their flesh and their skins—or used to be, for now the natives have 
less need of these natural provisions than formerly. 
Land-birds of the Aleutian Chain 
Fresh-water ducks are not numerous in summer along the Aleu¬ 
tian chain, the green-winged teals being by far those most at home 
there; and on certain islands they are surprisingly abundant. Turner 
remarks of Amchitka Island in 1881 : 
All along the little streams that were cutting deep into the earth, and 
so narrow that the tall grass completely hid them for many yards of their 
length, the teals were found walking along under such places, searching for 
tender roots and insects. These streams are not long, as they are usually 
the outlets of inland lakes, and their sides are prevented from widening by 
the dense mass of grass-roots, so that their streams are deep and narrow. 
As soon as the current has excavated beneath the roots of grass the stream 
widens, and the banks thus form an overhanging shelf on each side. Under 
these places the teals resort, so that it is difficult to find them. 
Of the sea-ducks only the old-sc|uaw, the Pacific eider, and the 
surf scoter, breed numerously. Mr. Turner has given an interesting 
sketch of the habits of the Aleutian eiders (5'. v-nigra). He says that 
they are constant residents among the islands, and especially numer¬ 
ous in winter. They frequent the steep slopes heavily clothed with 
rank grasses, such as wild rye, which grows in huge tussocks, among 
which these birds hide their nests. “A slight depression is scratched 
out; the eggs are placed on the ground, the down being used only 
as a cover for the eggs when the parent is absent from the nest. 
The eggs are never placed on the down. The down is plucked from 
the breast for that purpose only, and increases in amount as the 
increased complement of eggs demands a greater amount of covering. 
. . . The female eider becomes very fat in the breeding-season. 
This may in a measure compensate for the lack of down on her 
breast. . . . The male eiders are at this season very poor and 
lean.” Eiders subsist on animal food only, and this they obtain by 
diving to the bottoms of bays and coves. They are able to dive 
deeply and to swim astonishing distances under water. 
Of the shore-birds the red phalarope breeds on the extreme 
western end of the chain ; the Aleutian sandpiper occurs sparingly in 
summer but abundantly in winter; the western sandpiper is always 
numerous on most of the islands; the wandering tatler occasionally 
seen; the golden plover is rare; the turnstone appears here and 
there, singly and shyly; the black turnstone inhabits only the most 
distant western islands; and the black oyster-catcher breeds abun¬ 
dantly as far as the chain extends toward Asia. 
47 
