58 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



Of land birds, the moat familiar are the little snow bunting, amauligt; 

 (Plectrophenax nivalis), the first bird to arrive in the spring, the Lap- 

 land longspnr, uessau dligi! (Calcarins lapponicns), and two species of 

 grouse, the willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) and the rock ptarmigan 

 (L. rupestris), which are both called akii dlgln. These two birds do not 

 migrate, but are to be seen all winter, as is also the well known snowy 

 owl,u kpik (Xycten nyctea). A gerfalcon, kl drlgumlfi (Falco rusticolus), 

 is also sometimes seen, and skins and feathers of the golden eagle, tl n- 

 mhikpuk, &quot;the great bird&quot; (Aquila chrysretos), are brought from the 

 east for charms and ornaments. The raven, tului? (Corvus corax sin- 

 uatus), was not seen at Point Barrow, but the natives are familiar with 

 it and have many of its skins for amulets. Several species of small 

 land birds also occur in small numbers, but the natives are not familiar 

 with them and call them all &quot;su ksaxh?.&quot; This name appears to mean 

 &quot;wanderer&quot; or &quot;flutterer,&quot; and probably belongs, I believe, to the dif 

 ferent species of redpolls (Aegiothus). 



Fishes. A few species only of fish are found in the salt water. Of 

 these the most abundant are the little polar cod (Boreogadus saida), 

 which is plentiful through the greater part of the year, and is often an 

 important source of food, and the capelin, anmiYgrfm (Mallotus villosus), 

 which is found in large schools close to the beach in the middle of sum 

 mer. There are also caught sometimes two species of sculpins, ku naio 

 (Cottus quadricornis and decastrensis), and two species of Lycodes, kn- 

 graums (L. turnerii and coccineus). In the gill nets at Elson Bay they 

 also catch two species of salmon (Onchorhynchus gorbuscha and nerka) 

 and a whitefish (Coregonus laurettae) in small numbers, and occasion 

 ally a large trout (Salveliuus malma). The last-named fish they find 

 sometimes in great numbers, near the mouth of the Colville. 



The greatest quantities of fish are taken in the rivers, especially 

 Kuaru and Kulugrua, by fishing through the ice in the winter. They 

 say there are no fish taken in Ikpikpuii, and account for this by explain 

 ing that the former two rivers freeze down to the bottom on the shallow 

 bars inclosing deep pools in which the fish are held, while in the latter 

 the Ice never touches the bottom, so that the fish are free to run down 

 to the sea. The species caught are the small (!oregonns laurettae, two 

 large whitefish (0. kennicottii and nelsoni), and the burbot, tita lin 

 (Lota maculosa). They speak of a fish, sulukpau ga (which appears to 

 mean &quot;wing-fin&quot; and is applied in Greenland to a species of Sebastes), 

 that is caught with the hook in Kulugrua apparently only in summer, 

 and seems from the description to be Back s grayling (Thymallus sig- 

 nifer). In the river Kn is caught a smelt, Ithoa nlfi (Osmerus deutex). 

 In the great lake, Tii syukpuii (see above, p. 29), they tell of an enor 

 mous fish &quot;as big as a kaiak.&quot; They gave it no name, but describe it 

 as having a red belly and white flesh. One man said he had seen one 

 18 feet long, but another was more moderate, giving about 3 feet as the 

 length of the longest he had seen. 



