atire ml G1ANINI, Alaska Peninsula Notes. 399 
they swing right and left as they sail along picking up particles of food 
from the surface of the water. They also have a habit of bobbing the head 
forwards and backwards as they proceed. They rise from the water with 
great ease. Along the beach they fed close to the water and seemed to 
jump over the incoming ripples. They sing a tweet-tweet note on the 
wing which is often heard before the birds can be seen or located. These 
birds and the other two species of the same family are exceptions to the 
general rule in that the females are slightly larger and more brilliantly 
colored and while they lay the eggs the males incubate them. 
I observed that the necks of these birds are more slender and delicate- 
looking than is usually shown in drawings. 
Pisobia minutilla. Least SANDPIPER.— Common and breeding here. 
On the 7th of June I found a nest containing 4 eggs on the tundra; the 
female jumped off at my near approach and tried to draw me away by the 
usual feigning methods. Nest was a depression in the ground lined with 
grass and small round leaves of some shrubby plant. 
These birds are very tame and have a twittering song in the air and when 
on the ground. They spend considerable time feeding on the beach. 
Zégialitis semipalmata. SrmrpatMATeD PLoveR.—I saw my first 
one on the 26th of May and from that date on until we left they were very 
common. They are very tame and show little fear of man. Often found 
along the beach and further inland but never far from water. I watched 
one feeding along the beach; he would run a yard or two, stop and pick 
up some morsel, and repeat the performance which was continued for some 
distance. 
One day while resting on a sand bar close to a stream I had a bird come 
very close and circle completely around me at the same time uttering its 
call notes. Soon a second bird, its mate, appeared, answered the call and 
came near but did not repeat the performance. This happened on the 
16th of June and caused me to think I must be near the nest, but I was 
unable to find it. 
Arenaria melanocephala. Buack TurNstone.—On the 25th of 
May I saw my only one, working about the rocky shore of a pond. 
Lagopus lagopus lagopus. Wittow Prarmican.— They are fairly 
numerous on the lower levels but do not range very high on the mountains. 
On the 7th of June I found a nest containing seven eggs. My guide 
remarked that it was unusual that in all our travels we did not find another 
nest. There are many foxes and wolverines here and they undoubtedly 
take a rich toll. 
In Newfoundland I do not recall ever seeing a ptarmigan perched in a 
tree of any kind — here it was common to see them in alders and willows. 
Lagopus rupestrisrupestris. Rock PrarmiGgAN.— On the mountains 
they are occasionally met with but do not seem to be very abundant. When 
climbing a mountain if any birds are about they soon make their presence 
known by their coarse notes which are easily distinguished from those of the 
other species. 
