THE OOLOGISTS' RECORD. 



Edited by KENNETH L. SKINNER. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Vol. II— No. 4.] [December 1, 1922. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL WORK IN THE ARCTIC REGION. 



By the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, M.A., M.B.O.U., H.F.A.O.U. 



The conditions under which ornithological work must be carried 

 on in the high north are so different from those prevailing in the 

 temperate zone, that a few words based on personal experience 

 may be of interest at any rate to those who contemplate work in 

 the Arctic at some future time. There are many collectors whose 

 wanderings have hitherto extended only to the more or less civilized 

 European countries, where they have worked with some measure of 

 success. In such cases it is possible to map out a tour with tolerable 

 accuracy a month or two beforehand, and one can form a very fair 

 idea of the species one is likely to meet with, and the probable 

 results of the trip. Knowing the approximate breeding dates of 

 each species, and where it is likely to be met with, one can go 

 further and arrange one's time-table to coincide with nesting 

 season of the birds in which one is most interested. There is also 

 a natural tendency to visit any well-known bird haunt, and to 

 avoid the less productive districts, so that often a regular succession 

 of visitors work over the same field year after year. While the 

 actual collections made by each man are probably larger than 

 would be the case if each worked out his own line, the net gain 

 to ornithological knowledge is considerably less, and the worker 

 who strikes out a new field of exploration must be prepared for 

 possible temporary failure as regards tangible results. 



In the Arctic, however, the first thing which forces itself on 

 one is the utter impossibility of attempting to adhere to a cut-and- 

 dried programme. Climatic and weather conditions vary so much 

 from season to season, and even from day to day, that the first 

 condition of success is the power to adapt one's plans to circum- 

 stances, and to take advantage of opportunity. This is the case 

 even when the explorer is in the happy position of having his own 

 base in the form of a vessel of some sort at his disposal. If, on 

 the other hand, he has to rely on others, he must be prepared for 



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