SWINHOE'S WAGTAIL 13 



just beneath the window and on the ground, not more than seven feet from my 

 eyes. At the first glance I supposed the bird to be Fleet rophanax nivalis. A mo- 

 ment sufficed to convince me that it was not. I ran to get my gun ; and, as I 

 opened the door, of the entry-way, to get out, the door opened directly on the 

 bird, which, with a chirp precisely like that of Budytes flavus leucostriatus, flew 

 off to a distance of 75 yards and alighted. I approached as nearly as I dared 

 and fired at it, but failed to obtain it, as the gun was loaded with No. 3 shot. 

 It flew off beyond the hills and was not seen again. 



This may, of course, have been ocularis, but it seems much more likely 

 that it was lugens, which is common on the nearby Commander Islands. 

 The record for the mouth of the Yukon is based on the following 

 statement by Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1900) : "On the morning of August 

 28 the Robert Kerr, on which I was a passenger, was hindered from 

 proceeding by a gale and low water on the bar, and Avas made fast to 

 the bank at the Aphoon mouth of the Yukon. As I came on deck I saw 

 half a dozen white wagtails fly about the vessel and settle in the grass 

 close by. AVliile I returned for my gun they left, but a thorough ac- 

 quaintance with MotaciUa alba in Egypt, where it is abundant during 

 the winter, leaves me no doubt that these birds were wagtails." These 

 prohabhj were Swinhoe's wagtails, but no specimens were taken. 



The most remarkable American record, which is supported by a 

 specimen and so not open to question, is Lyman Belding's (1883) 

 Lower California record ; he reports "a single specimen shot January 9, 

 1882, during a cold gale from the north. It was found on a drift of 

 sea -weed on the beach." His specimen was an adult in winter plumage 

 and was taken at La Paz, near the southern extremity of the peninsula. 

 It seems hardly likely that this wandering waif could have crossed the 

 broad expanse of the Pacific Ocean, unless it had been transported on 

 some ship from southern Asia. It may, of course, have wandered 

 across Bering Strait and then followed the Pacific coastline southward, 

 but it is strange that no other specimen has ever been taken or seen 

 anywhere along this coast south of Alaska. 



F. Seymour Hersey (1916), who made two trips to northern Alaska 

 to gather material for this work, published the following report on 

 his experience with Swinhoe's wagtail : "Although this bird has been 

 considered merely a straggler to Alaska, there are reasons for believing 

 that the species is slowly extending its range and becoming established 

 on our coast. During the northern cruise a number of individuals 

 were seen between Kotzebue Sound and Cape Lisburne. 



"At Chamisso Island, on August 1, a pair of birds were carrying food 

 into a crevice in the rocks at an inaccessible point on the clifi". One or 

 two were also seen at other points, and at Cape Lisburne I succeeded in 

 shooting a bird which, unfortunately, fell on the farther side of a creek 

 where it could not be found." 



Alfred M. Bailey ( 1926) , who spent parts of two seasons in northern 



