FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 75 



a female with eight downy young. On June 21, 1937, a pair 

 was seen among the lakes on the southeast part of Kiska Island, 

 and another pair was seen in a lake at the South Harbor. On 

 July 5, we flushed two males and a female from a pond on 

 Amchitka Island. The natives of Atka also assured us that 

 mallards are found there both summer and winter, which suggests 

 nesting. June 20, 1941, Gabrielson saw a female with four 

 young at Unalaska Island. The islands mentioned here are the 

 principal ones that contain ponds and lakes. However, Cahn 

 found this bird nesting at Unalaska Island. 



Farther east, we obtained additional nesting data. On May 

 7, 1925, I found a nest of 11 eggs at Urilia Bay, Unimak Island. 

 On June 6, a nest of 5 fresh eggs was found in a stream valley 

 below Aghileen Pinnacles, western Alaska Peninsula, and on June 

 23 a nest of 10 eggs was observed on the tide flat at Hazen 

 Point, Izembek Bay. In 1936, residents at Port Moller assured 

 us that mallards nest around Nelson Lagoon, and in 1928 Jaques 

 (1930) found it a "common breeder in the Port Moller region." 

 On May 29, 1936, we saw a single male at Ugashik River. We 

 had seen a pair at Chisik Island, Tuxedni Bay, in Cook Inlet 

 on May 6, and, on May 9, another pair was observed at Anchor- 

 age. According to Osgood (1904), "McKay found the species 

 breeding at Nushagak and took a number of specimens there 

 in May and June, 1881." Gabrielson noted a few along Kvichak 

 River July 23, 1940, including one brood of young. He also noted 

 a male in the Barren Islands on June 13. 



Mallards undoubtedly nest on various islands south of the 

 Alaska Peninsula. On August 29, 1936, I saw two mallards on 

 a pond on Simeonof Island, in the Shumagins, and the local 

 rancher said they nest there. On Afognak Island, September 2, 

 1936, 14 mallards were seen in a lily pond. These could have 

 been migrants, yet mallards undoubtedly nest there because they 

 are known to nest on Kodiak, nearby. 



As stated above, mallards winter throughout the territory 

 under discussion. Localities where considerable numbers have 

 been reported are Unalaska, Kanaga, and Unimak. We were 

 told by natives of Unimak that when the bays and lakes freeze 

 over, the mallards move to the unfrozen streams in the interior 

 of the island and return to the lowlands only when the ice has 

 disappeared. 



In the summer and fall of 1936 there was an unusually large 

 run of salmon up the streams of Unimak Island; at that time, 

 mallards and other ducks, we were told, assembled there to feed 

 on free-floating salmon eggs. 



