June, 1919] Birds of the Katmai Region 479 



Phalacracorax pelagicus Pallas. Pelagic Cormorant. 



Colonies of this cormorant nested on the shelves of the sea 

 wall along Katmai and Kashvik Bays. Several nests were 

 investigated and several sets of eggs taken. The eggs do not 

 differ in any particulars from the eggs of other cormorants and 

 a set is three or four usually. The nests are composed of slender 

 grasses tightly packed together and matted so as to form a firm 

 mass closely applied to the rock shelves which support them. 

 The adults cling to their nests rather closely although some 

 specimens are more ^easily flushed than others. These nests 

 become rather repulsive before the young leave them for they 

 remain in them for a long time and feed upon fish with which 

 they are rather bountifully supplied by their parents. 



Anas platyrhynchus Linnasus. Mallard. 



The mallard is common in Alaska, especially in the fresh 

 water lakes which abound in many places. These lakes often 

 occur only a short distance back from the sea and many of 

 them are exactly suitable for mallards. Adults and their young 

 were seen frequently in June and the grown up young ones were 

 seen and taken plentifully in August. There is no greater sport 

 from the standpoint of the bird student than to come suddenly 

 upon a brood of young mallards. The manner in which the 

 mother manages the situation and the ease with which the 

 young as well as the old one disappear from view are matters of 

 interest from the standpoint of the observer. Usually, it is 

 fairly easy to procure one of the young for a short study if a 

 specimen is singled out and followed to its hiding place, but one 

 need not be altogether discouraged if every one of the specimens 

 succeed in eluding him, and there is left only the excitement 

 of the very brief confusion into which the ducks are thrown by 

 the surprise. 



Mareca americana (Gmelin). Baldpate. 



The American widgeon, as some of our hunters call it, was 

 seen occasionally and specimens were procured from small 

 bodies of fresh water near the mouth of Katmai River. The 

 species does not appear to be as common in the region as the 

 mallard. 



