74 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



They practice every artifice to decoy an intruder from tlie vicinity of 

 tlio nest — .slKiMunin^huncncss, and nttcrinj;' the most plaintive cries; flit- 

 ting' tloni era;.-' to crag before the i»ursuer till they have led him far be- 

 yond the nest, when suddenly they seem to have recovered, and take 

 longer flights, till at last they jimip up very smartly and fly away ap- 

 parently higlily elated at the little ruse they have so successfully prac- 

 ticed. 



This little bird is considered a great enemy by the Eskimo. They say 

 it warns tlie reindeer of the api^roach of the hunter, and, still worse, 

 will tell the reindeer if it be a very good shot that is in inusuit, that 

 they may redouble their efibrts to escape. The Eskimo never lose an 

 opportunity to kill one of these birds. I have seen one with a rifle 

 wasting his last balls iu vaiu attemj)ts to kill one when he knew that 

 there was a herd of reindeer not more than a (piarter of a mile away. 

 They are generally distributed on both sides of Cumberland Sound and 

 the west shores of Davis Straits to hit. 08° X. at least, but nowhere 

 very abundant. Toward autumn they become more or less gregarious, 

 and seem to migrate along the seashore. 



4. Sitta caiolineusis, L. 



Caught on shipboard oft' the coast of Newfoundland October 22. 



5. Dendroeca coroiiata, (L.) Gray. 



A single example, an adult male, in Codliavn Harbor, Greenland, 

 July 31, 1878. 



6. Siuru8 nasvius, (IJoild.) Cones. 



(Jaught on board the Florence in Straits of 15elle Isle, August 18. 



7. Tachycineta bicolor, (Vitill.) Cab. 



A couple of these swallows followed the schooner for two days in suc- 

 cession olf Belle Isle, in August, 1877. Where were they dining the 

 night i 



8. Pyrrhula ? 



July 10, 1871>, while hunting among the mountains near Oosooadluin 

 Harbor, in the northern waters of Cundierlaiul, my attention was called 

 by a bird whistling somewhat like A»n)clis [jarndKs, but louder ami 

 clearei'. f soon discovered it Hitting among some small w illows on the 

 grassy ledges of a i)erpendicidar elifl" about 1,.">()U feet abov*' tide level. 

 1 could not scale the cUlf, and had to content myself t)y wat(hin.u it. It 

 was apparently nesting among the willows, but kept continually just 



