brooks: birds from east Siberia and arctic alaska. 407 



Emberiza rustica Pallas. 



A few were seen and two females taken at Cape Zhipanov, May 25, 

 1913. They were exceedingly shy and the deep snow rendered their 

 capture most difficult. 



Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis (Linne). 

 SNOW bunting. 



Snow Buntings though never so abundant as Longspurs w^ere seen 

 at nearly all the places visited by the expedition. 



A few were noted on the Semidi Islands, April 19, 1913, and at King 

 Cove on the Alaskan Peninsula, April 22. At East Ca.pe and Provi- 

 dence Bay they were quite common and breeding in June of the same 

 year. At the latter place a set of six eggs beginning to incubate 

 was taken on Jmie 19. The nest was under a pile of loose rocks aver- 

 aging the size of one's head, and before securing the nest w^e were 

 forced to remove perhaps two hundred pounds of stone. On June 15 

 two nests, one containing five eggs, the other six, were found on Big 

 Diomede Island. One nest was situated as far as one could reach 

 under a shelving boulder, and the other in a deep crevice between two 

 rocks. Both were well made of grass lined with feathers. 



At St. Lawrence Island this was a common bird in June, and at 

 Cape Serdze a few were noted July 17 and 18, 1913, where we found 

 young birds able to fly. 



They were common at Collinson Point on August 3, 1913, but 

 returning on the ninth we found them greatly diminished in numbers. 



Our latest record for the Arctic coast of Alaska is that of a female 

 taken at Humphrey Point, on September 27, 1913. 



At Humphi-ey Point Mr. Dixon found Snow Buntings breeding 

 sparingly the first arrivals being noted May 1, 1914. 



The first arrivals reached Demarcation Point, May 4, a flock of 

 nine apparently all males, and two that were taken proved to be very 

 fat. Two or three were seen nearly every day until the fifteenth 

 when fourteen were noted. On May 16 about twenty were near the 

 camp and on May 17 a flock of about one hundred and fifty contain- 

 ing both sexes; these were very shy. 



After this date only a few remained in the vicinity, not more than 

 seven or eight pairs breeding wuthin a radius of four or five miles of the 

 Point. 



