BIRDS OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND 221 



acteristic of the forested portions of Alaska. It is with 

 a thrill of pleasure that the traveler encounters one of 

 these secluded meadows hemmed in on all sides by track- 

 less forests or untraveled waterways. Imagine an open 

 glade half a mile in length, with gently undulating sur- 

 face, and here and there a dwarf spruce or an alpine hem- 

 lock, twisted and gnarled, looking in its fantastic shape 

 like the handiwork of a Japanese gardener. A carpet of 

 dense moss, in which the feet sink at every step, covers 

 the ground, and here and there are pools of water, imag- 

 ing the frail flowers which sway upon their banks. Here 

 grow the golden geum, the dainty little white stars, both 

 the pink-belled and white-belled heathers, the small 

 bunchberry or ground dogwood, the beautiful purple nod- 

 ding dodecatheon, the waving white fluffs of the cotton 

 grass, and the minute little purple bells of butterwort. 

 A solitary dwarf thrush stood on the edge of the meadow 

 with a mouthful of grubs for her little ones and a western 

 savanna sparrow sang its fine wheezy little tsip, tsip, 

 tr-ieee' ! but of other birds we saw no sign in all this 

 lovely wilderness of flowers. In the edge of the woods 

 near by, Dr. Merriam shot a Canada grouse, and upon the 

 shores the northwest crows cawed and pranced, but for 

 the most part the alpine meadows as well as the forests 

 surrounding them were seldom enlivened by the voices of 

 birds. 



Of all the regions visited in Alaska, none seemed so 

 much like home as Kadiak, with its green hill slopes, its 

 inviting woodlands, its flowers and its birds. Here, 

 tucked away on an inlet of the ocean, nestling at the foot 

 of steep grassy hills, lay the little hamlet, unheeding the 

 far-away busy world, and fast settling into an eternal 

 sleep, untroubled save by dreams of the historic past. It 

 was the first of July when we arrived and the air was full of 

 the balmy cheer of summer. Shortly after landing I went 



