104 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



I'ully oil the Uiiudc and (liccii islands in Diskn 15a\, where eggs were 

 procuicd. There seems to be no ajjpreeiable tliUerenee in Gulf of St. 

 LaMrenee specimens and tliose from Nortli Ciicenhmd excei)t in size. 



82. Mergulus alle, L. 



• Kacrrak,'' Grciiilaiulcis. 

 Common on the north coast of Labrador, off Kesohition Island, Grin- 

 nell Bay, and Frobisher Straits, but did not see any in Cnmberland. 

 I showed specimens to tlie Ivskimo, and they called it a yonng " akpa" 

 {Lomvin arra). So 1 i)resnnie the bird is Acry rare, if found at all, in 

 the Cumberland waters. Still they are abundant ott" Exeter Sound and 

 to the northward on the west coast of Ballin's Lay. Go\X'rnor Feuc- 

 ker says they nest to latitude IS^ N., and perhaps farther. Xest 

 abundantly on the Whale Islands in Disko Bay. I procured young off 

 Kesohition Island in the fore part of September. They were very 

 common among the pack-ice in Davis Straits during July. Often a 

 considerable number would be seen sitting on the ice. They seem 

 devoid of fear. I have caught them from the schooner's deck with a 

 net on the end of a pole while they were swimming alongside. 



83. Uria grylle, (L.) Latli. 



•' Pcsliolak," CuiiilierlaiKl Eskimo. " ."<( rlicU," or " ^tigvak," Grftnlauder.s. 

 AVas first observed off licsolution Island in the first days of Septem- 

 ber, 1877. They were then busily engaged fishing and carrying the fish 

 up the cliffs to the young, which were not yet in the water. They are 

 most exi)ert divers and are often seen fishing where there is a consider- 

 able depth of water. I once shot an adult female that was carrying a 

 little Morrhua 7 inches in length up to her young. This was on the 19th 

 of September, and the young were not more than tlnce-fonrtlis gniwn 

 at this date. I visited no locality either on Cumberland or on the Green- 

 land coast where this bird was not abundant. Some sections are of 

 cour.sc more suitable than others, and here they are very inimerous. 

 Tln-y began to change into the w inter pliiina.Lic in the latter part of Sep- 

 tember. Some of the earlier-liatched young were nuich earlier than 

 this, but the adults were not in ])erfe<t winter dress till Die middle of 

 October. They ivmained about our winter haibor as long as there was 

 ojM'n water, and cNcn oiu' or two staid in tlu* Kingwah rifts all winter. 

 In spring they returned as soon as there was open water. About the 

 Southern Cundx'rland waters some remain all winter, — the Eskimo 

 say only the yoinig birds. At Annanactook Harbor they began nest- 

 ing about June -."». The normal innnber of eggs is two; very rart'ly 



