148 Hersey, Birds at St. Michael, Alaska. pee 
able small ponds, and these are often connected by little creeks, 
thus forming a perfect network of waterways. In addition, two 
tide channels, known as ‘canals,’ run through the section cutting 
it off from the mainland and forming St. Michael Island. From 
these canals there radiate smaller channels, or ‘creeks,’ which pene- 
trate the region in all directions. The water in both canals is salt 
and varies in depth with the rise and fall of the tide. When the 
tide is out large mud flats, of an exceptionally soft, sticky character, 
are left exposed, which, during August, are frequented by large 
flocks of migrating shore birds. These two canals vary somewhat 
in size and are generally spoken of as the Big and Little Canals. 
They unite just before reaching the sea both at the St. Michael and 
at the farther ends. The banks of the Little Canal, and the country 
which it traverses, are of a slightly higher elevation than that 
described above. They are covered with a growth of moss, small 
creeping plants, and a little coarse grass and make a breeding 
ground for shore birds, ptarmigan ‘and jaegers, as well as a few 
ducks, terns and small birds. The lower country about the Big 
Canal is the chosen haunt of loons, gulls, ducks and cranes during 
the nesting season and in fall of migrating water fowl of all kinds. 
At the entrance to the canal is an island, of interest as being one 
of the few known breeding places of the Aleutian Tern. In St. 
Michael Bay and close to the village stands Whale Island, where a 
few Horned Puffins and occasionally a Glaucous Gull nest, while 
some fourteen or more miles away is Egg Island,— the resort of 
Pacific Kittiwakes, Pallas’s Murres and Horned Puffins. Across 
the bay a low range of hills stands out prominently to view. They 
are set back some distance from the shore and the stretch of marshy 
tundra between their base and the water’s edge renders them diffi- 
cult to reach, except when the ground is frozen in winter. They 
are all probably of volcanic origin; two of them, with hugh aper- 
tures in their sides being clearly extinct craters. 
This locality, so favorably situated for bird study, ha been the 
scene of several ornithologists’ labors, and a number of works on 
Alaskan birds have been published, based, more or less, on studies 
made at this point. Of these, Mr. Nelson’s book! stands pre- 
1 Report upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 
1881 by E. W. Nelson. No. III Arctic Series of Publications Issued in Connection with 
the Signal Service, U. S. Army, Washington, 1887. 
