FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 181 



on our visit to Port Moller in 1936, but found Arctic terns nest- 

 ing at Nelson Lagoon. As many as "several hundred" Aleutian 

 terns would indicate a nesting colony, the largest yet known, but 

 unfortunately there are no further details. It is to be hoped that 

 a good nesting colony will be found on that part of Alaska Penin- 

 sula. 



In 1925, I thoroughly investigated reports of the nesting of this 

 tern on Unimak Island. Donald H. Stevenson, who had spent 5 

 years in the Aleutians, reported a colony of Aleutian terns on a 

 little sand island in St. Catherine Cove, on the east end of Unimak 

 Island, and a local guide, John Gardner, appeared to know the 

 species and corroborated Stevenson's statement. However, upon 

 investigation it was found that the powerful tidal currents pre- 

 vailing there, which no doubt had deposited the little island 

 originally, had washed it away again since Stevenson's last visit. 

 He had collected specimens, some of them at that breeding place. 

 Moreover, on May 20, 1925, I observed 3 terns at St. Catherine 

 Cove, 1 of which was identified as aleutica. The other two, though 

 not observed so closely, were probably the same. On the whole, 

 there is good reason to accept this record of nesting, the first for 

 the Aleutians proper. 



Not far from this locality, at Izembek Bay, on Alaska Penin- 

 sula, we obtained good evidence of nesting. On June 16, 1925, 

 we saw a number of Aleutian terns flying toward Point Grant, 

 and one was shot for a specimen. This specimen was a male with 

 incubation patches. On June 30, three or four terns flew by at 

 an island near Point Grant. Two specimens that were taken 

 proved to be a breeding male and a female. 



We covered this area pretty thoroughly, but we found no nest- 

 ing colonies; however, it is safe to say that Aleutian terns were 

 nesting somewhere in that vicinity. Possibly a few were nesting 

 in the Arctic tern colony, undetected by us, or they may have 

 been in a group by themselves. 



On August 14, 1936, C. S. Williams picked up a wing on 

 Nunivak Island, which proved to be that of an immature Aleutian 

 tern. 



There are a number of specimens taken on Sakhalin Island in 

 1914. Stejneger did not find them in the Commander Islands, 

 but Hartert records a specimen, a male, taken in 1911 on Copper 

 Island, the first record for the Commanders. 



The Aleutian tern apparently shifts its nesting place in the face 

 of adverse circumstances. This can be construed as an adaptabil- 

 ity of survival value. It is possible that this rare species will 

 become more safely established in the Alaskan avifauna. 



