 25] 6 27 22 71 84] 110 48
21470 11 173 | 101 101 | 94 56 {| 121] 112 40 39 12 6 25] 5 380 22 68 81} 109 47
21469 | 110} 164 98 98 | 89 53] 114] 109 38 GD leans 7 22) 5.5 25 22 67 2) 104 43
List of specimens.
Museum | Collector’s | : X
number. | number. Locality. Date.
21471 99 | Saint Michaels............2..2..0220.2-2. cee ee October, 1879-...| Skull.
21473 116 |. MO Simeciesese ce eceaices veceatenciismesnens January, 1880 ..| Do.
21472 80 |. --| November, 1879 .| Do.
21470 11 |. -| October, 1879....| Do.
21469 110 " mceeininfcis is B80 spas ccectevescrasis Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The Ringed Seal is an abundant winter resident in the northern half of
Bering Sea, its range reaching the mouth of the Kuskoquim River and extending thence ina
westerly course across the sea in a line coinciding with the southern edge of the ice-pack. When
the ice leaves the shore in spring, and the pack-ice is drifting along the coast in May and the early
part of June, these seals are found iu considerable numbers among the ice well offshore. They
gather in large bunches on large ice-cakes and are hunted there by the Eskimo. The latter wear a
shirt made of white sheeting and paddle cautiously up to a piece of ice on which the seals are
gathered, and disguised in their white dress are able to land and get among the seals before the
latter are alarmed. A stout club is usually employed on such occasions, and sometimes a man will
secure anumber. This style of hunting is practiced off the Yukon mouth and thence northward,
at least to the northern shore of Norton Sound.

In Norton Sound th- males become very rank after the last of March, and the Bskimo say
that only a part of them are able to eat its flesh at this season, as it makes some of them ill.
MAMMALS. 263

The greater number of the animals which congregate on the ice are males, according to the
natives. These animals are resident throughout the summer ia the northern part of Bering Sea.

In fall they coast along the shore, and many of them are netted, and after the ice forms nets
are set through the ice about tide-cracks or near their breathing-holes. Others are spread about
these latter places.

Among the skins of this species brought into Saint Michaels a considerable number of me-
lanistic examples were seen, some of which were nearly black, with the dark rings almost com-
pletely concealed in the general color.

I found this to be one of the most common species along the Siberian coast, both north and
south of Bering Straits, and about Saint Lawrence Island. Mr. Murdoch also records it as the
only common species of seal at Point Barrow, where it is resident throughout the year.

This species is but imperfectly migratory in Bering Sea; though some come and go with the
ice-pack through Bering Straits, the main body is resident throughout the year.

After the ice leaves the mouth of the Yukon in spring these animals ascend that stream
30 or 40 miles, and are quite numerous on the sand-bars in places far above tidal action. They
are shy at this time and difficult to approach while hauled out.

This species is probably the most abundant of any of the hair seals over all the northern
shores of Bering Sea and the adjacent Arctic basin.

PHOCA GR@NLANDICA Fabricius. Harp Seal.

Biographical notes.—The only example of this species seen by me while at Saint Michaels was
a young specimen of the second or third year, on which the dark “ saddle” marks were just becom-
ing apparent. This skin was brought me from Cape Prince of Wales, on the American side of
Bering Straits, where it had been taken in the spring when the ice-pack began running north.
The native who brought it said that they were not common there, and seemed to consider it the
young of the Ribbon Seal. Unfortunately this skin, with those of two Ribbon Seals from the same
locality, decayed in the pickle while awaiting my return from the north, so no detailed description
could be made. The skull was crushed and destroyed by the hunter.

This is undoubtedly the seal known to the Norton Sound Eskimo under the name given above,
and of which I had vague and unsatisfactory accounts.

From the fact that among the many thousand seal-skins seen by me during my residence and
travel along the shore of Bering Sea there was but one of this species, it may be safely considered
that this seal is of excessive rarity there.

Mr. Allen, in his monograph, mentions that Temminck records having examined three skins
of this species from Sitka; but, considering that we have no subsequent record of its capture
in that now well-known region, and that itis unknown from the Aleutian Islands and is of such
extreme rarity in Bering Sea, that record can be safely considered as more than doubtful. Pallas
and Steller both record this species from Kamtchatka, where, like the Ribbon Seal, it may be
resident.

During the cruise of the Corwin in the summer of 1881 I was fortunate enough to add alittle
to the known distribution of the’ Saddle-back.” While craising among the ice about Wrangel
and Herald Islands several adults were seen, some of which were within a very short distance of
the vessel. On August 12, in particular, while we were steaming through the pack off the shore
of Wrangel Island, two of these seals were seen close alongside. One came up within 20 yards
of us and gazed curiously at the vessel as it pushed against a slowly-yielding mass of ice.

The chestnut-brown of the animal’s head was very conspicuous, and I called Captain Hooper’s
attention to it, whereupon he said that he had seen a number of these animals in the pack along
this coast while there the previous year. Thisis good evidence that the “ Saddle-back” is a regu-
lar and not uncommon summer resident in the ice-pack northwest of Bering Straits, and _it proba.
bly winters there as well. South of Bering Straits its range appears to coincide very closely with
that of the Ribbon Seal, but it is very much less common. ‘Now that attention is called to its
presence in this region, future explorers may find it more or less widely distributed, particularly
along the Asiatic coast.
264 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

PHOCA VITULINA Linn. Harbor Seal (Esk. Nai-yii’),

‘ Measurements of four skulls of P. vitulina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is ‘ . ; ae = ns 42 = a4 ae ae =
be Bh Anterior edge of inter- 2 ee 63 et oS 3 ‘3 8a
| B | 8 maxilleto— Be | 2 lg a a io te Fa sled
ol 2e%s ,ttle le i¢ ge |8i¢.04¢ |B jo./e¢/S¢i8l4.| 4 |g
g/ 2) 8 2 :44/3 |e | 2! g pS [Lies se |S. (eb) Se) sel alse] s 2%
o | @ 1g} oe = D a 4 a $'3 a a/|eos | oa! 8] 8a H
ei el ee/3elB leg] 2] 2 2 a 2E(82 |ce jeg 22128) 2/ 22) FF
a = ioe) eS ai | ee | Se 2° oe, 2° (Fa lee | Se : ela |es eg |e
5 qafl22/! fs si iss = eS las a ala & og! UH] of 1 os lA f= =
a wm} & 2 Ro tyes 1s 36 a Ba gS ey at} BS, SS | ae ) Se | we a) a joe
se | eo So | oat peg al § a wl 3 | 8 [FS a@|ee|22123 |% als |&8
B13) 2 id |88lesiee| 2 | Sbzla sales [a®| ee b2(tel4a|84| 4 [8s
81/8) 2 8 |s(S7 s8)/ 2) 8 Ss hs Basle je4) ge) 2% | mle | & leas
2 at za 2 o 3 q 6 '\SeSl_aq|xe Se5/ 9 3 a 3 a|o a |do
5 a 2 4 a “a Qo = CPR a ke me
a(S /4 (6 16 [8 jf | a |e 24/4 Bla [4 [6 |é [aie | 8 er
}
; |
21474 49 | 163 ; nee 94 85 56} 114) 107 37 | 38 IL 10 28 11 28 22 | 73 86 | 102 49 | Young.
21477) 100 159 : 104 95 801. 54] 110} 104 35 | 384 14 10 26 12 29 22 | 73 85 99 46 Do.
21475) = 50 164 100 91 83 55 | 112 | 105 35 | 387 12 9 27 11 27 23 | 73 84 | 101 49 Do.
21476 § 1235 170 101 | 94 88 58} 117 | 110 40 | 39 13 10 28 11 29 25 | 70 84 | 106 50} Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

| Museum | Collector’s | :
namber,. number. | Locality. | Date
|
21474 | Fall of 1879..... Skull.
21477 October, 1879 ..| Do. ,
21475 | ‘ “4 Fall of 1879..... Do.
22476 | § ..| October, 1879....| Do.
\, ; September, 1877. Brine ou
| sYoung of No. 50.
a oe 1878 . .. pBastte in alcohol.
!

 

 

Biographical notes.—This species is a widely-spread and common one along the entire coast of
Alaska, except on the extreme northern portion, where it is comparatively rare. It is not abundant
about Point Barrow, but from the vicinity of Cape Lisburne south to Bering Straits it is very
common. In Eschscholtz Bay, at the head of Kotzebue Sound, we found them common in the
summer of 1881, and they were also numerous along the Arctic coast of Siberia from the straits
to North Cape. South of the straits in Bering Sea this is a common species everywhere along both
the American and Siberian coasts and along the Aleutian Islands as well as the Fur Seal group
and the other islands of this sea. They are also common along the coast of the Pacific from the
Aleutian Islands, east and south, to the southern point of the Territory.

As a rule they are found singly, and are shot upon the ice or are shot or speared in the water.
After the last of May they are rarely shot in the water, as at that season their coat of blubber is
very thin, and they sink at once.

Rocky islands, like those of the Aleutian chain and the Fur Seal group, are favored by these
animals, but in the former islands they have been driven away from many places by persistent
hunting. They are less disturbed on the Fur Seal Islands, ang’ are more common there than in
any other locality known to me. There, according to Elliott, they gather into groups of thirty
individuals, or thereabouts, on the shore, keeping close to the water-line, ready to plunge in at
the first alarm. They are resident there, and bring forth their young on the outlying rocks in
spring. North of these islands the young are born upon the ice during April and May.

The Eskimo obtain many of the young at this season, and when only a few days old they are
odd-looking little beasts. They are covered with a thick coat of slightly curly or “crinkled” white
hair an inch or so long. This hair is silky, and makes very warm, handsome mittens.

The adults make round holes tarough thin places in the ice, working from below, or come out
through the tide cracks and remain basking in the sun on the edge of the openings a large portion
of the time at this season.

Before the young are born the parents are shy and watchful when hauled out on thei ice, and after
the young appear they become doubly wary. At this time the foxes and ravens wander about on
the ice and destroy many of the young before they learn to take care of themselves. When a pup
MAMMALS. 265

seal is found with its parent off her guard or absent it has little chance for its life. A little later the
ravens are joined by the Glaucous Gull, and at all times the White Bears hunt the seals, both young
and old, with success.

When the ice leaves the coast the Eskimo hunt the seals in their kyaks, using a light spear,
until toward midsummer, when the seals move offshore or go to far-outlying reefs and points.
When the cold storms begia in September they return along shore again and enter the inner bays
and sheltered coves. At this time many rawhide nets, with large meshes, are set off the rocky
points, and large numbers of the various species of hair seals are taken. Later, when the sea is
frozen over, nets are set about the breathing holes with some success. These breathing holes are
usually made by the seals when the ice is formed or is but a foot or so thick. At first it is a cir-
cular opening, a foot or more across, but the spray aud vapor thrown up by the seal as it rises to
breathe soon builds a dome of frostwork over the hole with a small orifice in the center. The
hunters go out and search for these openings, and when one is found they push a long straw down
into the water, with one end projecting through the top of the hole, and then, spear in hand, wait
for the seal. The latter pushes up the straw when he rises to breathe, and the spear is driven
through the frail roof and into his head. Then, holding the victim by a strong cord attached to
the spear-head, the hunter breaks the ice and drags out his victim.

Next to Phoca fetida this is the commonest hair seal in Alaska, and is of great value to the
Eskimo. This species, with P. fetida, furnish most of the Eskimo with food and material.
From their skins they make all of their fine rawhide lines and net-twine, most of their kyak covers,
their waterproof boots, trowsers, mittens, and clothing bags, besides other articles. Their flesh
and oil fill out the coast hunter’s scanty store and carry him through the terrible northern winters.

They arepartly migratory, a portion of them following the ice-pack through t-he straits in spring,
and returning with it in fall, but the majority of the individuals are resident wherever found.
The young are about 34 feet long in fall and weigh about 50 pounds. They are very pretty ani-
mals at this age, their large soft eyes and handsomely shaped heads, with their beautiful coat
of dark, silvery-gray hair, indistinctly mottled and spotted with darker color, forming a very
attractive combination.

With P. fetida, this species ascends the Yukon in summer, and several instances are known
to me of their being taken over 300 miles above tide-water in this stream. They also go far up
the Kuskoquim River at this season. The seals reported as occurring in the fresh-water lake of
Iliamna, back of Bristol Bay, and also in another lake south of the Yukon, are undoubtedly
either this species or Phoca fetida.

CALLORHINUS URSINUS (Livn.). Fur Seal (Esk. A-tak).

Biographical notes.—This is by far the most valuable fur-bearing animal of Alaska, and prob-
ably of the world. The annual catch of 100,000 skins on the Alaskan Fur Seal Islands of Saint
Paul and Saint George yields from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 in the London market, according to
the demand, and for some years past the sum has closely approached the latter figures. From
forty to fifty thousand skins are taken on Copper and Bering Islands, on the Siberian coast, each
year, and a few thousand more are taken by native and white hunters along the coasts of the
Pacific during the migrations.

The range of this seal is becoming more and more restricted in Bering Sea. Formerly it was
taken every summer along the coast of Norton Sound and sometimes about the southern entrance
to Bering Straits.

The old Eskimo along the eastern coast of Bering Sea know it well and recognize a piece of
its skin on sight, while it has a distinctive name in all the coast dialects north to the vicinity of the
straits.

In July, 1877, a male Fur Seal hauled up on the rocks within 200 yards of Saint Michaels
and remained some time. It became frightened and took to the water, where I shot and killed it.
This was the only oneseen during my stay there, but the Eskimo said that formerly they were regular
bnt zare summer visitors to that vicinity. At present they sometimes wander to the vicinity of

8. Mis, 156——34
266 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Cape Romanzoff, but are mainly limited to the vicinity of the Fur Seal Islands in summer and
the bays and passes of the eastern Aleutian Islands during the migrations. During the summer
they are unknown south of the Aleutian Islands and are unknown north of them in winter.

On the first of May each year the old males begin to go north through the passes in the Aleutian
Islands and seek the beaches on the Fur Seal Islands. About a month later the main body arrives
and millions of these intelligent animals are then found crowding the shore line of Saint Paul and
Saint George wherever suitable ground occurs. The males take their places on the shore first, the
stronger ones near the water and the weaker further back. As the females land the males fight
desperate battles over them and the victors take them by the back with their teeth and place them
close alongside themselves where they can guard them from possible rivals. This goes on until
many of the stronger males have a harem numbering from fifteen to forty-five members, according
to Elliott. In preserving this from intrusion by surrounding males, which are on the alert to steal
females from one another, they sustain many severe wounds and are sometimes killed. The females
also sometimes fall victims to the fury of the combatants.

For about three months from their landing these seals remain on shore without a single visit
to the water and consequently without tasting food. When they land they are fat, and during this
long fast they must exist by the absorption of their oil.

During August they commence to move to and from the water, and the sea about the islands
swarms with them. They are very playful in the water, particularly the half-grown young, and
the manner in which they frolic about and leap from the water is very amusing. Many of. them
remain about these islands until forced away by the weather, the last remaining until the end of
December. In September, 1881, when we steamed by these islands, the water swarmed with the
seals, while the shores were shaded a dun brown by the thousands which still occupied their slop-
ing sides.

When the seals leave these islands they pass south through the Aleutian chain and a portion
of them straggle along the coast southward to California. Only a comparatively small number are
found there, however, and as they certainly do not winter about the Aleutian Islands their main
wintering ground is still unknown. This uncertainty has led some sailors familiar with the ani-
mal’s habits to imagine that they go to some unknown island in the middle of the North Pacific.
Vessels have even cruised there in search of such an island, but it has never been found. The
intelligence exhibited by these animals in returning each spring from their wide-spread roaming
over thousands of miles of the stormy Pacific is marvelous.

On the first of May, 1877, as we steamed northward, and while over 100 miles from the nearest
of the Aleutian Islands, quite a number of Fur Seals were seen heading for the nearest pass and
almost in a direct line for the two small islands where they make their summer home. The damp,
cloudy, and foggy weather, which is almost unbroken about the seal islands in summer, is con-
genial to the seals and a sunshiny day causes them great discomfort. About the seal istwnda their
natural enemies are confined to an occasional Killer Whale.

On these islands the animals are surrounded and driven back from the shore iv droves or
“pods” by the Aleuts, and at a designated spot are brained with clubs and their skins removed,
packed in salt, and in the course of time shipped to the London market by way of San Francisco.

The skins when taken from the animals are thick and have a heavy layer of blubber on the
inner side. On the outer side they are covered with coarse hairs, which conceals the fine inner fur
and give it an appearance entirely unlike the fur when ready for the fashionable wearer. In the
hands of the manufacturer the fat is removed, and the skin shaved down until the roots of the
heavy outer hairs are cut so that these hairs can be readily removed, leaving the soft under fur,
This fur is then cleaned and dyed, when it is ready to be made up.

The males weigh about 400 pounds and the females from 75 to 100.

HUMETOPIAS STELLERI (Lesson). Steller’s Sea-lion (Esk. Wi!-nttk).

Biographical notes—The only place in Alaska where this fine sea-lion is found in abundance at
present is about the Fur Seal Islands. Elliott estimated that in 1873 some twenty-five thousand of
these animals were occupying the beaches on Saint Paul and about one-third of that number on
Saint George Island.
MAMMALS. 267

Formerly they were abundant all along the Aleutian chain. They are now so scarce among
these islands, and the ones that are found there frequent places so difficult of access, that the
Aleuts secure very few of them each year. They are still rather common at a few points along the
north shore of Unimak Island and the peninsula of Aliaska, while small parties are found scat-
tered all along the Aleutian chain, hauling up on certain rocky points and shelves facing the sea,
most of which are well known localities to the Aleuts.

In May, 1877, I saw a small party on the rocks on the north shore of Akoutan, and during the
same month a fierce storm outside brought a few of them into the harbor at Unalaska. North of
the Fur Seal Islands they are extremely rare or unknown at present, although I learned from the
Eskimo of their occasional occurrence north to the Yukon mouth and about the shore of Nunevak
Island. From the Aleutian Islands eastward and southward they occur all along the coast to
California, where their range overlaps that of the southern species.

Large males of: Steller’s Sea-lion are from 11 to 12 feet long, according to Mr. Elliott, and
weigh about a thousand pounds. The females are much smaller, and weigh about four or five
hundred pounds.

After the annual catch of fur seals is secured on the Seal Islands, a drive of several hundred
sea-lions is made to procure the skins used in covering the large native boats or umiaks. A few
years ago this drive was made very easily, and an abundance of animals found, but at present they
are becoming much fewer, and it is almost or quite impossible to secure the full number. It is
probably a matter of but a few years before they will become rare or unknown upon these islands,
where they were formerly more numerous than anywhere else.

Like the fur seal, this animal is migratory, arriving at its breeding-grounds on the Fur Seal
Islands in May, and the last of them leave there when the severe winter weather begins, about
the first of January. Their migration is not so general as that of the fur seal, as some of them
are found about the Seal Islands the entire winter during mild seasons,

Mr. Elliott claims that the flesh of a young sea-lion is tender, juicy, and something like veal,
but becomes rank and tough when the animal approaches maturity. The same may be said of the
flesh of the fur seal. The first of the latter meat I ever ate was at Unalaska, and as there was a
flock of sheep there at the time I was entirely deceived, thinking I had been eating mutton until
told that it was young fur seal. The meat had the color and flavor of good mutton.

The natives of the Seal Islands claim that nearly seventy years ago the sea-lions alone occupied
nearly all of the shore line of Saint George. Island, and numbered several hundred thousand
individuals. By direction of the Russians they were driven off repeatedly until they left. the
place, and the shore was then occupied by far seals.

These northern sea-lions have a ‘“‘deep base growl and a prolonged, steady roar,” quite unlike
the barking note so characteristic of the southern sea-lion of the California coast. To the natives
of the Fur Seal and Aleutian Islands this animal is of the same value as the walrus is to the Eskimo
of the coast to the northward. Its skin, flesh, intestines, bones, sinews, and oil all come into play
as food or in the simple manufactures of the Aleuts.

Like the fur seal they have a dreaded enemy in the Killer Whale, which pursues and captures
them at sea and about their rocky resorts. The native hunters when at sea frequently see them
leaping high out of the water in useless endeavor to escape their pursuers. At such times they say
it is dangerous for an umiak or other small boat to be in the vicinity, as the animal, in its terror,
will sometimes leap into and wreck the boat. They are hunted with gun and spear in the Aleu-
tian Islands, but, like most seals, if shot in the water in summer they will sink at once, owing to
the small amount of fat on them at that season.

In common with the fur seal, this species has the habit of swallowing stones. Mr. Elliott
found stones weighing a pound or two in their stomachs, and preserved one stomach containing
over 10 pounds of such stones.

In the North the young are brought forth in June.

ODOBAZNUS OBESUS (IIL). Pacific Walrus (Esk. A ji-viik).

Biographical notes.—The range of this unwieldy animal does not extend south of the Bering
Sea shore of the Aleutian Islands. They are unknown there, except on Unimak, the easternmost of
these islands, where they sometimes occur in winter. Along the adjacent shore of Bristol Bay, on
268 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

the northern side of the Aliaskan Peninsula, are several well-known hauling grounds which they
visit for a short time each year, about the middle of June. Elliott states that some thirty or thirty-
five years previous to 1873 they were sometimes killed on the islands of the Pacific, between
Unimak and Kadiak.

From Bristol Bay north to the southern mouth of the Yukon they are rather numerous for a
time in spring, just as the ice breaks up, and again in fall, in September and October, before
the coast becomes ice-bound. Some winter off the coast between Nunevak Island and Bristol
Bay. The coast between the Yukon mouth and Golovina Bay is rarely visited by them now,
although they were formerly common there in fall and spring. In Bering Straits they are very
numerous every fall and spring, moving south before the ice-pack in autumn, and following it
as it retreats into the Arctic in the spring. During nearly all the year a few individuals, mostly
males, are found about Walrus Island, off Saint Paul, of the Fur Seal group, where they were
formerly abundant. They are also about Saint Matthew Island nearly or quite all of the year,
and occur in great abundance about Saint Lawrence Island during the migrations. At the
latter periods they are also numerous along the Siberian coast of Bering Sea and the straits.
North of the straits they are widely spread in summer, but keep in the close vicinity of the ice-
pack.

During the summer of 1881 we found them along the Siberian coast west to Cape North, and
thence north to Wrangel and Herald Islands, and along the pack easterly to the Alaskan coast,
near Cape Lisburne, and thence north to Point Barrow, but they were not seen away from the
vicinity of the ice.

They are hunted by the Eskimo in kyaks, with ivory-pointed spears and the usual seal-skin
line and floats. When the animal is exhausted by its efforts to escape the hunters draw near and
give the death stroke with an iron or flint headed lance. ;

On the south shore of Bristol Bay men are landed from vessels in June and lett to watch for
the Walruses to haul up on the beach at certain points. When a “pod” or herd of them is well
ashore one or two old bulls are usually left to watch for danger while the others sleep. The best
shot among the hunters now creeps up, and by a sucessful rifle-shot or two kills the guard. The
gun is then put aside, and each hunter, armed with a sharp ax, approaches the sleeping animals
and cuts the spines of as many of them as possible before the others become alarmed and stampede
for the water and escape. Sometimes the entire herd is captured in this way, but when the alarm
is once given the hunters give the survivors all the room necessary to escape, for nothing can stop
them.

Several hundred of these animals are sometimes killed in a few days, and after their tusks,
containing a few pounds of ivory each, are cut out the carcasses are left and the ground is deserted
until the following spring.

The visit of the Walruses to the beaches of Bristol Bay occurs in June, and they remain there
only a few days and sometimes only a few hours. I know of one party of hunters who camped a
month on one of these hauling grounds waiting for the Walruses. Finally, becoming tired of stay-
ing in camp, all hands went egging one day and returned to find, much to their disgust, that the
Walruses had been there and vanished again.

In spring and fall they are numerous about Cape Newenham and along the shore just north
of the mouth of the Kuskoquim. In this district the water is very shallow, and when the natives
find a herd of Walrus in one of the small bays they surround thew in kyaks, and, by making a
great noise, frighten the animals, so that they will go ashore as soon as they discover that they
cannot escape by diving. Once ashore they are killed with lances or guns. A “drive” of about
thirty animals was secured near Cape Vancouver in the fall of 1878.

According to the natives living along this strip of coast, the young Walruses are born early in
spring, when the ice breaks up, during April and May. They report the Walruses as being very
timid and inoffensive animals at all other seasons, but say that the hunters give a female Walrus
with young a wide berth at this time. The female becomes very savage, and, like a bear with her
cub, she has only to eatch sight of an intruder upon her domain to make an attack.
MAMMALS. 269

One hunter told me of an instance in which he and a companion, both in kyaks, had an
encounter with one of these animals. They were hunting among the drift ice off Cape Vancouver
one day in spring, when his companion saw and killed a young Walrus without knowing that the old
one was about. A moment later the parent arose from the water and catching sight of them uttered
a hoarse, bellowing cry and swam rapidly towards them. Both hunters paddled for their lives toa
large piece of ice close by and landed upon it just in time to escape their pursuer. Here they were
kept prisoners nearly the entire day, and every time they tried to leave, thinking their enemy gone,
they were pursued and forced to return to the ice again.

The people of Bering Straits often meet vicious Walruses at this season. In one instance
which came to my hearing a Walrus broke a hole in the top of a man’s kyak with its tusks, but
the man escaped. Numerous tales are told of their pursuing hunters.

Along the Arctic coast of Alaska and Siberia they are numerous in summer, keeping with
the pack-ice and moving offshore with it. In Kotzebue Sound they are unknown or very rare,
but are taken in considerable numbers from Point Hope to Point Barrow. In autumn they all
leave this region and pass through Bering Straits, wintering along the southern edge of the pack-
ice in Bering Sea. While we were cruising along the’edge of the ice-pack in the Arctic, north of
the straits, in July and August, 1881, we frequently saw large numbers of Walruses upon the ice
lying in bunches, which are called “pods” by the whalers and walrus-hunters.

The hearing of these animals is so defective that a man can creep up on the leeward of a
“nod,” and if he kills the animal on guard at the first shot he may then proceed to kill the entire
lot, as they do not heed the report of the gun in the least. A gun carrying a 45-caliber ball is often
used, but a 50-caliber is better for this work. A shot striking the nape so as to enter the base of
the skull or to shatter some of the cervical vertebre is almost the only one which is instantaneously
fatal, owing to the thickness of the skull in front and on the sides and the animal’s tenacity of life.
Their sense of smell is claimed to be very acute, and the lunters are careful to approach them from
the leeward side. When basking on the ice they keep near the water and tumble clumsily in at
the first alarm.

As we coasted along the north Siberian shore in July a number of them were seen as we
steamed along the edge of the pack. They were all on small ice-cakes, and as we drew near they
would raise their heads and gaze at us a moment and then slide backwards off the ice and disappear
in the most amusing manner.

We saw many females with their young in various parts of the Arctic during July and August,
and the jealous watchfulness of the mothers was noticeable. The young nearly always swam
directly in front of its parent, and in diving the latter carried the little one down by resting her
tusks on its shoulders and forcing it under the water. An adult male measured by Mr. Elliott on
Walrus Island was nearly 13 feet long with a girth of 14 feet about the shoulders.

When the Russiaus first occupied the Fur Seal Islands the walrus was very numerous there,
but the seal-hunters soon drove them from Saint Paul and Saint George. On Walrus Island they
were not troubled, and Mr. Elliott found a herd of about five hundred bulls in possession there up
to 1874; since then they have greatly diminished in numbers there, and will eventually entirely
disappear. Their skin is a mottled yellowish-brown, with very short, rough bristles scattered over
it. It is wrinkled into folds all about the neck and shoulders. The animal’s posteriors are dispro-
portionately small as compared with the anterior half of the body. The males exceed the females
in size and reach a ton or more in weight.

The tusks of the female are long and slender and are usually curved inward so that the points
nearly touch. The tusks of the males are shorter and stouter, with the ends several inches apart.
The largest pair of tusks I ever saw weighed 16 pounds, and they were far larger than the average.

The tusks are used in digging clams, also to aid them in climbing upon the ice or to land on a
rocky shore, and in their battles are used as effective weapons. From the paunch of a walrus
Elliott took over a bushel of clams, many of which were not crushed.

I have heard the walrus-hunters say that these animals, when on shore, often keep guard by
gathering in a body, and then as the leader falls asleep his head drops and he prods the next
animal with his tusks; as the latter falls asleep he repeats the performance, and so there is one of
the animals continuously on the alert.
270 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

To many of the Eskimo, especially on the Arctic shores, this animal is of almost vital impor:
tance, and upon Saint Lawrence Island, just south of Bering Straits, over eight hundred Eskimo
died in one winter, owing to their missing the fall Walrus hunt while on a prolonged carouse upon
whisky obtained from a whaling ship.

To these northern people this animal furnishes material for many uses. Its flesh is food for
men and dogs; its oil is also used for food and for lighting and heating the houses. Its skin when
tanned and oiled makes a durable cover for their large skin boats; its intestines make waterproof
clothing, window-covers, and floats. Its tusks make lance or spear points or are carved into a great
variety of useful and ornamental objects, and its bones are used to make heads for spears and other
purposes.

The middle of August, 1881, we spoke a Walrus-hunter on the edge of the pack, off Cape
Lisburne, and found that he was leaving the hunting ground, complaining that the pack-ice was so
thin that when a Walrus was shot the blood from the wound thawed the ice, and caused the edge
to break, resulting in the loss of the game before its tusks could be cut out.

The continual pursuit these animals have suffered during the past few seasons has rapidly
thinned them out and, owing to the restricted basin which they inhabit, it is only a matter of a few
years when they will become comparatively rare where formerly abundant, and unknown in many
of their former localities.

To-day it is safe to say that the number of these animals in existence is not over 50 per cent.
of the number living ten years ago, and a heavy annual decrease is still going on.

SOREX COOPERI Bachman. Cooper’s Shrew (Esk. U-gw/-gi-nik).

The identification of the shrews while the family is in its present confused condition is very
laborious, and the determinations are far from satisfactory. The specimens collected appear to
belong to Bachman’s S. cooperi. They present considerable differences in proportions and colora-
tion, however, which may or may not be indicative of specific distinctness. In the following table
of alcoholic specimens it will be observed that number 14976, though agreeing with the other four
specimens in the length of the feet, head, and tail, appears to be considerably larger (i. ¢., the head
and body taken together are longer). It should be observed, however, that this specimen appears
to have been compressed and thus elongated :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

 

 

   

Length Length Length
Museum : Length of | Length of | Length of
number. of —— of ee of tad with tore foot. hind foot. head.
|
Mm. Mm. | lfm. Mm. Mm. Mm.
14976 57 45 48 10 13 22
14974 45 45 48 9 13 20
14975, 47 50 52 10 14 20
14977 49 41 45 9 13 21
14972 41 35 | 39 8 11 20
List of specimens.
i
uM Collector's | ‘
manor: eee: 8 Locality. | Date. | Remarks. |
14390 17, 110 | Saint Michaels......--........2. Oct. 29, 1879 |} Skin and skull.
14391 18, TE face aces' MO iscacecicaccceccememcasie ce Oct. 29, 1879 Do.
14972 MOT iL sasarcrscninianiiclousisicstit wasiea es seeiaianll ere peneeTeese Alcoholic.
I 14973 424 |..... aoe Do.
14974 48 | cee Do.
14975 | $20 Voces Do.
14976 #24 [oe Do.
LAOGE | cssisisra ia cops cte Sie |i ascin ajar ats evry intwinnclaliere ent eis Bresassiars shah. ll Neroiateiceesideemiaee Do.
citlsieaeheras WO. cmoiecisgiss aaaie song: sans geewainstel| DRUM, |
needa toes 97 | Saint Michaels. Dec. 17,1879 | Do. |
semanas OF lorwees |
|

lO heech hooehton es vsstsesees) Deo. 1878 Two sking.

 

Biographical notes.—This, the smallest of northern mammals, is found over all of the Alaskan
mainland and is abundant everywhere except perhaps along the extreme northern coast line. In
the Yukon district and about Saint Michaels I found that they were difficult to discover in summer,
owing to their small size and retiring habits.

In fall the first severe weather brings them about the trading stations and native villages, and
there they forage and penetrate every corner of the houses with all the persistence of the domestic
mouse. Scores of them were killed about our houses at Saint Michaels every winter, and they
MAMMALS. 271

were equally numerous at the other stations throughout the interior. The natives reported them as.
also numerous in the Bering Straits and Kotzebue Sound districts, but I do not know of their occur-
rence on the islands of Bering Sea. An abundance of specimens were brought me from along the
entire course of the Yukon and from the valley of the Kuskoquim.

These odd little beasts are omnivorous in the widest sense, and insects, meat, fat, flour, or
seeds all go to make up their winter bill of fare.

Among the specimens taken in the houses at Saint Michaels I found considerable variation in
the size, color of pelage, and in the teeth, but this appeared to be purely individual. After snow-
falls they travel from place to place by forcing a passage under the snow, and frequently keep
so near the surface that a slight ridge is left to mark their passage. On the ice of the Yukon I
have traced a ridge of this kind over a mile, and was repeatedly surprised to see what a direct
course the shrews could make for long distances under the surface. These minute tunnels were
noted again and again crossing the Yukon from bank to bank.

These little adventurers sometimes tunnel far out on the sea-ice, and the Norton Sound Eskimo
have a curious superstition connected with such stray individuals. They claim that there is a kind
of a water shrew living on the ice at sea which is exactly like the common land shrew in appearance,
but which is endowed with demoniac quickness and power to work harm. If one of them is dis-
turbed by a person it darts at the intruder, and burrowing under the skin, works about inside
at random and finally enters the heart and kills him. As a consequence of this belief the hunters
are in mortal terror if they chance to meet a shrew on the ice at sea, and in one case that I knew
of a hunter stood immovable on the ice for several hours until a shrew he happened to meet disap-
peared from sight, whereupon he hurried home, and his friends all agreed that he had had a very
narrow escape.

The Point Barrow party secured a single specimen of another species, 8. Forsteri, from Meade
River, but did not find it near their station, so it is apparently uncommon along the most northern
and desolate parts of the mainland coast.

LEPUS TIMIDUS AROTICUS (Linn.). Polar Hare (Esk. Kai-okh’-hlik).

List of specimens.

 

Collector's
number.

Museum

Locality. | Date. Remarks.
number.

Sex.

 

 

 

 

  
  
 
 
 
 

  
  

te } January 3, 1880 ..... Skin and skull.
14 crane Boaeatise bacede Skin.
40 -| Spring of 1878 ....-. Do.
42 -| February, 1878...... Do.
-| Winter of 1877-'78 ..| Skull.

Fall of 1879 ......... Do.

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This fine hare is widely distributed in Northern Alaska. It is numerous
in all of the open coast country from the mouth of the Kuskoquim River to the Kotzebue Sound
district. From this latter point north along the Arctic coast these hares are more and more scarce,
until in the vicinity of Point Barrow, where they are unknown, according to Mr. Murdoch. In the
interior, however, wherever open barrens are found along the Kuskoquim and Yukon Rivers and
to the northward, the Polar Hare is more or less common. On the Bering Sea islands they are
unknown except on the islands immediately adjoining the mainland, such as Saint Michaels and
Nelson’s. The open country of the Yukon delta is their place of greatest abundance so far as I
was able to learn. There, in May, 1879, I found them very common. The snow'was nearly gone,
and while traveling along the small channels between the islands in the pale twilight which
marks the nights at that season we saw many hares playing about on the banks. They were
often in small parties of from three to five or six, and were not very shy. They were just losing
the white winter fur, and, like the surrounding country, were mottled with gray and white.

While camped in this vicinity at that time I found them to be almost entirely nocturnal in
their habits, rarely moving about in daytime even during the gloomy days when the sky was
272 NATURAL DISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

a

obscured by dense, low-lying clouds. Although they are nocturnal in their habits, y yet they see
yery well in the day, and it is extremely difficult to surprise one in its form. Usually it spies
the hunter before he gets within gunshot and leaves the spot in great haste.

During most of the year these animals are essentially solitary, but during April and May they
gather into small parties, aud sometimes as many as a dozen or more may be found on a single
hillside. At this season the beds of creeks and other hollows are filled with slush and water,
covering the ice below. This water is frequently several feet deep, and in many instances I saw
places where inese hares kad come down the bank and, judging from their tracks, had plunged in
without hesitation and swum across to the opposite side. Their tracks showed by the shortness of
the jumps as they approached the water that they were in no way frightened or forced to cross.
In one case a stream over 30 yards across was thus passed by one of these animals.

In October they again resume their winter dress. The new snow now preserves their tracks
and they once more become an object of pursuit to the Eskimo hunter. They are very shy all
winter, and unless surprised and shot in their ferms are very difficult to obtain.

The hunters usually go out after a new fall of snow and trail the hare to its form. The hare
starts off at a run before the hunter gets within gunshot and the latter follows at a slow trot upon
his snow-shoes. This is frequently kept up for a half dozen miles, or perhaps more, until the hare
becomes exhausted, and finally allows the hunter to get within easy range and secure the prize.
At other times the hunter’s breath is exhausted first and he returns home minus the hare. I may
say that this was usually the writer’s experience.

Were it not for its black ear-tips and large eyes this hare would be very difficult to see
in winter, even when sitting ou the open snow-covered plain. Their legs are much shorter,
and the entire animal is heavier built, than the “jack-rabbit” or hare of the western plains, but
their weight is about the same. As a consequence they cannot approach their southern congener
in the matter of speed.

Their fur is very abundant, and in winter is nearly as light and soft as swan’s down. Wolves,
foxes, gyrfalcons, and snowy owls are the natural enemies they are forced to guard against. Their
skins are very fragile, so that their handsome fur is but little valued. It is used for clothing to a
small extent. Their flesh is excellent eating.

During the rutting season some are snared by the hunters, who set fine-meshed sinew nets in
places much frequented by them.

In severe winter weather they seek the shelter of willow or alder patches on the slopes of
sheltered ravines or in other comfortable situations, but as a rule they are characteristic of the
open .Arctic barrens, and on the wide expanse of desolate snow their tracks are among the few
evidences of life the traveler finds in crossing the Alaskan tundras in winter.

During one winter at Saint Michaels my friend, Mr. Rudolph Neumann, had one of these
animals for a pet. It was kept in the dining-room at the fort and became quite domesticated. It
was very mischievous, and would sit up before a person and beg for food, and if ignored would
attract attention by striking one’s legs with its fore-paws. Owing to being teased it finally became
ill-tempered, and would strike one’s hand a painful blow with its fore-foot when displeased,
Eventually it came to a tragic end, as seemed to be the fate of all pets reared about the fort.

LEPUS AMERICANUS AMERICANUS (Erxleben). Northern Varying Hare (Esk. Mi-gd-
gu-tk).

List of specimens.

 

|

Ae
Museum : Collector's Locality. | Date. | Remarks.

number. | number.

   

 

 

  

----| September, 1880.| Skin and skull.
-| Fe yaa 1880..| Skin.

T3803") HAD nrctann idl recep MO ceamuandenesceacamenulans, GO-skececcnc a: 0.
TBSBH Of DE eos sass Nereis sper SL Obiaietosaie: sie lePags siesta che, ticteceipil Aare. a5 Spee aaltalarenee Do
T30TR.) dit “path Bo aidis caicraden so ene uiidiowoxmmeluecccebso ene eens Do
Ua aes dam le aes 1880.../ Skull.

wiecoeveneetts ; 227, 244 jeee+ -- | Month of Yukon River..... March, 1880 ..-..| 18 skulls.

|
|
13019 a a a ie
|

sot ates See 119 OO eciien snip scents. sotweiciesaus| oars 6 Stata rates aS Do.
| adie mnesthstsictnt a Id5; VST ess core “Mouth of Tanana River . February, 1880..| 13 skulls.

 

 
MAMMALS. 21a

Biographical notes.—The ground frequented by this species is the complement of that occupied
by the Polar hare. The latter avoids wooded places and the former delights in dense thickets in
the midst of such forests as the far north affords. The area over which the spruce forest extends
in Alaska covers at the same time nearly the entire range of this rabbit. The few found beyond
the limits of the spruces in alder and willow thickets are merely stragglers.

At several points on the coast of Norton Sound, between the Yukon mouth and Golovina
Bay, where the spruces approach the shore, these rabbits are numerous, and their range extends,
on the Kaviak Peninsula, nearly to the shore of Bering Straits, and also reaches the shore of
Kotzebue Sound in one or two places. North of this they occur only in the interior, reaching to
about latitude 69°. From this point south to the Alaskan Mountains, and from the peninsula of
Aliaska east to the British line, they are common or abundant everywhere that spruce or other
forests and thickets are found. The dense growth of alders, willows, and cottonwoods on the
islands and banks of the Yukon along its entire course forms a favorite shelter, where they are
found in great numbers. Some years ago they became excessively abundant along the Upper
Yukon, but an epidemic broke out among them one winter and nearly exterminated them through-
out several hundred miles of country, and many died elsewhere. Since that time, although becom-
ing more and more numerous each year, they have not reached anything like their former numbers.

Great numbers of them are snared by the Eskimo and Indians by means of sinew nooses set
in their runways, andin spring many are taken by organized drives. To make one of these drives
all of the inhabitants of a village unite. They proceed to one of the wooded islands in the river,
in March or April, before the snow is gone, and after the women have set a multitude of snares at
one end of the island all hands proceed to beat the island from the opposite end. The men and
boys use guns and shoot as many as possible, but all that are caught in the snares belong to the
women, who usually secure the lion’s share of the spoils.

These rabbits furnish the main food supply for the Canada Lynx. Not infrequently the fur
trader or Indian hears the sharp cry of a rabbit as it is caught by a lynx in the thicket, but a
few drops of blood and the tell-tale tracks leading from the spot are the only apparent evidences
of the tragedy.

The fur of this species is almost valueless, and is used for clothing only by the poorer natives.
Unlike the large hare this species is not a swimmer, and when the spring freshets flood the low
bottoms along the Yukon it takes refuge upon any support offered, and will remain prisoner
within a few yards of the shore rather than trust itself to the water.

+

LAGOMYS PRINCEPS Richardson. North American Pika.

The Alaskan specimens are remarkable principally for the paleness of the fur. The head and
back are but slightly tinged with fulvous, and the under parts are nearly pure white. The size is
large, the flat skins measuring about 8 inches.

List of specimens.

 

 

| rent sorte Locality. Date. Remarks.
|
14383 163 | 160 to 200 miles south of Fort Yukon..} Summer of 1880...) Skin.
14384 164 |..-.-. 1) Sieisienmate gwicietiaisiiedieme seletatnes Sie ersten Onscrateiesreysi neice Do.
14385 165 |....-- 0. sscaseresoigiavs tac inte a a’siaresaimaieinn'evetseiata cia NOs, Sa ibiejereins ence Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—Three skins of this hardy species were brought me from the Upper Yukon
by Mr. McQuesten. These specimens were taken on the tops of the mountains lying to the south
of Fort Yukon and near the Arctic Circle. The Indians of that region report them to be common
everywhere in the highest ranges, where they are usually found above timber line. From native
accounts their habits appear to be identical with those of their relatives found in the mountains of
Colorado and elsewhere in the West. I showed these skins to a fur trader, who has lived many
years on the Kuskoquim Liver, and he recognized them at once, and reported that they are also
numerous on the Alaskan Mountains south of that river, and extend their range to the vicinity of
the peninsula of Aliaska,

S. Mis. 156——35
274 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Mr. True notes that the Alaskan specimens are larger and paler than more southern examples,
and a larger number of specimens may prove that the northern end of the Rocky Mountains affords
@ geographical race of this animal nearly coincident in its range with the northern form of the
Mountain Sheep.

ERETHRIZON DORSATUS EPIXANTHUS (Brandt). Porcupine (Esk. I-lhdit-ho-chih’).

List of specimens.

 

fa
Museum | Collector's
number. | number.

 

Locality. Date. Remarks. |

 

Skin.

 

 

   

44 jov.|...ee. CO wcae ea babe arte ae sh el eee Osc ees cmmiseeiae Do.

45 Unalakleet --| August, 1877.......... Do.

26 V WOlatO..-c:sc0 2 ee March, 1878....-...... Fetal.
7a | Tanana River Fall, 1880 ........-..0- Skin and skull.

i [eenaee GH zeae sjopmauinn semacemeatiicescewslenntad CO). ewer tan Sas Do.

170 | WT issioris sec ntaucsees ptgedtduslacsaned February, 1880..-..--- Skull.

 

 

 

Biographical notes—Throughout Alaska, wherever timber is found growing, this animal is
more or less common. They range to the extreme northern limit of the spruce forests in the
vicinity of the sixty-ninth degree of latitude, where they endure the most extreme cold, and feed
upon the bark and twigs of the cottonwoods, alders, and other deciduous trees and bushes. They
are very common along the Upper Yukon, whence the fur traders brought me a number of skins
and skulls. They are nearly as common, however, throughout the entire wooded interior. At the
head of Norton Sound, where the spruce forest reaches the shore of Bering Sea, they are com-
mon, and they are found occasionally in alder patches along the entire Alaskan coast of this sea.
They are found at times close to the Arctic coast, about the shores of Kotzebue Sound, and are
numerous on the coast of Southeastern Alaska, bordering the Pacific. In winter they are usually
discovered in the tree-tops, sometimes in a spruce, but usually in a cottonwood or birch.

Although I have traveled many days in succession, in winter, through districts where the
porcupines were known to be common I did not see one alive, nor did I see any tracks which
could be referred with certainty to them. From this negative evidence I came to the con-
clusion that they must be very quiet at this season.

The Indians and Eskimo are very fond of its flesh, and, with the exception of the wolverine,
are its only enemies. When the former capture one they singe it thoroughly over the fire and so
dispose of the spines, tbus rendering the removal of the skin an easy matter.

Mus DECUMANUS Pallas. Common Rat.

Biographical notes—The House Rat is less numerous and not so widely spread in the Terri-
tory as is the common mouse. They are unknown north of the Aleutian Islands, and only occur
there at Unalaska, where they sometimes get ashore from ships. These stragglers are soon
disposed of by means of trap or gun, so that none are resident there. In Southeastern Alaska
they have become resident in considerable numbers at Kadiak and Sitka and probably at other
more recent towns in that part of the Territory.

Mus Muscutvus Linn. Common Mouse.

Biographical notes.—This well-known species has been imported into the Territory, and is
common at Sitka, Kadiak, Unalaska, aud the Fur Seal Islands. They are unknown at Saint
Michaels and along the Yukon and other interior points, where their places are filled by the
native species. They are more or less common in all of the towns occupied by white men in the
southeastern part of the Territory.
MAMMALS. - Dib

ARVICOLA RIPARIUS BOREALIS (Rich.). Little Northern Meadow Mouse (Esk. A/’-
tslin-tik).

If the small. northern meadow mouse is to be recognized as a subspecies of Arvicola riparius,
all the specimens in this collection may safely be included init. Dr. Coues gives 4.43 inches as the
average length of the head and body of the specimens of A. riparius from the Eastern United States
which he examined. Of twenty-five skins of individuals, apparently adult, in this collection, the
head and body of nine (Series A) measure 3 inches and less; of fourteen (Series B), more than 3 inches
and less than 3.5 inches; and of two (Series C), more than 3.50 inches and less than 4inches. The
average length of the tail-vertebree of eight of the nine specimens first mentioned is .99 inch, and of
twenty-three specimens out of the whole series, 1.10 inch. Dr. Coues’s average for the same meas-
urement in his series of eastern specimens is 1.59.

In Series A the color is light, and the specimens exhibit a decided uniformity. In Series B
and C the color is somewhat darker, but the variation is not great.

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 
   
  
 
 
  
 
   
 
  

 

 

,
pea Vollecier Locality. Date. Remarks.
Series A.
13573 104,22 of . 25,1879} Skin and skull.
13583 107,23 o . 25,1879 Do.
14367 105 cs . 25,1879 | Skin.
14368 106,26 of . 25,1879 | Skin and skull.
14369 109,20 . 25,1879 Do.
1437: 121, 81 . —, 1879 Do.
14379 122, 85 » —, 1879 Do.
14880 123, 82 oe + —, 1879 Do.
14502). [eecswnneanna |acmeswaneoeoe tenance sae teucinsa? ee
Series Band C.
13037 4 Saint Michaels. ...}.........-.-.. Skin.
13574 108;30 fo} se CO sceceessecccs Oct. 25,1879] Skin and skull.
13576 126, 94 Sisiged sae . 10,1879 Do.
13579 117, 45 +-+-d0... (oiac| lacewaceae 2 Do.
13582 160, 273 . 10, 1880 Do.
13922 58 . —, 1879 | Skin.
14366 102, 27 . 25,1879 | Skin and skull.
14370 112, 40 (*) Do.
14371 113, 41 (*) Do.
143872 114, 42 (*) Do.
14373 115, 43 i) Do.
(*) Do.
«) Do.
(*) Do.
(*) Do.
. —,1879| Skull.
. —, 1881} Skin and skull.
—, 1879 Do.
Skull.
(*) Do.
(*) Do.
(*) Do.
(*) Do.
-| Jan. —, 1880} Skin aud skull.

 

 

 

 

 

* Winter of 1878-'79.

Biographical notes.—The present species is abundant and widely spread over all of the Alaskan
mainland, and also upon many of the Aleutian Islands and the rocky islands in Bering Straits.
A large number of specimens were brought me from the Upper Yukon, and others from N ulato,
Aunvik, Kotlik, and other places onthe Lower Yukon and from the Kuskoquim River. I also found
them numerous about the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean from the mouth of the Kus-
koquim River to Cape Lisburne.

It is the most common mouse in the Territory, and is abundant everywhere except upon some
of the Bering Sea Islands, among which the Fur Seal group may be included.

When winter approaches they gather stores of small bulbous roots, sometimes secreting a peck
or more in one place. These stores are usually hidden just under the moss on a small knoll or
under the base of a large grassy tussock.

The Eskimo women and children search for these hiding places with a pointed stick just before
winter sets in, and sometimes secure a considerable amount of theroots, which are boiled and eaten
276 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

as a delicacy. When boiled these roots have much of the taste of a boiled unripe sweet potato,
and are very pleasing to the palate after the long abstinence from fresh vegetables one necessarily
undergoes while living in the north.

During the winters when the snow remains on the ground from fall until spring compara-
tively few mice come about the houses until spring, when they are always numerous there. At
intervals there comes @ winter in which, during December or January, there is a thaw, and melts
off all the snow. The water then percolates into all their burrows and storehouses, and the suc-
ceeding severe cold freezes everything solid for the remainder of the winter. This leaves the little
fellows without shelter or store with which to meet the remaining cold months. They are then
eaten by foxes and other animals, and many are frozen, while scores of them swarm about the
trading-posts and native villages.

Their skins are used by the native children to make blankets and clothing for dolls, and the
little boys make toy traps in which they snare them just as their fathers take larger animals.

These mice are omnivorous, and when two or more are confined in the same box the stronger
usually kill and partly devour the weaker ones the first night.

The specimens of Arvicola from the vicinity of Saint Michaels were, as a rule, smaller and a
shade lighter colored than those from the Yukon region, and these peculiarities seemed to hold
good all along the coast of Bering Sea wherever I saw specimens. This difference was so marked
that I noted it in my field-book, and I am of the opinion that a careful comparison of specimens
will result in separating the meadow mouse of the barren coast region of Bering Sea and the Arctic
from that of the wooded interior and British America.

In Mr. True’s accompanying tabular arrangement of the specimens obtained by me he notes
this variation, and his ‘Series A” represents the Bering Sea form, while the ‘Series B and ©”
represent the common interior form, some of which are also tound with the others along the coast;
but I did not see any examples of the small coast form from interior localities.

EVOTOMYS RUTILUS (Pallas). Red-backed Mouse (Esk. A/’-tslin-tk).

Dr. Coues gives 3.33 inches as the average length of head and body in a series of sixty-seven
individuals of this species from Arctic regions. Sixteen skins in the collection under review give
an average of 3.2 inches, which approximates very closely to the same.

J The average length of tail-vertebre in Dr. Coues’s series was “hard upon 1.10 inches.” In
our series we determine it to be 1.05 inches. The largest skin has a length of 3.8 inches and the

smallest of 2.8 inches.
List of specimens.

 

Collector’s No.
Se ———————| Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.
number. | skin. | Skull.

 

13577 87 21) of | Saint Michaels, Alaska...| Oct. 26,1879; Skin and skull.
13581 Nov. —, 1879 Do.
14351 Oct. 26,1879 Do.
--| Oct. 26, 1879 Do.
--| Oct. 26, 1879 Do.
--| Oct. 26,1879 Do.
--| Oct. 26, 1879 Do.
--| Oct. 26,1879 Do.

Skin.
Skin and skull.
kin.
Skin and skull.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Skin.

Skull.
Skin.

  
   
 
 
  

14352
14353
14354
14355
14356

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—-This is the prettiest species of mouse found in the north, and is common
and widely distributed over nearly all of the Alaskan mainland. From the mouth of the Kusko-
quim north to Kotzebue Sound along the coast and throughout the interior it is every where numcr-
ous, as is attested by the specimens obtained by me and by the numbers of their skins 1 saw
among the native children during my sledge journeys.
MAMMALS. 277

So far as I was able to learn their habits are almost identical with those of Arvicola, with
which they are associated. They lay up stores of roots for winter, cover the barren tundras with a
network of tunnel-like passages, and are driven in severe seasons to find refuge and food about
the trading-posts and the native villages. They are found in about equal numbers with the arvi-
colas, and, like the latter, are omnivorcus, and will destroy one another when confined together.
None of these mice were obtained by the Point Barrow party, and the bleak barrens along the
extreme north coast are doubtless very rarely, if at all, frequented by them.

MYODES OBENSIS Brants. Lemming (Esk. Ki-lig-d-mi-i-tth).

List of specimens,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

: |
poe ie Skin. | Skull. | Sex. Locality. ! Date. Rewarks.
13580 159 272 | jv. Bala Michaels ...| Nov. 10,1880 | Skin and skull.
14389 125 84 | jv. 3 pO vikos we K-atereieis Noy. —, 1879 Do.
\

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This hardy little animal ranges over all of the Alaskan mainland except
along the heavily-wooded northeastern extremity. They are found, also, more or less commonly
upon nearly or quite all of the Aleutian Islands, and are abundant upon Saint George Island, but
are unknown on Saint Paul, the adjacent and largest of the Fur Seal Islands. They are also found
on Nunevak, Saint Lawrence, and the Bering Straits Islands. They are abundant on the penin-
sula of Aliaska, and thence north around the entire northern coast of the Territory. In the interior
also they are found in all of the moss-covered open country forming the Arctic barrens or tundra.
Although numerous in most localities where the ground is sufficiently dry, they are particularly
abundant in some districts. Sanak and Saint George Islands are covered with a network of their
runways. On the mainland also scattered centers of abundance are found, but these vary from
year to year. Lemmings are inconspicuous and not often seen even when one is traveling over a
country where they are very numerous. At long intervals they appear in large numbers, making
one of their strange migrations, and are accompanied by hawks, owls, and various predatory mam-
mals, all uniting in the destruction of the travelers.

The Eskimo told me of an instance of this which took place not many years ago, and said
that the Snowy Owls were very abundant all the following winter, and nested very commonly
along the coast about Saint Michaels the following spring. Like the arvicolas the Lemmings lay
up stores of small bulbous roots for winter use.

Several were brought me alive at Saint Michaels and were kept as pets for some time. They
were very amusing, inoffensive little creatures, and from the first allowed me to handle them freely
without attempting to bite. They were confined in a deep tin box and made almost incessant ef-
forts to escape. Whenever I extended one finger near the bottom of their box they would stand
erect on their hind legs and try to reach it with their fore-paws. Ifsuccessful they would climb up
into my hand, and from it to my shoulder without a sign of haste or fear, but with odd curiosity
kept their noses continually sniffing and peered at everything with their bright bead-like eyes.
They were very expert in walking upon their hind legs, taking short steps and remaining erect a
considerable length of time if anything above their heads interested them. I often held my finger
just out of their reach and they would stand up, and in trying to reach it would make little leaps
up, sometimes clearing the floor half an inch.

When eating they held their food in their fore-paws. Like the arvicolas they are omnivorous,
and in winter frequently come about the houses. The Eskimo children use their skins for doll
clothing and blankets. On the islands of Bering Straits their skins were particularly numerous
among the children.

This species is abundant about Point Barrow and along the most barren parts of the Arctie

coast of the Territory.
278 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

CUNICULUS TORQUATUS (Pallas). White Lemming (Esk. Ki-lég-d-mi-i-tikit).

List of specimens.

 

anon dete ae Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.

 

 

 

 

13888 561 S | Lower Yukon..........--. January, 1879..... Winter skin.

14988 | cooeesece se elasiwed | esoncex meine sssouessapgesees etbectancte therchandiaieeciatetatels Do.

13889 57 | Q | Lower Yukon..... --.| January, 1879..... Do.

18035 Bul ectces Fort Yukon ... ---| Summer of 1877 ...| Summer skin.

14386 148 | .... | Sledge Island.. wee[e--eeeeeeeeseee-ee- | Four spring huater’s-skins.
weiner 280 iat esehfherd aerate atsietesietot ciate 54131 lersicicia oisjerarersicisievearaye’e|| DO EUALLE
eee ; ise ......| Saint Michaels............| April 10,1880 .....] Skull and skin.

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The distribution of this species is very nearly the same as that of the
common lemming, except that it does not occur along the southern part of the latter’s range. It
is unknown also upon the Aleutian and Fur Seal Islands. On Saint Lawrence and the Bering
Straits Islands and adjacent coasts itis very common. From the mouth of the Kuskoquim River
north to the extreme Arctic shore of the Territory, and from Bering Straits to the British boundary
line, it occurs more or less commonly, according to the locality.

Specimens were brought me by the fur traders from above Fort Yukon and from Nulato,
Anvik, and Kotlik, along the course of the Yukon, and also from the Kaviak Peninsula and about
Kotzebue Sound. A few were taken near Saint Michaels, but they were not numerous there. They
are more plentiful about Bering Straits than any other district visited by me, if the number of their
skins among the native children can be taken as a guide.

The children about the straits had hundreds of their skins in both summer and winter far,
about equally divided. About Saint Michaels they are much less abundant than the common lem-
ming and they rarely came about the houses. Murdoch found them very common at Point Bar-
row, where their habits were the same as those of the common lemming.

The Norton Sound Eskimo have an odd superstition that the White Lemming lives in the land
beyond the stars and that it sometimes comes down to the earth, descending in a spiral course
during snow-storms. I have known old men to insist that they had seen them coming down. Mr.
Murdoch records this same belief as existing among the Point Barrow Eskimo.

FIBER ZIBETHICUS (Linn.). Muskrat (Esk. T-lig-ai-awih).

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 

 

\ 1g |
ate | Comers & Sex. Locality. Date. | Remarks. |
| |
13021 6 | Juv. of | Saint Michaels ........... December, 1877 .--| Skin.
iepseneeed 66 |.....----.| Kotzebue Sound ....-..-..).....-.--.......-.-.| Black skin.
2 Daeeseeeis 53,69 | ...-..---| Saint Michaels.....-......) Fall of 1879 .......| Seventeen skulls.
{

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The distribution in Alaska of the Muskrat and the Mink is the same.
Wherever bogs and ponds or running water occurs, except along the extreme northern coast line,
they may be found more or less commonly. The marshy country between the Lower Yukon and
Kuskoquim Rivers is their place of greatest abundance, although they are almost equally common
about Selawik Lake, near the head of Kotzebue Sound, and up the Nunatog River. Their habits
in the north are the same as those of their kind living in lower latitudes, except that in the north
they are forced to endure the severe winters and remain under their icy covering for six or more
months each year. They share the sluggish streams and the countless pools and lakes of the
tundra with the ink, which they outnumber.

From the slight market value ef their skins they are not sought by the fur traders at present,
but their abundance may be estimated from the fact that over 25,000 of their skins were obtained
yearly by the fur traders about the Yukon delta some years ago when their skins were a market-
able commodity. Like the mink they are equally numerous in the fresh-water streams and ponds
of the interior or in the tide creeks and brackish pools of the marshy country bordering Bering

Sea.
MAMMALS. 2798

They occur upon the peninsula of Aliaska, and Nunevak and Saint Michaels Islands, but are
not found upon any of the other islands of Bering Sea. Like the mink they are trapped in small
steel traps or in wicker fish-traps, and many are speared from canoes or shot with pronged arrows.

Their skins are used for making fur clothing and blankets or robes, and are only bought by the
fur traders for the purpose of bartering them off in other localities for marketable furs. Among
the many thousands of their skins seen by me there were only a very few albinos. Melanistic
individuals were much more common, but were mainly taken in certain districts. South of the
Yukon black Muskrats are very rare, but near the head of this river and about Selawik Lake a
number of black skins are taken each year. An average of twenty-five or thirty such skins were
obtained each year during my residence at Saint Michaels.

CASTOR FIBER Linn. Beaver (Esk. Piil-ol-ték).

List of specimens.

 

 

 

 

1 i

| museum Collector's ; |
flimbers|: wumber. Locality. ' Date. Remarks.
| |
| 14993 |... , | eee, scien ere NEE eens Jiscidingiearetumyaecies Skin.
| ae 447 | TORAUH DUVEP wesivaennioee guaales sewer eneeERS Feetal.
| Stace [3 204... Mowicoesccsiea he ahh ceegeccee | Spring of 1380... Skull.

u ‘ 1

 

 

Biograpnical notes.—The range of this species covers all of the mainland of Alaska excepting
only the belt of barren coast country bordering the Arctic Ocean from Point Hope north, and
east to the British line. From the peninsula of Aliaska north to Bering Straits they are only
occasional visitors at present to the immediate vicinity of the sea-coast, although they were
formerly very common in the streams and ponds a few miles back from tide water, and are still
taken there in small numbers.

During my residence at Saint Michaels two Beavers were killed on the salt marshes between
there and the Yukon mouth. One of them was speared in a tide creek close to the sea, and the
other was taken in a brackish pond. Such cases are now rare and only include stray individuals.

The clear streams of the interior, bordered by alders and willows, and the numerous lakes
and ponds are their favorite resorts. As a rule the large streams are avoided, owing to the great
change in level they are subject to at different seasons. The wooded portion of Northern Alaska
may be taken as covering the area in which the Beaver is most numerous, and beyond the tree-
limits they become Jess and less common as the forest is left further behind.

Being one of the most valuable fur-bearing animals of the Territory, the Beaver has been
hunted with such vigor, particularly since the American occupation of the country, that at present
its numbers are very much diminished and are becoming less each year.

The continued pursuit by the natives is the main factor in this decrease, but one or two excep-
tionally unfavorable winters within the last ten or fifteen years have aided in their destruction.

During one winter in particular. the snow melted suddenly in midwinter, and, flooding the low
ground and raising the streams, drowned large numbers of them in their houses or under the ice.
Then the wolverines dug into the tops of some of their houses and killed some, and during the
succeeding cold weather the water froze in their houses and filled them so full of ice that the
Beavers were made prisoners and starved, or were shut out from their shelter and food supply.

The year immediately following such a winter shows a very marked falling off in the yield of
‘beaver skins, according to the fur traders.. In autumn the beavers gather a large store of willow
and alder twigs and sticks for winter use and strengthen their dome-shaped houses so as to render
them more habitable during the cold months. Old beaver meadows or flats, with ruins of the dams
and domed houses, are not uncommon throughout the interior, though one of present occupation is
much more rarely found.

The natives, both Indian and Eskimo, catch Beavers in steel traps set at a frequented
spot, or shoot them from a concealed place near their house or dam. In winter they often cut a
square piece from the top of a house, giving a view of the interior, and then run a slender stick
into the chamber, with one end projecting. The earth is then replaced over the hole, and spear in
hand the hunter awaits the return of the Beaver. The motion of the stick tells when the animals
280 NATURAL HiSTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

have returned, and throwing aside the cover the hunter spears one of the Beavers. If the one
nearest the exit is struck the passage is blocked and the others are easily killed. In this way
sometimes all of the occupants of a house, numbering a half dozen or so, are taken.

Another and very strange way of hunting them is sometimes practiced on the Lower Yukon.
As wiater advances and all of the lakes are covered with a heavy layer of ice, some of the small
ponds drain away so that a sheet of ice covers the empty bed of the pond like a flat roof. The
hunters cut a hole through the ice, and if beaver tracks are seen in the mud on the bottom, they
také stout clubs and descend under the ice in search of the animals. The house is usually at one
end of the lake, and the poor animals are soon routed therefrom. They are then pursued over the
floor of their icy prison and brained by the hunter. The peculiar conditions required for this
work, and the danger of the icy covering falling in upon the hunter, render this style of hunting
rather uncommon.

The natives of Eastern Siberia prize the fur of the Beaver very highly for trimming their fur
clothing, precisely as the Alaskan Eskimo prize the fur of the wolverine. As a consequence a
large number of Alaskan beaver-skins are taken across Bering Straits every summer by the Eskimo
and traded to the Chukchees for the skins of the tame reindeer, which are much finer and make
more durable clothing than the skins of the wild reindeer.

The Siberian natives come for several hundred miles in the interior to be at the annual meet-
ings, which occur at Bering Straits for this purpose.

Even before the discovery and occupation of Alaska by the Russians, this intercontinental
trade existed, and various articles of Siberian produce or trade were carried across the straits and
highly prized by the Eskimo.

Among the fur traders of British America the beaver-skin has long served as the unit of trade,
and one skin (or 25 cents in value) refers to the former value of a beaver-skin. Opposition and the
growing scarcity of the beaver now renders a beaver-skin more valuable.

In Alaska the unit of trade called ‘‘a skin” is the pelt of a marten or American Sable.

Castoreum was an article of commerce some years ago, but is not collected at present. There
is official record of nearly half a million beaver-skins being shipped from Alaska since it was oc-
cupied by the Russians, but this is far below the actual number.

SCIURUS HUDSONIUS HUDSONIUS (Pallas). Red Squirrel (Esk. Ki/-gu-tk).

This, the common squirrel of Alaska, is represented in the collection by a series of eleven
skins, having the normal coloration with one exception. This latter specimen was taken with a
number of the others at Fort Reliance, September 17, 1878. The color of the back, instead of
being tawny, approaches Indian red, and there is a tinge of this color over all the upper parts.
A similar color obtains in S. gerrardi, but in that species it is far deeper and more fiery. Two
additional specimens depart from the normal coloration of S. hudsonius, and belong to the variety
of that species next mentioned.

List of specimens.

 

Museum | Collector’s

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
    

‘atim bor: Sai bor: Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.

13012 UT) Sh Nulatoscovcerscack ceceweze se January, 1878....... Skin.

13013 21 Sed i heaiatatate iors wteteis aia ater ctccas isl etaleie aio ejels re rone Sioamiormeniard eles 10.
13015 38) o& | Nulato........ ---| Spring, 1878 ........ Do.
13906 69 2 | Fort Reliance .-.| October 16, 1878 .... Do.
13907 M0. |, Qe beceiiae do scsee55 ---| October 15, 1878 .... Do.
13908 TL | QD lasewes do --.| October 16, 1878 .... Do.
13909 2) | Qe sare do -| September 12, 1878.. Do.
13910 938 | QO lesesxd do.. ---| September 17, 1878.. Do.
13911 74 Or hese lace 0G Sictichtoccaecisaseswseslnestes DOisccivncisiwsicrce Do.

Skin and skull.

Skull.
Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
MAMMALS. 281

Biographical notes.—Every where on the Alaskan mainland, north of the main range of the
Alaskan mountains, and where spruce or other trees are found, this pretty squirrel abounds. It
reaches the shore of Bering Sea at the head of Norton Sound and is found near Bering Straits
on the Kaviak Peninsula. It approaches the Arctic coast near the head of Kotzebue Sound, and
in the interior extends its range north to the extreme limit of the forest in about latitude 69°.

Specimens were brought me from the headwaters of the Yukon and from various points along
its course to the delta. They are very common about Nulato, and also upon the headwaters of
the Kuskoquim. From Andraevsky up to Anvik,on the Lower Yukon, I found them common every-
where, and their tracks, leading from tree to tree, were found wherever I went, while the snow was
frequently covered with scattered chips and scales from cones which they had rattled down from
their perches. Skins from this region vary but little from those taken in New England or other
parts of its range far to the south.

Their habits are the same everywhere. The most intense cold of the northern winter does
not keep them in their nests more than a day or two at a time.

SCIURUS HUDSONIUS RICHARDSONI (Bachman). Richardson’s Chickaree (Esk. 7‘/-

 

 

gu-tk).
List of specimens.
,
pasta ee 8 | Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.
13914 22 g NU AtOitss sie vsecscueniesiones | Sreee dense Soeainelte yee Skin.
13916 39) oo leases G0: ons yAvan seen cseneae da Spring, 1878.. ...... Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—Beyond the fact that my collection contains two specimens of this form
from Nulato, on the Lower Yukon, I know nothing of the distribution of this squirrel in Northern
Alaska.

SPERMOPHILUS EMPETRA EMPETRA (Pallas). Parry’s Spermophile (Esk. Chi’.gik’).

In addition to several skins of the normal coloration, a melanistic individual was obtained at
Fort Yukon in the summer of 1877. The under parts in this specimen are black throughout.
The central line of the back is also black, but the shoulders, the sides of the neck, and the tail
are gray, owing to the admixture of hairs having a subterminal bar of white.

List of specimens.

 

 

ee or sete Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.
peadeemmem et 162 |......| Kotzebue Sound ............| Summer, 1880 .-...) Skin and skull.
13022 18 |....-. Norton Sound.............-- Summer of 1877...| Skin.
13023 D4 hice ois Fort Yukon........--.------ arasang CL Oncislseiees ainreisiarars Do.*
13269 | { HER) | Cape Norne.....-.-+e-eee-+: 1879. ...202.2..--.| Skin.
13020 Pa eee Norton Sound..............- Summer of 1877... Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Melanistic.

Biographical notes.—From the peninsula of Aliaska and Unimak, the easternmost of the Aleutian
Islands, north along the coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean to Point Barrow, and occupying
a belt extending back from the coast, this little animal is irregularly abundant. Its distribution
over this area is very unequal, and while it may cover all of the hill-sides in one district, not a
single individual can be found in another place which is apparently just as well suited to their
wants. Usually it is plentiful wherever found, but the coast-line about the northern shore of
Norton Sound and Bering Straits is particularly favored by them.

Their handsomely-mottled gray and buffy-brown skins are much prized by the Eskimo and
Indians for making light summer coats, and as a consequence the marmots are hunted by them in
282 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

poy

various ways. Many thousands of them are killed each year to supply the demand, but their
numbers do not appear to lessen. Their skins are an important article of intertribal barter.

When the snow is nearly gone—toward the end of May, and sometimes earlier—they come out
of their holes and run about over the snow until it is covered with a network of runways. At
this time the hunters snare them in great numbers by meansof a strong green stick oneend of which
is planted firmly in the snow and the other bent over and fastened by means of a trigger and sinew
noose. The noose is stretched across the runway and the first passing marmot gets his head into
it, springs the trigger, and is swung into the air, where he remains until the hunter makes his
round. Each trapper has many of these snares, and on some days many marmots are taken.

When these animals first come out of their burrows in spring their fur is full, soft, and of a
clear grayish cast, but. exposure to the glare of the sun. and snow bleaches it so rapidly that in
ten days, or thereabouts, it becomes a dingy reddish brown and is very harsh and brittle.

In the summer of 1881 I found them abundant on the hills overlooking the Arctic Ocean from
Kotzebue Sound to Cape Lisburne, and Murdoch found them at Point Barrow. Their habits are
similar to those of their allies farther south. They burrow in colonies on the hill-sides and rarely
wander far from home, but always appear ready to dive into the shelter of the earth at the first
alarm. They are also abundant upon the Siberian side of Bering Straits, and upon the hill where
we planted our flag on Wrangel Island were many of their burrows. They are found at intervals
throughout the interior, always frequenting bare, open hill-sides and never occupying wooded
places. Their distribution in the interior is as irregular as it is on the coast, and large districts
may not have an individual in it while an adjacent district swarms with them. There are none
about Saint Michaels or the Yukon delta.

ARCTOMYS PRUINOSUS Gmelin. Hoary Marmot, Whistler.

Biographical notes—The fur traders brought me a few skins of this species from the Upper
Yukon, where they are rather common. They were reported to frequent rocky and rather hilly or
mountainous country along the headwaters of the Yukon, and are fond of basking on jutting
ledges over streams.

The fur traders call them ‘whistlers” from their habit of uttering a shrill whistle when
alarmed. The natives of the Kuskoquim Valley obtain many of their skins from the Alaskan
range, where they report them to be abundant.

The Whistler is found in these mountains nearly to the coast of Bering Sea, but does not
elsewhere approach the coast north of the peninsula of Aliaska. At Kotzebue Sound I sawa
great many of their skins made up into clothing and worn by the Eskimo from the headwaters
of the Kowak and Nunatog Rivers. These people reported them to be abundant there among the
hills in about latitude 68°.

OVIS CANADENSIS DALLI Nelson. Dali's Mountain Sheep (Esk. Ph-nik).

This variety of the Mountain Sheep was described by Mr. Nelson in the Proceedings of the
National Museum, vii, 1884, p. 12, under the name of Ovis montana dalli. It appears, however, as
has been recently pointed out, that Shaw’s name, OV. canadensis, which was used in 1802, has prece-
dence over Cuvier’s 0. montana, and necessarily supplants the latter. The trinomial proper to
Dall’s sheep is, therefore, 0. canadensis dalli. Mr. Nelson’s diagnosis (I. ¢.) is as follows:

This form can be recognized at once by its nearly uniform dirty-white color, the light-colored rump area seen
in typical montana being entirely uniform with the rest of the body in dalli. The dinginess of the white over the
entire body and limbs appears to be almost entirely due to the ends of the hairs being commonly tipped with a dull
rusty speck. On close examination this tipping of the hairs makes the fur look as though it had been slightly singed.

This form also has smalJler horns than its southern relatives, but how the two compare in general size and weight I
am unable to say.

Regarding the size of the two varieties it is now possible to offer some facts. The specimens
of Dall’s sheep in the present collection are the mounted skins of a male and female. There are
additional specimens in the Museum collection, from the Chigmit Mountains, collected by the late
MAMMALS. 283

Mr. C. L. McKay. They comprise a skin of an adult male and one of an adult female and the
horns and scalp of a second female. In the following table the proportions of Mr. Nelson’s speci-
mens are compared with those of a specimen of the normal variety from Montana:

 

 

 

 

 

  

on Meigen Ovis.canadensis dalli.
14517. 13266. 13265. 20786.
Measurements. 2
Montana. Fort Reliance.
o. c Q. dé.
Cm. Cm. Om.
Tip of nose to base of tail along the curves. ‘ 185. 41 162. 55 147, 32
Tip of nose to OVO ....-..--- ee eee e ee eee ae 22, 86 17.78 15. 24
Tip of nose to base of ear...........--- Si 33. 02 29, 21 24.13
Length of horn around the curves..... G7,47 83. 82 22, 86
Circumference of horn at base......... . 44,45 29, 28 13. 46
Circumference of hoof at the base....-..---.---.. 26. 67 21.08 21.59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. McKay’s specimens, from the Chigmit Mountains, present the following proportions. Nos.
13652 and 13653 are flat skins:

 

 

 

 
 

No. 13653. | No. 13652. | No. 14083.
Measurements.
o adult. Q adult. | Horns 2.
: | Cm. Cm. Cm.
Length from point between the horn-cares to base of tail .-....---..-- 139.5 UBB5 eae scjs.aececd
Length from point between the horn-cares to extremity of nose.-....)...--.----+- 480°. |eectepecnece
Length of horn around curves wie 94.5 20.0 17.5
Circumference of horn at base ....-.-.--.---.-- ase 285 lesecccceas 12.0
Distance between the points of the two horns......-...-...-.-.----+- OBO ll se siemstensinnesll erm ee dee

 

 

 

 

 

If any conclusion is warranted by these few data, it is, perhaps, that the Alaskan sheep is con-
siderably smaller than its southern relative, and that it carries to the extreme the variations in the
shape of the horn (extension and decrease in diameter at the base), observable in northern exam-
ples of the normal variety, O. canadensis (typicus).

It would be interesting to know the southern limit reached by Dall’s sheep.*

List of specimens.

 

Museum Collector's |
number. | number. |

|

 

|

Sex. Locality. | Date. | Remarks.
|
|

 
 
 

20786 Skull.

20787 Lower jaw.
13265 -.| Winter of 1879-'80 ....| Skin and skull.
138266] DA | Sf wenn dO - 2 ee eee ene eee eel e mene CO: a sesines eseqeais Do.

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—The discovery of this fine animal is one of the most valuable results of my
work in the north. It is limited to the higher mountain ranges of the Territory, except in the
extreme northern portion, within the Arctic Circle, where it ranges down nearly to the sea-level.
Following the main range of the Rocky Mountains it is found in the southeastern part of the
Territory and north along these mountains to the point where the chain swings to the west, and
along its western extension, known as the Alaskan range, it is numerous nearly to the head of
Bristol Bay. In this portion of the mountains Dall’s Sheep is found upon the Pacific slope as well
as on the northern side. I could not learn of its occurrence on the peninsula of Aliaska, although
some individuals may be found there.

 

* See a letter by Lieutenant Allen on the Ruminants of the Copper River Region in Science, vol. vii, p. 57.
284 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

Owing to the absence of suitable mountains these sheep do not occur between the Lower
Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, but inhabit the bluffs and high mountains along the Yukon above
Fort Yukon, and across to the headwaters of the Tanana and Kuskoquim Rivers.

The three type specimens, and the only ones I obtained, were brought me from some
mountains lying about 100 miles southwest of Fort Yukon. They were secured by an Indian
under the direction of Mr. L. N. McQuesten, the Alaska Commercial Company’s agent in that region.
The animals were killed in the fall and the skins hung in a tree until the following spring when
they were brought to the Yukon by boat and turned over to Mr. McQuesten, and finally into my
hands.

When the traders ascend the Yukon in July or August they frequently see some of these ani-
mals upon a rocky bluff overhanging the river above Fort Yukon, and by making a circuit and
getting above the sheep they have killed several of them there. North of the Yukon they are next
found in the Romanzoff Mountains, from which point they range west to the Kaviak Peninsula
near Bering Straits. They are also found abundantly along the courses of the Kowak and Nuna-
tog Rivers and thence northwesterly to the vicinity of the Arctic coast, near Cape Lisburne, and
elsewhere.

In August, 1881, I saw two of them some 5 or 6 miles inland from Cape Beaufort. When
first seen they were feeding on a grassy hill-side not over 600 feet above the sea-level. I ap-
proached within about 200 yards of them when a slight breeze sprang up and they winded me and
immediately ran up a ravine to the top of a low mountain and disappeared. During this season,
while cruising along this coast from Kotzebue Sound to Point Barrow, hundreds of mountain sheep-
skins were seen among the Eskimo, and when asked whence these came they always pointed
toward the head of the Nunatog River, in the interior. The Kotzebue Sound Eskimo also
claim that these sheep are very numerous up the Nunatog. All of the skins of this animal seen
by me among the Eskimo from the Kuskoquim River to the Arctic coast were of the uniform
dingy whitish color characteristic of the race. The hairs are tipped with a speck of rusty color,
which, upon close examination, gives the hairs the appearance of having been slightly singed at
the tips. On the Mackenzie River Richardson found the mountain sheep ranging down to the
delta of that stream. They were undoubtedly of the present race.

On the Siberian side of Bering Straits a species of mountain sheep is known to inhabit the
mountains back of Saint Lawrence and Plover Bays, but at the time of our visit there the natives
had none of their skins. Some of their horns that the natives had were very slender and very
similar to the horns of the Alaskan sheep, and I am inclined to think that the sheep on the two
sides of the straits will be found to be very closely related if not identical.

The horns of the sheep are made into spoons, ladles, and other articles by the Eskimo and
are highly prized. The skins are not valued so highly as those of the reindeer, owing to the hair
being coarse and brittle.

MAZAMA MONTANA (Ord). Rocky Mountain Goat.

Biographical notes.—The range of this species is limited to the main range of mountains in the
southeastern part of the Territory. A fur trader who lived a number of years on the Pacific coast,
in the district between Kadiak Island and Mount Saint Elias, told me that in some parts of the
main range, extending along the coast, the goats were rather numerous, occurring in flocks
among the cliffs and most rugged parts of the mountains. He related that in fall, when the
mountains were covered with snow, the goats were forced to a lower level, and the Indians
then hunted them very successfully. South from this district they are found all along the main
range. The fur traders who have ascended the Tauana River claim that there are mountain goats
in the high mountains about the head of that stream, which is possible, but if so, this is the
extreme northern limit of its range in Alaska.

RANGIFER TARANDUS GRCNLANDICUS (Kerr). Barren-ground Caribou, Reindeer
(Esk. Tun-tii).

Two skulls of this species were obtained, one of which, No. 21489 (223), is that of a fawn,
believed to be one year old. The basi-cranial length is 274™™, All the sutures, including the
MAMMALS. 285

occipito-sphenoidal, are plainly marked. The iast two superior and inferior molars are still con-
cealed in the alveoli.
List of specimens.

 

 

Museum | Collector’ :

maabeR. aber, S| Sex. Locality. Date. Remarks.

Saag Bees 5 2 Unalakleet ..-.........-..| Winter of 1880......| Skull.
21489 223 JUVs icceee LO iicjechurars sine siaralsteiais Winter of 1879~-’80 .. Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This deer, as its name implies, is found on the vast barrens or tundras of
Arctic America. Where miles of moss-covered plains, broken by rolling hills or bare, rugged mount-
ains, with marshes and ponds in the hollows, characterize the landscape in the far north, this
Reindeer is almost certain to be found, or to have been an inhabitant of the district only a
few years ago. In Alaska they are found along the Pacific coast from a point nearly opposite Ka-
diak Island west to the island of Unimak, and thence all around the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea
and the Arctic, in the treeless belt which borders all of this coast line. It is also numerous on
Nunevak Island, but on none of the other Bering Sea islands is it found. They also occur through-
out the interior of the Territory at various places, where the bush and tree covered areas give
place to open plains and sterile ridges.

When the American Telegraph explorers visited Alaska in 1866~’67, Reindeer were found
everywhere, and herds containing thousands of individuals were no uncommon sight. They were
very abundant on the bills and valleys bordering upon Norton Sound, but to-day their former
abundance is indicated only by the number of antlers scattered over the country and the well.
marked trails worn on the hill-sides or leading across the valleys, showing where they passed from
ove feeding-ground to another.

When the Americans first obtained control of the Territory fire-arms were unknown among
the natives, and when first the natives obtained guns they kept the traders supplied with
meat at the rate of two charges of powder and ball for a deer. One winter, just preceding the
transfer of the Territory, an enormous herd of Reindeer passed so near Saint Michaels that a
6-pounder loaded with buckshot was fired at them, killing and wounding a numberof them. As
soon as fire-arms were introduced among the people they began to slaughter the deer with true
aboriginal improvidence. Hundreds were killed for their skins alone, and nearly as many more
were shot down and left untouched, merely for the pleasure of killing.

In the course of a few years this indiscriminate slaughter began to tell, and during the years
I passed at Saint Michaels and in exploring the country in which they were so abundant formerly,
I failed to see a single living Reindeer. I saw their tracks a few times during my sledge journeys,
and each fall and winter from two toa dozen were killed within 50 miles of Saint Michaels. They
were very abundant on Nunevak Island in 1877 and 1878, but are nearly exterminated there now.

Eskimo from over a hundred miles along the coast in each direction went to Nunevak in sum-
mer, and, in company with the natives resident on the island, took thousands of adult skins for
several seasons, until they suddenly found that Reindeer were not lett in sufficient numbers to
pay for hunting.

Reindeer are still very numerous on the peninsula of Aliaska and the adjacent district, but a
few winters since many of them died from some contagious disease, and I am told that they are
becoming scarcer every year there. They are still abundant also in the district about the head of
the Kowak River and on the extensive barrens to the east and west of there, reaching to the Arctic
coast. The Eskimo of the coast and the Indians of the interior are hunting them so murderously
from two sides that it is only a question of a short time until they will be as scarce there as they
are elsewhere.

In the summer of 1880 one man from Point Barrow took about five hundred skins, and many
others took nearly as large a number. Only a few stragglers now remain on the Kaviak Peninsula
and in the country between the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers.

Where these deer are numerous they have a habit of migrating from one district to another at
uncertain times and for no apparent reason, so that a place where they are plentiful one season may
286 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

only have a few of them the next. The fall is usually the time for this movement, and they gener-
ally advance against the wind. Their sense of smell is very acute, and they are thus warned of
danger ahead. ‘They follow their leader in a long irregular file, and are like a lot of sheep in their
blind determination to continue in his footsteps, even in the face of an enemy.

One ingenious method the Eskimo practice in hunting them is as follows: When two natives
find a herd of Reindeer they get to the leeward of them, and then if no cover offers a good oppor-
tunity for stalking the game, the hunters start off directly for the deer, and in plain sight, except
that one hunter walks as close behind the other as possible, keeping step with him. The deer soon
spy them and start to make a wide circuit about the hunters. The latter now swerve from their
course just enough to appear to be continually heading off the deer. The latter soon change their
walk to a trot and from this to a run, as the hunters still appear to be heading them off. As soon
as the deer start to run the rear hunter drops behind the first knoll, and the one in front runs to
head the deer off, but they soon pass him, and are almost certain to pass within gunshot of the
concealed hunter, and sometimes almost run over him before they see him, they are watching the
other one so closely. The concealed hunter now fires into them and the other hunter hides himself
at once, and the chances are greatly in favor of the frightened herd running within gunshot of
him. Several deer are frequently killed in this way out éf a small herd.

Strong fences are sometimes built across the lower end of a rocky gorge which opens into a
valley above, and then a drive is made when a herd wanders into the valley. In this way several
hundred are known to have been takenat once. Ina case of this kind, every deer that is inclosed
is killed, although only a fraction of the number can be utilized. They are also snared by strong
rawhide nooses which are set among clumps of bushes frequented by them so that their antlers
become entangled while browsing, and they are held until the hunter comes.

About the headwaters of the Yukon the Indians build a wide Y-shaped fence with a pound or
inclosure at the small end into which they make successful drives whenever the deer are suffi-
ciently numerous.

When Mz. Dall came down the Yukon in the spring of 1867, he saw over four thousand skins
of reindeer fawns hanging up in a village near Anvik, and at present scarcely half a dozen deer,
old and young, are taken yearly in that district.

The skins ‘ikea in summer are valued at about one dollar each among the fur trailer, who
buy them in one part of the country and trade them for furs in other parts. The summer skins
are softer and have finer fur than the winter skins, and are, consequently, more in demand for fur
clothing. Winter skins have long, coarse, and brittle fur, and the skin itself is heavier and of a
poorer quality than those taken during the summer months. Summer skins are covered with
dark-brown fur, sometimes shaded with dark chestnut, while the winter fur is brownish-gray with
the light color predominating. The fawns in spring are covered with a pretty coat of yellowish,
or buffy fawn color.

Reindeer flesh is fine grained and slightly dry, but betfer than ordinary deer meat.

So far as I could learn, none of these animals are, or ever have been, domesticated on the
Awerican side of Bering Straits. On the Asiatic side of the straits, up to the very water-line, the
people estimate the wealth of themselves or neighbors by the size of their reindeer herds, and the
people who, from lack of these, are forced to live in villages on the coast and to subsist on the prod-
uct of the sea, are looked upon as an inferior class, of but little consequence. In rare instances
melanistic skins of the wild deer were seen, but none were seen showing any signs of albinism.
This is a little singular, when white and piebald deer are so common among the tame herds across
the straits.

RANGIFER TARANDUS CARIBOU (Kerr). Woodland Reindeer; Caribou.

Biographical notes—The fur traders of the Upper Yukon frequently told me of a reindeer
which frequented the wooded country about the headwaters of that stream, and which was larger
and darker than the deer found on the barrens and along the coast country. The only evidence I
ever saw to corroborate this consisted of a number of summer skins which the traders from the
Upper Yukon had with them and were using for beds
MAMMALS. 287

These skins were very noticeably larger (by about one-third) than the skins of the deer taken
on the coast, and agreed in being uniformly much darker than skins of the barren-ground reindeer.
This form undoubtedly largely, if not entirely, replaces the barren-ground reindeer in the wooded
country about the head of the Yukon, and perhaps on the extreme upper part of the Kuskoquim.
I could learn nothing of its habits, except that it frequents the wooded country, like the moose.
This is the form found on the wooded Pacific slope about Kenai Peninsula, according to Petroff.

ALCES AMERICANUS Jardine. Moose (Esk. Tun-tié wk).

Biographical notes—Being pre-eminently a woodJand species, this fine animal is unknown upon
any of the Aleutian or Bering Sea Islands, and the Yukon mouth is the only point where it ever
approaches the shore of Bering Sea. It is unknown near the Arctic coast, but may occur on the
Pacific slope of the Alaskan Mountains, in the Cook’s Inlet and Copper River district. North of
the Alaskan range of mountains, which closely follows the Pacific shore line, the Moose is a well-
known animal throughout the interior wherever the spruce and white birch forests occur. They
range to the tree limit in latitude 69° and from Bering Sea at the Yukon mouth to the British
boundary line. They are more common along the large water-courses, where the heaviest forests
are found, than elsewhere, and they are most numerous about the headwaters of the Yukon and
Kuskoquim Rivers. They lead a roaming life, and where they may be numerous one season none
are found the next.

The fur traders and Indians claim that the Moose has been found west of Fort Yukon only

‘within the last twenty-five or thirty years, and that only within the last ten years have they been
killed below Anvik and Mission, on the Lower Yukon.

A tew years ago a single Moose was shot in the Yukon delta close to the sea, which is the
only record I have of its occurrence so far to the west. During the winters of 1879, 1880, and 1881
moose were numerous from Paimut to Mission, on the Lower Yukon, and the Eskimo living there
killed a number of them, although they afterwards were in fear of the Indians living higher up
the river. They dreaded the vengeance of the Indians, as the Moose is considered as belonging
to their territory. It is possible that the claims of the natives are true, and that the Moose has
extended its range to the northwest within the last few decades, since the southeastern part of
its range has become more and more restricted. This animal also occurs in Eastern Siberia, but
does not reach the vicinity of the straits, owing to the lack of forests there.

During the summer months the Moose is rarely hunted in the forest, but is occasionally killed
on the banks of the larger streams or while swimming across them. In winter they wander about
from place to place, eating the tender twigs from the cottonwoods, white birches, and willows,
until the increasing depth of snow forces them to unite in small herds of varying size on the best
feeding-ground, and thus make a “yard,” where they may be easily stalked. They rarely unite
in this manner until 3 or 4 feet of snow has fallen. During some seasons they never “yard”
at all, and when spring approaches or a very heavy snowfall occurs they are at the mercy of the
hunter who strikes their trail. In spring the warm days settle the top of the snow, and a cold
spell following forms a heavy crust on the snow—strong enough to bear a man, but through which
the moose breaks at every step. Under such circumstances the hunters easily run the huge
animal down and spear or shoot it.

After a very heavy snowfall the hunters go out on snow-shoes in search of their trails. When
one is found the swiftest runuer, stripped to a light hunting shirt and breeches, and carrying a
light shot-gun loaded with ball, starts off on the track, while the women and slower runners follow.
The Moose sometimes runs 8 or 10 miles before it can be brought to bay and shot. The hunter
then turns back and returns to camp at a good round pace to avoid freezing in the intense cold.
The followers cut up and drag the carcass into.camp on sledges.

Small dogs—stunted examples of the Eskimo breed—are often used in this style of hunting if
there is a light crust on the snow. In autumn the hunt is managed in a different manner. The
hunter tries to stalk his game in the dense spruce thickets; but the Moose is very wary and usu-
ally takes alarm and starts off at a swift trot, his hoofs making a great clatter before he is seen.
The hunter, knowing the country, at once runs across to the further side of the basin or valley
288 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

from where he started the game, and takes position where he can command a broad piece of forest.
The Moose makes a wide circuit, and very frequently returns close by his enemy, and falls a victim
to this habit. Dressed moose-skins are used for making lodge-covers, clothing, and cords.

The introduction of fire-arms among the natives has rapidly diminished this fine animal, and
its extinction in Alaska is but a matter of comparatively a few years.

According to Petroft, the Moose crosses the Alaskan mountains and is found on the Pacific
slope about Kenai Peninsula.

DELPHINAPTERUS CATODON (Linn.). White Whale (Esk. S’-t6-tik).

In one of the two skulls of young females obtained at Saint Michaels the primitive shape of
the teeth is well shown. The principal mass of the tooth consists of an irregular, compressed cyl-
inder of cement. From the top of the cylinder protrudes the tongue-shaped extremity of the small
rod of dentine which forms the core of the tooth. In the older specimen the dentine core is worn
down to level of the cement, the top of which is also worn away so that the whole tooth is conical.

The proportions of the skull vary so much in the White Whale that comparisons of these young
specimens with others from the North Atlantic are of no especial value in throwing light on the
question of the number of existing species of Delphinapterus.

List of specimens.

 

\

Museum | Collector's Locality. | Date. | Remarks.
: i
|

number.| number. Sex.

 

eS sistas 4 -------.| Saint Michaels ee October. ....) Skeleton.
22207 268, 156 | Q juv.:....do .......---..- September...’ Skull and skin.
22208 269 |

 

 

QW. [32-60 saaveescncece | October....-. ! Do.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
    
   
 
   
 

Measurements.
Museum number, | Museum number,
22207; collector's | 22208; collector’s
number, 268 9. number, 269 @.
Millimeters. Millimeters.

Total lenoth: (greatest): sjcsc2scecsoecwee vce seeemurie wesbene seterreeneaee 465 427
Length of beak from base of maxillary notches... ate as 219 187
Breadth of beak at base of notches .........-.- eo aie 149 137
Breadth of beak at its middle --....-.......- Sere A 90 81
Breadth of intermaxillaries at same point -...-...-.--.----+-0--- ee esse eee 52 45
Greatest breadth between outer margins of intermaxillary proximally .-.. 102 106
Length of superior tooth-line .-...-----..----. 020. - eee eee eee eee eee ee 173 152
Last tooth to base of maxillary notch ..-..--.. 5 ES 5 50 45
Tip of beak to anteridr margin superior nasal o 310 267
Tip of beak to extremity of pteryzoids ..-... 298 270
Breadth between orbital processes of frontal 225 217
Breadth between hinder margins of temporal 200 193
Length of temporal fossa : 162 —
Depth of temporal fossa .......... dssislae AcrnkncomselasaeEseeeeae eats 67 61
Total length of mandible Seeeee see RaGiews Hee as eis REESE SSRSEY 345 815
Length of symphysis of mandible . raed laren afc sie in oleinig ae aleieinielsiecetd desie 58 55
Length of tooth-row of mandible .....-.---... 2.0.22 cee eee ee cece eee 150 li
Depth between angle and coronoid process ...........02. 2222-2 -eeeeseeeeee 88 86

10-10 8-8
SR See rial seael aed nates ite sal asad § oS =

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical notes.—This species is the most abundant as well as one of the smallest cetaceans
found along the Alaskan coast north of the Aleutian Islands. From Bristol Bay north to Point
Barrow and thence east to the mouth of the Mackenzie River it is a common summer resident. It
is particularly numerous about the mouths of rivers, and frequently ascends the larger streams far
above tide-water. The severe Arctic winters force them to become migratory over much of their
range. They move south in fall as the pack-ice comes down from the north in October, and winter
in large numbers on the coast of Bering Sea from Cape Vancouver south. They appear to have a
far greater liking for the mouths of the fresh-water streams and shallow coast, such as are found on
the American side of Bering Sea and the Arctic, than for the cold and deep water found on the
Siberian shore.
MAMMALS. 289

In January, 1879, while sledging near the mouth of the Kuskoquim River, a considerable num-
ber of White Whales were seen one evening among the broken ice near shore. They were in an
irregular school containing twenty or more individuals. They are seen sometimes in winter off the
Yukon mouth when the ice is driven off shore or broken up.

At Point Hope, on July 20, 1881, the females were seen swimming up and down the shore
singly, each with two or three males keeping close alongside. Each female was accompanied by
a young of the year, which kept close above its mother’s back or just behind her. When one of
the females was shot and ran ashore the young one swam back and forth-at a distance for some
time, raising its head well out of water at intervals to see its parent.

At Saint Michaels the first ones seen in spring usually arrive between the 5th and 10th of
June, soon after the ice moves off shore or leaves the inner bays. This is the spawning time for the
herring which swarm along the shore, and the White Whales follow them into all the bays and in-
lets. Oncalm June mornings great schools of these whales, numbering from twenty to over a hun-
dred animals, are frequently seen in the bay at Saint Michaels, and their glistening milk-white
color shows handsomely against the dark green water. These visits to the bay were usually made
from 3 to.6 o’clock a, m., and a little later in the season between midnight and. 3 or 4 in the morn-
ing. Whenever they feed during the day flocks of Kittiwake Gulls usually hover over them ready
to pick up the fragments of fish which escape from the whales’ jaws as they masticate beneath
the surface.

About the middle of June the first young are seen. For the first few weeks after their birth
they are very small, and have a great bulging forehead, which extends beyond a vertical line
from the end of the jaws. Their color is a dark livid bluish or dull bluish green, so dark that they
look almost black when seen at a distance in the water. They keep close to their mothers, and
the latter swim very carefully, the young usually resting on their backs just beside the thin up-
ward extension of the skin, which appears like a false fin. During the remainder of the season
they are generally distributed along the coast. The closing of the bays and streams by ice the
last of October drives them off shore and south each autumn.

During the middle of August, 1881, these whales were abundant close along the shore of the
Arctic from Kotzebue Sound to Point Hope. At the latter place the Eskimo shot several with
rifles as they swam close to the beach, and told us that the whales visit the shore here every
year at this season to pair. They are very abundant in Kotzebue Sound at times and the Eskimo
kill them from their kyaks. They frequently drive them aground in the shallow water at the
head of the sound and kill them with spears and lances. About Norton Sound in Bering Sea
they are hunted and speared from kyaks or are shot from some jutting point near which they pass
when entering or leaving some small bay or cove.

In order to disable the animals at once they must be shot through the spinal column, otherwise
they will swim a long distance and be lost. As arule they are rather shy of a boat and are not
easily approached, but on several occasions when I have been sailing along the coast in a whale-
boat I have seen them come close alongside, and in one instance the animal raised its eyes well
out of the water and stared at us steadily for several seconds.

The Eskimo set large strong-meshed nets, heavily weighted, off outlying points for these
animals, and in rough weather they are easily taken. In calm weather they see and avoid the nets.
Small ones are sometimes caught in seal-nets in autumn. It ‘was one of our amusements at Saint
Michaels to set a ‘ Beluga” net, dividing the prizes among the natives. This sport ceased,
however, when a school of “Belugas” struck the net one day and by their combined strength
reduced it to shreds.

Along the low, flat coast from Saint Michaels to the Kuskoquim River are many tide creeks
running back into brackish marshes. From midsummer until these streams freeze over they
abound in tom-cods. In pursuit of these the White Whales go up these streams regularly every
night after darkness has settled over the land for an hour or two, and while camping on the banks
of these streams I have heard dozens of them blowing with a quick, forcible, hissing or sighing
sound as they hunted up and down the creek. They hunt about the Yukon mouths at night in the
same way and are found just off shore among the flats and sand-bars during the day.

8S. Mis. 156——37
290 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

The Eskimo at the Yukon mouth go off in kyaks just as the tide turns and pursue the
Belugas until they become confused in the shallow water and get hard aground and are left by the
falling tide. Like the Hair Seal the Beluga wanders far up the Yukon, and I know of two in-
stances of their being killed above Anvik, and another has been taken just below Nulato, several
hundred miles from the sea.

On one occasion near Saint Michaels two natives found a White Whale held fast between
two large pieces of ice. They secured clubs, having no better weapons, and proceeded to beat
the animal to death. This they finally did, and afterwards one of the men told me that all the
time they were pounding the poor beast on its back and ribs it kept uttering a sharp squeaking
cry like the noise made by a mouse, but louder.

The flesh of a young Beluga is tender and not unpalatable, but is rather coarse and dry. The
fat, or blubber, is clear and white, and is considered to be much superior to seal-oil by the Eskimo
and Indians. The intestines are made into waterproof garments or floats, and the sinews are very
much prized. Their small ivory teeth are carved into toys or ornamental pendants. The skin is
made into strong Jines or very durable boot-soles. When well cooked the skin is considered choice
eating and is really pleasantly flavored. This refers to the epidermis, which is nearly half an inch
thick, soft, and has a flavor recalling that of chestnuts.

As already noted these animals are very dark colored when young. They become lighter each
year until the fourth or fifth season, when they are a pale milky bluish, and about the sixth or
seventh year they are a uniform, clear milky white. A small disk around each eye is the lightest
colored spot on young animals. The knob-like projecting forehead of the young Beluga be-
comes less and less conspicuous until when they are six or eight years old the jaws have grown
so as to extend several inches beyond it. The young are about 3 feet long the first month, and
the largest adult I saw was 13 feet in length and must have weighed nearly as many hundred
pounds.

It is claimed that the Beluga of the North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic Ocean reaches a length
of 18 feet. From the great number of these animals I saw in Bering Sea and adjacent Arctic
Ocean, I am satisfied that in that region they never reach a length of over 14 or possibly 15 feet
at the extreme. The average adults seen by me ranged from 10 to 12 feet long, and a 13-foot
specimen was examined by a dozen or more old Eskimo, who united in declaring it to be a very
large cue.

Mr. Murdoch saw large schools of these animals near Point Barrow, and records the fact that
they pass to the northeast by the Point as soon as the ice opens offshore sufficiently. He mentions
the passing of one herd which contained several hundred individuals. An adult female measured
by Murdoch was 12 feet long.

MONODON MONOCEROS Linn. Narwhal.

Biographical notes.—The icy sea from Point Barrow to the Mackenzie River forms the western
limit to the range of this strange animal. Along this part of their range we know but very little
concerning them. ‘To the eastward of Point Barrow, about the mouth of the Colville River and
elsewhere, various English explorers have noticed their teeth among the natives.

At Point Barrow Mr. Murdoch saw no living specimens, but saw some of their ivory in the
possession of the natives, who recognized diawings of the animal and said they were sometimes
killed there.

ORcA sp.? Killer Whale (Esk. Akk-luk).

Biographical notes.—In the North Pacific, all along the Aleutian chain and the Alaskan main-
land coast, this voracious animal is common. It is also numerous in the passes and along the
northern side of the Aleutian Islands. North of this they are of much less frequent occurrence.

In May, 1877, from the time we approached within about 400 miles of the Aleutian Islands
until we entered Unimak Pass the “Killers” were very common. They were almost invariably
in small parties of from three to fifteen individuals and swam side by side in perfect order while
they cut through the water with great speed. They swam so close to the surface that the long
MAMMALS. 291

curved dorsal fins were in view most of tle time, all rising and falling with the swell of the ocean
in perfect unison. The rakish cut of these long fins and the regular motions of the animals, as
though they were guided by a single impulse, reminded me of accounts I had read of the fleets of
piratical crafts that greeted some of the early navigators among the South Sea Islands.

I saw many others among the Aleutian Islands during the last of May and first of June.
Their abundance there at this time may have been due to the fact that the fur seals upon which
they prey were then passing northward in great numbers. In June a few were seen near the Fur
Seal Islands.

Mr. Morton, one of the revenue agents on the Fur Seal Islands, told me that the Killers some-
times make a raid upon the seals close to the shore at these islands. On one occasion he was
standing on a bluff overlooking the sea when a Killer pursued a seal close inshore. The seal made
the most desperate efforts to escape and finally leaped far out of the water only to fall into the
jaws of its pursuer as it came down. In a moment the seal had disappeared down the throat of
the whale and the latter vanished.

Although not abundant north of the Fur Seal group, yet these are well known animals to the
Eskimo along the coast, from the peninsula of Aliaska to Point Barrow.

The long hunts made at sea by these people render them familiar with the habits of the Killer
and it holds a prominent place in their mythology. Its ferocity and swiftness in pursuit of its
prey have produced a strong impression upon the Eskimo mind and they credit it with various
supernatural powers and regard it as a close relative of the wolf.

During the summer of 1881 none of these animals were seen by us neeth of Bering Straits,
but at Point Barrow I found several unmistakable models of them carved from wood among the
fetiches of a whale-hunter. I also received accounts of it from the Kotzebue Sound Eskimo
while at Saint Michaels.

The dorsal fin of this animal appears to be a very sensitive member, as on one occasion I saw
one’s fin struck by a rifle-ball, whereupon the whale threw over half its length out of the water and
went down head foremost in the midst of a mass of foam.

BALZNA MYSTICETUS Linn. Bowhead Whale (Esk. A-gho-vtk).

Biographical notes—Although the palny days of the whale-fishery are past, yet the present
species still exists in northern waters in sufficient numbers to afford profitable employment for
a considerable fleet. The open basin of the Arctic Ocean north of Bering Straits is the main
fishing-ground for this whale within the region covered by this work, although a few are taken
in Bering Straits and just to the south in Bering Sea. These are few in number, however, and,
the chase is only followed there incidentally as the vessels go to and from the regular fishing-
grounds farther to the north.

“Brit,” as it is called, or the vast numbers of small crustaceans and other small invertebrates
which congregate in broad patches and form the food-supply ot the Bowhead, is found scattered
everywhere in patches over the Nortl: Pacific, but is most abundant along the northern coasts of
this ocean. It is found on both sides of the Aleutian Islands, over all of Bering Sea, except the
eastern third, and over all of the adjacent Arctic basin. The shallow water on the eastern shore
of Bering Sea is so filled with sediment and mingled with the fresh water of the rivers emptying
therein that “brit” is rarely found there, and as a consequence only an occasional stray Bowhead
is found. Some whaling for this and other species was formerly done about the Aleutian Islands,
but this has ceased long since.

To-day the whaling-ground of the North Pacific is located along the Kure Islands and
thence north along the Asiatic shore into Ochotsk Sea. There is no regular whaling-ground in
Bering Sea at present, although whales are quite numerous there at times along the Siberian
coast. The Arctic basin north of Bering Straits is the center of abundance of the Bowhead in
summer at present, and there the whaling-fleet gathers each season. The hunt is usually most
productive along the broken edge of the pack-ice or at no great distance therefrom.

During some seasons these animals are numerous, and the fleet fills up and goes south with
a rich booty, and again nearly all the vessels leave the coast lightly loaded after an entire
292 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

season’s work. As a rule the Bowheads congregate in some particular part of the sea, and it
is the object of the whalers to discover this place and then to follow the whales until they get
a cargo of oil and whalebone. In one part of the season the whales may congregate near the
North Siberian coast or near Wrangel and Herald Islands, and in autumn they are generally found
along the American coast from Point Barrow to Point Hope.

The belt of open water bordering the American coast from Icy Cape to the mouth of the:
Colville River is a favorite resort during the last part of summer and until winter sets in. From
Icy Cape to Point Barrow the coast is low and sandy and backed by shallow lagoons. The
southern part of this strip of coast is known as the “graveyard” among the whalers, from the
great number of vessels that have been forced ashore or crushed by the ice here. Some years ago
a large part of the fleet was caught here and over five hundred men were cast ashore, but they
were all rescued by other vessels later in the season. Thirty-three ships were lost here in a few
hours, and the sailors on two ships that were caught in the ice, but not crushed, numbering
some seventy men, refused to leave and have never been heard of since.

Just before our arrival at Point Barrow in 1881 a vessel had been lost there, and hardly a
season passes without the loss of one or more vessels. The fall of 1879 two vessels were lost in
the ice, and a part of our season’s work in 1881 was to search for them.

On the north coast of Siberia we obtained a number of relics from the natives there, and
learned that the preceding fall a party of hunters had found a vessel frozen in a great piece of ice
drifting along the coast. The masts and all of the upper works had been cut up for fuel, and
peering down into the cabin through the skylight the hunters saw a corpse floating about in the
water that covered the floor, and in the berths lay three others, mute witnesses of the fearful fate
that had overtaken all of the ship’s company. From these examples it can be seen that the
whaler’s lot is one full of danger and privation, even up to the present day. In spite of the great
risk men return year after year, until they accumulate a fortune or perish miserably. The ex-
citement and perils of their occupation exercise a fascination over many of the old captains that
keeps them in the business years after they are in good circumstances and old enough to retire.

The use of the bomb-gun and bomb-lance has rendered the capture of a whale a much simpler
matter than it was in the days of the harpoon and hand-lance. Now a boat is pulled within a
certain distance, and a single shot either kills the huge animal instantly or so weakens it that it
becomes an easy Victim. Ten or twelve years ago some whaling vessels wintered in Plover Bay,
on the Siberian coast, and the natives there learned the use of the bomb-guns. They managed
to secure one of these guns, and the next winter secured several whales in the following odd
manner:

The tide running into the bay kept an open channel in the middle of the mouth of the bay
after the head was frozen over. Planting their gun on the edge of this channel, the natives
waited, and when a whale passed slowly by, heading up the bay, they fired into him. The animal,
startled by the shock, in every instance swam desperately ahead and perished under the ice farther
up the bay. In a few days the gases forming inside the huge body inflated it until it finally
became so bouyant that it would break through the thin ice and be discovered by the people
on the lookout. The Eskimo of Bering Straits and thence north to Point Barrow hunt them
successfully in their light seal-skin kyaks, and also in the larger umiak.

The implements used are usually an ivory barb with an iron or flint point, attached to a
strong line, which latter has an inflated seal-skin float at the other end. A long haft of wood is
used to propel the barb; and when the first coil of line runs out another is attached to it near the
float, with another float attached to it; and in the end the whale may be dragging from six to a
dozen floats and several small boats, until he finally becomes exhausted, and one or two boats are
able to approach and lance him with flint or iron pointed lances.

From Icy Cape to Point Barrow the coast is so low that only a short view can be obtained to
seaward. Nearall of the summer camping places on this coast the Eskimo have taken drift logs,
a dozen or more feet long, and, after notching steps in their sides, have erected them for lookout
stations. At frequent intervals a man ascends these to look for whales or to sweep the horizon

for a sail.
MAMMALS. 293

While cruising along the coast these posts usually gave us the first notice of a native camp,
and when we drew near we usually found some one occupying the perch.

The Eskimo of Saint Lawrence Island and the islands and coasts of Bering Straits are bold
whale-hunters, and are sometimes employed for the season on the whaling-ships. One sturdy
young fellow from the Siberian shore had gone to San Francisco with a vessel and remained

‘all winter. He liked the country there, he said; but, as he expressed it, “’Merican too damn much
work.” So he returned to his squalid hut on the shore of Plover Bay.

The Bowhead, and some other marine mammals, undoubtedly pass from the Greenland
coast to Bering Straits and vice versa. From an Eskimo on the coast of Kotzebue Sound we
obtained a harpoon bearing an English stamp. This weapon was taken from a whale captured
by the Eskimo on the shore of Kotzebue Sound in the fall of 1880. This harpoon was shown to
every whaling captain we met during the summer, and, without exception, they were emphatic in
the statement that no such iron was ever used by any vessel in this part of the Arctic Ocean, but
that it was a common pattern with the English whalers on the Greenland coast. As each whaler
has a private mark on his irons, which all of the other whalers working in the same region
know, there is no doubt that the captains were right, and that the iron in question had been
brought from Greenland, in the body of the whale, by way of the Northwest Passage. Another
fact, which is in direct confirmation of the idea that whales pass from Bering Sea to the Greenland
coast and back, is that a year when whales are scarce in the Greenland seas they are numerous
about Bering Straits, and vice versa,
 
 

 

PAARL Lit.

FIELD NOTES ON ALASKAN FISHES,

EDWARD W. NELSON,

WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES,

BY

TARLETON H. BEAN.

 

 

295
XIII.
XIV.

XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.

XX.
XXI.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Alaskan Plaice (Parophrys ischyrus).
Fig. 1. Butter-fish (Muranoides ruberrimus).
2. Burbot (Lota maculosa).
Fig. 1. Wolf-tish (Anarrhichas lepturus).
2. Tufted Blenny (Chirolophus polyactocephalus.
Fig. 1. Angled Sturgeon-fish (Brachyopsis dodecaédrus),
2. Northern Sculpin (Cottus axillaris).
Fig. 1. Dusky Sculpin (Cottus niger).
2. Four-spined Sculpin (Cottus quadricornis).
Crested Sculpin (Cottus quadrifilis),
Green fish (Hexayrammus ordinatus).
Nelson’s White-fish (Coregonus neélsonii).
King Salmon (Oncorhynchus chouicha).

297
INTRODUCTION.

By Epwarp W. NELSON.

The notes and collections upon which the present paper is based were secured at intervals,
and whenever opportunity offered, during my entire residence in the north. They cover a period
from May, 1877, to October, 1881. Through my own work and the co-operation of the fur traders
I secured specimens from various parts of the interior, extending from Bering Sea to Fort Yukon
and from the Kuskoquim River north to Point Barrow. Unfortunately lack of time and means
forced me to be satisfied with such results as could be obtained in the intervals of the main work
in which I was engaged. These circumstances rendered anything but superficial results impos-
sible and good results should repay a thorough reworking of this region. These remarks refer
more particularly to the fresh and brackish water area, since I can claim to have examined very
little beyond that. Owing to unavoidable circumstances I have been forced to place the identifica
tion and description of my alcoholic material in other hands. I have been fortunate in securing
the co-operation of Dr. T. H. Bean, whose familiarity with many of the species in their native
waters gives him a peculiar advantage in dealing with this material.

EDWARD W. NELSON.

SAINT JOHN’S, ARIZ., February 12, 1887.

By TARLETON H. BEAN.

Mr. Nelson was prevented by ill health from carrying out his intention of making an exhaustive
report upon his Alaskan fishes. His collections, color sketches, and notes were, therefore, left in
my hands, with the request that I would identify the species and prepare a paper for publication.
I have made some remarks upon certain of the fishes, which represent especially interesting addi-
tions to the fauna or to our knowledge of the development of a species. There are fifty species
in Mr. Nelson’s collection, one of which has recently been named in bis honor.*

Notwithstanding the small number of new species in Mr. Nelson’s collections, they contain
numerous fishes of quite as much importance, representing, as they do, elements of the fauna which,
for a long term of years, have failed to appear or have not been certainly known to exist within
the Territory. In the first category may be mentioned Cottus axillaris and Cottus quadrifilis of
Gill, which have been practically lost sight of for nearly thirty years. Of species new to the
Alaskan fauna Mr. Nelson took Parophrys ischyrus, whose range is thus extended from Puget
Sound to Unalaska; Murcnoides ruberrimus, which was known from Kamchatka; Chirolophus poly-
actocephalus, another Kamchatkan species of doubtful relationship, and Brachyopsis dodecaédrus, the
third of a series of little known and rare Kamchatkan fishes. Another valuable specimen is a

 

* An expedition in 1880, under the auspices of the U. 8S. Coast Survey, brought back several new fishes which
Mr. Nelson had in his collection. These species were described while Mr. Nelson was still in the field.
299
300 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

young Sticheus punctatus, showing a stage in its development by which I was able to recognize
Notogrammus rothrockii as a still less developed phase of the same species. The young of Anar-
rhichas lepturus was also secured.

There is another important feature of Mr. Nelson's collections, which is the presence of large
series of the Salmcnide, especially Thymallus and Stenodus, as well as Cottide, Chiride, and of
Lota maculosa, Lycodes turnerii, and Ammocetes aureus. ‘

Mr. Nelson’s notes relate to locality, date of capture, native names, information obtained from
natives about the movements of species, colors of the fresh specimens, and such other matters as
would claim attention in the field. He made, also, color sketches of some of the species.

A complete list of his species follows:

 

1. Gasterosteus pungitius L. . 26. Hexragrammus asper Steller.
2. Pleuronectes stellatus Pall. | 27. Heragrammus, ordinatus Cope.
3. Pleuronectes glacialis Pall. 28. Heragrammus superciliosus Pall.
4. Parophrys ischyrus J. & G. 29. Hexagrammus decagrammus Pall.
5. Boreogadus saida Lepech. . 30. Ammodytes personatus Grd.
6. Pleurogadus navaga Kolreut: ( Tilesia 31. Esox lucius L.
gracilis Sw.) 32. Dallia pectoralis Bean.
7. Lota macutosa Le S. 33. Osmerus dentex Steind. f
8. Lycodes turnerii Bean. 34. Mallotus villosus Miiller.
9. Sticheus punctatus Fabr. 35. Coregonus laurette Bean.
10. Lumpenus anguillaris Pall. 36. Coregonus merkii, subsp.
11. Anoplarchus atropurpureus Kittlitz. 37. Coregonus kennicottii Milner.
12. Murenoides ornatus*Grd. ?C. richardsonii Giinther.
13. Murenoides ruberrimus C. & V. 38. Coregonus nelsonii Bean.
14. Chirolophus polyactocephalus Pall. 39. Coregonus quadrilateralis Rich.
15. Anarrhichas lepturus Bean. 40. Thymatlus signifer Rich.
16. Brachyopsis dodecaédrus Tiles. Al. Stenodus mackenzii Rich.
17. Cottus teniopterus Kner. 42. Salvelinus malma Walb.
18. Coltus quadricornis L. 43. Oncorhynchus chowicha Walb.
19. Cottus polyacanthocephalus Pall. 44, Oncorhynchus keta Walb.
20. Cottus niger Bean. ; 45. Oncorhynchus nerka Walb.
21. Cottus humilis Bean. 46. Oncorhynchus kisutch Walb.
22. Cottus axillaris Gill. ! 47, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Walb:
23. Cottus quadrifilis Gill. 48. Clupea mirabilis Grd.
24. Uranidea microstoma Lock. 49. Catostomus catostomus Forster.
25. Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus Tiles. 50. Ammocetus aureus Bean.

The whole number of species of fishes now known in Alaska is one hundred and thirty-five, of
which Mr. Nelson added six. Since the publication of my review of the Alaskan fishes in Bulletin
27, National Museum, section F, page 4, the following new members have been discovered: Hip-
poglossoides exilis, Lumpenus fabricti, Murcenoides ruberrimus, Aspidophoroides giintherii, Brach-
yopsis dodecaédrus, Cottus decastrensis, Cottus axillaris, Cottus quadrifilis, Cottus quadricornis, Core-
gonus nelsonii, Salrelinus namaycush, and Raia stellulata.

TARLETON H. BEAN.
NOTES ON ALASKAN FISHES.

GASTEROSTEUS PUNGITIUS Linn, subsp. BRACHYPODA. Stickleback (Esk. I-luk-
chugtk).

32931. Audraevsky. Twenty-three specimens.
32965. (119.) Yukon River, winter 1877-73. Two specimens.
32686. (78a.) Saint Michaels, summer 1877.
Several hundred Sticklebacks from salt pools near Saint Michaels.

This is an extremely abundant species from Bering Straits south to the Kuskoquim River in
all the brackish pools, tide creeks, and adjacent pools and sluggish streams of fresh water. In the
marshy country between the mouths of the Yukon and the Kuskoquim they are particularly numer-
ous, and are caught in great numbers in dip-nets, forming an important item in the food-supply of
that district. They are larger there than elsewhere, attaining an average of about 2 inches in
length,

Charles Peterson, a fur trader, told me that the last of October one season he was on a stream
connecting the lakes of the Cape Vancouver district with the Lower Kuskoquim and saw a con-
tinuous line of these fish about 5 inches wide passing up from the Kuskoquim to these lakes upon
each side of the stream.

About Saint Michaels the Sticklebacks always leave the small streams and gather along the
sea-shore in schools as cold weather approaches.

PLEURONECTES STELLATUS Pallas. Rough Flounder (Esk. O-ghaé ghu),

29912. (239,290.) Saint Michaels, June 16, 1831.
32821. (51.)
32822. (52.)
32851. (1.) Unalaska.

Rough Flounder (Unalaska; Aleut, Oa-hok).—A curious species, with large rough scales
scattered over the upper surface, with bare skin between ; color light olive, a little darker on oper-
cujum. The fins are light reddish orange, with black bars extending from the body to the tip of
the fins. Also on the tail the same. The bases of these spots slightly color the white of the under
surface. This species grows to 20 or more inches in length and weighs several pounds. Under
pectoral and ventral fleshy red.

32914 (83). Saint Michaels, August, 1877.
Rough-backed Flounder.—This species has very nearly the same habits as its smooth-backed
relative about the shore of Norton Sound, where it is the more common of the two species, and
attains by far the larger size.

; Spiny-skinned Flounders with square black spots on border of fins

TPLEURONECTES GLACIALIS Pallas. Smooth-back Flounder (Ni-tiglh-u-nik).

29929, (255.) Smooth-skinned Flounder. Saint Michaels, Alaska, August 20, 1880, 1 fathom.
29930. (291-292.) Smooth-skinned Flounder. Saint Michaels, Alaska, June 16, 1881.
32826, (28.) Saint Michaels, Norton Sound, July 24, 1877.
Punctulated Flounder.—The entire upper surface, head, and body dark olive-green, with rather
coarse black dots or punctulations scattered thickly over the head and body. Upper ventral and

301
302 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

pectoral olive-brown. Caudal, dorsal, and anal light brown, with a pale yellowish tint. The
dorsal, ventral, and caudal are marked with a series of irregularly-defined dark spots. Iris bright
yellow.

32849. (36.) Saint Michaels, Norton Sound, August 1, 1877.

32850. (37.) Saint Michaels, Norton Sound, August 1, 1377.

(36.) Much‘like the preceding, except that the dark mottling and spcts on the fins are nearly
obsolete. General color a grimish or olive clay, with darker shadings or cloudiness; each scale
with a small dot or punctulation covering its outer or posterior border.

(37) Spots very distinct over the body. The anal is bordered by a band of dingy brown,
fleshy at base.

38271. (82.) Saint Michaels, August, 1877.

In winter these fish retreat to deep water along the coast of Norton Sound, but in spring as
the ice leaves the shore they return, and are common in 2 or 3 fathoms during the rest of summer.
They are more numerous about the 10th of June than at any other season. In fall they leave the
vicinity of the shore the last of September as the cold begins to affect the water. They are gen-
erally distributed along the Alaskan coast from the Aleutian Islands north to Kotzebue Sound.

PAROPHRYS ISCHYRUS Jordan & Gilbert. (Plate XIII.)

32913. (8.) Unalaska.

Plain-colored Flounder (Unalaska; Aleut, Tadamiukh ; Russian, Kam-bul).—Found in abun-
dance along sandy shores in from 3 feet to several fathoms. In life, dull olive on upper surface,
with obsolete golden-brown spots scattered sparingly and irregularly over the upper surface, and
also on fins and tail, but always very dull and obscure. The border of body of scale has a dark
dotted line, which gives a dark tinge to the whole body. ‘The fins are also finely spotted along
the rays at each joint. Iris yellow. 4

BOREOGADUS SAIDA (Lepech.). Slender Tom-cod.

32933, 32944. Kigiktowik, Norton Sound, November 20-27, 1878. Original numbers, 135 to
144.

(Unaleet, Katl-yi-uk; Kigiktowik, November 20 to 27, 1878).—Rather numerous for a few
days, when they are taken with the cominon Tom-cod. The natives say that a specimen is rarely
taken at Saint Michaels, but they occur every year at Kigiktowik.

Colors: Back and sides, tail, and all the fins and under jaw finely punctulated with black dots,
becoming so numerous on the outer portion of dorsal fin and tail that when the fins are closed the
outer third appears uniform blackish from the numerous dots, as is, also, the tail, but both are a
little lighter of base. The lower fins are white, with fewer of the dots, which are most numerous
near the extremity. Ventral surface extending up to a trifle above the lateral line is silvery-white,
becoming plumbeous silvery, and gradually decreasing in distinctness from below upward, the
reverse being the case with the light olive of the dorsal surface, which extends nearly to the
lateral line,

PLEUROGADUS NAVAGA (KGlreuter). Tom-cod( Waukhnie, Russian; [-kd-hlw-th, Esk.).

32882. (68.) Saint Michaels, April 11, 1878. Original of painting.
32883. (69.) Saint Michaels, April 11, 1878.

32915. (81.) Saint Michaels, summer, 1877.

32975. (87a.) Saint Michaels, September, 1877.

This species is abundant everywhere from Kotzebue Sound south along the coast to Bristol
Bay. In fall, directly after the ice covers the sea along shore, they are extremely abundant, and
with a single line the natives about Norton Sound take from 150 to 200 pounds per day, and in
spring, during the month of May, they are equally abundant. They ascend all tide creeks to the
upper limit of brackish water, and about Cape Vancouver great numbers of them are taken in dip-
nets. They are packed away and frozen in grass bags and kept in great quantities for winter use
PLATE XIIL

Natural History Collections in Alaska.—Nelson.

 

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Alaskan Plaice (Parophrys ischyrus).
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FISHES. 303

oF Eskimo of the eastern coast of Bering Sea, and are next to or perhaps equally important
with the Dog-salmon in the position it occupies in the food-supply list. It is particularly valuable

from the fact that, except during the severe winter months, it is rare that a mess of these fish
cannot be secured when all other food fails.

Lora Macunoga (Le 8.). Losh (Esk. Man-ig i-nitk). Plate XIV, Fig. 2.)

29917. (254.) Nulato, March, 1881. Losh.
32823. (48.) Nulato, January, 1878.

The specimen had the usual profusion of olive on a yellowish-olive ground.

32902. (99, 100.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
32915, 32916. (241-242.) Kotlik, January 20, 1881.
Nelima or Losh.—Mottled irregularly, with dark areas separated by reticulating and irregular
lines of yellowish; dingy whitish on ventral surface. :

32957. (317.) Fort Reliance, Upper Yukon. Losh.

For about a month in the Lower Yukon this fish runs, commencing directly after the river
freezes over. The large ones are confined to the main rivers, only small individuals running up the
small tributary streams. They are abundant in both the Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, and are
taken in brackish water at the mouths of both these streams where they debouch into Bering Sea.

During midwinter the Losh is very numerous in the Lower Yukon, and is taken in the fish-traps
almost to the exclusion of other fish at that time. It is eaten raw or boiled by the natives, both
Eskimo and Indian, and is a valuable item in the yearly food-supply of these people.

LYCODES TURNERII Bean.

32879. (67.) Norton Sound, winter, 1877-78.

Said by the natives to be not very common. The specimen collected was brought frozen
during the winter, and the skin had dried considerably, so that the colors were not well marked.
The entire upper surface of head of a dark purplish shade. The ground color of entire upper surface
of body a lighter shade of the same, barred transversely with light irregular chain like bands of
whitish with a blue tint. These bands are coarsely and irregularly reticulated with dark, which
gives them a peculiar braided or chain-like appearance. The first of the bands passes in a curved
line intermediate between head and body on the occipital region, extending back and down behind
the pectorals, where it unites with the second chain. The third and fourth bands also unite along
the abdominal line. The remaining bands all cross the tail and are much narrower and less dis-
tinct than the four anterior ones. The abdomen is mottled with bluish white spots along the
sides. The main color is a livid purple. Fins all purplish-olive, except where crossed on back

and caudal peduncle by the light bands.
STICH EUS PUNCTATUS (Fabr.).

[ Sticheus (?) rothrockii Bran, Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., iv, 146 (based on specimens less than 1}
inches long and doubtfally assigned to a new genus, Notogrammus). ]

[Mr. Nelson’s specimen is 2.1 inches long and exhibits many of the characters of the adul’.
The row of pigment spots under the dorsal base is nearly obsolete, and the squamation is complete,
showing the form of lateral line observed in the full-grown fish. The coloration, too, approaches
more nearly to that of the adult. The caudal is rounded. It is probable that the emargination of
the caudal mentioned in my description of Sticheus (2) rothrockii is the result of mutilation in
most cases, although it was noticeable in freshly-caught specimens.—T. H. BEAN.]

38228, (43.) Small Sand-fish. Saint Michaels, August 31, 1877.

Entire body, except the abdomen, which is white, a uniform alternation of white spots sur-
rounded by pale brownish-olive, forming a tessellated pattern, the brownish covering the most
304 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

space, and in this are irregularly set the white markings. In a band extending under the eye from
the tip of the under jaw to the posterior margin of operculum and bounded below by the lower
border of the dentary are a series of five or six, more or less distinct, rather pale, vertical bars
extending at right angles to the axis of the body. The last one on jaw is scarcely more than a
dot. They gradually increase in size posteriorly and are well defined under theeye. Entire ventral
surface of head, abdomen, and caudal peduncle dull white. Upper surface of head reddish olive-
brown. The white under and dark upper surface of head are divided by a band passing from tip’
of snout through eye and back to the operculum, which is entirely covered by it. Pectorals orange-
reddish, crossed by nearly obsolete bars of darker. Tail the same color, crossed by five distinct
vertical bars of darker, the outer of which is nearly obsolete. Dorsal the same shade of pale olive-
brownish as main part of body, with five widely-separated, nearly round blue spots, which bear on
their outer posterior side a bright orange spot. Anal slightly tinted with flesh color and crossed
by ten rather pale, slightly oblique bars. Ventrals nearly obsolete and white. Eyes very protrud-
ing and dark.

LUMPENUS ANGUILLARIS (Pallas) Arrow-fish.

32948. (257.) Norton Sound, April 2, 1381.

Small minnow-like fish from Norton Sound, April 2, 1881; very rare. From median line down
colorless including the long anal fin. The pectoral fins are pale lemon-yellow and the caudal has
a dingy shade of orange. From median line up the color is a very pale olive, marked along the
median line by a series of eight to ten irregular and poorly-marked but distinct linear spaces covered
with minute dots. These spaces occupy the following linear position, while midway between them
and the dorsal line on fore half of body is a similar but more obscure series of four or five areas
pecoming very indistinct toward middle of length and gradually disappearing when two-thirds
from head to tail. The median line of dotted spaces also grows less distinct until almost obso-
lete near the tail. On each side of the dorsal line, and bordering the long dorsal fin the entire
length, extends a series of black dotted spaces more distinct than either of those on the sides.
The dorsal series begins from a small pentagonal dark figure on top of head just back of eyes
and on median line of head. The pentagon has a colorless space in center. Between the in-
distinct pentagon and the tail are nine to ten elongated irregular and indistinct pairs of these
spaces; from the anterior border of each eye, a fine dark line of minute dots extends around the
snout, almost meeting its fellow in front. The cheeks and opercies are finely punctulated with
dark dots.

Fin rays: Dorsal fin extends from close to occiput to base of caudal and contains sixty-seven
spiny rays. The anal fin extends from anus to base of caudal and numbers two spiny rays fol-
lowed by from thirty to thirty-five soft rays.

32945. (146.) Kigiktowik, November, 1878.

Arrow jish.—Rare. A few are caught all along the coast. Light olive above, white below.
A pair of dark lines pass from a point on the occiput along either side of the long dorsal fin and
terminate at the posterior extremity of the dorsal. On the top of head back of and between eyes
an oval heart-shaped space is inclosed by a dark line (which appears to be a continuation of the
dorsal pair of lines). The apex of the head extends forward and a single dark line passes from it
midway between eyes; just back of nares it divides and each branch extends in a curved line out
and forward a trifle, then bends on itself and extends backward in a curved line over the eye, then
back along the outer margin of dorsal surface and parallel to the median line, but much less distinct,
for a considerable part of the length; forming on the snout and exactly parallel to the last-named
line is another pair which are prolonged on either side of snout and upward to anterior border of
eye, back of which it is continued parallel to the other lines and forms a median lateral. line.
Narrow golden iris, anterior and outer borders of dorsal spines black, forming the culminating
dark line.
PLATE XV.

‘Natural History Collections in Alaska.—Nelson.

 

Fic, 1. Wolf-fish (Anarrhichas lepturus).

 

Fig. 2. Tufted Blenny (Chirolophus polyactocephalus).
FISHES. 3805

ANOPLARCHUS ATROPURPUREUS (Kittlitz). Purple Blenny.

32958, (285, 286, 288.) Saint Michaels, summer, 1880. Sand-fish.
32973. (87a.) September, 1877.

MURZNOIDES ORNATUS (Grd.). Spotted Gunnel.
82974. (87a.) September, 1878.

MURZNOIDES RUBERRIMUS (C. & V.). Butter-fish. (Plate XIV, Fig. 1.)

32978. (77, 78.) Unalakleet, Norton Sound, summer, 1877.

[This beautiful species was imperfectly known from Kamchatka, but not before from Alaska.
The brilliant color is persistent in alcohol. In our specimens the dorsal spines vary from 92 to
95,—T. H. BEAN.]

A specimen was brought me from Kigiktowik on October 15, 1877, and on October 27, 1878,
where, accoding to the Eskimo, they find it and one or two other species lying nearly dormant under
large stones that are left exposed near shore by extraordinary low tides.

CHIROLOPHUS POLYACTOCEPHALUS (Pallas). Tufted Blenny. (Plate XV, Fig. 2.)

32836. (54.) Saint Michaels, September, 1877.
32934. (87.) Saint Michaels, September, 1877.

ANARRHICHAS LEPTURUS Bean. Wolf-fish (Ké-chi-kluk). (Plate XV, Fig. 1, juv.)

29909. (333.)
29910. (261, 262, 264, 265.) Saint Michaels, May, 1881.

Wolf.fish.— Nos. 261 and 262 were caught May 23; Nos. 264 and 265 are é and 2, Saint
Michaels, May 24. The smaller (265) is the 9 and is dirty yellowish mottled and indistinctly
blotched. The é¢ is uniformly covered with small irregular bluish-black spots, separated by irreg-
ular vermiculated dirty whitish lines, that give the whole fish a finely-marbled appearance. The
iris of both is hazel.

29911. (220,221.) Saint Michaels, June 1, 1880.

Saint Michaels, June 1, 1880, just as ice is breaking up; around rocky points in 2 to 3 fathoms
of water.

(220) Twenty-five inches long, 54 inches deep posterior to base of pectoral, which is 84 inches
from tip of snout; 34 inches deep at anus, and 44 inches deep just in front of anus. Anus midway
between snout and end of caudal peduncle.

(221) Length, 23} inches; snout to posterior tip of pectoral, 73 inches; body, 43 inches deep
at posterior tip of pectoral, 3} inches deep just in front of anus, and 23 inches deep just back of
same.

Color: Iris yellow; the entire body a dark leathery-olive brownish, clouded with indistinct
shading of blackish, and a close inspection shows numerous irregular black spots and dots, none of
which exceed 13; to 1; of an inch in diameter and are very obscure. The fins are similarly
marked and colored, but are all much darker than the rest of the body, which, however, at a short
distance, has a blackish tinge. The eye is encircled posteriorly and inferiorly by a series of eight
to ten large distinct mucous pores. The thick fleshy lips are above smooth and on lower jaw bor-
dered with well-marked papille. The two parts of the upper jaw are movable independently of
each other.

32919. (130.) Kigiktowik, October 25.

This specimen was taken from under a rock at low tide at Kigiktowik, October 25. Colors

dark reddish brown, becoming lighter on ventral surface, and with numerous fine irregular lines on
‘head in front and below eye and on the lips, chin, and abdomen, sides, also on dorsal and anal.
Caudal a trifle darker than body with no markings. Dorsal almost ‘black along outer half, same
as body on inner half, variegated by irregular light lines rather coarser than on abdomen and
head. A series of faint light spots of about the size of eye, but with ill-defined borders, extend
from front of dorsal to its posterior extremity on the dorsal surface and in a line parallel to the
dorsal fin.
S. Mis. 156-—39
306 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

32977. (44.) Young. Saint Michaels, October 14, 1877. [D. 83 or &4.]

Specimen seven inches long. Ground color of body dull white, with a fleshy tint, becoming
silvery on the head. The pattern of marking consists of an irregular series of very dark brown,
nearly black, blotches of varying size, but usually large and irregular shape, and separated by a
network of the light ground color on the anterior third of body, except the abdomen, which is dull
olive-brown, the caudal portion, occupying a little over one-half the length of the body, has
the blotches changed to a series of longitudinal stripes of dark and light—five of the former and
four of the latter. The upper and lower dark stripes border the dorsal and anal fins. The two
dark stripes next the central one disappear near the caudal peduncle. The width of the dark bands
varies, especially the central one, which shows alternating rounded expansiéns and contractions.
Pectorals black, with a light spot on upper part of basal portion, from which extends an indistinct
rectangular dark spot upon the anterior face of fin on each side of the anal. On the sides
of the abdomen, and surrounding it to the white spots in front of the vent, as well as on the
ventral surface of the caudal peduncle, is the same dark grayish olive as on the back, but nearly
hidden and obscured by numerous and very minute punctulations. Fins: Ventrals very dark
brownish, nearly black at tips, with about a half dozen white spots of large size on outer half.
Anal translucent, but nearly entirely obscured by an overlying layer of punctulatious, which only
leave a few spots free; the tip and the clear spots have a golden tint. Caudal transparent, with
a golden tint, more decided on the rays near the tip. The ground color is overiaid by a dark
irregular band, extending across the end and sending slight arms into the middle of the fin, partly
inclosing clear spaces. First dorsal black, with one or two transparent spots. Second dorsal
colored like the tail, but the dark mottling is spread over the entire fin, inclosing the clear spaces
in the form of spots. Pectorals a clear golden yellow, crossed by a wide, irregular anastamosing
jet-black band, which eccupies nearly half the fin and divides the transparent ground into spots,
bars, and blotches.

BRACHYOPSIS DODECAEDRUS (Tiles.). Angled Sturgeon-fish. (Plate XVI, Fig. 1.)
32967. (237.) Unalakleet. [D. ix; 7; A. 13.]

Specimen from fresh-water creek at Unalakleet, close to the sea. Another specimen of this
fish was taken from the stomach of a large seal (Jfukluk). Color of upper surface and sides a
pale dingy watery olive-brownish. Below white.

First dorsal, nine spines, with bar of blackish brown covering one-fourth the fin along the upper
or distal border. A second bar of the same divides the fin longitudinally in half and parallel to the
other bar but narrower. Second dorsal, seven rays, with the dark markings of the first dorsal
repeated in an indistinct way; excepting the dark markings both fins are transparent. Pectorals
translucent, with four series of black spots upon the rays as follows: The first row occupies the
rays near their distal ends, and then follow three other series, dividing the fin into fourths very
equally. The inner series is nearly obsolete. Ventrals of two rays with a narrow dividing mem-
brane nearly black. Anal thirteen rays. The posterior four with membrane covered with a dark
blotch; the rest translucent. Tail dark olive-brown or blackish, paler nearer body.

32968, (284.) From stomach of Hair Seal, March, 1881.

Same as number 237 [32967]. A strange little fish with series of plates like a miniature
sturgeon.

COTTUS TNIOPLERUS Kuer. Thread-finned Sculpin.

29921. (293.) Saint Michaels, June 16, 1881.
29922, (305.) Saint Michaels, June 17, 1881.
29924, (294.) Saint Michaels, June 16, 1881.
32918. (21.) Saint Michaels, July 23, 1877.
The entire upper surface olive-tinged, very dark on body, shoulders, and head; on sides small
dots and blotches of golden yellow show indistinctly through the olive. On sides of abdomen
immediately back of the pectorals, is a vertical irregular bar of pure satin white, which pideng
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below, covering the chest and extending in a median line to ventral. On each side of this median
line and extending to the olive of sides is a large patch of golden orange, which is very bright
in life. The lower surface of caudal peduncle is crossed by 4 or 5 white bars, or rather irregular
blotches. The under surface of head is white, variegated with small dots and spots of dark-brown,
which extend to the white of chest. One spot covers the isthmus, and there is one in front of base
of each ventral. The branchials are covered with these dark punctulations. The pectorals are
purplish-brown, with irregular bars of very pale golden or greenish yellow. The ventrals are of a
fleshy tint with several satiny white spots. The anal is olive-brown, fleshy-shaded toward base,
and crossed by a rgw of golden spots along tips of membrane, and a golden-yellow bar from
anterior ray, nearly to last, through the middle. The last ray and membrane white at tip and
base aud yellow between.

Tail very dark brown with a slight golden tiut, with a row of transparent spots across middle
and a few near base.

First dorsal very dark brown, with two median, transparent spots and the last two membranes
dull golden, dark spotted. Second dorsal dark-brownish, with a few small golden spots scattered
irregularly over the surface.

32928. (29.) Saint Michaels, July 24, 1877.

Along each side of the abdomen is a band of bright golden, with a pale yellowish tint. The

colors are all bright.

32929. (80.) Saint Michaels, summer, 1877.
32936. (79.) Saint Michaels, summer, 1877.
32937. (45.) Saint Michaels, November 7, 1877.

Mottled Sculpin.Length 8 inches. Norton Sound. Entire dorsal surface of head and body
presenting a grayish color, caused by a marbling formed of fine or minute whitish spots and retic-
ulating lines, which are scattered profusely over the dull olive-brown on the head, and olive-
grayish or leaden on the back and surface of caudal peduncle. - Lower surface of head very pale
yellow, tinted with numerous faint and minute punctulations of dark. Chest and throat colorless,
sending an arm of white upward and slightly inclined backward behind the pectorals. In some
cases this arm is divided about midway in its length, forming an elongated spot in place of its upper
half. Behind these spots or arms of white on the sides and under surface of abdomen are other:
large irregular spots, sometimes uniting and varying much in size and shape, but always well:
marked and usually 3 or £ on each side, the last two extending upward from near the vent or just.
anteriorly to it. Obliquely above and behind the vent on caudal peduncle are a few small and.
irregularly placed white spots.

3294", (120.) Saint Michaels, May 2, 1875.

The pattern of fin and side coloration varies considerably in shade and outline. The pinkish
on tail is absent on this specimen, but the anterior 5 or 6 long rays of second dorsal have the outer
two-thirds deep crimson red.

Corrus QUADRICORNIS Linu. Four-spined Sculpin, (Plate XVII, Fig. 2.)

32962. (259.) Saint Michaels, April 26, 1880.
32964. (269.) Saint Michaels, July, 1830.
32965. (258.) Saint Michaels, April 26, 1680.

Sculpin found over clay beds in bottom of the canal in about 1 fathom of water. Uniform
dull olive-green on entire upper surface, which has a slight mottled appearance. Dorsal and
caudal fins irregularly mottled with dark on the translucent membrane, though the first dorsal
is uniformly colorless, except shading uear base. Mingling with the dark mottling on second
dorsal and tail is an irregular mottling in less abundance of dull pale gamboge-yellowish, the
latter color most marked on the rays. Ventral surface dull livid white. Peetorals crossed with
5 irregular vertical zones of blackish, becoming regularly narrower from the broad marginal band
to the line like basal one. These zones are separated by narrow bars of gambo ge-yellowish, rather
dull ou upper border and brightening to a bright yellow, entirely occupying the 4 inferior rays and
lower edge of fin. Ventrals colorless. Anal has a pale dull and very irregular mottling of
brownish and yellowish.
308 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

32966. (260.) Saint Michaels, April 26, 1880.
Dorsal surface a slightly-mottled olive greenish. First dorsal, translucent and vaguely shaded
with dark. Second dorsal translucent and marked with 3 to 4 very indistinct irregular series of
dark mottlings, forming an irregular bar from the first ray backward and downward toward base
of last ray. The dark markings are spaced by irregular and dull spaces of pale dull gamboge-
yellow. Caudal fin crossed by 2 or 3 broad, pale, and irregular bands of dark blotchings, spaced
by a deeper shade of yellow than on dorsal, and the yellow taking a shade of orange near ven-
tral border of fin, especially near the insertion of the latter in caudal peduncle. Lower surface
white; silvery on ventral half of caudal peduncle, and with a brassy tinge on sides of abdomen
next the dark color of upper surface. The mottling is most distinct along this line, which is just
below median line where the two colors of dorsal and ventral surface intergrade. Branchiostegal
rays and membrane shaded with light purplish violet. Pectorals crossed by 4 irregular anas-
tamosing bars of blackish with a blotch of the same on the base of fin. The outer bar broadest
and about two-thirds of distance from base of fin to edge, the part of fin beyond being vaguely
mottled with an irregular extension of this band; the inner band is the narrowest and one-sixth of
fin length from base. The dark markings are separated by an equally irregular series of 4
bands of yellow, which gradually change from pale dull gamboge near upper surface to a dark
orange on lower border of fin, especially on the 4 inferior rays, which are wholly orange. The
dark also becomes more intense near the lower part of fin. The ventrals area fleshy orange. The
anal has its rays purple tinted with 3 to 6 very irregular indistinct series or bands of pale yellow-
ish and pale purplish extending across fin from near first ray or anterior border backward and
downward toward last ray.

COTTUS POLYACANTHOCEPHALUS Pallas.

32839. (11.) Unalaska. Sculpin (Ko-loo-nudukh, Ram-suk). Common about Unalaska.

Sides crossed by 2 wide obscure purplish brownish bands which diverge on the back and
extend to the 2 dorsals. The bands meet on the sides of the abdomen and spread under the
large pectoral. The base of caudal is a light purplish brown. The space between and about the
illy-defined bands is lighter and thickly mottled over the remainder of the upper surface of the
body by a similar but lighter purplish than the bands. The ground color is a light clay, which on
the shoulders, nape, and head has a reddish orange tinge. Along the sides and extending on the
pectorals and the operculum and across the top of the head is a series of light spots which are a
rich orange-yellow on the head, and on the base and posterior portion of the pectorals. The spots
are round and pure milk white. The white of the abdomen is encroached on by the dark of the
sides, leaving white blotches and spots, and on the caudal peduncle the spots become much smaller
and almost obsolete. The dorsal fins have large irregular dark brownish blotches. The tail is
spotted and blotched with dark at the base. Near the end it is crossed by a wide blackish vertical
bar. The tip is a pale orange-yellow. The anterior parts of the pectorals are thickly mottled
with a dirty smoky brown not relieved by any spots. The ventrals are white, crossed by 3 dark
bands.

CoTrus NIGER Bean. Dusky Seulpin. (Plate XVII, Fig. 1.)

32941. (121.) Saint Michaels, June 2, 1878, Subject of a color sketch.
32942, (125.) Saint Michaels.

CoTrus HUMILIS Bean.

29919. (304.) Saint Michaels, Jure 17, 1881.
29920. (303.) Saint Michaels, June 17, 1881.
32827. (26.) Saint Michaels, July 24, 1877.

Dorsal surface olive, brightened by golden-yellow reticulating lines, which become brighter
and more conspicuous along the sides. Between the reticulating lines are black spots, which are
also more distinct on the sides. Below, on ventral surface, the color is plain white, as is also the
lower surface of head. The white on the lower part of the sides of head and of lips is obscured
by crowded punctulations which give the cheeks a plumbeous shade. The maxillaries are tinged
slightly with yellow. Iris yellow, with orange pigment showing. The rest of head like back; ven-
PLATE XVIL

Natural History Collecticus in Alaska.—Nelson.

 

 

Fia. 2. Four-spined Sceulpin (Cottus quadricornis).
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FISHES. 309

trals white. Anal the same, with transparent blotches. Pectorals pale fleshy on outer half and
with slightest possible golden tint on upper and basal half. Membrane colorless, except for the
fine punctulations, which are scattered over the surface and here and there form irregular spots,
and on the basal portion a large blotch. On lower side of cheeks and immediately in the rear
of the mouth are two bright yellow spots, the posterior one being on the angie of the projecting
cheek-bone. Dorsals transparent, except for two or three irregular dark blotches, formed of minute
dots, which are also scattered more sparingly over most of the surface. Caudal slightly inclined
to a fleshy tint and crossed vertically by 2 irregular bars of dark brown. The end of peduncle
is obscured by an irregular dark blotch.

32906. (122.) Saint Michaels, June 2, 1878.

32907. (123.) Saint Michaels, June 2, 1878. Subject of a color sketch.

32908. (124.) Saint Michaels, June x, 1878.

This fish is of a greenish clay color, nearly uniform on the upper surface, and thickly mottled
with dark spots which vary in size on different specimens. The fins are yellowish with dark
markings, and the tail is the same with 4 cross-bars of black, the outer of which is much paler
than the others.

CoOTTUS AXILLARIS Gill.? Northern Sculpin. (Plate XVI, Fig. 2.)
32960. (183.) Saint Michaels, October 4, 1879.
32972. (87a.) Saint Michaels, September, 1877.
Extremely common, occurring with Ammodytes.

COTTUS QUADRIFILIS Gill. (Plate XVIII.)

32961. (182.) Saint Michaels, October 4, 1879.
32963. (287.) Saint Michaels, summer, 1880.
32943. (145.) Kegiktowik.

URANIDEA MICROSTOMA Lockington.

32969. (266.) Mouth of Tanana River, spring, 1880.

HEMILEPIDOTUS HEMILEPIDOTUS Tiles.

32834, (2.) Unalaska, May, 1877.
32835, (3.) Unalaska, May, 1877.

Deep-water Purple-spotted Sculpin.—Taken in large numbers by the natives in company with
the so-called Rock Cod about rocky points in a few fathoms of water. Ten to 13 inches is the
average length. The exact tint of the ground color varies, but is usually a pinkish-purple, which
extends over the top of the head and body around the caudal peduncle; all the fins except
the ventrals are bright pinkish-purple, variegated with other colors, as mentioned below. The
abdomen and under surface of head are white, more or less tinged with golden yellow on the
latter, and sometimes a tinge of the same on lower surface of the caudal peduncle. The undcr
surface is profusely spotted with fine roundish specks and rounded spots and blotches of purplish-
brown. The ventrals are white with pink spots or blotches. Sometimes they are golden-yellow
with similar spots. The iris js a light purple with darker pigment in blotches. The entire upper
surface is covered with spots and small blotches of a varying shade of purplish-brown, which ex-
tends over the fins as well as the body. The tips of the pectorals are fleshy-red, and across the
fin are 3 irregular light purplish-brown bands. Across the body extend 5 dark bands rather
irregular in contour and size. The first crosses the first dorsal, the next 3 are along the second
dorsal, and the last is on base of caudal, and generally sends out an arm and unites on side of
peduncle with the preceding band. The tips of the fins are often a bright purple, which becomes
dull livid purple toward the body. The purp!e assumes a pink tint about the jaws and sides of
the head. In some specimens the space between the bands along the back is without detinite
spots, and is of a brownish-olive. In this case the spots on the bands and sides are apt to take a
golden tint. In large specimens the colors become darker and there is a tendency in the light
colors of the lower parts to become a golden yellow.

32971. (437.) Young.
310 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

HEXAGRAMMUS ASPER Steller.

29941. (228.) Saint Michaels, August 20, 1480. One fathom.
29942. (229.) Saint Michaels, August 20, 1880. One fathom.
29943. (306.) Saint Michaels, June 16, 1881. Kelp-fish.
29944, (307.) Saint Michaels, June 17, 1881. Kelp-fish.
32832. (20.) Saint Michaels, July 23, 1877.

32833. (22.) Saint Michaels, July 23, 1877.

32862. (27.) Saint Michaels, July 23, 1877.

(Notes on original Nos. 20, 22, 27.)

Rock Cod (Norton Sound, Saint Michaels, July 23, 1877)—Light olive-brown, with an ineli-
nation toward a yellowish tint on center of scales on back. Back and sides covered with numerous

‘dark bluish spots scattered irregularly over the surface, each occupying about 3 or 4 scales.
These spots also extend over the opercular bones. Head olive, fading below into pale yellowish.
Ventral surface dark leaden, fainter on caudal peduncle. The olive-brown of back fades into
a lighter and more golden tint on sides. Tail pale olive with a pale yellowish band crossing
its middle in an are. Anal and ventrals leaden blue, much like the color of abdomen, but rather
brighter. Pectorals pale yellowish with an olive tint. Entire base of dorsals bright golden-orange
with numerous irregular bars or rows of spots of the same, extending upward to border and
obliquely forward. The spaces between these are occupied by pale drab, which becomes darker
toward the anterior portion, and on the first 4 membranes is nearly or quite black. Nose and
cheeks pale olive; top of head very dark.

(22) A second specimen a trifle larger than No. 20. (Same locality, July 24.)—In this specimen
the dark spots on sides are less conspicuous, and a steely greenish hue is present on a considerable
portion of the sides along the lower lateral line; below this, along the entire length, is a golden-
yellow space, becoming brighter below to ventral surface, where it is abruptly outlined against the
slightly lighter dusky-white of the outer margin of abdomen, which, over chest and along median
portion to tail, is dark plumbeous. A narrow light band separates the dark outer part of the anal
from body. The lower half of the pectorals is plumbeous, the upper half a golden olive. The
entire head from eyes down has an orange-yellow tint, which is obscured, but becomes brighter
to lower margin of opercular bones, under which the color is very apparent.

32920. (35.) Saint Michaels, August i, 1877.

This specimen was brought me as soon as taken from the water, and I had opportunity to see
a remarkable change in the colors; for, while I held it struggling in my hand, the dull, blackish
brown color which covers the sides and back of the fish while in the water became overspread with
a beautiful bright golden orange, covering entirely the other colors, and relieved only by spots
which took a more brassy luster. Ina few minutes the fish had entirely metamorphosed itself.
The brassy spots mentioned above that were on the fish when taken from the water were nearly
black.

On taking the fish up to make notes upon it the next morning I chanced to touch it with a
cloth, when, to my astonishment, the golden color adhered to it, and by passing the cloth over tie
fish a few times I found that I had restored the original colors nearly as in nature. A golden tint,
however, was still evident about the borders of the scales. The side which was exposed to the
air had nearly assumed its original colors, but the side which rested upon the board was still
bright golden when I took it up in the morning.

32935. (30.) Rock Cod.

HEXAGRAMMUS ORDINATUS (Cope). Green-fish. (Plate XIX.)

32830, 32231, 32866, 32919. (Pa-hlii'-ku). Unalaska, May, 1877. Aleut, Te-pook.
(Notes on original Nos.63,98,1092, 149.)
Common about kelp-beds near shore. Ground color a varying shade of olive. The scales on
sides and back profusely punctulated with brown dots, which in some specimens almost entirely
obscure the olive. The sides are irregularly flecked with rather numerous silvery spots. The flesh
PLATE XIX.

Natural History Collections in Alaska —Nelson.

 

Green Fish (Hexagrammus ordinatus).
FISHES. 311

of the male is green and the colors brighter. The dorsal of the female shows the palest possible
golden tint and is bordered by a narrow dark line. In the male the lower half of the dorsal is the
same shade as the back. The upper half is dark brown in striking contrast. The pectorals and ven-
trals are barred with purplish-brown on a yellow ground. The anal is a shade of yellow crossed by
4 or 5 oblique dark bars. The tail is marked like the dorsal. The breast has a tinge of golden.
In the male the ventrals are bluish-black on outer half.

No. 14 is very dark; the abdomen, breast; and under part of head golden. The flesh is green-
ish. The brownish is in obscure biotches.

No. 6 has the fins barred and mottled very light brown. The general color is very light
brownish olive. The top of the head and nose is bluish-black. On the anal, ventrals, and pec-
torals the markings are nearly or quite obsolete. The siivery spots of the preceding example are
replaced by white.

On Nos. 9 and 10 the sides of the head are flecked and mottled with whitish, and on No. 9 the
lower surface of the head is arich golden-orange, becoming reddish-orange on the branchiostegals.
These fish are common but not abundant around the shore of Norton Sound. They come inshore
from deep water the first of June each year and retreat again as cold weather approaches.

HEXAGRAMMUS SUPERCILIOSUS (Pallas).

32828. (5.) Unalaska, May, 1877.

The male of this species is very beautiful, the ground color being a varying shade of bright
carmine red, a large portion of which is hidden by an overlying shade of black, or in many cases
adark brown. The red shows in from 6 to 8 more or less broken bands on the sides, extending
from the abdomen in front and from the anal behind obliquely up and back. In some cases the red
is visible through the brown on the back, giving a rich madder tint. At times the red becomes
an orange shade and again a brick red or a scarlet. ‘The lower parts are also red and brown
marked, the former color predominating and covering all the breast and under surface of head.
The lips are a dull purplish red. The top of the head is a dull madder red, extending back to the
first dorsal. The spots along the dorsal parts are a little more purplish than on the sides, and the
red is to a great extent replaced by a greenish tint varying from a light to a very dark, and some-
times becoming almost a white. <A bar extends obliquely down and back from the eye, first green-
ish thenred. The dorsals are dark purple, mottled with large bluish-white blotches. The tips are
a lighter purple. The tail is alivid purplish-red, darker at base. The pectorals are a livid purple,
darker at base and light at tips, and crossed by three poorly-defined dark-bluish bands. The base
is dark with irregular red blotches. The ventrals are very dark purple with a few red spots. The
anal is also very dark with red blotches. The flesh throughout as well as the interior of head and
intestines are green. They are said to be very good eating.

32864, (4.) Uunalaska, May 30, 1877.

Common Red-banded Russian Rock Trout. Very common ‘in a few fathoms of water off small
rocky points about Unalaska. The ovaries fully developed May 30. Females 17 to 15 inches
long. Ground a pale blue, which is to a great extent obscured by a varying shade of brown, which
in g@large specimen was nearly black and faded on other specimens to a much lighter shade, some-
times tinged with a dull reddish on the shoulders and sides of head. The blue is visible through
the brown of the sides and back in irregular spots and blotches. The latter mostly confined to
the sides. Sometimes the blotches on the sides are of a satiny white. The arrangement of colors
on the back, tail, and head give a peculiar mottled appearance. On the head the blué appears
as reticulations, with dark brown and sometimes golden-brown spots and blotches. The dorsals
are bluish, with large spots and blotches of brown on the membrane and covering a larger part of
the fins. The pectorals are dull yellow above and fleshy below, sometimes much darker and duller,
with a purple tint, which becomes decided ou lower part. Under parts pale dirty white, with a fine
brownish mottling, and the abdomen, chest, and lower parts of head with a dull golden-yellow
tint. Lower fins fleshy, yellowish, with dark shading. Front of lips a dull brick reddish. In
312 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA,

some specimens a bluish line extends from posterior base of eye to anterior border of operculum, and
a second line shows on the upper part of operculum, but in others these lines are obsolete. The
flesh of female is white.

HEXAGRAMMUS DECAGRAMMUS (Pallas).
32863. (7.) Unalaska, May 30, 1877.

A single specimen brought in May 30. This specimen, 17 inches long, has almost exactly the
shape of a codfish. The ground color is a pale livid blue, which extends up about one-third the
distance on the dorsals and caudal. The lower third of the fins is spotted with golden-brown spots,
which occupy nearly all the surface of the upper two-thirds, leaving a few blue spots along the rays.
The blue is more prominent on the posterior dorsal. The tailrays area dull livid blue, becoming yel-
lowish at end with brownish membrane. The pectorals area dirty yellowish, the upper half much
the brighter, the lower half becoming a dingy bluish with a yellowish shade. The ventrals are a
dirty pale bluish at base and becoming very dark at tips. The anal is a dirty ochery-yellow
throughout with slightly fleshy tips. The under surface is pale dirty whitish, purest along the
anal, a dirty yellowish tint obscuring the white on lower surface of head, chest, abdomen, and sides.
The lips are dull olive-brown, the nose having the.same tint, which makes it darker than the rest
of the head. The entire upper surface is covered with small golden-brown spots, which are so
numerous that the ground color has the appearance of reticulating lines.

Pyloric ceca, 18. Intestines short, equal to length of body. The ovaries were undeveloped
in the above specimen May 30.

AMMODYTES PERSONATUS Girard.

32933, (147.) Saint Michaels, fall, 1878.
Silver-sides. (Saint Michaels, fall of 1878). It is occasionally washed ashore by the waves.
32970. (283.) Saint Michaels, September, 1880. Arrow-fish.
At every very low fall tide great numbers of these fish were washed on shore or confined in
little pools left by the retreating tide. These and Sticklebacks were the common species that were
brought to their young by the Sea Parrots at Stewart Island, on September 8, 1879.

Esox Lucius Linn. Pickerel (Chuk’-whuk).

32938. (94, 95, 96, 97.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877~

DALLIA PECTORALIS Bean. Blackfish (I-médn/-uh).

32834. (88.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1477~78.
32885. (90.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877~78.
32886. (92.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877~78.
32887. (93.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
“ Blackfish” of the natives. Very numerous in pools along the Tgyer Yukon.
32947. (267, 268.) Mouth of Tanana River, spring of 1880.
32976. (89, 91.) Andraevsky, winter, 1677~78. .

[For an account of the ‘‘ Blackfish” see Nelson in Fishery Industries, U. S., Section I, 1984,
page 466.]

This species, though individually insignificant, exists in such numbers in all the sluggish fresh-
water streams and shallow lakes from the vicinity of Kotzebue Sound on the north to the mouth of
the Kuskoquim River on the south, and extending up these streams as far as suitable surroundings
permit, that it forms a very important source of food-supply. I have been informed of their
presence as far as the mouth of the Tanana, on the Yukon, and know by personal observation of
their occurrence for over 100 miles up the Lower Kuskoquim and throughout the intermediate
region. It is in the low country last mentioned that they are most abundant.

A native population of nearly three thousand persons rely upon this fish for one of their most
abundant and certain sources of food-supply. The fish is caught in wicker-work traps set in their
haunts with a wicker fence leading into it on either side. In many of the muddy and grass-
FISHES. 313

grown ponds and streams the water fairly swarms with these “Blackfish,” and during the fall,
especially after the ice forms, immense numbers are taken and packed in grass bags, containing
from 40 to 100 pounds of fish, and these bags are then allowed to freeze and are then either packed
in a turf-covered pit or store | in a square-framed storehouse erected upon four posts. These fish
are afterwards used to a great extent for dog-food as well as eaten raw or boiled by the natives.
It is extremely difficult to form an estimate of much value regarding the amount of these fish used
per annum, but it is within fair limits to say that for the three months, October, November, and
December, an average of 1,500 pounds per day are taken by the natives of this region. This
amounts to 138,000 pounds, or 69 tons.

During the remainder of winter many are taken, but the success of the fisherman depends
upon the character of the season, &c., and the amount secured for the remaining nine months may
be put at one-half that of the first-mentioned amount, or 103.5 tons for the annual catch.

The part of the country between the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim, where this fish most
abounds, is also the most densely-peopled district inhabited by the Eskimo in Alaska.

On January 1, during a winter expedition south of the Yukon delta, I found these fish
swimming in the shallow rain-water that covered the frozen surface of the ponds and lakelets. The
females examined at this time were very large with spawn. The Eskimo say that in shallow pools
these fish bury themselves in the mud and lie dormant through most of the winter, but where the
water is deep they do not. They are the main food-supply of mink and otter in the region where
they abound. They are a sluggish fish and very tenacious of life.

OSMERUS DENTEX Steindachner. Smelt (H?-ko-0g-d-nik).
29933, 29934, 29938, 29937, 29934. Original numbers 230-234. Smelt, Saint Michaels,
August 20, 1880. 1 fathom.

(Notes on original numbers 23, 24, 25, 31, 32.)

Rainbow Herring (Saint Michaels, Norton Sound, July 24, 1877).—The most beautiful fish I have
yet seen from these waters. Dorsal surface pale olive, the borders of scales outlined by darker.
From outer border of the olive to the lateral line the color is purple, then deep mazarin blue be-
coming a changeable violet and gold, then silvery with a violet tint. These colors pass from the
olive of the back insensibly into one another and rival the rainbow in the beauty and the delicacy
of arrangement. From the lateral line, about half way down to the abdomen, isa pure silvery with
the slightest possible shade of rose, which changes to greenish according to the angle it is viewed
from. Between this and the ventral surface is a band of slightly-varying width of pure satiny
white with arich silvery sheen, which changes to a satiny rose color of the most delicate tint
when turned at a different angle. Below on the ventral surface is a pure satin white with but
slight luster. The dorsal and caudal are transparent, the rays only being a golden-olive. The
lower fins are colorless, the pectorals alone showing a slight golden tint on outer tips. All the
colors mentioned as occupying the body extend longitudinally the entire length from the eyes to
the tail. The top, front (or snout), and under surface of head being plain olive. The rich colors of
the sides are even present in the iris.

32917, 32127, (84, 85.) Saint Michaels, August, 1877.
32939, (86.) ’ Saint Michaels, August, 1877.
32837, 32838, 32873, 32926, 32916,

Abundant along shore from Kotzebue Sound to the mouth of the Kuskoquim, from about the
10th of September until into November. They are numerous in tide creeks and inner bays all
along shore at this time. The last of August, 1878, I found the Sea Parrots (Mormon) bringing
young smelt 4 or 5 inches long to their young on the outer islets off Stewart Island.

MALLOTUS VILLOSUS (Miller).

32949. (270-282.) Golovina Bay, June, 1880.
Said to be extremely abundant.

COREGONUS LAURETT.& Bean.
29901, (246.) Nulato, Yukon River, March, 1881.
314 NATURAL HISTORY CULLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

COREGONUS MERCKII, subsp.

32891. (113.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78. .
32892. (117.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-’78.

32921. (112.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.

32922. (114.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.

32923. (115.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877~’78.

32925. (118.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.

32952. (310.) Andraevsky.

32954. (312.) Andraevsky.

32955. (313.) Andraevsky.

32956. (315.) Andraevsky.

COREGONUS KENNICOTTII Milner. Whitefish (Muksun of Russians; Kau-okli-tu of
Esk).
[ ? Coregonus richardsonii GUNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vi, 185.]

[This species, described by Dr. Giinther in 1866, has been considered identical with the
common Whitefish of the Great Lakes, C. clupeiformis, but the common Whitefish has not been
taken in Alaska or “Arctic North America,” so far as we know. It is highly probable that a
re-examination of the types of richardsonii will show that they are the species now bearing
Kennicott’s name.—T. H. BEAN.]

29904. (238.) Saint Michaels, Canal, November 8, 1880.

Unusual size for this species here. Iam told that they get much larger in some lakes at Nulato.
32852. (55.) Saint Michaels, spring, 1877. Bluut-nosed Whitefish.
32893, 32894, 32903, 32904.

(Notes on original Nos. 131 to 134.)

Small-headed Whitefish from canal near Saint Michaels, where they are very numerous just
after the canal freezes over in the fall, when many are speared and trapped in wicker traps. The
latter method is rarely practised, however, and only by natives who have lived on the Yukon.
These specimens were taken the 1st of November, 1878, and in the same lot were many others
of the same kind and about one-third as many of the large Shoveled-jawed Whitefish so numer-
ous at the Yukon mouth in winter—Russian name Nelma.

Upper surface dark brownish olive, becoming satiny white on flanks and abdomen and over
all a steelish-blue luster above and silvery below. Pectorals, ventrals, and anal dark-bluish black ;
sometimes the black is only on the outer.portion of the pectorals. Dorsal and caudal brown-
ish-olive, with darker margins often nearly as dark as the lower fins, and sometimes the dark color
occupies nearly all the dorsals and a large portion of the caudal.

This species is common at different seasons, both along the coast of Bering Sea and in the
Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers. They run in considerable numbers up the large rivers in the first
part of winter for the two or three weeks following the run of Lampreys. They are common also
just before ice makes in the large streams, and many are taken in gill-nets, although very few are
ever secured in fyke-traps for some reason.

IT also saw a number of Whitefish taken in gill-nets on the north coast of Siberia in August,
1881, which I considered to be this species.

In spring, during June, the Whitefish of various species run up the small streams.

COREGONUS NELSONII Bean. (Plate XX.)

29398. (243.) Nulato, Yukon River, March, 1821.

29903. (249.) Nulato, Yukon River, March, 1881.

323839. (110.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
32890. (111.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
32899. (107.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
32900. (108.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1377-78.
32901. (109.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
22950. (308.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, June, 1881.
32951. (309.) Andraevsky, Yukon R'ver, June, 1881.
32953. (311.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, June, 1881.
32983. (106a.) Aundraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877-’78,
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FISHES. 315

COREGONUS QUADRILATERALIS Rich. Whitefish (Sigi of Russians).

32854. (65.) Nulato, Yukon River, March, 1878.

Slender Whitefish—Below white; sides to lateral line light flesh color, approaching roseate.
Scales with fine specks, which make the color darker; above lateral line olive with silvery and steel
blue luster. Lower fins orange shaded. Tail and dorsals olive.

32855. (50.) Unalakleet River, January 30, 1878,

Slender Whitefish.—This specimen was obtained of a native, who said they were abundant
at this time (January 30, 1878) in the river, but do not stay until spring. The fish is remarkably
slender, and has a very pointed snout, which I have seen in no other whitefish. The color of the
back is the usual olive and the ventral surface white. On the sides between the white and olive
and underlying, but nearly disguising the latter color, is a band of salmon-reddish the entire length
of body, and occupying about one-fourth the surface of each side. A very beautiful and graceful
species.

This species is confined to fresh-water streams and lakes, only rarely occurring about the
limits of tide-water, so far as I could learn. Itis abundant from the rivers tributary to Kotze-
bue Sound to the Kuskoquim River, and from the vicinity of the coast of Bering Straits weli up
the Yukon. With the other Whitefish they run up the Yukon and its tributaries in June, and in
fall, when the ice covers the streams, they descend to the deeper parts of the streams, and at the
latter season are taken in large numbers in fyke-traps. The following description is taken from a
fine lot of these fish, taken from a fish-trap on the Lower Anvik River on November 20. The
notes were made before the fish had lost any of their life-tints:

Silvery white on the ventral surface and extending up on the sides to mect the olive-greenish
of the dorsum. Entire sides overlaid with a more or less bright rose color of an extremely delicate
shade, which shows beautifully upon the silvery background.

All of the scales on the dorsal surface are bordered with dark, giving a reticulated appearance
there. The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are all fleshy-reddish.

Tail and dorsal dusky, with fleshy-reddish shade; sides of head silvery. In very bright
examples the fleshy color on the fins becomes almost blood-red and shades off upon the surrounding
scales even from the dorsal fin.

When viewed at one angle the silvery color on the sides extend nearly to the dorsal line, but
seen at another angle it only reaches the lateral line.

THYMALLUS SIGNIFER (Rich.). Grayling (Chu-lukh-pat-g th).
29950. (253.) Nulato, Yukon River, March, 1881. Grayling.
32868, 32869, 32870, 32830.

(Notes on original Nos. 56 to 60.)

Grayling.—Nulato and Andraevsky. Yukon River and tributaries. Nos. 56, 57, and 58,Nu-
lato; 59 and 60, Andraevsky.—The specimens were brought in a good state of preservation, and the
following description gives a fair idea of the appearance: Color of all the specimens nearly
the same, a shade of dark brouze purplish becoming pale steel-blue or flesh-tinted brown on view-
ing from different angles. No. 60 is a trifle lighter colored. The above color extends over the
entire dorsal surface, a little darker on back, and fades slowly as it approaches the abdomen.

Separating the plumbeous-white of the abdomen from the color of the sides is a line of rusty
or sometimes ochery-brown, much darker than the adjacent color of the sides. These lines com-
mence below the pectorals and extend to. the vent, becoming almost obsolete in some specimens
back of the ventrals.

Extending along the median line of the abdomen from the gular point to near the ventrals is
a faint line of brownish. The tail, anal, and pectorals nearly uniform bluish, sometimes appearing
nearly black, at others whitish tinted. The ventrals are the same color, with 5 parallel bars of
rose pink crossing the open fin at right angles with the body. The first of these bars only borders
the anterior edge of the fin. The dorsal becomes proportionally larger in the older specimens. In
all it is dark blue with a row of pink, probably crimson, spots extending the whole width of the fin
on the membrane between the rays. The spots are brighter colored farther back on the fin.
316 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

32871. (47.) Nulato, Yukon River, January, 1878.

(Notes on original No. 47.)

Grayling—Nulato, Yukon, Alaska. Specimen brought frozen in January, 1878. Color, dull
purplish-brown, very dark, with traces of black spots along sides. Fins nearly black. Dorsal
greatly developed. Eye golden-brown. A light fleshy tint is apparent on the sides of head and
body about shoulders.

32930, (152.) Andraevsky, spring, 1878.

This is a fiesh-water species, straying occasionally into the brackish water near the mouths of
streams on the Arctic coast or along the shore of Behring Sea. They are very common about
Nulato in spring, but are not numerous at other seasons. They are one of the characteristic and
common species in all the clear streams tributary to the Lower Yukon, and to Behring Sea and the
Arctic coast thence north.

In midsummer, 1881, when hunting near Cape Lisburne, on the Arctic coast, I saw a number
of these fish in a small stream, They kept in the pools, and when I drew near swam hurriedly
about, trying to escape. I watched them from concealment for some time, but did not see them
open the large banner-like dorsal fin either while they were unaware of my proximity or when
alarmed by me. This fin lay closely folded along the back in both cases. This fin is probably a
sexual character, as it can scarcely have a practical function. The creek where I found these Gray-
ling is a tributary of the Kowak River, which flows into Kotzebue Sound. These fish are caught
by the Eskimo with small, brightly ornamented hooks, and also in nets and traps of wicker-work.
The following is the description of the life colors of a fine male, which was written down directly
after taking the subject, with several others, from a fish-trap in Anvik River on November 20:

Scales, on the sides and back, with golden bronze reflections. On the sides, extending longi-
tudinally through the middle of each scale, is a bar of light color, thus forming a series of light
hnes along the body. Extending back from the head for about half the length of the fish is a
straggling series of ten or fifteen black spots, each covering about half of a scale. The ventral
surface dingy white, withirregular dingy dotting in minute points. From pectorals to ventrals on
each side extends a bar of from two to three scales in width of dark golden bronze, fading quickly
to brown after death. Back of ventrals this line is to be faintly traced.

In fine specimens, mainly on the posterior half, particularly near the tail, the body is shaded
with purple, bluish-green, and dark livid blue, the latter color covering the entire tail. This col-
lection of colors gives an iridescent appearance to the posterior part of the body. The anal fin is
colored a lighter shade of the same tint as thetail. Five narrow bars of pink extend diagonally
across the upper surface of the ventral fins from near their bases to the outer borders; these bars
show nearly white on the under surface of these fins. The ground color of these fins is dingy
bluish-green, punctulate with minute white specks on the under surface. Pectorals dingy olive,
with a dark-purplish shade. Head olive-brown, with bright-bluish and greenish-purple reflections
from the opercula. Dorsal fin purplish, darkest on posterior half. From front to back on the mem-
brane of this fin extend five or six pretty regular series of light spotsin so many rows. These spots
are small in front and larger posteriorly. Their color is light purple in front, but changes posteri-
orly to bright purplish, red, green, indigo, and violet, sometimes blending and sometimes separate,
so as to form a beautiful combination difficult to describe.

The fin on its posterior half also becomes much more intensely colored with shades of greenish
and purple. The upper and outer border of this fin is narrowly edged with pink. Itis impossible
to conyey by description the beautiful array of colors this species presents when first taken from
the water, most of which quickly fade after death.

STENODUS MACKENZIt Richardson. Whitefish (Velma of Russian; Chi of Esk.)

29833. (239 and 240.) Kotlik, January 20, 1881.
Nelma, or Large Whitefish.—Lower half silvery white, and shaded by dusky olive on upper
half. Lower fins pale or colorless. Upper fins dusky.
29889. (255 and 256.) Nulato, March, 1831.
A native brought one of these fishes from Selawik Lake this winter (1880—81), which weighed
forty-odd pounds and was nearly 4 feet long.
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32861. (61,) Andraevsky, March, 1878.
Young Nelma.—Entire under surface and sides silvery white above the lateral line, changing to

steel blue. The dorsal line olive, also the top of head the same. Tail, dorsal,and adipose dorsal
olive; the other fins colorless.

32924. (116.) Andraevsky, winter of 1877-78.

Whitefish (Nelma of the Russian traders).—Specimens of this fine Whitefish were seen from
various points along the Yukon, also on the Kuskoquim and from Kotzebue Sound. They are
taken abundantly in the brackish water at the mouth of the Yukon at certain seasons and often
in tide creeks about Saint Michaels. In spring about the time the ice is running down the Yukon
this fish runs for a few days up all of the tributary streams that communicate with small lakes,
where the Nelma passes the summer. In autumn about the time the Yukon freezes over they run
back again and are caught abundantly for a few weeks in fyke-traps up as high as Anvik at least.
They reach a large size, frequently weighing from 35 to 40 pounds. These fish are taken with hook
as well as in traps and nets.

42, SALVELINUS MALMA (Walb.). Salmon Trout L-ka-thluk-pth).

82895. (12€.) Golsova River, October 25, 1878.
$ Salmon Trout, from Golsova River, October 25, 1878.

The interior of the mouth is black; but when fully opened, exposing the partially concealed
membranes at the angles, under the tongue and the branchiostegals, these surfaces appear white.

32910. (127.) Golsova River, October 25, 1878.

Is a2 of the same species, but the colors have faded on the spots, &c. The spots were white
two days after her capture and the body uniform steel-blue, with a rosy tint on flanks and pale
yellowish white on ventral surface. The head is colored like the body, with an olive shading on
the upper surface. Pectorals fleshy brown. Ventrals pinkish white, bordered on outer extremity.
Anal like ventrals. Dorsal, adipose dorsal, and tail bluish-olive. Eye golden-yellow.

32911, 32912. (128, 129.) Golsova River, October 25, 1873.

Appear to be exactly like 127, except being a trifle smaller and, as usual in the Salmonide,
slenderer, and with more obtuse nose in consequence. Traces of pink and rose show along the
sides of abdomen and faint pink is visible on most of the lateral spots.

The lateral line extends in a straight line the entire length ou both specimens.

The first of June, 1877, Salmon Trout were rather numerous about the mouths of streams
flowing into the bay at Unalaska, and young ones from 2 to 3 inches long were numerous in the
creeks. Salmon Trout run in the Yukon and other streams with the salmon in June and July,
but are most numerous in fall just before and after the streams freeze over. Few are taken later
than November and from then until the ice leaves in spring. They are abundant and widely
distributed. They are taken, like the salmon, in nets or traps. During August, 1881, we found
the natives taking them in gill-nets along the north coast of Siberia. The last of September, 1881,
we caught a number of trout in the streams flowing into the bays about Unalaska. Only small
examples could be taken with a hook baited with salmon-eggs, but specimens weighing as much as
a pound or more were readily secured with a brown hackle. They are game and offer good sport
on favorable days.

43, ONCORHYNCHUS CHOUICHA, (Walb.). King Salmon, Chowichee Salmon (Tdg-t-
shitk-whitk). (Plate XXI).

32846. (15.) Saint Michaels, July 20, 1877.

King Salmon (Chowecha, Russian; Tageshakhpuk, Esk.)—Length, 38 inches; depth, 83.
Color, bright silvery on sides and below, becoming nearly white on abdomen. The back and top
of head a clear olive greenish. This species is taken along the shore of Norton Sound immediately
after the ice disappears in spring, my earliest date being June 6, 1877. On the Lower Yukon, up,
318 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

at least, to Anvik, the largest of these salmon run during the few days just preceding and following
the breaking up of the ice, and thence on until the end of the season they decrease gradually in
size and quality. They are usually very abundant iu the Yukon and run far up above Fort Yukon,
reaching 1500 miles or more from its mouth. Only the larger individuals, however, reach the
upper part of the river. At Anvik they begin running about the 12th of June, and the season
is virtually over the middle of July. At Andraevsky, lower down the river, the season is a little
earlier. At Saint Michaels their season is usually over by the 10th of July.

The middle of June, 1879, a number of these salmon weré brought into Saint Michaels and
were found to have from one to two half-digested herrings in their stomachs. Their ovaries at this
time are fully developed.

These fish attain a very large size, although specimens weighing over 60 or 70 pounds are rarely
taken on the coast. Charles Petersen, a fur trader liviag at Anvik, told me of one example taken
there that weighed 140 pounds, and thinks they sometimes weigh a third more than that.

The Anvik natives say that there are land-locked King Salmon living in Shageluk Lake that
are like the river Salmon, except that the lake fish are black-skinned in place of the usual color.

[These are Lake Trout, Salvelinus numaycush.—T. H. Bean. |

44, ONCORHYNCHUS KETA (Walb.). Hyko Salmon (Né-hd).

29892, (223.) Saint Michaels, July 24, 1c80.

Abundant July 1 to 25 or 30, when the run is nearly over. The principal salmon in this vicin-
ity, but equaled by the preceding in the rivers.

29894, (225.) Saint Michaels, July 26, 1880. Hyco, female.
29895. (227.) Saint Michaels, August 6, 1880. Hyco, female.
? 32844, (16.) Saint Michaels, July 20, 1877. Hyco.

32896. Locality not given.

32808. Locality not given.

This to the Eskimo is the most valuable food-fish found about the shores of Bering Sea and
the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers, owing to its great numbers. Upon its abundance dur-
ing the summer depends in a great measure whether the following winter shall be one of plenty or
of famine and scarcity.

This species commences to run about the middle of June, and moves in great schools along the
coast and up the rivers for about a month, after which stragglers are more or less numerous but
constantly decrease in numbers until ice makes in tha fall. The Kotzebue Sound Eskimo were net-
ting them along shore on July 15,1881. On the Lower Yukon the main run is between the last of
June and end of July. The last of August each year many are still caught about the shore of Nor-
ton Sound. They are rarely taken before June 12 at Saint Michaels.

On July 24, 1878, I saw many of them breaking in a tide creek near Saint Michaels. I do not
know that any are taken with a hook. The usual means of capture along the coast is the gill-net,
and along the rivers the same net or a wicker fish-trap. Their flesh usually dries salmon-red and
is the ukali of the fur traders of Alaska.

45, ONCORHYNCHUS NERKA (Walb.). Red Salmon (Crassnie Ryba of Russian; O-kogh-
a-lik of Esk.)

32343. Saint Michaels, August 20, 1877.
32845. (17.) Norton Sound, July 20, 1877.

Purple Salmon.—Length of adult female, 24. Depth, 53. Form stout. Sides purple from just
over lateral line to a line extending directly back from pectorals to the tail and just missing the outer
border of ventrals. The purplish also covers the tail, making it a dull livid purple. The ventral
surface of body to outer border of pectorals and ventrals and to tail, silvery white, the outer
portion of this with a purplish suffusion, especially on the caudal peduucle, where the purple of
the sides is much paler. Dorsal region above the purple is olive-green, rather dark. The sides
and back are covered with innumerable fine punctulations, which make those parts considerably
darker than they would otherwise be. The upper surface of head is a dark translucent greenish,
almost bluish-olive, which becomes lighter on the sides, where it reaches to the border of the under
FISHES. 319

jaw in line with the pectorals. Under surface of head pale bluish, finely speckled with darker.
The entire lower jaw, inside and out, a livid bluish, as well as the upper surface of the tongue and
anterior inner margin of the upper jaw. Tail, anal, and dorsals a dull purplish tinge. Ventrals
slightly purplish and finely dotted or specked. Pectorals dark olive, purple-tinted between the
rays.

32848 (18.) Norton Sonnd, July 20, 1877.

Silver Salmon, female.—Entire body bright metallic silvery, back tinged with a clear olive- green,
becoming darker on head and dorsal line. A band occupying the ventral surface of body from
outer border of pectorals and ventrals a satiny white with a metallic luster. Interior of under
jaw bluish-green, also top of tongue. Sides of head silvery, with greenish tinge. Fins and tai]
with numerous minute dots, which make the color of the upper fins dark olive. The lower fins are
a clear semi-transparent light olive, fading to translucent white on the inner portion.

This is the least common of the Salmon taken on the coast of Norton Sound, and is next in
quality to the King Salmon. It is taken in gill-nets irregularly through the season with the other
small Salmon. It is a more abundant species in the Lower Yukon, where the main run occurs
about the middle of August and usually lasts for a week or ten days, although in some seasons the
run only lasts two or three days.

Some of these fish are little inferior in quality to the King Salmon.

Above Mission, on the Yukon, all kinds of Salmon are commonly caught in a large dip-net,
which is held under water while the fisherman drifts down-stream in a canoe until he feels a fish
in the net.

46. ONCORHYNCHUS KISUTCH (Walb.).

29893. (236.) Female. Saint Michaels, September 8, 1880.
Run of this fish from September 1. Clear olive-green above, silvery white below. Fins all
more or less dusky; inside of mouth livid dark green.

232824. (38; 39.) Saint Michaels, August 20, 1877.

Humpback Salmon, Dog Salmon; (Esk. Chy-u-yak).

38. Female. Length, 29 inches; depth, 74; width, 34.
39. Length, 28} inches; depth, 64 width, 3.

Colors rather dark above the sides and abdomen, tinted witha light fleshy purple approaching
pinkish red ; otherwise as in the following description of a specimen not preserved :

Ventral surface silvery white, fading on sides into a slightly darker shade of the same. From
above a light purplish red tint is seen on sides and from below it appears of a faint coppery luster,
Median dorsal line olive, this shading down in some specimens nearly to lateral line, and with a de-
cided greenish tint. Sides of head silvery, finely dusted with minute plumbeous dots. Olive above
and white below.

Pectorals white at base below and dark at tips, the posterior surface of the same nearly
black. Ventrals white, with faint fleshy tints below, dark above. Anal light at base fading into
fleshy then into dark, which occupies most of the outer half. Tail dark brownish-olive. Dorsal
peduncle bluish-black, lighter at front of base. Dorsal a trifle lighter than tail. Iris pale yellow.

? 32825, (42.) Saint Michaels, Angust 21, 1877.

Female. Large Silver-mouth (Esk. N-ké).—Length, 29; depth, 74; width, 3. Fins as in
Nos. 40 and 41. Head same as last, but brighter green on top. Back olive with violet green re-
flections, which become silvery or steel blue when viewed at different angles from below. When
silvery a faint coppery tint is noticeable. Below the lateral line only silvery ; a slightly darker
shade near lateral line is observed. Ventral surface white.

9 32829. (41.) Saint Michaels, August 20, 1877.
No. 40. Female. Length, 25}.
No. 41. Length, 25.
Fins exactly as in the preceding (39), except, perhaps, a trifle lighter. Below pure silvery
white, extending on sides to lateral line, but here underlaid by a slight plumbeous tint, becoming
320 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

darker as the line is approached. Above lateral line the color changes to a bright metallic steel
blue, becoming very intense as the median dorsal line is approached. Along the dorsal line, how-
ever, the color is a dull bluish-olive, produced by a heavy olive shade over the blue. Top of head
dark olive, fading into silvery on sides, which are finely and thickly sprinkled with dark dots.
Below white. Iris very pale golden-yellow.

2 323847. (19.) Norton Sound, July 20, 1877.

Slender Salmon. Male.—Length, 25 iuches; depth, 5 inches.

Back olive green, with a silvery luster on each scale. The olive fades away below the lateral
line, but is invaded from below by irregular blotches of light silvery or of a delicate rosy pink,
which extends from the abdominal region. Top and sides of head tinted olive green, fading as on
body. A faint coppery tint to the silvery on opercular bones. The lower surface is made darker
by the numerous fine dots. Dorsals, pectorals, and caudal dull clayey olive. Ventrals olive with
a light spot on tip. Anal bluish-olive, with similar light spot on tip.

32897. Locality not stated.

47. ONCORHYNCHUS GORBUSCHA (Walb.). Hump-backed Salmon (Gorbuska of Russian;
Esk. Tikh-tik).

29890. (224.) Saint Michaels, July 27, 1830.

Dorsal surface dull olive bluish, with a tinge of purple along side on lateral line. Upper
fins and tail uniform bluish olive. The bluish of the upper surface becomes rapidly replaced
by white below the lateral line, but the whole side has a dingy bluish-white appearance, though
each scale is silvery white. Top of head greenish olive; sides of same purplish olive; beneath
pure white. Pectoral fins bluish black, with white base close to body. Ventrals: Anterior halt
of upper surface a little lighter than pectorals, the rest of this fin dingy white. The dorsal sur-
face above lateral line, from occiput to tail, including dorsal fin, and the entire tail irregu-
larly but profusely marked with oblong black spots at intervals of about one-fourth to one-third
of aninch. The spots on the back have their greatest diameter at right angles to the lateral line.
On the tail the spots are rather more numerous, are rounder, and have their longest axis parallel
to the lateral line. The spots on the back are about twice as long as wide. Iris pale yellow.

(In a specimen fresh from water the whole upper half with fins is strongly shaded with a
purplish or reddish tint.)

29891. (226.) Saint Michaels, July 29, 1°80.
29897. (222.) Saint Michaels, July 24, 1880.

Young male. This species is rather uncommon here but very numerous at this season at
Unalakleet.

The Gorbuska are first taken about the middle of June along the coast of Bering Sea, and are
rather numerous until the end of July, with more or less common stragglers until late in fall. They
run at the same time and in about equal numbers in the rivers well into the interior. The
Gorbuska is less regular in its appearance than the other species of small salmon in the Yukon.
Some years only a few will be taken, and again they will run in such excessive numbers in the
Lower Yukon that the wicker fish-traps must be emptied several times a day. The flesh of this
species dries orange yellow. This is the least palatable of the salmon, being dry and tasteless.

48, CLUPEA MIRABILIS Girard. Herring (Esk. L-kd-thlu-tikli-pik).
29887. (295-302.) Saint Michaels, June 16, 1881.
Herrings from spawning bed on reef.
32872. (53.) Saint Michaels, spring, 1877.

On June 9, 1877, I saw a large school of herrings in Unalaska Harbor, and on the 10th of the
same month and year they were noted for the first time that season at Saint Michaels, in Norton
FISHES. 321

Sound. At this latter place in 1878 and 1879 they first appeared on the 12th, and ran until the
16th. During the run they keep close to the shore, so that a person can stand on the beach and
spear them as they pass, and many are caught in seines by the Eskimo. Near Cape Vancouver many
are caught in gill-nets and dip-nets at this season. During the run schools of Belugas or White
Whales follow along shore and feast upon them. In 1881 the herrings did not appear at Saint
Michaels until June 15, and on the 19th the run was over. At this time these fish form a contin-
uous line along the beach, passing from south to ‘north in unbroken succession, spawning on the
sea-weeds and rocks from above low-tide mark to a fathom below it. They enter all the inner
bays and swarm about every reef and rocky point.

The water boils with them along shore as they struggle about in a dense mass among the short
sea-weed in spawning, and they can be easily caught in one’s hands. The females move slowly
among the weeds and press in the midst of them, depositing their eggs, which adhere to whatever
they come in contact with by means of a gummy secretion, with which they are coated. Thrusting
my hand under water for a half minute was sufficient for it to be covered with eggs.

During all of the spawning time the milt of the males discolors the water to an opaque dirty
milky hue for from 2 to 4 fathoms from shore.

The temperature of the water in the midst of the spawning fish was 44°.2. A large portion
of the eggs deposited during high tide were exposed to the sun and air at ebb so that they dried,
and the following high tide washed them off the weeds and they were lost. The amount thus
destroyed would equal at least 25 per cent. of the eggs deposited.

In Sauer’s account of the Billings Expedition, at the end of last century, he states that on
June 7, at the harbor of Saints Peter and Paul, in Kamchatka, he saw the herrings spawning on
sea-weeds along shore, so that at ebb tide a portion of them were exposed. He adds further that
the herrings return to that coast in fall, but that the spring fish are largest.

It may be noted here that the water of Norton Sound, where I saw these fish spawning, is
very far from being as salty as the sea water on the coast of Kamchatka, owing to the proximity
of the Sound to the Yukon mouth, from which it appears that the herrings of this region are
somewhat indifferent as to the quality of the water on their spawning beds.

49. CATOSTOMUS CATOSTOMUS Forster. Pipe Fish (Lropka of Russians).

29906. (250-252.) Nulato, March, 1881.
32859. (49.) Nulato, January, 1878.

Description of a specimen which was not kept. Length, 19 inches, dorsal 10; anal 7; scales, 17,
115, 14. Color, dull plumbeous on back and sides, fading gradually into white ou the lower surface.
Extending along the lateral line is a band of light pink or rose color, gradually fading on the
posterior half. Iris golden. Head, above and on sides, bluish purple. Nose much prolonged.
Lips very prominently papillated. A series of small papilla extend from under the eye out on the
snout on either side. Proportions: Head a trifle over 4 times in entire length. Eye, 84 in head,
34 in interorbital space. Depth of head 1$ in length of same. Height of dorsal a little more than
base and 13 in length of head. Pectoral, 12 in head. Ventral, 13 in head.. Anal, 14 in head.
Caudal, 14 in head. Caudal peduncle, width 3 in head. Depth of body, 14 in head. From eye
to end of snout 2 in head.

The contour of head reminds one strikingly of a Sturgeon.

32888. (101-106.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, wi er, 1877-’78.
32959. (314, 316.) Andraevsky, Yukon River, sr .all creek.
32984. juv. Andraevsky, Yukon River, winter, 1877~'78.

The Russian name is derived from the peculiar shape of the head.

This is an abundant species throughout Northern Alaska in all the streams, so far as I could
learn. Specimens were brought me from the Yukon at various points and from other streams, and
the first of September, 1881, I saw quite a number of them taken in a seine by the Eskimo from
the brackish estuaries of streams flowing into Kotzebue Sound.

S. Mis, 156 41

 
322 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA

50. AMMOCGETES AUREUS Bean. Lamprey Eel (Esk. Ni-mug-t-shii),

32840. (73.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877~’78.
32841. (76.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877-’78.
32874, (70.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877~78.
32875. (71.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877-’78.
32876. (72.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.
32877. (74.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877~’78.
32878. (75.) Mission, Yukon River, winter, 1877-78.

Ordinarily soon after the ice sets in the Yukon, and rarely just before this occurs, these fish
run up the Yukon in large numbers, reaching at least up to Nulato. They keep in the middle of
the river and move up against the swiftest part of the current and run in a dense body. So
compactly do they run that the natives use either a stick, with two short cross-bars at the lower
end, or a dip-net to throw them out on the ice. By means of these implements great numbers of
them are caught, although it is claimed that the eels only require about an hour for the main body
of them to pass any given point. The Yukon Eskimo have holes cut in the ice, and continuous
watch is kept when the time for their run approaches, and as soon as they appear the alarm is given
and every one runs out on the ice with stick or dip-net, and, making holes in the thin ice, secures as
many as possible while the fish pass their station, and then they run upstream a half mile or so
and make another hole and secure as many more as possible, and thus follow the slowly-moving
fish for a long distance. In 1879 the run began at Anvik on the evening of November 26. They
are extremely oily, and the natives use the oil for eating and for lamps as a substitute for seal-oil.
 

 

PAE I.

LIN!

 

US:

REPORT UPON THE DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN

ALASKA BY

EK. W. NELSON,

BY

W. H EDWARDS,

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

EK. W.

BY

NELSON.

 

 

323
INTRODUOTION.

The present account of the butterflies collected by me has been kindly prepazed by Mr.
Edwards, at my request. As will be seen from the list, the specimens were taken either at Saint
Michaels or along the Arctic coast from Kotzebue Sound north. Along this latter coast I found
butterflies more numerous than I had ever seen them on the coast of Bering Sea. In neither dis-
trict, however, were they very common. The list of species is smaller than it would otherwise be
from the fact that during the months of June and July at Saint Michaels I was so pressed with
work in other directions that only the scantiest attention was paid to collecting butterflies. In
fact I took only-such specimens as occurred in the immediate vicinity of the station. The
specimens taken along the Arctic coast in the summer of 1881 were all secured by means of my hat.
In consideration of these facts, the writer was surprised to find that the collection contained two
new species, Pieris Nelsoni and Argynnis Butleri, besides some rare and little known forms. This
should encourage future explorers in that region to pay greater attention to the collection of these
insects.

At Saint Michaels the warm weather of June and the first two weeks of July cover the but-
terfly season, and we only found butterflies along the Arctic coast during July.

' The raw misty weather so characteristic of the last half of summer on the east coast of Bering
Sea is entirely unsuited to the life of these frail insects, and scarcely one can be found then. Mild
weather prevails much later in the season about the shores of Kotzebue Sound, and in the interior,
North of Kotzebue Sound, on the Arctic coast, the season is similar to that at Saint Michaeis, but
is shorter. The Point Barrow party failed to obtain a single butterfly, so they must be very rare
at that bleak and desolate locality.

SPRINGERVILLE, ARIZ., November 25, 1886. E. W. NELSON.
325
DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN ALASKA.

Family PAPILIONIDZA.

Subfamily PAPILIONA.

Genus PAPILIO Linnus.

PapiLio MacHaAon Linn., var. ALIASKA Scudder.

This form seems to be abundant at Saint Michaels, and was found high up the Yukon
River by Dall. The most easterly point at which it has been observed is Rupert House, Hudson’s
Bay. It would appear to fly over the boreal regions west of Hudson’s Bay, but it was not taken
by Mrs. Ross at Fort Simpson some years ago, though a very large collection of butterflies was
made there. Captain Geddes did not find it along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad nor
in the Peace River district in 1883, nor did the late Mr. Crotch take it in British Columbia, though
he collected as far to the north as Bald Mountain. It is the same form, apparently, which flies in
the Himalayas and other parts of Eastern Asia, confounded with Asiaticus Ménétriés, which is the
name of an aberration only. There is some variation in color among the examples from Saint
Michaels, most being pale yellow. But one male is deep yellow, and so is like the Hudson’s Bay
examples so far observed.

Subfamily PIERIN 4.
Genus PIERIS Schrank.

Pipris Napi Linn. Winter form Bryonie Ochsenheimer.

A number of examples were taken at Saint Michaels, 1878, at dates from June 2 to July
7. They are all of small size, the males expanding 1.5 inch, the females 1.6 inch. The male is
white; on the under side the hind wings are either white or faint yellow, the nervures heavily
edged with gray-brown, just as in examples from Lapland. The females are much obscured on
upper side by gray, and the nervures are broadly edged with gray. Two Lapland females are
yellow, obscured by brown; so also are some examples from the Alps, but 1 have not found Alaskan
females of this hue. The winter form of Napi flies over the entire boreal part of the continent. It
is single-brooded, and to the south, on the Pacitic slope, is replaced by the wiuter form venosa
Scudder, its summer form there being pallida Scudder. Mr. Mead took many examples of both
sexes of Bryonie on Newfoundland. The species there is two-brooded, and the butterflies of the
second brood in markings lie between venosa and pallida of the west. I called this Newfoundland
summer form Acadica, Papilio 1, p. 87,1881. The butterflies of the winter form on this island
are nearly twice as large in superficial area as the Saint Michaels examples.
328 NATURAL HISTORY COLLEC’IONS IN ALASKA.

Pirris NELSoONI Edwards.

One male taken at- Saint Michaels June, 1831. The species is near Callidice Esper, but
differs in the coloration of the under side, which is gray-brown instead of green ; and on upper
side, in the shape of the cellular spot, which is a short oval, instead of a long curved bar; also in
the presence of a spot in the sub-median interspace. Mr. A. G. Butler informs me that the British
Museum collection contains a similar male labeled “North America.” I named the species after
Mr. E. W. Nelson, and figured it in Butterflies of North America, volume 2, part 10, plate 1, of
Pieris, 1883.

Genus COLIAS Fabricius.

OCOLIAS HECLA Lefebvre var. HELA Strecker.

One male and one female were taken at Kotzebue Sound July 14,1881. The male is similar on
both surfaces to an example which I have from Greenland, but the female is much more yellow
than a Greenland female and another from Cumberland Island, and less obscured by black on
both surfaces than these. The under side is of the same yellow-green hue of the male. The
species seems to be restricted to the Arctic regions, but flies from Greenland to Alaska.

Cotas CHIPPEWA Edwards.

One white female taken at Saint Michaels August 6, 1878; one white female and one yellow
female at Kotzebue Sound July 14, 1881. These are all of same size and style of marking as the
female figured in Butterflies of North America, volume 1 (under the name of Helena, which name
was found to have been preoccupied and Chippewa was substituted for it), The under side of
hind wing in this species has the discal spot small, silvery, with no border. The examples origi-
nally described were taken at Fort Simpson, and probably the species flies over the boreal and
Arctic regions to the northwest.

Family NYMPHALIDA.

subfamily NYMPHALIN.
Genus ARGYNNIS Fabricius.

ARGYNNIS FreyA Thunberg.

One male and one female, taken at Saint Michaels, do not differ from Colorado and Labrador
specimens. Freya follows the Rocky Mountains as far as South Colorado, at high elevations.
One male was taken at Kotzebue Sound July 13, 1881, and is very black.

ARGYNNIS FRIGGA Thunberg.

One male aud one female, taken at Saint Michaels, do not differ from examples taken at Fort
Simpson, but are somewhat larger than all I have seen from Labrador. This species also flies in
the Rocky Mountains and Colorado.

ARGYNNIS BurLERI Edwards.

This species I described in the Canadian Entomologist, volume xv, page 32, 1882, from one
male taken at Kotzebue Sound July 14, and another at Cape Thompson July 19,1881. It is allied
to A. chariclea, from which it “ differs in the redder coloration and much heavier markings on the
upper surface; the basal area is blacker, the spots and stripes much thicker. Below the mark-
ings are altogether darker than in chariclea, whether of Europe” (or America)—Butler. Mr.
INSECTS. 329

Butler informed me that the example sent him for determination agreed perfectly with one in the
British Museum collection, labeled “Nova Zembla;” also with two of the Grinnell Land series,
included under Mr. McLachlan’s varieties of chariclea.

Subfamily SATYRINA,

Genus EREBIA Dalman.

EREBIA FASCIATA Butler.

One female taken at Kotzebue Sound July 14, 1881. This is an exceedingly rare species in
our collections. I haveseen but two examples of it before the arrival of this from Mr. Nelson. It
is the largest American species of the genus, the male almost black on upper side, the female dull
russet over the disks of both wings. On the under side of both sexes is a band beyond middle of
both wings, brownish on fore wing, gray on hind wing; and next to the base is a brown area on
fore and a gray one on hind wing; the area between the brown and gray is black, a band in fact,
with jagged or irregular edges. Mr. Butler’s description in the Catalogue of Satyride of the
British Museum Collection, 1868, gives the locality as ‘ Arctic America,” and beyond this nothing
appears to be known of the locality of the species.

EREBIA DISA Thunberg, var. MANcINUS Doubleday and Hewitson.

Examples from Kotzebue Sound July 14. One is labeled “ Arctic Ocean,” July 17; another,
“Cape Thompson, Arctic Ocean,” July 19, 1881. Others are from Saint Michaels. The species
would seem to be common in Northern Alaska; I have seen several examples taken at Saint
Michaels in former years. There is much variation in the markings of the under side in a series,
some examples being banded much as in fasciata; others have the bands obsolescent. Kirby
credits disa to boreal Europe and boreal Asia, and Rocky Mountains of America. Probably boreal
America (northwest) is the correct locality.

Genus CHIONOBAS Boisduval.
CHIONOBAS TAYGETE Hiibner. Boovrers Boisduval.

Of this, two males and one female are from Saint Michaels, not differing from the Labrador
type. Probably the species flies through the boreal regions across the continent.

Family LYCANIDZ.
Subfamily LYCASNIN Al.
Genus LYCENA.
LYCENA PSEUDARGIOLUS Boisduval. Arctic form, VIOLACEA Edwards.

Two males from Saint Michaels. The species has two Arctic (or winter) forms, the other
being Lucia Kirby. The latter was taken on the Yukon River by the expedition under Dall,
as Mr. Scudder reports. (Pr. Bost. Soc. N. History, 1869.) These two forms fly from Alaska
to New England. Where the species becomes two-brooded, in Canada and the Northern United
States, the summer or second brood is ZL. neglecta, quite a different butterfly in appearance.
Farther to the south other forms present themselves, and under some of these the species is found
even in Mexico. Ihave given a full account, illustrated by figures, of all the phases of this species
in Butterflies of North America, volume 2.

Tsubjoin alist of all species of butterflies so far known to have been taken in Alaska. Doubt-
less many more remain to be discovered, especially in the southern parts of the Territory. In
330

NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.

drawing up this I have been aided by Mr. Henry Edwards, who inspected the collections made

by Messrs. Bischoff and Harford about ten years ago.

Tr Wwe

nt
Sean

11.
12.
13.
14,
15.
16.

17;

18.

. Papilio Turnus Linn.
. Papilio eurymedon Bois.

Papilio Machaon, var. Aliaska Scud.

. Parnassius Nomion Fisch.
. Parnassius Eversmanni, Mén.

© Wosneseuski Mén.
® Thor H. Edw.

. Pieris Napi, form Bryonie Ochs.

Pieris Napi, var. Hulda Edw.
Pieris Napi, form venosa Scud.

. Pieris Nelsoni Edw.
. Anshocharis lanceolata Bois.

Anshocharis ? Reakirtii Edw.

. Colias interior Scud.

Colias Chippewa Edw.
Colias Hecla, var. Hela Str.

Colias eurytheme, form Keewaydin Edw.

Colias ? Pelidne Bois.
Danais Archippus Fab.
Argynnis Bischofii Edw.
Argynnis Freya Thunb.
Argynnis Boisduvalli Somm.

 

19.
20.
21.
22,
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28,
29.
30.
31,
32.
33.
34,
35.
36.
37,

Argynnis epithore Bois.
Argynnis Butleri Ldw.
Argynnis Myrina Cram.
Argynnis frigga Thunb.
Melitea Helvia Scud.
Melitea Palla Bois.
Phyciodes Mylitta Edw.
Grapta faunus Edw.
Grapta gracilis Gr.- Rob.
Vanessa Antiopa Linn,
Pyrameis Cardui Linn,
Canonympha Kodiak Edw.
Erebia Discoidalis Kirby.
Lirebia fasciata Butl.
Erebia disa, var. Maneinus Doubl.-Hew.
Chionobas Taygete Hiibn.
Chrysophanus Dorcas Kirby.
Lycena Kodiak Edw.
Lycena pseudargiolus.

form Lucia Kirby.

form Violacea Edw.
Page.

Acanthis hornemannii exilipes -........-...-.-- 178
VAP as oie 55-3 Sa he wesc sacs sens Sewistsrcier 179
Accipiter atricapillus...2.. 22.20. eee ee eee eee 140
WG LO Risa cian csievar te cpate heise igaxsie clatictaretotemrete, om 140

Actitis macularia...--. 2.2... 2.2 eee eee ees cee eee 120
figialitis mongola...-....2-2-.---e0 vecees sees 127
semipalmata ...-....---. 22202 ee eee 126
estrelata fisheri ...2.. 0-2-0. ween ceee ce eeee aire 63
Alaska, faunal subdivisions of .........-..-..-- 24
Alaskan Arctic District........-.-.....-.-2---- 27
Canadian District.........-2-2. ..e0-8- 32

Alauda arvensis, not an Alaskan bird.-.......- 2 162
Albatross, black-footed ...... ....2. 2.2225 eee: 60
short=tailed sacs, cece saccesctee xeccnse 61

Alces americanus ...... 2.2.22 nee eee e cone cee ees 232, 287
Aleutian District 2220 secs cesencseseseveonecncce 26
AMMOCOBtES AUTCUS 2.200 .. nee enews cee nee nene: 822
Ammodramus sandwichensis.........---..----- 186
sandwichensis alaudinus.......-.- 187

Ammodytes personatus ..---..--2-2 2-20 -e ee eee 312
Ampelis garrulus -.....-...---.-- +22 seeeee eee 199
Anarrhichas lepturus ...... 2.202... 2-02 eee eee 305
Anas americana... 2% ssc veseee ices reese 68
bosch as... scene ccs tecetecsssve vexceneces 67
carolinensis -....-------.2---20- see eee noes 68
CISCOTS .. 2200 ence enn tee nne cae ee cena cees 69
penelope....-...--- Sede ihe tease ewece es 67
Anoplarchus atropurpureus............--2+-+-- 305
Anser albifrons gambeli......-....---- Ses tie 83
Anshocharis lanceolata ....- Pemasae Joes weiee eh 330
Reakirtii ..... discocat atte cress 330

Anthus pratensis, not an Alaskan bird .......-. 209
COPVINUS:: 35 cciceimccincs cece ee eee RE 209
pensilvanicus .... 2-2... --22 ee eee eee eee 208
Aphriza virgata ....-... 0.222.222. eee eee cee ee 127
Aquila chrysaétos ......--.-.2. 2-22 eee ee eee 144
Arctomys pruinosus .......-.2---- e222 eee e eee 233, 282
Arctonetta fischeri -... 2-2-2. .22. cece eee ee eee 76
Archibuteo lagopus.... 2... .0+--+ ee eee ee eee eee 142
lagopus sancti-johannis ......-..... 143

Arenaria interpres.... .---0- eee e eee eee eee ee 128
melanocephala ...-.. 2-2. ---e een eens 129

Ardea herodias wwascic woes vewess se seis sees es cece 94
Argynnis Bischoffi.....--.-.-..-----+-0-----e- 330
BOisduvalll in. secews sess cess seesees 330

Bitlet seiecicicnicacew siceecereceweecsen 328, 330

OPithore ...- 122. see ee cece ween ween eee 330

PYGY 8: cccantucstcwtseewei sen eners cee 328

PIP TD, cosas ewes sais erecesyucnaweweeere 328, 380

MYPIDA same cemesecricansvaesmcceeeees 330

 

Page.

ATTOWSISD wwscsemaeuss vesewe secs ex seesoweeees 304
Arvicola riparius borealis....-.-...-22.2.---60- 233, 275
Asio accipitrinus -....-..---.-.- spawn cede feenisles 149
Astur atricapillus compared with striatulus .... 141
atricapillus striatulus ....-....-----...-. 141
Auklet, Cassin’s ....20+ :cc2cs sececseecces coeces 40
CROStOd secre eiewa dette a aeieiemmmnis Giatinaie 41

DCA Rbic weewarcmwarsirese cde peed scisieeeee os 42
Paroquetizsse cose ses seers sees ecsiesecew cones 40
RbMOCeLrO8 sess sees cicse ee desscoteecdees 40
Whiskeredwiscis csc sisieies Gem sacmecicee 42
Aythya marila nearctica........2....-....----- 71
QTANAS sue ersteint cues cece oie ecjeseiee tuaeernialaieiee 71

CONMBTIS tense eniemtin caress saa eiacas 72
vallisneria 1,2. --2- ceceee cece cece coceee 71
Balena cullamach...-..-.--.-...-.. eeu aeaeeney 233
JAPODICA. 22. ee eee eee eee eee 233
MYSUICOLUS sc aieeie civic eee oso ens sens -eee- 233,291
Balenoptera Davidsoni....-.....---.-.--.------ 233
Bald Waterers vec Liseicac as aaieaesemeheeammens 68
Bartramia longicauda ......-... 00-22-20 -ee eee 119
Bean, Tarleton, H., Report on Alaskan Fishes -- 295
Beur, Barren Ground .......-.-----.-2.0------- 258
Bath o. ccqanaleseby cimitieiocseeatuoabau eae 256
CIMMOMROD s.5:. vse nets csccacsaae demise cessieses 257
GHIA Gee a occiatcesmsdenacnedeeoteeeseesa 258

POVAT icis ciswienincgdaataee mmsaietameneeaas 254

BEaV GPs .cinis sasvesslereaea'eiaisiaenjea widens ce-oeee nes 279
Bernicla nigricans... .... 2... .22. 222. eee eee ee 85
Bibliography of Alaskan ornithology........... 223
Blackbird, Rusty ..2. 222. -200 cece cece eee eee ee 169
Blackfish -.......... J muted dgewiu Maine a ekeeeuor 312
Blennys Lutted os sncuisiansentinecew one ceneeeetas 305
Bluebird, Mountain ....-..-2...---2. 22-26-00 222
Blue-throat, Red-spotted .............---2.-... 220
Bonasa umbellus sabini....-. 2-22. ..-02.--2-6- 181
umbellus umbelloides .........-....---- 131
Boreogadus saida.....00 co. sc eeee cee eee cece eens 302
Brachyopsis dodecaédrus -......-..-.---..----- 306
Braehyramphus kittlitzii....... 2... ..0.2.-02-- 44
MATDIOTAGUS .... 222.220. .----0 44

Brant, Black..-.---. +--+ ----00 ---2++ eee seenee 87
Branta canadensis: 00 sevens seseee sens seen awas 84
canadensis hutchinsii ......---..-...... 84
canadensis minima ..-.-........--..... 84, 86, &8
canadensis occidentalis............----- 85
NIGTICANS: 5 -siaisre isis odoin, wicisie wien ain Seles ows 87

Bubo virginianus arcticus, range of....-....-.. 122
Saturatus..........-. 2252-82. 153

subarcticns...... 22... .22--. 152
 

 

322 INDEX.

Page. Page.
Budytes flavus leucostTiatus..........-..2-. 2.6 205 Cormorant, Red-faced ........-.. aeaisisiaisis erates 65
Bulle heads, osc ese se.qeavacasecavscisise wei . 72 Violet-green......... 2220 eens eee ee 65
Bullfinch, Cassin’s...... 2-2... 22-0. e eee ceeee e 172 White-crested ..........-..-------- 65
Buteo borealis calurus ....... 2.2.22 ceeee asic 142 Corvus americanus, probably an Alaskan bird... 167
SWANSON « cisicaiecis cis sasesiae sina es eines ieee 142 Caurinus.......-- Suaiarevaonyeieraiaee te oate staat 168
Buttercfis hs occcieissicusicinacacncisiciee siewiesiccwens con 305 COAX SiNUAtUS.... ..2. cece cen eee coon 165
Calcarius lapponicus ........-22. sone e cece eee 183 Cottusaxillarietccs deicewicdwicistca poe wleceeseusace 309
PICTUS 5 Sdrdsvieii in waa neee seeenueees 186 TTS pers ase sshench Adesaretys erste ouslg weir lotrel 308
Calidris arenaria.... 1.22... 2-02 -ee ee ence cee eee 115 MIP? wekewis nn seriodnde decree iatesee 308
Callorhinus ursinus .... 2... .... 2.0. -tee eee «= 233, 265 polyacanthocephalus...........-----..-- 308
Canis familiaris borealis........-.....---.---.- 235 Quadricornis ...... 22-220 pene ee wees ce eene 307
lupus griseo-albus............-...----.-- 233, 237 CUBA AS wie gavccrsiaweicioe: deareiste sae wien sae 309
Canvas-back ...--. ..e eee cece cee cece cee e ene 71 $ONIOPLOLOS) etaesercseace moauissioe <ienie vei 306
Cariacus columbianus .......-....-.-.e20- eee 233 Crane; Littlé Brow <cssccescscneeceie seeced wane 94
Cariboties dss seevewsssseestesensivecine oie Sistas 286 Creeper, Browitssssssececwssenaceneee cena veses's 211
Barren-ground ..... chawsie sittajsiejeainreiaiele 294 Crossbill, American ......--2--2--- 22-2 eee cee ee 173
Castor fiber ......-.-...-46 cedsaninesers sparorstati 233, 279 White-winged ..........00..00e28 eeee 174
Catostomus catostomUs.....-...20. eseeeececeee 321 Crow), North west: cscwcsioassae cee cscscsea seenee 168
Cepphus columba....-.....-.....-- inv erat ieaieletet 44 Crymophilus fulicarius --....---.-.---.-------- 97
MADE aces snsawe verse paewewsrewnetereie 44 Cuniculus torquatus .... 020... 22. eens eee e eee 233, 278
Cerorhinca monocerata ...........- imadeawtasens 40 Curlew, Bristle-thighed .......--.--...--.-----+ 121
Certhia familiaris americana.......----.-.---6- 211 Eskimo sawenevscecsioeen aciesic erases este 121
Cerylealey0neexcm esau asses semen Wi dapmeereseae 155 Hi ds On ta tise x. srsreisreicteuraicieeia suis saci 120
Charadrius dominicus.... 2.2.2.6 cee. cece eee eens 123, 125 Cyanmecula: GUCCI CB x53: caieeiseimersicmiste cic siewis wereierss 23, 220
fulvus 125 Cyanocitta stelleri...-...-.... i sturaictetaciuataysteveratere 163
SQUATATOIA aiscwisic wseiees waeindiore eieiesies 122 Cyclorrhynchus psittaculus .......- ile, Sewonsistensians 40
Charitonetta albeola -......... eee ee cee eee eee 72 Dar filey Rew bar o sioig acisiese sig se cists geigiis wleiebotareviigiu-sraiea'e 69
Chelidon erythrogaster ...... 12.000 eseee cae eee 197 Dallia pectoralis.... 22. cacecscccee neae cane cnee 319
Chen hy perbortea s<cces-ceewas sacees vseesecesees 82 Danais Archippus .... 2... 6-02 e022 eee ees cee ee 330
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed..........--.-.-6-- 214 Dendragapus canadensis ...-...----..----- Seielg 130
Hadsontait .ccnssawcces seneeresvens 213 obscurus fuliginogus.......-...... 130
Long-tailed..... aditlshwiee e deemesees 211 Dendroica estiva ....... Sistas araaioreimerersieigr stere’g’ slerare 201
OVE OD wscie scuiccwwesseneeae seseeess 212 COLOWA TD s.0:cis: sans sie weie's ae biera sarserare wie 202
Siberian sccccescctewsecss Heemeresicis 212 BUTI ACA cain aewicie'as sedicleiediecigs econ tens 202
Chickaree, Richardson’s......----.-eeee cece eee 281 TOWNAEMEE . 125 ores ecene vege wrcare orca 203
Chionobas: Tay Geto sien caine cuca utes veas veeesess 329, 330 Delphinapterus catodon.......-..-..00-5 wdeoatars 233, 288
Chirolophus polyactocephalus.....-.2-2.---00-+ 305 Delp lintis:s by ercccteta anata opi siveig'e «ayers ereaiscecieicta 233
Chrysophanus Dorcas.....----.-2--0e eee ceeeee 330 Diomedea pi gripes: acesiicccecs sseese-gecne gees 60
Cinclus mexicanus .....-..--...0e4- oa erstacete crea 209 AACR UGK spo :e siesta: 5 waie setae S Qaida. -eisias 61
Circus Dudsonius) .. 2:6 o2csiesn sie cicis wsjeisin's deiewinaree 139 MeLANOPLIYS sewia as.e vieieis sieisinies wees sence 61
Clangula hyemalis.....-.. seccsesscccccccecs cee 2: | Dipper; American ocis,c:ecteie's caieeeigceuecaeeseee 209
Clivicola ri parlarc.esc.ecscieaweien:sicteniee eines siea’ss 199 Dog VMS MIO cpctsiaiaisiceteinice aieteiatarsiociiecels se geigsa: 235
Clipea mira Dilisis.ccie oc areisasa ia sierieierseivieiass aiaiee'ee's 320 Dowitcher, Long-billed ...... 2-40. .----- see eee 100
Coenonympha Kodiak .......-.....--------++-- 330 Duck, American Scaup......s0.. 2-0. ee eee een 71
Colaptes auratus ...2.. 1. cece cece ee cece ee cece ee 160 Farle g Win, cise speiacciers-vinieia aitra%s Saisie oie nisisis 74
Gaffer saturaliOr sasssecsseneieie ners cece 161 Lesser Scaup.....---+-s-0. eee a: claicid ereteretuls 71
Coliag Chip pey aices a incrctsclawrecienk deem agement 328, 330 Ring-necked ....-....--. 6-200 ah ictabiecoues 72
eurytheme Keewaydin .....-...--------+ 330 Steller’s vcccverccercweiewaieiwenie eprarlaacaexiersis 75
Heela ...--. 2-220 c- 0 cee conn ee nce ee enee 328 Eagle, Bald ..., 2.02 .2---- 00 e-cennens ceee eeeeee 144
Heela vars Helasecscasnswssmmavcersosecs.s 330 Golden ccs vswesoneuseaasacricawcciele am cieis 144
MINCE LOY 2c ore cis Sateen fare nasesnicleratatesie ayocinaxeie 330 Kamchatkan Sea.......2.2.2 eee ee eee 145

Colias: 3 POMGIG:, «6 ois ainais stele sieieeianeateressieessnaisincesace 330 Edwards, W. H., Report upon Diurnal Lepidop-
Colymbus auritus .... 2... 0... cence cece ee eee 35 HERG: s.widee tee meconnteees Saeseten es dseser 327
grisigena, not an Alaskan bird..... ae 35 Hel LAM prey: .:.:iou ssctews se ceae-sesesineenuiesiew ete 322
HGP zac cord atenawis tend cienauiee se 35 || Hider Rain® 2 oss ackeceavessec2satnecaueeesee 79
Contopus: DOTealSicvc cnc cowie seers oe nce eacccters 161 UGG Cyn cccie aidiaraiae pores envisions ie tI 78
Coot, AMELICAD «...6:5:0 i ccegieciecene ene mnn eres acs 97 SPeCtACLED. cece wins ie ese sia nce eisaeticn cen 76
Coregonus kennicottii ..... ga wibisigis cise eiersiat eatereiore 314 Empidonax difficilis .........---.---- ee eeee eee 162
JaNROtteiaui jtnise cineca yagedurgeee yes 313 Bunbydris lutris...... 2.06 eee eee cee eee eee ee 233, 251
MOrekil sce receeacee sdeeseiiens 314 Eniconetta stelleri....--.--.. eee. cence nnee eens 75
MOIS OMe s7ol25 Vecolinticetes needa 314 Erebia disa, var. Mancinus...-......-....---.-. 329,330
quadrilateralis :2.ces.svesenaus eens 315 Disco alis: wiscciisaeiie sive winiwerercicicigec aes 330
Cormorant, Pelagic: s220 seodsses ee cons cescen aes 65 PUSCIAUA) sisiniaccransig wie'siesviejs.ceteinialsceenmwesien Geos ooU
 

INDEX. 333
Page. Page.
Ereunetes occidentalis .......... -2.0. ee eee eee 113 Grouse, Canada .........+- Aoreevewsineewnessaws 130
Erignathus barbatus ..... oc ewReE AEN exp tesees 233, 259 Gray Rated 2.0. 2006<0sseense ceeasaens 131
Erithrizon dorsatus epixanthus.......... seeeee 233, 274 Oregon Ruffed....... KisicivisidvaisremcSewicletine 131
Ermine .... 2-2. eee e eee eee eee Wicidicesecibirsiesi cele 245 Sharp-tailed..............------ diinnieee 139
Eskimo d0g...-2. 2.02.22 2022 cence e cee eee ceeeee 235 BOO bY ias. unre sotatersiersture stecote arises areareveiesaiarsaiore 130
Esox lucius ....-...--..... a faysd bt aitnoreeiantcatneies 312 Grus canadensis.......--... ance Bed leee Beet 94
Eumetopias Stelleri........... greecetreeeetees 233, 266 mexicana, habitat of ....-...-....2--200-- 94, 96
Eurynorhynchus pygmeus ......---...-------- 112 Guillemot, Mandt’s ......... Srafsicia(siese ee Siiee 44
Evotomys rutilus .......2.. 2-222. eee eee ee -. 233, 276 PY OCOD; sstcrarcicleienisieis wipers ote siete eeteienie 44
Falco wsalon, recorded from China ............ 148 Gull, American Herring.... 2.2.20. eee cece cone 54
columbarius........-....... Phau chiiee sj ereionaes 148 Bonaparte’s .... 222. sc0c scwcce cece cercccee 55
islandus ...-..-2--0. seeeee es Daw aeeesaes 145 Glancous-winged ..-... 0.02 econ cece eee 53
peregrinus, recorded from Asia........... 147 Tee lands gejecssieuccystemermerta a siatsis'e dieleiein Sa acs 52
BNOCUM eee seepewsecbesias ccs 147 SIV OD Yeitornd aaa seietarstcSaelavecuiek seein & 49
pealel wsicessvecceswes sciararie 147 NeISO0'Scsieinin w wiate'e na nemeveteweesisers eoicevenes 53
rusticolus gyrfalco ..-.....-.-----+---e-+ 146 Pacific Glancous wzes .scseceeee eeeeecinnses 51
APOTVELIUG ance vecses cases sree vewee 148 Da s'S: sieve aiereteieibs to-cina\ sesarore tists nin lnsinin teres’ die 54
Falcon, Peale’s ........-- SiSgea ISIE adiciniciens oo ceeats SS 147 RRogs's: Gu bien einen sere cetpesiaeiieaicignce cee asters 55
Faunal subdivisions of Alaska........---------+ 24 BAD TTC Sct crepes oyanataysretsie'n’s istoreibinze'e wiupulsi oieneiers 56
Fiber zibethicus...... 222-2. 2002-2 c cece ee ce eee - 233, 278 Shorts bed coc os sje emrtiercieioetsierecieggurccicts 54
BliGkeY gcc0d si ceed estes eeetee shsekee ves veeeee 160 Slaty-backed ......-. 222.0. eis geessete ence 53
North Western ......-.0----.2-.-eee2 eee 161 GUlO: INSCUS sic oie jpareicinis ginlbieing vieici's 6 saueiers wteceabejecs 233, 248
Fly-catcher, Baird’s ...2.. 0.2222. .2 2. eens ones 162 Gunnel; Spotted s<.s ciccaccceiaiieieicicat sicinisicie stains sivigiays 305
Olive-sided ....-.....2.---+ -eee eee 161 Gy Pla COM isso istectais, sige se eis tinea wstets werergiarsisiatae 146
Flounder, Rough...... 02-02. senses ee cee eee cee 301 WM i cae ciae wiacidatnae praisteicianicinteinejers 145
Smooth-back ......-.-.-0. 0-25 eeee ee 301 Hematopus bachmani...--.--...-+.-250 e000 130
WOR UATCLE:. ccc casaes bensamacidine see eceivcnmte ss 239 Halizetus leucocephalus.......... dereisem a aceurets 144
TAC och ntesmnceunenecd Seaweed Seeeaawem 243 POLASICUG: iziorcie segs caceeiaicioraiciolerctorecte ai 145
Blue Stone ..-.-...---...---- pe mossiccce 240 Hare, Polar ...... gi iaiatcleaesaatecnsiciste sarsiaiapomertete 271
ROSS) pacotaace esas Sucemacaces aastee Sees 242 Varying Northern... ..---..--.--.. 202.0 272
RE disc Decade re aieee eataloninetieranebiennd cee ace nici 241 Hawk, American Rough-legged ....-.......---- 143
Sil WOR a diansenosten soo nawnaaseeeecaaees 243 American Sparrow ...-...----. sess seeeee 148
White Stone ......-...-.... sjajeatocieineeunieees 239 DUG ssaisss cise caso otc arciatviegiaeierweisiesieinio : 147
Fratercula corniculata........-.--. 02-0 eeeeeeee 38 MTSE wsccne x. cei eisiercistescroumsiatarctowsistoralesieie = 139
Fulica americana ..........---.--.--- Denecies 97 PUBCON ss :cigecicieicie igre el =1oiajwiate ciainis stataie: wiatarats 148
Fulmarus glacialis glupischa.........--2.-..244 62 Rough-legged -. .. 1 ces0seeces cece ce ones 142
rodgersii .........--- scenes = 62 Sharp shinn ees ccc a svinisie couice nomena 140
BUlmayr, Pach Geccce2snnsesisca chase asiicetias seers 62 SWAINGOD’S 2. cose ws snewermacaine seen ee ee 142
Rodgers’s ..-...--.. Seem eceeaanaunienen 62 Western Red-tail ...... 2.0... ---e seen ee 142
Gallinago delicata....- 2.202. ..2- eee ee ceee eee 100 Helminthophaga celata................22-2----" 200
GAA ELD A Sceus rede And dmacsicaendemwemsbeneesiecs 49 lutescens...--....--2... 201
Glaucionetta clangula americana ..-........++- 72 Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus ...-........ spaielnrs 309
WSIAT CNC Bisa) wccngsicciesincice cadene 72 Henshaw, H. W., Letter of Transmittal ........ 9
Globiocephalus Scammoni.....-...----+----+++ 233 quoted on Song Sparrows. .... 194
Goat, Rocky Mountain ............ 22-22. 2--05+ 284 Heron, Groat: Blue ..cce0scee sec erecsesacneccees 94
Godwit, Hudsonian.......--- .-.020- eee e ee eee 117 Herring. acces otis = seseeneen cs sede sicssincesicierdies 320
PAGifi Getic <eowecaw sures Git bRnsvmnaieled 115 Hesperocichla nievia .......-...---- sim wisiieial stars 219
Golden-eye, American .....---.---+--222 222 ee 7 Hesperomys leucopus .---.. see. cece cea ceee eee 233
Barrows 2.2 wesc cece cece cen n ee cnne 72 Heteractitis incanus.......------.-e.e cee eee 118
Goose, American White-fronted........---..--- 83 Hexagrammus asper.......-.. 2-2-0. cece ee eee 310
Cac king c2cc ners seresen: dusfaininsecst eters tacieta 86 decagrammus...-.-...-...--6--- 312
ED peror secuccessiecisisecncices'e ciajaleiate ieisiale 89 ordinatus ..... ai iwietaisye: winmayelgieperie 310
FUtCHING Ss eseewcrsnsew eee wsiemoae reese see 84 superciliosus..-.---....-.-.----- 311
Lié8S6r SNOW srajences'eiecwaiin vein sisters nee Soe 82 Hirundo aoonalashkensis of Gmelin, referable to
White-cheeked ..... aienaneenens Sule a aera a 85 TL, ROPES OLWIO,..<  s ermisetearseisreh ociaincaereiecsracatereinsiecs 197
Gorbiska: sec. casitece smeoencons de enes sede se se 320 Histrionicus histrionicus........-..-.---...2-0-- 74
GOSHAWIK: se.sccc0c ccc ti se da bE ee weR ede xe se ee Se 140 Humming-bird, Rufous ..-..----..-------.. wees 161
WEESLETI Lace nce ca nues seme aneumeenias 141 Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis...... ieseewne 60
Grapta faunus ...... ee cee ee eee eee eee sisisinisis 330 Jaeger, Long-tailed ...... 2-26. cee eee eee eee ee 48
gracilis ......... gp Aasme cet alain av Sialaseim aie 330 Parasiti¢:.:c22xsessstenecaeciceciesises 47
Grebe, Holbeell’s .......2.. -e00 cone cone eeeeee ee 35 Pomarine ....00 cecceessence ace wicindaretts 46
Horned, nie 5 cisiesercisg acct wesiecicinie aisiabe\aleiors 35 Jay, Alaskan...... -2.. see Bie cicemsa ete 164
Grosbeak, Pine.......--.. cise Glee sve ots wragay ates 170 CAT ADG arsje/esiaris aie sed csessicicye winidtn sie ete atscetne sas 164
 

304 INDEX.
Page. Page
Jays, Seller's. csicnis-vaiccieenauieanns ance nmeniscwinns 163 Loxia americana, measurements of.............. 174 -
Junco hyemalis.... 22. .---02 eee ee eee eee ee eee 191 bifasciata compared.........2-.2.0---2-- 176
OVEMODUBG 2 osc ossee eine ote nitmeie 192 measurements of.....-..-....- 174
Jnnco, Oregon ...... 22-22 cece cee e ee cere eee 192 curvirostra measurements of...... news s 174
Slate-colored ..-.-..--2-..----+---- +--+ 191 SULT O BS ato inc ean BS ie cle lemteie' wie 17
King-fisher, Belted....-.. Biase warece pamAvetied 155 WO WCO TOBA aie:oi6 ainiaienewistdysiomwiscdicckewa ie dee 174
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned...-...----.+-- -+-+----- 216 stricklandi, measurements of............ 174
Western Golden-crowned ...-....----- 216 Lumpenus anguillaris -.....2--.22.22. 222. eee 304
Rittiwake, PaciiCcncceesescees xoenets eens eeee 49 DSW CIPD AB. ee Scie acreidemieciausaeiecsece anne 38
Red-legged......--. +--+ +222 eee eee 5 Lutra canadensis...-....--. .2-2-.eseene ceeeee 233, 249
TESTA Uff estha tae heh ed Nae encase ances As 102 Lycodes turnerii.... 02.222. .0 2202 eee eee eee 303
Lagenorhynchus obliqnidens -...- Ee stansantieae 233 DaYCoe tia: EOS x cco secsasss sivicrsisien gs aia eaieamatececiee 330
Lagomys princeps...--. ..-------- e222 cree eee 235,273 pseudargiolus...-.. 222-2. .22.--2---.-- 330
Talcopusia UNS aseenecmedesies sv osea sc saealesraasreis 37 form Lucia ....-.-....... 330
IAS OPUS esterccs see gews conse seca etae ne 131 form Violacea ........... 330
Jeucurus in British America...-...--. 139 Lynx borealis canadensis ..........2...--2. 22-6 234
PeiMhaTd tikes. <seccewosaiec renames ene 38 CAN AGS) oe aos ene cacti meaies emmemee acetate 234
POPSSLS eee pee pocwscnc sacs aecsameren 136 CANADENSIS a,c.c:ciseinneiasin dae nde eteweooess 233
atkhensis ...-...----- -eeeee 139 Macrorhamphus griseus, compared with scolo-
NE]SOM cords dic cone duamesnantet 138 PACOUS so ciccusicasenmmne veces 101
Baniprey Bel maces ade tas aaclvacieaurossescnces 822 scolopaceus............--.---- 100
Waniis HOA S se ei eee cance one eas deecueenses 199 Magpie, American.........22. 02-22. ceeeee cones 163
a ae deh pen eee tess Se | MAN ARG 2 sess ee sn deateeecsecseean ees oases tiacet 67
Lark, Pallid Horned... 0... 22. 22-22-2222 00+ 162. | Mallotus villosus. 2-5 Jocssc.enceeucteensnsen 313
Western Meadow....--.--.------ +--+ 2-5 169 Marmot, Hoary sais sisis. ine ssces ec tenons awa siene 282
Tari Satins; -2ejcro) caressa evnscusiaie-eraeencissieys pcnie eo 54 Marte tig gapdiais wins niche ic c.nSiscaielbre ein niniaie.wieierssrarcioe 244
argentatus 54 Mazama montana.... 2. 2.222. cee eee eee eee ee 233, 284
54 Megaptera versabilis 233
WORCAI1Ssdiciacitecin mam tepecemenisewiceiie ss 54 Megascops asio kennicottii ................2.-- 151
PATLOVIANUScccea cc cdiece voces csceiniceetee 51 Melanetta fusca .-. 22. oo. cee cee ween cece cece 81
brachyrhyuchus.........22- +--+. 22-2 ee 54 | Melitea Helvia.......... 2.220. 022 eee eee eee 330
Cachinn an Siccacdovaceniranciee awe teense? 54 aa cs tots ccicencinete sevice aicasyaieen 330
glaucescens ...-....---. -----+ 22 eee eee 53 Melospiza cinerea ...-....222. ceeeee eee eee eee 193
PIAUCUS nc ccsinin din caieen accra ae sem seine eases 51 Tagciala TOONS eas cwoaks. ended caccewe 192
hnmolieiitts cc cdcuteevie as ceesekcn tack eee 53 guttata, not an Alaskan bird... .... 192
lenCoplertiS:zacaiccicleeecBancs cent sccm 52 Jimeol nt... cue ween meena: xe ccekinces 195
NOLGOD Tew vieweedrewddc sauacnciet oe sRessnes 53 Merganser americanus..............---02+--cee 66
OOCIMENIBIS 0 ..ccece nese eee cece eeER es a4 H00ded sssuwic ieewenaeeeteseecsevtee. 67
philadelphia ....--..---.-----------+---- 55 ‘ Red-breasted ....-- ..222+ ceecee case 65
Sthistisapis. cc... .cse-ccesaues wee eee sees 53 SCPALOY sea aceeuscess vexe' REO ISe dace 66
GEMTIDE cascciaieeradeedeneseeemee reek oreRer i 277 Merula migratoria .... ...... 02 eee eee eee eee 219
WHS: occnccs cue cance ceneeererbeieees 278 Mint: s:.2<caisisvsis wtepicnatecinkns se eeiaeeeeecise sities 246
Heep iM iO eeicas skins scm neo Snean Asian sack 323 Monodon monoceros ...... +22. 2-22. ceeeee coon 233, 290
Lepus americanus ---.-.---. 22-22 --220e cere eee 233 | Michaels, Saint,description of.........-....-... 12
americanus.......----------- 272 MOQ O86 ii nsetsiard cieeintardialeimemameceaxeeeee eae cic e skrs 287
timidus arcticns ........---------------- 233, 271 Motacillalugens on Attu Island................ 205
Leucorhamphus borealis......--...----+-s020+- 233 OCUIATIS?s siejcieis: geeaisisentew Renee eee nes 205
Leticosticte, Aleutian«s.ccccees maser ccicece oons 176 HOUSE, COMMON: cas hace ducseceeuscesees: seus ce 2974
QTISCONNChA..:ccncesaeseres goeness 176 Little Northern Meadow ................ 275
Hepburn’s soccscsseascscccvse neces 177 Red-backed ...... 2.20.2. ccc. ceccee ccc eee 276
tephroctis littoralis.........-...... 177 Mureenoides ornatus ..-. 22.22.2202 eceeeee eee e ee 305
TiiOse WONIBPIE. cance iwsesnweceaseeadanvenas 117 TIONS cascneaxeesuccndeus seek 305
lapponica baueTi..--....---.---------- 115 Murre, California... 2.2... 222-2 .2-e. cee eec ance 45
Longspur, Lapland........... Reus oy ase ee 183 Pal OG 8 2 cuciss sateedielseesemacsaitedaine 45
Smith Sse scene sooses mes vens cae cisis 186 Murrelet, Ancient.... 2... 0202.22.22 eeeeee ceeeee 43
LOG ccaccdccm senate Rane eee ern decand seamee dk 35 WSADCILEZ Ss pacicseciciiacieceice Sie ee com emeen 44
Black-throated sc.ss26. soe es cosicce ens 36 ROMINA CI so o)5ersig miemieinesasie a seceGaee 44
PACING) o.c.2.ce.cies ies Be sip Roieiaie SMe seeRoews 37 Mar leG.. ors.e:einicinies sinearnie wininwe'e sacafateescicis 44
RGG=tHTOated iain seis cin wale de RRB reemeas or Muskrat ..........-... paieiciad sipinie cone eitiercivascu's dies 278
VEN OW DUMCR sceisciecdcenceicce keen, eomernecie 36 Mus decumanus ....-. 2-2. 2222. eee eee wees Q74
Lophodytes cucullatus....-....... finennais daearetann 67 MUBCUIUG: 5.2202 accede eaeareeen ceca Q74
DOB B isis si; asa cierswtarmacisneeimiaianisw wes eames arama 303 Mustela americana ...-......-. batt Ada eet 233, 243
TO GRANADE] OS Bisse ais ocinie erate Senses acc cverere’ wciacarnin tere iae 303 Pennanti.............. beienenteistaisanee 233

 

 
INDEX.

 

Page.

Myodes obensis....-. 22... 2-22. eee e cece eee 233, 277
NaRwhalicci2 ccm ucimsesediuesseeeadansscwoee ae 290
Nightingale, Swedish..........-.......-.2-2.-- 220
Numenins borealis......--..---...2.-+-22026- Bs 121
LOMOTANIB!:ccicscwar ng sactnnusmeredes aime 122

Nw SONiIGUS wise esas elesrecs eerennigyee we 120

= PADMIONEIS ..sic-co sce cpa cscari-waentines 121
Nut-cracker, Clarke’s .....-.....-2----eeeeeeeee 168
Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni ..-...........-- 150
NY CLR DY COA: cc sceuineatasecncuseeneecinasenns 153
Oceanodroma fisheri.......... saewace nes atwtes cm 64
PUTCAD acca womiwanenmetlaseness 64

HOPMD YD semiecscccwecsesewgssiecie 64

leucorhoa 63

Odobwenus ODEBUS ssid scence cusowsecemeres 267
Oidemia americana....-.-. 2.2.20 eee eee eee 80
deglandi ..... reivintersicinjalewle Sebi ae 21

PUIG Bismnsisnecdeersnderstote ns ware erercteyciateren is) areal elev 81
PEPSPICMI Ata: ise: cre ciceu cons gmag ween ses 81

OlOE DUGCINGTOF scene wewcea ben neeiesswewees 93
COMM DIBD UG cs cevecrrerscavcicia- nin Cnisieieie kiero eieeis 91
Oncorynehus chouicha.... 2.2... 2.22 eee eee wees 317
POTDUSCHA icine: civic vis cieitidcinaavawsicaons 320

OG) ic derscisamicuprareicvatgisinioeiaiates aiecs 318

RiGUGCH cassis ejcietercicaie pistes aime weaeeas 319

DOTA Secigingicrsrsiensiaie parce steve semen 318

ORGS BEND au oy ciara: cesta nsrcrcharea; tain vate iguana miata fe feraiolee ae! 233
TOC PING: na,serjeesieraie- dormpeinekt eee aes 233

BD ii istatgiatatergarore ciataieg atuia lgiateie-giuleieied mersiaidainieuts 290
Osmerus dentex .... 2.222. .206 02 ee ee cee e ee cen ee 313
Ospreys AMO Ca 2 nc eecinniciemcigie gee os side ieneees 148
OCCT), SO alessjace:icictcvsretaratoraguiarere (ie/iarece td scnutereewte ave 251
North American...-....---..---+-------- 249
Otocoris alpestris, not an Alaskan bird........- 162
leucolama ......-----.-.-.-. 162

Ovensbird .. iccccccvewese ts accics cewiese- cues sees 203
Ovis canadensis Dalli....-...-.....----.2-.---- 233, 282
Ow], American Hawk........-..----.-.-2.----- 155
Dusky Horned .......--. 202-2222 2-0-05 _ 153
Great Gray’ scnccsccacersssetassmenecciclsicis 150
Horned, races 0f.... 2.0.02. 020) cee e ee eee 153
Kennicott’s Screech ...-.......----.------ 151
Lapp ....---2 eens cence scree ee ce ceee censes 150
Richardson's ....2.2-s0ececes cess see sete 150
Short-eared..... SeewAAS Cheese weeEe sees 149

BOO WY. ne <naiccole ness SemRme edeneesaey eeeas _ 153
Western Horned ......----..----.---+ 200. 152
Oyster-catcher, Black ..-.....22.--2---0-0+ 0005 130
Pandion haliaétus carolinensis......-...-.-...- 148
Papilio eurymedon ....-..0.. ween eee ee cee eee 330
Mach aon vssniescienn, ccc dea ces eew cies 327
Machaon, var. Aliaska..........--.-.--. 330

TRLDUS se asissineee-gerctatce slr oes eee ei 330
Parnassius Eversmanni ......---..---------+--- 330
NOMI0Dy weysjajsecirss cisis winieis eeieisiers aisiersie’s 330

TROD svescvaewe mae aceaiepisteiaeeten emiame 330
Wosneseuski .........-------2 eens 330

Parophrys ischyrus.....--. se20-- 22 eee ee eee 302
Parus atricapillus occidentalis. ..-......----.-- 212
septentrionalis...........-.. 211

cinctus, compared with hudsonicus...... 213

not an Alaskan bird............. 212

ODLOC HUB. ccc exes nei twee ae 212

 

33D

Page.

Parus HUdSOnI CUS ixo:s.5:05-s0.ci0 a pisleinw ain'vicie'e@ oe sieia's 213
TULCSCEDE spine vis onee ewiaeey seinisveie peeeee es 214
Passerculus anthinus, not an Alaskan bird...... 187
savanna, not an Alaskan bird..... : 187

Passerélla iligca.....225.-c-8 sace eden cseses sees 195
unalaschengjs......----------- 196

Pediocetes phasianellus ...... .-...------- ---- 139
Perisoreus canadensis.......--.--2-.----2 ------ 164
fumifrons ....-....--....- 164

PptTe), PIsh@t’ 8 tio-2oatem ccessn meceta roses euiens 63
HOrk-taleds jcc ces nsecceccaseeetem shan 64

HOTA DY Sie. caste seas saree cea aimieuian acacia 64

TiO ah’ Sc. s.seciersies cise see enemas csseaieies 63
Petrochelidon lunifrons..... budeda hensssaemcens 197
Phalacrocorax dilophus cincinnatus........---- 65
POLAZICUS cissieis cis seieiessaescacess 65
robustus...--..----.-- 65

UTC siwietecetdoee cesses nase 65

Phalaropus lobatusin.- 20. geceee decree peniegeien 99
Phalarope, Northern..--......-...---- aypiarerctstersts 99
TRO Gs srcteicr na cctaicinceiaislainin neleinicle orgs wea 97

Philacte canagica .........--. -.-.------------- 89
Phoca fetida......-.. wisjerctoegie foi dio wistemimicasrews 233, 262
PAB CAGE: soe cjererat craigieewisrarorse)mizine igen eee weiss 233, 261
gr@nlandica, .socieasaenee ccenadereceenss 263

VEGU LL Os wicsiwints rereiwieiare wiciatel ave rere fais viele sereetient WOO NCO
Phocena communis ..---....--- si/ein'e 6 la'sieeiesrs.spes 233
Daliss si varceicpeite seetaseenes cecswenn 233

Phebe, Say’s is-csecce es csecee vee aebatedaredes 161
Physeter macrocephalus ......--2.----- eee eee 233
Phyciodes Mylittai.c. so... vee s veseencesseesic 330
Phyllopseustes borealis.........-.. seeeuewecwns 214
Pica pica hudsonica .....--2-. 22-5 seeeeeseeeee 163
Pickorel szcsupecacsaiccmesiesinwe acne “ ksemenenss 312
Picicorvus columbianus............---.-.---.-- 168
Picoides americanus, compared ........-.-.--.- 158
americanus dorsalis......-.-.-- feeatas 160
dorsalis, compared.......------.------ 158

Picus villosus harrisi1, erroneously identified... 155
Pieris: Napleseacesesases cscs cictcnseuseseecess 327
winter form Bryoniw..........---.. 330

Var: Hulda ciscisscesscowwseecceeee 330

VONOSA8) ssaneesetacsee es csteeaderss ee, 330

NelsOn1 scsues coowssaceteewceeseeceaene = 328, 330

Pika, North American ...... 2.22. .2-.-2---2--- 273
Pinicola enucleator........-.---- eee. eee eee ee 170
KOdiak a). 3. cicssiew meen sein ce 171

Pal cod coment tees cetieeiedeceesmmascseeree 69
PAPO: WISH. <:<,cpssuscjarciissgewinises in gismewagiee terice® eels 321
Pipit, American ...... 2.22.0 -22. 0222 eee ee eens 208
Red-throated ....-....-..--2.0.0.2------ 209
Plectrophenax hyperboreus.......--.-.-...-.-- 182
townsendi.......... 183

DEVALIG a sas siasiaine-wieieiena eeiemiee ess 180

Pleurogadus navaga..--....--2..----- eee ee eee 302
Pleuronectes glacialis .......-.-...--...2--.--- 301
SECM AGUS wie ois wieidicssiocie:ciersiciate ee ne aikle 301

Plover, American Golden ........... aiinieiereials ieee 123
Black-bellied ....2. 00sec cecices oewe cons 122
Mongolian sec. 0 -aseaeesisae cece sees os 127

Pacific Golden ...........2-.. eee ee 5 125
Semipalmated .......---.......-.20.0-- 126
PORCUPING x2.2.0.00bcedd sists teeeseeeeeenenene cece 274
336 INDEX.

 

 

Page. P Page.

Priocella tenuirostris......-.-.---- +. eee ee ee ee 63 Sciuropterus volucella hudsonius -........----- 233
POCORN NOOR 22 sic ccememenenehsemecduenedeee 233 Sciurus hudsonius........-... 2 ctatafatorerste tela evenseve 280
Ptarmigan, Nelson’s........--.. ..2- eee seen eee 138 hudsonius ...-....---..----- 233
ROCK cccccaannseseaaseaeis xio8 2S 136 Richardsoni .....--.-..----- 233

Scotch, habits of ..........2.------ 136 richardsoni ........-.-.----- 281

TOTMED Sones Qasemarasteecue seed 139 Seulpin, Dusky ..-.-- --2+ eseee0 eeeeee cone eee 308

NV AMONG ac crnleredermen innate carter ene 131 Four-spined ..-.-. .--02- eee eee eee eee ; 307
Ptychoramphus aleuticus............-.-.-.---- 40 NOL EDT tt ajcceyersaie etgaersinainiais ‘siste'eiets:steieie'e's 309
PHAM CIS CATAL cies sed: sie ccewinicinwiarienimeaunieiaeio os 330 Thread-finned « sisicjce se eves vice svete ce es 306
Py TTNG a CASSIDL Soo. sree picitecande Somboueediaeeees 172 Seal, Bearded ... ..2: asieccasiosawiw weetens seme see 209
PRMD; HOPE: ..caceinine:d cea nie wimaonamaaorrearees’s 38 FUL . 0.2 cece cence eens cone cee eee meee 265
PPOIUEE oho c.hes.2 tects enue ae a ceenee 38 FAarOt << oeneeccce se eeesee take shee ve es 264
Puffinus tenuirostris ..-... 2... 020) 22 eee eee 63 TVA D woidiavacsaciinieae ct Reels eee E ee eee estes 263
PLtOPIWS CPM CD oo. cieiessiesa w.acs ie tiaerce majeveeeisia siete 233, 245 RiDDOM soca ccacsicnecas ox beskseseeenets 261
VISOL cccidienyavaieresesrmyeras uae oo crdarantecseuiaairs 233, 246 RANGER. <cinide eeisiaeeiseitionnancicee es eeeeseere 262

WONG ADIGs fue ec ett Seaham ates ede 233, 246 Sea-lion; Steller’s.. <..ccscnceeccvtisccceetemsmcecs 266
Rangifer tarandus caribou..........---.------- 233, 286 Sea Otter ...... Tied CA taese is cae es tears Sie senate 251
greenlandicus.......-....---- 233, 284 Seiurus aurocapillus-...-....---.-----.---- 6 203

RAG) Common... cies eck iecte eiociotcnacaeece sh 274 DOVeLoOracensiS..---. weeeee sane cece eens 204
Raven; AMCriCall.... tc cee gee anise cgbtiee eeeiatels 165 Shearwater, Slender-billed..........----------- 63
Redpoll........c0sooxsieeeiwenseey seeaee teres seesee 179 Sheep, Dall’s Mountain...... 22.22. .----+-e-00- 282
HOary vesuette cers tees secae. eoeeoss 178 SHOVEMCR Jag ictsssiicemienenees a Races iereseess 69
Regulus calendulay cn. sons eeseecsswcesy aemeee 216 Shrew; (Cooper's... .0:0-ca¥s -eiceexeeseaae sane 270
sairapa olivaceus..........---.---006- 216 Shrike, Northert.2...0<s09 seas sees xecoascmenes 199
Reih@ee?scec00cce2 sues see cen eeeseasewesae ced ee 284 SiMélb cocenencesieeieeey sseeeee sealed doses eeseen 313
Woodlands 2.3 seosecsaceacwaiex eles s 286 Saipe, Wals0n' 8 ecesc ees wee cece mee akeeke sees se 100
Rhachianectes, glaucus-...--..----.----------- 233 Snowflake: ovewes nasser aie vibe ones sews sees 180
Rhodestethia rosea -.-..----.-....--- Uiska-stota erases 55 MeK ay’ Ssccanccnes sccm seeace seaneeee 182
Rissa, brevirostiisvs cdots sak weksrod tye vesecusws BUF i): Sialimarctred swwsedssyetieuacewcces wecteeene ses 222°
tridactyla pollicaviss..- es:ccssccseseenes 49 Sibbaldius sulphareus....-....-..-.---..---+6- 233
Robin, American sss « <esx2 ceciwrce cawmeeae eeee oe 219 Veliferil8 sa:ceme casisien cacewoucennsoxs 233
Sable, Amer icatieie cn. ccad se sskostexsesmmawcas 243 Siberian birds occurring in Alaska ............- 23
Saddle Wakni.t..5.4 sds apie wtnaiebeel: seemeues 263 Silver-movth, Large...--...---.--2--2- cece eens 319
317 Simorynebus cristatellus..........2.--.-22. .2-- 41

319 PUSH US. sectcrractecrs viele ecieicwieeusex 42

Hamp backed .scnicececacusvicccecics eoeie 319, 320 DY GMBUS eo caiveie- ening dsedesremorenas 42

GRO csieacemienneemesases sna anemia 318 Sltkan Distri¢ticasjaigecircealsrosien exe wesegacsza 24

RIS ceria ciececsemisradinietemesierste wala euiermwd osarn 317 Somateria molissima......- .22.2. seseee eee eee 79

FROM oc mrcwiodacimmacaimeieg Ged nen, 318 BPOChaD le seis - cc.ciecrsisisenciaiereet aaa ces 79
Salvelinus MAMA 2... cece cee come erarios ees 317 VENTA ce cents ciestdegiheigey oeeeeebeaw 78
ANGEL TGS oan ince nies nainie wncemienienaecwinsiwanaiceee 115 SOPEX COOper ncccassonnesccevaneoees aeesseess 233, 270
Sandpiper, Alaskan .... .----. -22. 022. seen ee eee 103 FP STSbCP nc cc cntctae acticin seb oeebeny 233
BaiPO Ss x.ccnccganneie cesses ara Rea 109 Sparrow, Aleutian Song 193

BARRA IBM) sde;-Gcm sep neeeuanneentoon 119 ROS nddieeede sosscowciciade nee cemle soee ~ 195
Buff-breasted .......-22-.....22---- 119 Golden-crowned 190

CUTLER sp cicie sc ccbeieiitesictea distin sie eyeelee 112 Intermediate........... svalwrewisin Qeminees 189

TSCAB this isaac cut vino eineaterscisie iin crelets eoou 110 PNCO] DSi ese Seem nessecary caeeenees 195

Peetorall 3. ss-asiccassicieaaicvaicss teeczwiow an 168 Sandwich .....-... Siclsibeduiencene a waeiel 186

BI yDUOL faceccciaytniaseieis wsvcesisansis bebe etre 105 BOOby SOD edz snencaeeccecuice teem esenee 192
Red-backed ...-.. .....-2. 2222-22-02 110 TRO WNSON OS: sia)ccascis wieteisted camnien eee eae 196
Sharp-tailed ...... ......- Seiieisionsictarn 106 Western Savanna ......---.-..2-..0ee 187

DOUMARYioia2ia) vaiesnicietiwumcis sceene<we as 118 Western Trees cc scecasemervoteiaccaes 190

SPOOTADT oo eee uiciceiornncis semiciniee na 112 Spatula clypeata 2.04 vccccs vscsesestecccnsacece 69

SOD EE sca cx cesiaiateem tossing siieioe ies oS 120 Spermophile, Parry’s ...... 22-22. 002202 ween eens 281

WiOSUORD <:25) 520 ,cc.c-acthcicie ate Sie Dieaies 113 empetra empetra ........---....-- 233, 281
White-rumped ............-...-..-. 109 kodiacensis............-. 233

Sapsucker, Red-breasted...-....-.-....--2. 2... 160 Sphyraploue ther ssc ss we mesy cece cue Shien eee 160
Saxicola mnanthe .... 1-2. .22--- sees eee ee eee 221 Spizella monticola ochracea...... 2... -.2.2.00-. 140
SAY OMB GAYE Scie seesintecneaetden needa tienes 161 Sqtiaw; Old vec ccsmsenensnoece tose eseinaceees 72
Scolecophagus carolinus....-....22.--2.22-22.. 169 Squirrel, Red ecccsexceseciethessussycaeinn smamec 280
SCOLEH, AM ORICA ic. cieraie cde sender ene ceomaamcesis 80 Saint Michaels, list of plants found near ....... 30
DME ces crysis eeraiesie tars camieue nce nas 81 Stenodus mackenzii ...... 22... eee ee eee ee 316
WitCAWIUG OO, oo. o1c d: sicrerstesielencainp nceieisle 81 Stercorarius longicaudus .............0....002- 48

 
Stercorarius parasiticus .......2..6....s0208- 47
POMATINUS yy 2% sos pees Aeex ese vee 46
SOMA BlOUb Cai ane qe eecvnteeeee sec eke eee 59
PATA Say omens een ceed Seeds ceed 58
techosraVasnceccssics tony seceeqeeclseses 58
Sticheus punctatus .......... ..2..222-2 22 eee 303
Sturgeon-fish, Angled.......-.....-.----------- 306
Sturnella magna neglecta ......-.-...--------- 169
Si DIP sa56 asiceunac sce Aconaamedmecae arian 127
DUETS 52.457 saddle, gaammaweswmanedsenccia 154
CAPATOCh cncmtmcectseeeumeaceese 155
Swallons Ban bvcccccssseced coastenceaacvaceesee 199
BaTit ee eueees awa Seamea entree . 197
Clifhiic ccna Bera erecta 107
WTLOC isc cinwpind chico kawGeer tease aaa 198
Swan, Trumpetersc..s5 cos aesees see eee seme yeas 93
Whistling ssssn6 oo cwaseses seed eeenwiaene 91
Sylvania pusilld.cccexcccssenesickececess seseae 204
pildolata .- sess sceercamen sances 204
Synthliboramphus antiquus...-.......-..-.---- 43
wumizusume.......-....---- 44
Tachyeineta. bicolor ss --s6. 6. sekcese cece 198
Tattler, Wanlering.......- sec v2 scan cieceicseisie 118
Teal, Blue-winged .....--.-......-------- oie 69
Green szwan PEO). oe): 2.2 sede eaveseeesues 68
Tern, Aleutian s2y-ccescenc ieee da deaseeetaceass no
AT CUG:-c5 cizin-s.duasainisorcidiasic Seman Noi nana pinta 58
CASPIAN ec n5c.0e-c7 er athe aweleanneeneaus 58
Thalassarctos maritimus .-..........---.-+---- 233, 264
Thrush, Aoonalashka, remarks upon ....-.-.-- 219
Dwarf Hermitisceciccccccscncsccies voce nels 218
Grays checked. coco sicccdisgecewe cesses 216
Olive=backed icons ccenne isos voesencteecn 218
Russet-backed..-....---.- 2-2-2. -25-5. 217
NiAlled sc nicisiseraaimcisngooees sane walls sean 219
"Water iscsi eeccmonebien meets veme exe ee 204
Thymallus signifer seco ciawcuie cece sues se nese seas 315
TOMP=COG: we: azae edisicacey sexe sew eee ke Exes akeie 302
Blonder’ s.csvexewsslaneemeceeusees ee 302
Totanus flavipes se. ssee 2ces tens sees ceee cee. des 118
MelaNOlONCUS <snces cecce. sass case soace 117
BOLTATIUS a: < winie ciaidatiaie Seretsinciw ee.sie BiEletaNwie 10 118
Tree-sparrow, Western ......-...---.---2.2---- 190
Tringa acuminata .....-.----- 22. een ee eee ees 106
alpina pacifica ......--.-..---- 2-2 eee 110
arquatella .........-.0. seeeee cence eee eee 108
DAO ede eteacuinndeanasotinw stew ceweeds 109
CANUUUS saccies ard occas aeaimarneeeease 102
COUCBL ic.) 22 civ wiaiseicrwatewmiee darrian -cwbie ite 103
POLE U LINED) wig cares chasers) aie ceisin's os ipiainigv scien 112
PUSCICOMIS va 'eieios aie ck sheaves saecanceveky=4 109
MACU] Abaca: e acide diac pe dcaee eh eee sires 108
MATA MA sac0 sasenccsivesseres eeededsees 103
MINUS, 2 .esene sees seers craweeecen ke 110
PHIOCNEMIS sascs. ones a csw-eieae seins cong od 105
Trochilus rafus..........---+ 202 -eeeee eee 161
Troglodytes alascensis........---....-2.-2- 0 --- 210
hiemalis pacificus ................- 210
hyemalis, incorrectly recorded from
SIGKG: cacauran sinaainnemeraoonianusins 210
pallescens from Commander Islands 210
EPTOUG  SAINIOD scare cio wwcrsrarctsioniccevoweseutsiae danas 317
‘True, F, W., and Nelson, E. W., Mammals of
Northern Alaska.........-2. 2.2020. cece eee d 227

INDEX.

 

337

Page.

Tryngites subruficollis.... 2.22. ....-s00 2000 eee 119
Pund weal ici x ai0is.3. acs cvadocve vasa taptinmee cesar 216
aonalaschkie. .... 222. 22. ee eee eee ee 218
aoonalascensis of Gmelin, remarks upon. 218
guttata of Pallas, remarks upon......... 219
WSLUTEGUS coca cccncienciscnedejecemccnosic 217
BWAIDBONIE wars oseciacceiinceceicies + 218

PUPNS GONG oe wince sais a gute die ciciete cle ate Betemiog aes ° 128
BIRCK cee ocerincaneccencuracnnaesas 129

UIA IM ETO aie iho. state oss ale th teersanide steered necre 150
lapponica oss cancnads ees esineacns 150

Unalaska, description of ..............---.---+- 11
Uranidea microstoma ...... 2.222. .seeee eee sees 309
Una JOmvia. atra. oeesyexaiecwiedie nae edewudie noes 45
troile californica ..............-.----.---- 45
Urinator adamsii ...... 2.2.0.2... 20050 wees eee 36
ATCLICOS doze deiesidd acuncacicesaiseuee cae 36

IM DOR eecceeanc cc njeds seicanacsinceeias 4 Sei 35

TOMI Ss ie as eivisieorci boat n et ecemuceeinns 37
DACUMC UB: 2552052 cpeeevtsdiclaicescinaert ASR 37

Ursus americanns........2..2222. 022 ceee eee e ee 256
cinnamoneus ...-....---.---.- 233, 257

DOTPNDINS chy meee cw wees aaNet toes 233 , 258

. Richardson 2 scg ices oedeeewesnecce nee 233, 258
Vanessa Antiopa ....-.....2. 2-2. cee eee eee eee 330
Vespertilio Incifugus. ........---222-22..20--06- 233
Vulpes fulvus argentatus ...-. ...-2.-.-------- 233, 243
CO CUSSA TIS... ois acc eie noaseeieicana.cicinis 233, 242

PON GSS. «22 ciedecyacyaaden ov s-sulds Gees 233, 241

lavOpUs wean vscceeseeces suckewleese 5 ase 233, 239
Wagtail, Siberian Yellow............-......--- 205
Swinhoe’s...... Apa aii ase a taisiePare ayes 205

Walrus, Pacifi cscs maciscnawisada-cccwcoicmantstiniweie 267
Warbler, Black-poll ....-.....---.------ .----+- 202
Kennicott’s Willow ..-.-....--..-.--- 214
DWtOSCONt icc cinzieceidisiseeiasccesseones 201

IM Vt Gare cod araissarayenrciaccnsanais etiesmcitiesiesisi 202
Orange-crowned ......-----.-2---+--- 200
PIVCOLBGEC 5 5 <se-cscrdinlsicreSicrersyensiorsimerencicca,p 204

POW SCH CS) 5.5 '5:2:e pisicuaraie sicraryecrorecareveinies 203

WSOU NS 55 jase ners cicieisiersiieieeareawid aederee 204

MOM OW? cicsiccnd x) gacedtacicnecincedonzem ase 201
Waxwing, Bohemian ....-......-.----.---- 25+ 199
Weasels LiGaSb ic % s1ci00c-nseise sascecidsieecuccncaisn 246
Whaley Bow-l6ad. jo. occcccsdc doosaeccesesenamee 291
RT Gi ia acess scoratacaneisssie csicastatnaiseas amiela’ Sipsa ace 290

W,HItOh 22 c.ccs2 See Vaca aemetihaamenvais cert 288
WHERTOAE icc. eo gad tanc cas esiscomsinmneancoas 221
AV DISH OR ssa 2.2 dea nS cincesinams Goreme sean ce teeaees 282
WWUTTUG BSR a aca cai scane: sce rerivorartaianicsl wed ard valariatatarayainisie 314, 315, 316
WABCO so cccicii witenew eenenieweyeeaies eeeen eee 67
WORSE cos con ed saee nena oidremenensestieees 305
WOlERGIS Yi. cicivraciaset aswiacis Seuieneaoansmer sacs 237
WOlVerine nesses aseasetsaer ceeire non cee kee wees 248
Woodpecker, Alpine Three-toed............---- 160
AWiTEH  ANIEAS KAD cine vsiseeeraieisisied wimsintetarsarciayereits 210
Western: WANED 2<:2<s)eni cote eset aa netes 210
Yollow-le gs) scic cssswsnispsicmce ses se teins sega aiacisisns 118
Greater seseissine wane seteesewe vee eatee 117

Gapus hudsonius...2s..0sccseasecovcauisessiansices 233
Zonotrichia albicollis, range of .....--.---.---- 190
COLON AA 2. < cresie Seeaiceoieracmeitas whew 190

gambeli, not an Alaskan bird ...... 189

Intermedia, vsceceee seeneeensewsiwse 189

leucophrys, range of..... siemens ele 190
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