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Bird - Lore 



strange screaming of the Loons, the harsh te-ar-r of the Terns, the weird oo, oo, 

 oo-a-oo, of the Old Squaw Ducks, the more or less distinguishable notes of the 

 other Ducks and of the Geese, all mingled with the constant shrill crying of 

 the Gulls. 



Quickly the scene changes. The ice goes out, perhaps in a night, to leave a 

 stormy water. The birds disperse to their nesting-places, and only the eternal 

 Gulls go dipping and sailing by, with now and then an energetic trio of Loons. 



Simultaneously with the game-birds come the little songsters. A young 

 native once told me that these birds come on the backs of the large ones. He 



GULLS AT SEWARD, ALASKA 

 September 3, 1916 



declared that he had many times seen several small birds on the back of one 

 large Goose. The idea is, however, no more strange than that such frail crea- 

 tures can cover so vast a distance, in a stormy season, and over a frozen for- 

 bidding land. 



When the birds arrive in the Arctic the only food for them is to be found 

 where the snow has melted from the small tufts or 'nigger-heads' of the tundra. 

 Indeed, the birds always seem to arrive in advance of the first bare spots. On 

 these spots are last year's seeds and berries. It is not uncommon, when walking 

 over the tundra in May, to come upon one of these bare spots and startle a 

 cloud of birds into flight. 



When viewed from the Arctic standpoint, a bird's life does not appear to be 

 all joyous and easy. To rear her young under the most favorable circumstances 

 she leaves the land of easy food and warmth and sunshine to face privations 

 and hardships. She beats her way north, often against stormy winds, and 

 arrives in the land of her destination to find it ice-bound. But she must not 

 delay her departure for her tired body must be rested before the snow has 

 gone and nest-building time is upon her, for then there will be no time to 



