BIRDS OF COLLEGE FIORD 219 



is the jaeger in form. In color it is dark brown or sooty- 

 slate upon the back, and either pure white or brownish- 

 black on the underparts. 



While walking in the vicinity of a camp of Indians at 

 the head of Yakutat Bay, several of us encountered a 

 mother willow ptarmigan with her brood of chicks. Dr. 

 Merriam caught one of the young birds and its cries 

 speedily attracted the hen who came to within three or 

 four feet of us in her eagerness to effect the release of her 

 young. On setting it free the entire brood speedily dis- 

 appeared in the bushes. So completely do the ptarmigans 

 rely upon their coloration for protection that at Glacier 

 Bay a bird sitting on her eggs allowed Dr. Palache to pick 

 her up without making the slightest effort to escape. 



Our next point of exploration after leaving Yukutat 

 Bay was within the sheltering recesses of Prince William 

 Sound, where reaches of dark forest fringe the shores and 

 snow-covered ranges tower in the background. These 

 uninhabited wastes seemed almost destitute of bird life, 

 and one might toil for hours through the tangle beneath 

 the dark spruce trees without hearing a bird lisp. At 

 times the merry chatter of a small flock of chestnut- 

 backed chickadees would interrupt the silence, or more 

 rarely the harsh notes of Steller's jay, to be followed by 

 a still deeper calm when the wind amid the branches 

 would breathe like some vast sleeper that could not be 

 aroused. At Orca I heard a western robin sing. 



During a day of exploration in that wonderful inlet 

 which our geographers named College Fiord, we found 

 birds somewhat more abundant, although still very lim- 

 ited in the number of species. Indeed, the only land 

 bird which seemed thoroughly at home here on the verge 

 of the glaciers was Townsend's sparrow, which frequented 

 the dwarf alders of the moraines. Dr. Fisher recorded 

 the redpoll linnet, another hardy bird of the north- 



