98 On the trail of vanishing birds 



forty-four hours of flying time, much of it running low level 

 transects that gave us an excellent picture of both the species 

 and the approximate numbers of waterfowl and certain other birds 

 in a number of habitats from the Mackenzie Delta as far as 

 Anderson River, more than 200 miles east of Aklavik. We esti- 

 mated a population in this vast region of 369,000 ducks of several 

 species, 21,000 geese of three species, 2,300 black brant, and 

 16,000 whistling swans. Little brown cranes numbered about 

 3,200, but not one whooping crane was observed, although we 

 looked with special care at some excellent country lying between 

 the Anderson and the Kugaluk. Now and then a huge Barren 

 Ground grizzly bear, Ursus richardsoni, would be observed, bum- 

 bling about over the tundra, but we saw only a few representatives 

 of this dwindling race, and counted more trophy skins around 

 Aklavik than live animals in the wilds. The word Aklavik is the 

 Eskimo name for the Barren Ground grizzly. 



We also made a couple of side trips, including one into the 

 Yukon. It was the second of July, and the first clear morning in 

 some days. After breakfast, Bob cocked an appraising eye at the 

 heavens and "allowed as how" we might hop over to Old Crow 

 and be back in time for supper. "You mean," I stammered, "Old 

 Crow, on the other side of those mountains? In the Yukon?" 

 "Yep," said Bob, "Old Crow." We were already strolling along 

 the riverbank, on our way to the airplane, and by 11:45 we were 

 off the water and heading south over the delta. No time to worry 

 about such details as what the weather might be doing in the 

 mountains or on the other side of the divide. Not much time to 

 worry about anything. South of Aklavik the Rat River comes 

 pouring out of the mountains from up around McDougall Pass 

 and empties into Husky Channel, a branch of the Peel, down- 

 stream from Fort McPherson. The Scots certainly have left their 

 mark on that North Country. Sir John Richardson, in whose honor 

 the mountains themselves were named, was born in Dumfries and 

 was a product of the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Navy. 

 I don't know if there are any monuments to Sir John around Dum- 

 fries but there are several in North America, including a number of 

 birds with which his name has long been associated, notably the 



