80 XATUEAL HISTOEY COLLECTIONS IX ALASKA. 



there were males, the females beiug with the young amoug the ponds inshore. The males were 

 not shy, and many were killed by the natives with slings as the birds flew in compact flocks over- 

 head. At Unalaska, from May 18 to 30, 1877, there were large flocks of these birds about the outer 

 harbors. They were just assuming the breeding dress and were not shy, for I rowed within 

 gunshot of a flock, in an open boat, several times the same day. The middle of September, 1881, 

 as we came south through Bering Sea, we passed many flocks of this and the Pacific Eider. The 

 skins of all the eiders, but especially of this species and the Pacific Eider, are used in making 

 clothing by the Alaskan Eskimo, and the skin of the female, split down the back, with head, 

 legs, and wings removed, is a very common article of foot-wear; it is used inside of the seal-skin 

 boots, and is very comfortable iu winter. South of the Yukon mouth Smateria v-nigra plays an 

 important part in some of the religious festivals, which come ofi' in December each year — a kind 

 of Eskimo "harvest-home." 



Mr. Murdoch names this as the most abundant bird found al Point Barrow, where it occurs in 

 enormous numbers during the migrations, but only breeds there iu comparatively small numbers, 

 the great body of these eiders nesting along the coast to the eastward of the point. They arrive 

 at the point from April 27 to May 5, according to the season, and a few linger in autumn until the 

 sea is frozen over — until December 2, in 1882. 



My own observations agree perfectly with Murdoch's, that the male eiders lose their light- 

 colored plumage after the breeding season and assume a brown plumage, somewhat similar to 

 fhat of the female, except that the male retains one or two pairs of white patches, by which it can 

 be distinguished at a distance from the female. Although I did not secure specimens to illustrate 

 this yet I saw thousands of the birds iu this plumage iu Bering Sea and the Arctic, particulai'ly 

 during the summer of 1881. The males seen during August and September of that season were, 

 almost without exception, in the brown i^lumage, and included all the species of eiders found in 

 that region, namely, Somateria spectabiUs, S. r-nigra, Eniconetta stelleri, and Arctonetta fischeri. 



This bird is said to nest sparingly upon Spitzbergen and to be common in summer on Nova 

 Zeuibla. 



OiDEMiA AMERICANA Sw. & Eich. American Scoter (Esk. Ku-kum-zha-ghuk). 



Along the Alaskan shore of Bering Sea and of Kotzebue Sound in the Arctic, these scoters 

 are common or abundant summer residents. It breeds on the Near Islands, and is plentiful there 

 iu winter. It occurs sparingly on the Commander Islands. It was among the species fouud winter- 

 ing in the Aleutian Islands by Dall, who saw it also in the Sliumagins. It has not been noted on 

 the Fur Seal Islands, but was seen by me about Saint Lawrence Island and both shores of Bering 

 Straits during the summer of 1881. 



At the Y'ukou mouth Dall found a nest of this species on June 17. The nest contained two 

 white and rather lai'ge eggs, and was in a bunch of willows on a small island, and was well 

 lined with dry grass, leaves, moss, and feathers. 



At Saint Michaels these ducks are never seen in spring until the ice begins to break otishore 

 and the marshes are dotted with pools of open water. May 10 is the earliest date of arinval I 

 recorded. Toward the end of this month they leave the leads in the ice and are found in abun- 

 dance among the salt and fresh water ponds on the great marshes, from the Y'^ukou mouth north 

 and south. The mating is quickly accomplished, and a nesting site chosen on the border of some 

 pond. The spot is artfully hidden in the standing grass, and the eggs, if left by the parent, are 

 carefully covered with grass and moss. As the set of eggs is completed, the male gradually loses 

 interest in the female, and soon deserts her to join great flocks of his kind along the sea-shore, 

 usually keeping in the vicinity of a bay, inlet, or the mouth of some large stream. These flocks 

 are formed early in June and continue to grow larger until the fall migration occurs. Blales may 

 be found iu the marshes with females all through the season, but these are pairs which breed late. 

 A set of fresh eggs was taken on August 3, and a brood of downy young was obtained on Sep- 

 tember 9. 



The habits of these flocks of males are very similar to those of the male eiders at this season. 

 They are good weather indicators, and frequently, ten or twenty hours in advance of a storm, they 



