92 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



that it was the nest of a harlequin duck. Here, again, our own 

 experience was baffling. Though there were numerous cliffs and 

 many available sites for nesting along the rocky shores, we saw 

 no young brood throughout the two summers of observations. 



Wetmore, however, had pertinent observations at Kiska Island 

 in 1911, when he says (manuscript notes) that 



some of them were already nesting along the base of a high rocky cliff, as 

 they seemed very anxious while I was along there, those on the water 

 whistling and swimming in small circles. I saw one or two females slipping 

 quietly away from shore ahead of me, but flushed none from the beach itself. 



Beals and Longworth found harlequin ducks wintering at 

 Unimak Island, and stated that they nest there. Elsewhere in the 

 Aleutians, natives said that they are more numerous in winter 

 than in summer. 



Stejneger (1885) found no evidence of nesting in the Com- 

 mander Islands, and stated that the natives knew of no nesting. 



From these various observations, it can be concluded that the 

 harlequin ducks nest on the Alaska Peninsula, possibly rather 

 commonly; that they also nest in numbers unknown in the Aleu- 

 tian Islands; that immature birds, various nonbreeders, and 

 males gather for the summer in these waters; and that they 

 winter there in great numbers. 



We had little opportunity to study food habits, and it must be 

 assumed that, in the salt water, it consists of marine inverte- 

 brates. The teacher of the native school at Atka informed us 

 that in the autumn of 1936, when there was a large run of salmon 

 up the streams of Atka Island, harlequin ducks were seen on the 

 streams, presumably feeding on salmon eggs. However, we have 

 no certain data on this subject. 



Polysticta stelleri: S+eller's Eider 



Chukchi: Kataadlin (Palmen) 



This little eider of the Bering Sea region occurs abundantly 

 along the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian chain at certain 

 seasons — particularly in winter. It is recorded as far east as 

 Kodiak, where Friedmann (1935) lists many specimens and ob- 

 servational records, including some bones from middens. Dall 

 (1873) says it was observed in the Shumagins "in March, and in 

 the summer months." The same writer (Dall 1874) reports them 

 as wintering at Sanak Island, but he considered Unalaska to be 

 the center of abundance for this species. He remarked upon the 

 irregularity of their occurrence, because he had found Steller's 

 eider, together with the Pacific eider, to be numerous at Unalaska 



