FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 29 



Also, Cahn (1947) found this loon "not uncommon in winter in 

 Captains and Makushin Bays" of Unalaska Island, and he noted 

 it also in Iliuliuk Bay; the latest date was March 3. 



Gavia adamsii: Yellow-billed Loon 



Russian, Commander Islands: Bolschoj gagara (Stejneger) 

 Russian, latitudes of Yana : Gagara 



Bolschaja gagara (Pleske) 

 Chukchi: Uvanketsjouku (Palmen) 



It is extremely rare in this district. Herbert Friedmann (1934, 

 1935, 1937) has recorded bones of the yellow-billed loon from 

 middens on Kodiak Island, on Amaknak (near Unalaska), and 

 on Little Kiska Island in the western Aleutians. A specimen was 

 collected at Kodiak bv Bischoff in 1868, and Fisher obtained an 

 adult male in 1881. 



We did not observe this species on our expeditions, but the 

 n hief of Attu seemed to recognize pictures of the bird and said 

 it occurs in his home area occasionally. Stejneger (1885, 1887) 

 considered it to oe a rare winter visitor in the Commander Is- 

 lands, where he obtained one specimen and saw another. The 

 bird he obtained was found on glare ice. unable to rise; evidently, 

 it had mistaken the ice for water. 



According to published accounts, this loon migrates along the 

 Alaskan coast, from southeastern Alaska, west and north through 

 Bering Strait. Presumably, the fall migration is the reverse of 

 this. Several specimens are recorded from the Pribilofs (in May 

 and August) as transients. In the spring of 1924, I obtained a 

 specimen from an Eskimo at Hooper Bay and was informed that 

 these loons pass that point in migration. It is likely, however, 

 that the yellow-billed loon migration is not confined to the 

 Alaskan coastline. In the autumn of 1924, several natives along 

 the Koyukuk River in interior Alaska assured me that the yellow- 

 billed loon passes through there in migration, though it does not 

 nest there. They seemed well acquainted with the species as it 

 was described to them, having particularly noted the light-colored 

 bill. Therefore, the yellow-billed loon, nesting in the far north, is 

 widely scattered in migration and occurs as a transient in the 

 Aleutian, Commander, and Pribilof Islands. 



Gavia arctica: Arctic Loon 

 Gavia arctica pacifica 

 Russian: Gagara 



We could obtain no Aleut name for this species. The Russsian 

 name for loon in the general sense seems to have been adopted 



