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RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



19 



the opposite side in order to return again 

 and again. A wonderful sight ! The black 

 birds, with their conspicuous white face- 

 mask, the long and floating 3'ellow ear-tufts 

 bent like the horns of a ram, and the large- 

 green-and-red-colored beaks and red legs, 

 looked more like fantastical creatures of the 

 tropics than inhabitants of the less extrav- 

 agant north. Their flight seemed to have 

 no particular aim except to view and review 

 the spot where W\Qy were going to take up 

 their summer abode, for thej flew singly 

 upon their straight courses, no one taking 

 notice of the others. Like black specks 

 they rose from the horizon heading for the 

 island ; the nearer they came the bigger 

 they grew, until they passed over us, disap- 

 pearing as specks again on the other side, 

 and when first started nothing seemed to 

 be able to bring them out of their straight 

 course. These clumsy looking, puffy birds 

 possess, nevertheless, a very rapid flight, so 

 that at the first acquaintance one is rather 

 apt to shoot behind them, but they do not 

 rise very high in the air, especially when 

 passing over the upper plateau of the island. 

 The natives take advantage of these 

 peculiarities, and their device for catching 

 the Toporki is based upon the apparent 

 difficulty of the bird to make a sudden turn 

 in its straight flight. 



A piece of wide-raeshed net-work 

 stretched on a hoop, about four feet in 

 diameter, fixed to a light pole, 10 to 12 

 feet long, is the instrument used in catch- 

 ing the Toporki, by suddenly throwing it in 

 the way of the bird, who flies directly into 

 it, and thus falls to the ground and is cap- 

 tured. 



When I turned out the Aleuts were 

 already in their places waiting for the rush 

 of the birds, which had not yet begun. 

 They were scattered pretty evenly around 

 the island, seated on the edge of the bluff. 

 Their immovable figures, wrapped in the 

 warm " parka," or the lighter " kamleika " 

 were clearly visible against the gray west- 

 tern sky, and now with the dawning day we 

 discern the net at their side, but what is more 

 surprising, each one surrounded by a small 

 flock of Toporki. These stretch their necks 

 and point with their bills straight up in the 

 air in quite an unaccountable manner, 

 remaining so long in that rather unnatural 

 position that we become suspicious. A 



closer inspection reveals that these are only 

 decoys, empty skins held in position by a 

 stick protruding between the jaws and with 

 the other end thrust into the ground. 



Before long the sea and the horizon 

 become lively with birds, and soon the sky 

 above us literally swarmed with these red- 

 and-green-beaked, white-masked, yellow- 

 horned masses. It was "land-day" in- 

 deed ! I only wondered that they did not 

 suffer collision with each other during their 

 airy sailing, for they were thick as May-flies 

 round an electric light, and flew both 

 straight and rapid. 



When a Toporok crosses overhead of an 

 Aleut he suddenly raises his net ; the bird, 

 unable to turn aside, runs into it with a 

 clash, falls to the ground, and in a twink- 

 hng is added to the heap of other unfortu- 

 nates with broken necks. 



When full day has set in this sport is at an 

 end, as then the birds fly higher, and now 

 comes the moment for me and my gun. 



To the accompaniment of the buzzing 

 breakfast-" samovar," I wrote down my 

 memoranda on fresh colors, individual vari- 

 ation, moulting, etc., surrounded by hun- 

 dreds of specimens, selecting desirable 

 objects for skinning, and preparing colored 

 sketches of the fresh colors of bills, eyes, 

 etc., before they fade away and dry up. 



The eggs are white, without gloss, usually 

 with faint lilac spots, which are more num- 

 erous in a wreath around the blunt end. 

 Owing to the location of the nests in holes 

 dug in the soil, the eggs are always more or 

 less stained. 



The turkey buzzard has been supposed 

 to be a silent bird. Mr. Burroughs men- 

 tions a roosting place at Red Rock near 

 AVashington, D. C, where great numbers 

 perch for the night. Their actions are much 

 like those of our domestic turkey. Perch- 

 ing upon the limb, they walk along, and 

 when a suitable place is found they make a 

 peculiar noise, like that of a cow blowing 

 through her nose on lying down ; this is the 

 only noise he has observed from this bird. 



A few years ago, in early spring, as one 

 of these birds was flying about fifteen feet 

 aI)ove ray head, I heard it make a noise ex- 

 actly like the cluck of the domestic turkey- 

 hen. John H. Steele, 



Pottstown, Penn. 



