18 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



women and children until all the fatty mat- 

 ter has been chewed out, that being their 

 method of tanning. These "parki" are 

 rather easil3'tovn. but are extremely warm 

 and light, as I can testify from my own ex- 

 perience. Dressed in one I could go driv- 

 ing in a dog-sledge in the severest cold with- 

 out feeling any inconvenience, and its light- 

 ness would allow me to keep it on when 

 strolling about, away from the sledge, hunt- 

 ing ptarmigans or other ornithological and 

 gastronomical objects. 



The yellow feathers of the long ear-tufts 

 are in great demand for decorative purposes. 

 The seams of a fine " Kamlejka" (rain coat 

 made of seal-guts) is often tastefuU}' adorned 

 with them. 



With the beginning of May these birds 

 commence making their appearance on the 

 coasts of the islands, looking out for their 

 old homes, but for a while they stay mostly 

 on the water, not far from land, until the 

 nests are taken possession of in earnest, 

 which happens about the beginning of the 

 second week of June. 



The natives, heartily tired of their winter 

 food, the salted seal meat, look forward to 

 the arrival of the Toporki with great impa- 

 tience, and as soon as a sufficient number 

 are observed in the neighborhood of the old 

 rookeries parties start off" in order to catch 

 a good supply for food and clothing, advan- 

 tage being taken of the peculiar habits of 

 the birds. 



I shall in the following attempt a short 

 description of such an excursion : 



On a bright afternoon in Ma}' — and at 

 that season reallj' some fine, bright da3's 

 occur, even on the Commander Islands — 

 we started, a gay picnic party, consisting 

 mostly of Aleuts and their wives or ladv 

 friends, for the small island Toporkoff, 

 about three miles off from the village. 

 During our passage out only few birds were 

 seen, as it was no "land day," but I 

 was assured that they would be in on the 

 following morning. The Toporki and their 

 allies show during this season, previous to 

 the breeding, the peculiarit}^ of appearing 

 regularl}', as it seems, in great abundance 

 near shore on one day, while next day they 

 have all disappeared, staying away on the 

 high sea for two days, when they again take 

 a " land day." The natives had calculated 



that the following da}^ would be such a 

 regular land da}'. 



The afternoon passed pleasantly' ; some 

 were out fishing, the younger members of 

 the party were playing ball, wliile I was 

 busil}^ engaged in securing specimens of 

 Troglodytes pallescens, Acanthis linaria, 

 etc., besides odds and ends of plants, in- 

 sects, mollusks, and crustaceans. 



Toporkoff, which has received its name 

 on account of being a rookery of the 

 "Toporki," is a small island consisting of 

 a level plateau about 30 feet above the sur- 

 face of the sea, rising abruptl}' from a 50 to 

 200 feet broad, sand}' or rocky beach. The 

 upper surface of the plateau is covered with 

 a thick, hummocky sod, which in every 

 direction is perforated by the numberless 

 holes dug by the " Toporki " and used by 

 them for dwellings to rear their 3'oung in. 



Water birds were rather scarce near the 

 island, though at a distance large flocks, 

 like black patches, were seen resting on the 

 sea. Now and then a solitary Torporok 

 would cross overhead in its straight flight ; 

 a few cormorants {Plialacrocoroix pelagicus) 

 aired their wet wings on the outlying rocks, 

 stretching their long necks in all directions ; 

 noisy gulls {Lams glaucescens) flew up and 

 down, screaming and scolding at the intru- 

 der. 



Evening set in, and the picnic party re- 

 turned, leaving us men with the bajdarkas. 

 Toporki crossed the island more frequentl}^ 

 but not in such numbers that it was thought 

 worth while to try catching them. A camp- 

 fire was started for the preparation of the 

 tea, and soon the indispensable "samovar" 

 was humming its cheerful tune. M}' Aleuts 

 were unusually silent and dull, and we 

 soon crept into the hull of the bajdarkas, a 

 snug and rather comfortable bed, though 

 smelling considerabl}' from seal-oil, that 

 peculiar smell which characterizes almost 

 ever3'thing on the islands, and to which the 

 outsider will have to adapt himself if he 

 wants to feel comfortable during his 

 sojourn on the seal islands. 



The ornithological spectacle at daybreak 

 the following morning was quite different 

 from what it had been the foregoing day. 

 Hundreds and thousands of Lunda cirrhata 

 crossed and recrossed the island, coming 

 from all directions, and disappearing on 



