FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 93 



in May 1872, however in May 1873 he did not see a single one of 

 either species in that locality. 



Osgood (1904) considered the Steller's eider to be common 

 about Bristol Bay, and he mentions specimens collected by McKay 

 and Johnson at Nushagak and Ugashik. On October 4, 1940, 

 Cahalane (1944) observed a group of 6 in Amalik Bay, and he 

 saw 6 again (perhaps the same group) the next day. Gabriel- 

 son noted 2 males at Morzhovoi Bay June 21, 1940, and collected 

 1, which was not in breeding condition. In 1936, we observed 

 several sizable flocks in Nelson Lagoon. 



In 1925, I found this duck to be rather common in Izembek Bay. 

 On May 17, 1925, there were small groups at St. Catherine Cove, 

 Unimak Island, and on May 20 about 200 were seen there, as 

 well as several bands offshore in Bering Sea. Several flocks, 

 totaling at least 300 birds, were spending the summer in Izembek 

 Bay; they used Glen Island, near its entrance, as their home- 

 ground. These were immature birds of both sexes, though there 

 was an occasional one in adult male plumage. One male in adult 

 plumage was collected on June 17. The testes were very small. 

 None of the birds were seen on the adjacent marshlands, and 

 there was no evidence of nesting. 



Turner (1886) testifies to the presence of the Steller's eider 

 among the Aleutians in winter, even to the western end of the 

 chain. Stejneger (1887) said that they wintered in the Com- 

 mander Islands in "countless numbers," arriving early in Novem- 

 ber and remaining until after the middle of May. Friedmann 

 (1937) has recorded five humeri of this duck from middens on 

 Little Kiska Island. Beals and Longworth observed them often 

 in January, March, and April, 1941, and saw them as late as April 

 25, at False Pass. 



Although we did not find the Steller's eider nesting, older rec- 

 ords furnish rather good evidence of nesting on the Alaska 

 Peninsula and Aleutian chain. A. C. Bent (1925) records some 

 notes sent to Major Bendire in 1892 by Chase Littlejohn, which in- 

 cluded a statement that "a few were nesting at Morzhovoi Bay 

 in June." Dall (1873) writes of the pairing of these ducks at 

 Unalaska and describes a nest found on Amaknak Island, May 

 18, 1872. It contained a single egg. Turner (1886) saw a few 

 of these ducks at the western end of Attu Island in July 1880, 

 and the natives told him that the species nested sparingly on 

 Agattu Island. 



Judging by the information available to us, we must recognize 

 the strong probability that at one time the Steller's eider nested 



