SURF BIED 271 



Urn large white rump patch, together with a white patch on either wing, 

 brought realization that this was the long-sought-for surf bird. A hasty glance 

 at his feet revealed the nest and contents of four eggs. Another step forward 

 and he would have placed his foot directly in the nest ! To George M. Wright 

 belongs the honor of being the first white man, of which we have any record, 

 to lay eyes on the nest and eggs of this rare bird. 



The surf bird's nest was located 1,000 feet above timber line on a rocky ridge 

 that faced southwest and lay fair to the sun and hence was relatively free 

 from snow. The nest site was on dry rocky ground and not on the wet tundra 

 which was plentiful nearby. The rocky ground about the nest was clothed 

 with a thin cari>et of alpine-arctic vegetation, the tallest of which were a few 

 (Sleeping arctic wnllows less than 2 inches high. The most conspicuous plant 

 about the nest was the white-flowered Dryas inteffrifolia. The nest was 

 entirely out in the open with no bushes that afford the least concealment. 

 In fact it was almost "out in the street," since the eggs were within a foot 

 of a fre<iuently traveled trail of the white Alaska mountain sheep {Ovis dalli). 

 There was no fabricated nest such as the wandering tattler makes. Instead, 

 the eggs were deposited in a natural erosional depression, the sides of which 

 had been lined with a few bits of dried-up grayish-green lichens and caribou 

 moss. The bottom of the nest was composed of the dead emarginate leaves 

 of Dryas integrifoUa, which only partially covered the crumbling serpentine 

 outcrop that formed the backbone of the ridge. The nest, which was barely 

 large enough to liold the four eggs, which were placed as close together as 

 possible, with little ends down, measured 4 inches in diameter and an inch 

 and a half in depth. The eggs in the nest blended so well with the reddish 

 brown moss of the tundra that it became difficult to make them out at a 

 distance of more than 8 or 10 feet. 



The nest was found at nearly 9 o'clock in the eveninfr. They built 

 a crude shelter of rocks near it and kept a careful watch over it all 

 that night and half of the next day. During this time Mr. Dixon 

 (1927) made these observations: 



When it began to rain the surf bird merely fluffed up and then spread out the 

 feathers on his back so as completely to cover the nest. This proved an effec- 

 tive method, because the melting snow and the rain ran readily off the surf- 

 bird's back and was absorbed by the moss outside the nest. We were not so 

 well protected and were soon shivering and wet to the skin. 



At 4 o'clock a female mountain sheep appeared, silently, like a ghost, out of 

 the mist that came drifting over the mountain i)eaks in great white swirls. 

 She did not see us at first, but when she was within 6 feet of and headed 

 directly toward the surf-bird's nest she became suddenly aware of our presence 

 and took a step or two forward. When the ewe was about to step on the nest 

 the surf bird suddenly " exploded " right in the astonished animal's face. This 

 unexpected movement and the sudden noise and flash of white of the bird's 

 spread wings and tail caused the mountain sheep to jump back quickly; then 

 she whirled around and bounded off back up the trail. This sudden movement 

 of the surf bird at the critical moment doubtless serves to prevent sheep and 

 caribou from trampling upon its nest and eggs. We found through repeated 

 experiments that this was the bird's regular reaction. When we approached, 

 whether fast or slow, the bird would stay on the nest until the last minute, 

 and then, instead of sneaking off low to the ground like most birds do, would 

 fly directly up into our faces. Even after we knew that the bird would do 



