THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 15 



me a number of small mammals and birds which they had 

 collected, and admitted that he was quite unable to name or 

 classify a large number of them. 



The varieties of birds seen appeared to me to closely resemble 

 the various species which I have encountered throughout 

 Scandinavia. Numbers of sea fowl, geese, ducks, and a great 

 variety of waders and sand pipers are the chief features of bird 

 life. It is a wonderful sight, in the fall of the year, to see the 

 countless flocks of wild fowl, and the sandhill cranes (Grits 

 Mexicanus), which flight in endless strings from the Arctic 

 regions as winter approaches, all following the coast line and 

 passaging in a southerly direction, making their way to the 

 Pacific coast, where they remain along the shores of California 

 till the following spring. 



Eagles, falcons, owls, and most of the Raptores are found in 

 great numbers and variety throughout the country. 



On the subject of butterflies and moths I must again plead 

 ignorance. There are certainly a number of different butterflies, 

 and I was told that a lady living in Cook's Inlet had a collection 

 of some 40 different varieties, all caught in the district. I 

 discovered too late, on my return to Washington, that there is 

 one exceedingly rare butterfly in Alaska, which is described as 

 being pale blue in colour, and for which the American collectors 

 are said to offer $500 for a specimen. The annoying part of 

 this whole affair, as far as I am concerned, is that I actually saw 

 two blue butterflies in one place, where this very variety is found, 

 and little did I suspect that by taking the trouble to capture and 

 preserve these specimens I might have considerably re-couped 

 the expenses of my shooting trip. 



To attempt even briefly to deal with the whole subject of the 

 natural history of Alaska in such a paper as this would be an 

 impossible task. 



My only hope is that this short recital may have been of some 

 interest to those members who have listened to the reading of it. 



I may also add that the photos on exhibition were all taken by 

 myself with an ordinary 7x5 Kodak camera, and, considering 



