50 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA 



They are resident upon the Aleutian Islands and breed in great abundance upon all the 

 islands of Bering Sea, the Straits, and along the Arctic coast to Cape Lisbnrne. 



In Kotzebue Sound, daring August, 1881, I saw hundreds of them nesting on the granite 

 ledges of Chamisso Island, and found them very unsuspicious. Although the young were able to 

 fly I caught one upon the nest and knocked others oif the ledges with stones before they would 

 take wing. The nests were composed of matted fragments of moss and grass gathered on the 

 adjacent slopes or were mere hollows in the loose dirt. The other occupants of the islet were 

 puffins. 



The cliffs on the ice-bound shores of Herald Island also were occupied by them, and we found 

 them about the edge of the ice from this island to Point Barrow during the Corwiu's cruise. In 

 autumn they kept about Saint Michaels until the middle of October each year, when the ice form- 

 ing over the bays forced them away. 



Mr. Dall secured the nest, eggs, and young in down of this species on Unga Island, in the 

 Shumagins, on July 11. There he fouud the birds nesting in great numbers, and writes that the 

 nests at first appeared as if fastened to the perpendicular face of the cliff. A close examination 

 showed that two parallel strata of metamorphic sandstone were weathered out so as to project from 

 1 to 4 inches from the cliff, and ux^on the ledges thus afforded the birds had managed to fasten 

 their nests, although the latter projected over the edge of the support more than half their width. 

 The.>iiests were built of dry grass, which was fastened together and to the clifi' in some ]ieculiar 

 manner. The depression in the nest containing the two eggs was very shallow and the surround- 

 ings were very filthy. The birds were unconcerned at his approach, only those nearest him leaving 

 their nests, and one bird which had lost a nest with two young flew uneasily about the spot a 

 moment, and as he rowed away the bird began a violent assault upon her next neighbor as if 

 attributing her loss to her. They had a shrill, harsh cry when disturbed and a low whistle when 

 communicating with each other. In the western part of the Aleutians these birds are far less 

 numerous than in the eastern half. 



Throughout its range this species has considerable curiosity and comes circling about any 

 strange intruder to its haunts. In the bay at Saint Michaels they were frequently seen following 

 a school of white whales, evidently to secure such fragments of fish or other food as the whales 

 dropped in the water. It was curious to note how well the birds timed the whales and anticipated 

 their appearance as the latter came up to blow. 



Upon the Fur Seal Islands Mr. Elliott found them breeding in great numbers with the 

 following species. He found the color of the chicks to be similar to those of brevirostris until two 

 or three weeks old. 



RissA BKEViROSTKis (Bruch). Eed-leggcd Kittiwake. 



The writer's only experience with this beautiful gull was limited to a single day, May 2G, at 

 Unalaska, where they were seen in considerable numbers about the inner harbors. They glided 

 silently from place to place, hovering for a moment or plunging into the water at times, but, con- 

 tinually passing on, each party was quickly lost to sight. 



Mr. Dall does not include this bird in his Aleutian Island lists. 



It is an abundant summer resident in both the Near and Commander Islands. 



The possible variety which Mr. Dall mentions, in his list of Alaskan birds, as being in the 

 Smithsonian collection and marked by having yellow legs, is the ordinary form — the " rich coral, 

 vermilion, or lake-red legs drying straw-yellow." 



The Fur Seal Islands form the great gathering place for these birds in summer, and they 

 congregate there bj' thousands, giving a preference to the precipitous shores of Saint George's 

 Island. They are unknown, so far as I have learned, north of this group, and from Mr. Elliott I 

 quote all we know concerning its habits during the summer on its breeding ground. They come 

 to the clifTs on these islands for the purpose of breeding by the 9th of May, and desert the place 

 with their fully-fledged young early in October. Their nests are prudently located on almost 

 inaccessible ledges and shelves, so that they can rarely be reached except by a person lowered 

 on a rope over a cliff. 



