CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 75} 
and paid special attention to its ornithology. Neither has the bird been found on any of the 
eastern islands of the chain, which renders its occurrence here still more improbable. Melospiza 
cinerea occurs here, however, in three distinct plumages, one of which answers fairly to the very 
insufficient description given by Gmelin. The nearest place where Passerella townsendi has been 
taken is on the Shumagin Islands, south of the Peninsula of Aliaska. Of necessity the question 
of the exact application of Gmelin’s name must remain a matter of individual opinion; but in view 
of the bird in question not having been taken on the Island of Ounalaska or any of the neighboring 
ones, it seems but fair to consider the chance of his description applying to one of the plumages of 
M. cinerea. I allow the name to remain, as Mr. Ridgway proposes, from the fact that there is 
little possibility of proving the question for one side or the other, but deplore the utilizing of old 
names, as in this instance, where there is such opportunity for error. 
ICTERIDA. BLACKBIRDS. 
SCOLECOPHAGUS FERRUGINEUS (Gm.) Swains. 
(45.) Toe Rusty BLACKBIRD. 
Along the eastern shore of Bering Sea, both in the spring and autumn migrations, this bird 
is frequently seen. It nests commonly at the mouths of the Yukon and Kuskoquim, as low down 
as the growth of bushes affords proper shelter. It isa common summer resident in suitable places 
about the Kotzebue Sound region, extending its nesting area far within the cirele. It arrives at 
Saint Michael’s about the middle of May and leaves the coast region about the last of August or 
first of September. It is unknown on the islands of Bering Sea and on the Asiatic coast. 
CORVIDA. CROWS, RAVENS. 
CORVUS CORAX CARNIVORUS (Bartr.) Ridgw. 
(46.) THE AMERICAN RAVEN. 
This bird is found abundant in many places, and is more or less common everywhere on the 
islands and about the shores of this region. On the Aleutian Islands it is perhaps in its greatest 
abundance, and is remarkably familiar, frequenting the roofs of houses and the open ground 
immediately in front of them, with as little regard for the presence of man as might be expected 
from the ordinary barn-yard fowl. Even in this place, however, it keeps its weather eye out for 
the deadly gun, and the moment one appears with this implement in his hand the ravens become 
remarkably scarce in that immediate vicinity. Their curious evolutions high in the air, preceding 
and during a storm, are curious to witness, and they are one of the most striking features to a 
new-comer in the islands. Upon the Seal Islands the crow is unaccountably absent, though it is 
familiar on all the other islands of Bering Sea. The Siberian and American coast alike are 
frequented by it both summer and winter. Nordenskidld found crows wintering in the vicinity of 
the Vega, on the Arctic coast, and during my winter journeys along the Alaskan coast I found 
them everywhere, though less numerous at this season than during the summer. 
PICA RUSTICA HUDSONICA (Scop.) Baird, 
(47.) THE BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. 
At the head of Bristol Bay this bird has been taken on a few occasions, and this, so far as my 
knowledge extends, limits the range of the bird on the coast of Bering Sea, although it is found in 
the interior much farther north. 
PERISOREUS CANADENSIS FUMIFRONS Ridgw. 
(48.) THE SMOKY-FRONTED JAY. 
In the interior this bird is one of the most common residents, and stray individuals wander to the 
shore of the Arctic and Bering Sea from Aliaska Peninsula north to the shore of Kotzebue Sound. 
H. Ex. 105 10 
