BIRDS. 59 



During the cruise of the Corwiu iu 1881 Tv-e found these graceful birds on both the Alaskan 

 and Siberian shores as far as we went. It arrives at Point Barrow about June 10 and leaves 

 about the end of August. It breeds in that vicinity. It is numerous on the Near Islands, breed- 

 ing on Semichi. They breed sparingly also on the Commander Islands. 



Along the Yukon Dall found these birds very common in large flocks, and found the downy 

 young on June 22, near Fort Yukon. They frequently followed bis boat long distances, and were 

 seen sitting on sticks of drift- wood or hovering over the river. 



During Collinsou's famous voyage to the north coast of Alaska he fonnd these birds at sea 

 north of Point Barrow in latitude 75° 30' north, the most northern point reached by any explorer 

 in this region except the Jeaunette crew. 



During Nordenskjold's voyage they were found common on Spitzbergeu but scarce on Nova 

 Zembla, aud were seen about the New Siberian Islands, and during the cruise of the Corwin the 

 writer saw them over nearly all the Arctic basin north of Bering Straits. 



At the points visited by the first named explorer the birds' eggs were found on the bare 

 sandy or pebbly ground. 



Sterna aleutica Baird. Aleutian Tern (Esk. !() ilu(J-f(-nu-ghuk). 



Among the results of the Telegraph Explorations in Alaska was the discovery of this geo- 

 graphically narrowly limited Tern. From the time of its discovery upon Kadiak Island, by 

 Bischoff, who also secured a single egg, nothing has been published adding to the bird's history up 

 to the present date. In 187o-'7G the Smithsonian Institution received specimens taken iu the 

 vicinity of Saint Michaels by Mr. L. M. Turner, thus adding much to the bird's known distri. 

 butiou. During the writer's residence at Saint Michaels he found these birds to be regular and 

 common summer residents in certain restricted localities where they nested. They extend their 

 range to the head of Norton Bay, and also reach the Siberian coast of Bering Straits, as shown by 

 their presence in Saint Lawrence Bay, where Mr. E. L. Newcomb, naturalist of the Jeannette, 

 found them in 1879. 



The facts given .above comprise all we know at present of this interesting bird's history, and 

 from it we see that they breed throughout their known range, and undoubtedly winter in the 

 vicinity of Kadiak aud the coast of the Northern Pacific adjacent thereto. This species is strictly 

 limited to the sea-coast, and breeds upon small dry islands on the coast. They reach Saint 

 Michaels from May 20 to 30, rarely earlier than the first date, and are found scattered along the 

 coast in company with the Arctic Tern for a short time, but early in June they gather about the 

 islands where they nest. 



One of these islands is about a mile from Saint Michaels, in the mouth of a tide-channel known 

 as the "canal." This island is nearly half a mile across, rises about 30 feet from the beach in a 

 sharp incline, and has a rather level top covered with a thick mat of grass, moss, and other vege- 

 tation. The upland is dry, aud here the birds breed, laying their eggs directly upon the moss, 

 with no attempt at a lining, which would be entirely unnecessary there. Some 18 miles to the east- 

 ward, along the coast, and less than a mile from the Eskimo village of Kegikhtowik, is another 

 island in a bay, presenting almost the same characteristics as the one first described, and upon 

 the higher portions the birds nest even more commonly, for as against the twenty pairs or so 

 nesting on the first island some thirty or forty pairs occupied the latter island both seasons when 

 it was visited by the writer. From the proximity of native villages, and owing to the persecution 

 received at the hands of Turner and myself, the birds on these islands were very shy, and it was 

 no easy task to secure specimens. 



On each island they were in company with about an equal number of Arctic Terns, but while 

 the latter were darting down at our heads or circling back and forth within easy gunshot, the 

 other species kept at an elevation of some 40 yards, and after one or two were taken the rest 

 arose out of gunshot and passed back and forth overhead iu safety. 



They can be distinguished from arctica, even when out of gunshot overhead, by their darker 

 under surface aud their slightly slower wing-strokes. The old birds have a black bill with slight 

 horn-colored tip, aud black feet and legs. Both old and young have the iris hazel. 



