FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 91 



mak to Attu. Stejneger has reported them to be common in the 

 Commander Islands. 



They were also found east of the Aleutians— at Amak Island, 

 at Izembek Bay, and at False Pass. In the Shumagin group, we 

 observed them at Unga, Nagai, and Simeonof Islands. They 

 were at King Cove, the Barren Islands, Afognak, Port Chatham 

 on Kenai Peninsula, and at Seward. Osgood (1904) observed 

 them along the Egegik River and "about the mouths of the larger 

 streams that empty into Becharof Lake." He found them to be 

 common at Kanatak and Cold Bay, and he mentions specimens 

 taken by McKay and Johnson at Igushik and Nushagak. 



Cahalane (1944) reported harlequins in large numbers in the 

 general region of Katmai National Monument in the fall of 1940, 

 and Hine (1919) considered them to be one of the most common 

 ducks in the Katmai Bay area in the summer of 1919. Cahalane 

 also recorded them as being abundant in the Kodiak-Afognak 

 group in the fall of 1940, where Gabrielson noted 200 on June 16, 

 1940. W. Sprague Brooks (1915) observed them on April 19, 

 1913, at the Semidi Islands, and on April 22, 1913, he saw them 

 at King Cove. 



Although these birds occur on the north side of Alaska Penin- 

 sula, they are more common on the south side, which is more 

 rugged. Evidently, these birds nest on Alaska Peninsula. On 

 July 19, 1940, Gabrielson noted a pair flying along Kittiwake 

 Creek, between Brooks and Naknek Lakes, and Friedmann (1935) 

 states that Bretherton found them breeding in June on Kodiak 

 Island. In the spring of 1925, I often observed two pairs along 

 a stream just north of Aghileen Pinnacles, near the western end 

 of Alaska Peninsula. Eventually, on June 3, only the males were 

 seen; presumably, the females were nesting. 



On July 16, 1911, Wetmore (manuscript notes) observed a fe- 

 male and a group of young in King Cove. 



It is difficult to determine the status of the harlequin ducks 

 in the Aleutians. The natives insisted that they nest along streams 

 and that their nests are very hard to find. In way of substantia- 

 tion, we found no nests and no broods of young. However, we 

 found these birds on islands that had no suitable nesting streams. 

 On the other hand, Austin H. Clark (1910) reported: "It was 

 common about Atka, where 1 or 2 were seen inland on a small 

 stream ; on Attu and Agattu it was also numerous on the streams 

 as well as along the coast." 



Turner (1886) described a deserted nest on Unalaska Island, 

 in a hollow formed by two blocks of rock. A native assured him 



