374 Dixon, Migration 9/ the Yellow-billed Loon. [bet. 



I believe that the spring route of the Yellow-billed Loon as 

 suggested by Cooke is correct; at least our observations support 

 his conclusions. The first definite data on Yellow-billed Loons 

 were secured at Point Hope and Cape Lisburne, some two hundred 

 miles north of Bering Strait, on the Alaska side. Here the Eskimo 

 had cartridge or tool bags made of the necks of this species. These 

 bags were of recent origin and could not well have been trade goods 

 from farther north. Point Barrow seems to be the next point 

 where the birds have been observed. Swinging wide from this 

 point, they turn south-eastward along the Arctic coast, and head 

 for the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Yellow-billed, or "King" 

 Loons, as they are known locally, are reported to have been found 

 by whalers in great numbers in a lagoon on the south end of Banks 

 Land during the last of August and first of September. 



One of the strange features of our experience with the Yellow- 

 bill was our absolute failure to gain information as to the fall 

 migration. The interval between July 24 and September 3, 1913, 

 was spent between Point Barrow and Demarcation Point, Alaska. 

 Numerous collecting excvn-sions were made ashore while the ship 

 was tied up to the ice, but no Yellow-bills were seen during this 

 time. Our ship was "frozen in" about seven miles off Humphrey 

 Point, Alaska, on September 3, 1913, and here again we failed to 

 observe any large loon, although we especially watched for them 

 among the waterfowl that were outward bound for Point Barrow. 

 From our winter camp ashore we kept a continual watch for them, 

 but observed none during the entire fall and winter. No Yellow- 

 bills were seen during the next fall (1914) although observations 

 were carried on until we reached Nome on September 19. Stops 

 were made at Wainwright Inlet and Point Hope on the way down. 

 A week was spent at Kotzebue Sound, but no sign of fall migration 

 of the "King" Loon could be secured. In Siberia we also failed 

 to find any sign of it during our collecting on the Chuckchi Penin- 

 sula, between June 1 and 22, 1913. Trips were made from the 

 southern part of the Peninsula north to Cape Serdze during June 

 and July, with collecting stops at John Howland, Providence and 

 Plover bays, Emma Harbor, Indian or Chaplin Point and East 

 Cape, without seeing any evidence of even the remains of the bird 

 among the belongings of the Eskimo. 



