ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 65 



seal-toUgues and toporok-breasts were esteemed higher than deer- 

 tongues and goose-breasts are to-day. 



But it is not only for food that these birds are used. The skins are care- 

 fully flayed off, and made into wide and long, very warm and nice gar- 

 ments, the so-called "jparA-a," with the feathers turned inside. About 

 fifty skins are required for one " parka." In order to remove the fat 

 from the skins, they are chewed over and over again by the women and 

 children until all the fatty matter has been chewed out, that being their 

 method of tanning. These " parki " are rather easily torn, but are ex- 

 tremely warm and light, as I can testify from my own experience. 

 Dressed in one I could go driving in a dog-sledge in the severest cold 

 wtihout feeling any inconvenience, and its lightness would allow me to 

 keep it on when strolling about, away from the sledge, hunting ptarmi- 

 gans or other ornithological and gastronomical objects. 



The yellow feathers of the long ear- tufts are in great demand for 

 decorative purposes. The seams of a fine " JTawZej/m" (rain coat made 

 of seal-guts) is often tastefully adorned with them. 



With the beginning of May these birds commence making their 

 appearance on the coasts of the islands,* looking out for their old 

 homes, but for a while they stay mostly on the water, not far from land, 

 until the nests are taken possession of in earnest, which happens about 

 the beginning of the second week of June. 



The natives, heartily tired of their winter food, the salted seal meat, 

 look forward to the ai rival of the Toporki with great impatience, and 

 as soon as a sufficient number are observed in the neighborhood of the 

 old rookeries parties start off in order to catch a good supi>ly for food 

 and clothing, advantage being taken of the peculiar habits of the 

 birds 



I shall in the following attempt a short description of such an excur- 

 sion : 



On a bright afternoon in May — and at that season really some fine, 

 bright days occur, even on the Commander Islands — we started, a gay 

 picnic party, consisting mostly of Aleuts and their wives or lady friends. 



*Dr. Dybowski states that tliey do not arrive on tbe coast of Kamtschatka before 

 the second week of Jnne ("Ende Mai. a. St.," Orn. Centrbl., IbSiJ, p. 28). That may 

 he, but it is certain that they appear about five weeks earlier at the islands, for 

 when, in 1882, 1 lauded on Copper Island on the 5th of May Toporki were already plen- 

 tiful, and in 1883 they were noted as arrived at Bering Island on the 7th of the same 

 month. In fact the first egg was found on June the 12th, which corresponds to the 

 last of May, "old style." 



