LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 223 



was preparing, Kalutunah amused himself witla tearing uff tlie birds' slcins 

 and consuming the raw flesh while it was yet warm. 



Winter. — Although large numbers of dovekies migrate as far south 

 as the coasts of New England a great many spend the winter near the 

 edge of the Arctic ice pack, off the coasts of Labrador and New- 

 foundland, on the Atlantic Ocean, and even in southern Greenland. 

 They leave their northernmost breeding grounds about the first or 

 second week in September and work slowly southward as cold 

 weather advances, reaching the New England coast in November. 

 They are generally common and sometimes abundant on the Maine 

 coast in winter, but south of the neighborhood of Massachusetts Bay 

 they are rare, or irregular in appearance. Wliile with us in winter 

 they ordinarily spend their time out on the open sea, several miles 

 from land, skimming over the tops of the waves or swimming about 

 singly or in little groups; they are more often seen in the vicinity 

 of sunken ledges or about little rocky islets than off the sandy shores 

 of Cape Cod. In stormy weather they are often driven in near the 

 beaches or even into harbors, creeks, and rivers. There are numer- 

 ous instances on record where these little sea birds have been driven 

 far inland and have perished from hunger and exhaustion. Mr. 

 William Brewster (1906) relates his recollections of a memorable 

 flight of this kind " which inundated eastern Massachusetts on 

 November 15, 1871," which probably "comprised nearly, if not 

 quite all, the birds which were living at that time off our coast." 



On the date just named a violent easterly storm, accompanied by tor- 

 rents of rain and an exceptionally high tide, forced 'm^iltitudes of dovekies to 

 seek refuge in the fresh-water ponds and rivers near the coast, and many 

 birds were picked up in an exhausted condition in fields, meadows, barnyards, 

 and even in our city streets. Within the area to which this paper relates they 

 appeared in the greatest numbers in Charles River between Cambridge and 

 Waltham, in the Mystic Ponds, and in Fresh Pond. The sheet of water last 

 named was visited by hundreds, which came in singly or by twos and threes, 

 and occasionally in flocks of from 10 or a dozen to 30 or 40 individuals each. 

 The larger flocks often i-ose and left the pond, when disturbed, but the single 

 birds, although somewhat restless, were absurdly tame. Some of them were 

 taken alive, others killed with oars, and very many shot by collectors or 

 sportsmen, 50 or more being captured in all. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Coasts and islands of the north Atlantic and 

 Arctic Oceans. Baffin Land, Ellesmere Land, northern Greenland 

 (Disco Island, Cape York, and Kane Basin), northern Iceland (Isle 

 of Grimsey), Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land, and Nova Zembla. 

 Often ranges north in summer to latitude 81° or 82°. Has been re- 

 corded in July in 77° north, 151 east (near Bennett Islands), near 



