264, FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 



jaws are fully opened they are easily capable of taking 

 in a full-sized duck's egg. One by one the nests are 

 robbed, until the hole beneath the rocks is full to over- 

 flowing. The harvest is ended and winter is provided 



for. 



On June 5th I noticed the first flower of spring, the 

 purple saxifrage {Saxifraga oppositifolia). In two weeks 

 mingling and contrasting with them would be that 

 nomad of the North, the Arctic poppy {Papaver radi- 

 catum) . It is found everywhere, even to the edge of the 

 Polar Sea, and blossoming at that most northern point 

 of all known lands. Cape Morris Jesup, 370 miles from 

 the Pole. The arnica, the buttercup, the dandelion, 

 and the daisy also came to us. There were fourteen 

 different species within a few feet of our door. 



By the middle of June water was running over the 

 cliff and down through every valley. The temperature 

 stood at thirty-nine above. The snowbirds {PlecirO' 

 phenax nivalis) were building their nests. Summer had 

 come. Eggs of the eider duck, the brant, and the 

 glaucous gull were all found on the 16th. On the 25th, 

 four thousand eggs were cached for our winter's use. 



Weeks of most careful search over nearly every square 

 foot of the big hills north of Etah failed to discover the 

 very rare and consequently the very valuable eggs of 

 the knot {Tringa canutus). Long hours, wet feet, and 

 aching limbs were well repaid, however, by the dis- 

 covery of the eggs of the European ring-necked plover 

 {Mgialitis hiaticula), Baird's sandpiper {Pisobia bairdi), 

 and the red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) , 



I was highly elated to learn later, upon communica- 

 tion with Ekblaw at the sub-station, that Doctor Hunt 

 had found two sets of the knot eggs at Umanak. 



