﻿270 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  taken 
  with 
  hammer 
  and 
  chisel. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  tooth 
  which 
  was 
  

   the 
  subject 
  of 
  a 
  paper 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Blake, 
  at 
  a 
  recent 
  meeting, 
  Mr. 
  G. 
  

   F. 
  Barker 
  also 
  sent 
  through 
  the 
  same 
  gentlemen 
  a 
  small 
  tooth, 
  pro- 
  

   cured 
  while 
  digging 
  a 
  well 
  at 
  San 
  Bruno. 
  The 
  tooth 
  is 
  supposed 
  

   to 
  be 
  that 
  of 
  an 
  extinct 
  species 
  of 
  buffalo, 
  {Bison 
  latifrons 
  .?) 
  A 
  

   medal 
  was 
  also 
  received 
  from 
  the 
  Royal 
  University 
  of 
  Christiania, 
  

   celebrating 
  the 
  thousandth 
  anniversary 
  of 
  the 
  Norwegian 
  Kingdom. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  H. 
  C. 
  Sill 
  exhibited 
  skins 
  of 
  Aplocerus 
  montanus, 
  from 
  

   Montana. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Dall 
  presented 
  the 
  following 
  paper: 
  

  

  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Avifauna 
  of 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  Islands, 
  especially 
  those 
  

   West 
  of 
  Unalashka.* 
  

  

  BY 
  W. 
  H. 
  DALL, 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  COAST 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  notes 
  are 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  observations 
  made 
  during 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  

   1873, 
  on 
  board 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Coast 
  Survey 
  cutter 
  Fw/con, 
  engaged 
  in 
  sur- 
  

   veys 
  among 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  Islands, 
  west 
  of 
  Unalashka. 
  That 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  more 
  

   extensive, 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  engrossing 
  nature 
  of 
  our 
  work 
  in 
  other 
  directions 
  ; 
  

   yet 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  nearly, 
  if 
  not 
  quite, 
  all 
  the 
  species 
  common 
  to 
  

   this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  chain, 
  have 
  been 
  detected. 
  There 
  may 
  be 
  occasional 
  visitors 
  

   which 
  we 
  did 
  not 
  obtain 
  ; 
  there 
  are, 
  perhaps, 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  Alcidse 
  

   which, 
  from 
  their 
  habit 
  of 
  living 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  off 
  shore 
  in 
  the 
  summer, 
  

   were 
  not 
  recognized 
  ; 
  and 
  doubtless 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  many 
  species 
  might, 
  by 
  care- 
  

   ful 
  observations 
  on 
  each 
  island, 
  during 
  the 
  winter, 
  be 
  much 
  extended 
  ; 
  yet 
  it 
  

   is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  information 
  here 
  collected 
  approximates 
  more 
  nearly 
  to 
  a 
  

   correct 
  statement 
  of 
  the 
  geographical 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  birds, 
  than 
  

   anything 
  previously 
  published. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  preferred, 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  of 
  uniformity 
  in 
  my 
  papers 
  on 
  Alaskan 
  birds, 
  

   to 
  retain 
  a 
  nomenclature 
  which, 
  though 
  more 
  widely 
  recognized 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  

   in 
  America, 
  is 
  rapidly 
  becoming 
  obsolete, 
  and 
  which 
  I 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  understood 
  

   as 
  accepting 
  in 
  its 
  present 
  condition. 
  I 
  trust 
  eventually 
  to 
  review 
  the 
  whole 
  

   subject 
  in 
  one 
  comprehensive 
  memoir, 
  when 
  I 
  shall 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  have 
  access 
  to 
  all 
  

   the 
  later 
  literature 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  northern 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  which 
  

   is 
  not 
  now 
  the 
  case 
  ; 
  and 
  then 
  I 
  hope 
  to 
  reconcile 
  the 
  discrepancies, 
  and 
  correct 
  

   the 
  errors, 
  of 
  the 
  nomenclature 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  made 
  use 
  of 
  for 
  the 
  present. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  been 
  struck 
  with 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  during 
  successive 
  seasons, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

  

  locality, 
  the 
  local 
  Avifauna 
  has 
  presented 
  different 
  aspects 
  — 
  species 
  abundant 
  

  

  one 
  season 
  being 
  absent 
  during 
  another 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  had 
  intended 
  to 
  prepare 
  a 
  series 
  

  

  of 
  tables, 
  showing 
  the 
  mean 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  birds, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  

  

  * 
  Printed 
  in 
  advance, 
  March 
  14th, 
  1874. 
  

  

  