off Icy Cape on 7 September and 1 October. 

 The latest date he recorded them was 19 

 October. 



The species was observed throughout the 

 cruise (fig-. 7). The larger flocks were all ob- 

 served close to shore with the majority in the 

 area of Point Lay where 2,400 were seen in a 

 3-hour transect on 25 September and smaller 

 numbers on 4 October. Presumably some of the 

 unidentified ducks seen at a distance in the 

 study area were Oldsquaws (fig. 11). We ob- 

 served a flock of 24 Oldsquaws off Cape Sabine 

 on 16 October when new ice covered Vn of the 

 water's surface. It appears that a few individ- 

 uals remain in the Chukchi Sea until driven 

 out by the formation of new ice. Small num- 

 bers were observed in the northern part of the 

 Bering Strait on 18 October (fig. 9). Molluscs 

 and crustaceans obtained by surface diving are 

 the primary food items. The stomach of the 

 single immature specimen collected at Point 

 Lay 26 September (table II) contained only 

 grit (table V). 



Eiders (Somateria spp. Lampronetta fischeri) 



Three species of eider were observed. Positive 

 identification was possible only of the few 

 males observed and of females that came near 

 the ship. The Common Eider (Somateria mol- 

 lissima) breeds commonly along the entire 

 arctic coast. In September individuals gather 

 to the east of Barrow and then fly west along 

 the shore. Most of the Alaskan breeding rec- 

 ords for the King Eider (S. spectabilis) come 

 from the area of Barrow. As with all eiders the 

 males migrate south before the females and 

 young. Large flocks of males pass Barrow from 

 late June until early August. Females and 

 young migrate from late August through Sep- 

 tember. The main breeding grounds of the 

 Spectacled Eider (Lampronetta fischeri) in 

 northern Alaska lie to the east of Barrow. 



Of the approximately 1,300 eiders seen in 

 the study area only 100 or 7.7 percent were 

 males. Four of the males were identified as 

 King Eiders and the remainder were either 

 Common or Spectacled. Only a single eider was 

 seen in the area of Barrow and only one flock 

 of six was seen from Barrow to the study area 

 (fig. 8). The greatest numbers were observed 

 on 25 September when large flocks were ob- 

 served inshore in the area of Point Lay. 



Smaller flocks were observed in the same area 

 on 4 October. Eiders were seen throughout the 

 study area and small numbers were observed 

 far from land. Some of the "unidentified 

 ducks" seen at a distance in the study area 

 were eiders (fig. 11). One was observed in a 

 lead during the deepest penetration into heavy 

 pack ice while small flocks were also found 

 off Cape Sabine when new ice covered % of 

 the water's surface. Eiders were seen in the 

 northern part of the Bering Strait on 18 Octo- 

 ber (fig. 10). 



Eiders feed by surface diving for benthic 

 molluscs and crustaceans. The stomach of one 

 of the two immature specimens of Common 

 Eider collected (table II) contained remnants 

 of gastropods and plant material (table V) ; the 

 other was empty. 



Common Scoter (Oidemia nigra) 



The Common Scoter is circumpolar north of 

 45° N in its breeding distribution but is un- 

 common on the arctic coast of Alaska. We 

 observed it on two occasions : a flock of 300 

 individuals on 24 September near Wainwright, 

 and a flock of 25 west of Point Lay on 27 Sep- 

 tember (fig. 14). 



Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 



The Red-breasted Merganser is a rare 

 breeder on the arctic coast of Alaska but is 

 common south of Kotzebue Sound. It was seen 

 only twice in the study area : one individual at 

 Point Lay on 26 September and another on 27 

 September, at sea 20 miles west of Point Lay 

 (fig. 14) . At Nome on 19 October a single bird 

 was observed in the small boat harbor swallow- 

 ing a fish. 



Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) 



The Red Phalarope is circumpolar north of 

 50° N in its breeding distribution and is found 

 in abundance on both the Siberian and Alaskan 

 sides of the Chukchi Sea. This peculiar shore- 

 bird winters in pelagic environments in the 

 southern hemisphere. Fall migration begins as 

 early as July. Summer observers have found it 

 common throughout the Chukchi. Both Nelson 

 (1883) and Jacques (1930) encountered large 

 concentrations at the edge of the ice. Swartz 

 (1967) mentioned 59 sightings of phalaropes 

 with no areas of large concentration. From the 

 abundance of summer pelagic observations in 



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