74 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



They are {generally found about the mouths of streams, whose bushy borders afford them the sheltered 

 highway which their skulking instinct leads them to favor. The only specimen I ever saw close 

 to salt water was on the shore of Bering Sea, at Cape Komanzoff. We had camped at this cape the 

 night before and were just leaving it as a heavy sea began to run. Pushing off, we had gained a 

 few yards from shore when an odd note caused us to look back, and there, perched on a small bush, 

 close by the remains of our camp fire, stood one of these birds uttering his ludicrous cries, as if 

 making sport of us for not finding him earlier. The waves rendered the landing so dangerous that 

 we were obliged to leave the bird in possession, and whenever I recall the scene at this camp the 

 foreground in the mental picture is occupied by the serio-comic attitude of this bird as he dirted 

 his tail and mocked us from his safe vantage-ground. 



ALANDID.E. SKYLARKS. 

 EREMOPHILA ALPESTRIS LUCOL^MA Coues. 



(49.) The White-Throated Shore Lark. 



This bird occurs very rarely on the coast of Bering Sea. I secured a single specimen at Saint 

 Michael's — the first of May — and one or two others have been taken in that vicinity, besides which 

 I have no record of its occurrence anywhere within the regiou under discussion. The numerous 

 visits made by ornithologists to these sliores, during the last few years, aud the scarcity of this 

 bird in their collections prove it to be a great rarity in this region, both on the American and 

 Siberian shores. Farther to the eastward, iu the interior, the bird is more common, but is still 

 rare, until the farther interior of the continent is reached. All the Alaskan specimens examined 

 are referable to the name heading this article, aud it is presumable that shore larks from 

 Northeastern Siberia would be referable to the same. It is uot known to occur on the Aleutian 

 or any of the other islands in Bering Sea. It has been found nesting as far north of the old world 

 as Nova Zeuibla and Spitzbergen ; but it was not seen by us on the shores of Wrangel or Herald 

 Islands nor on the adjacent Siberian coast. 



TYRANNID^. FLYCATCHERS. 



EMPIDONAX PUSILLUS (Swains.) Bd. 



(50.) The Little Flycatcher. 



Two specimens of this bird, obtained by me at Saint Michael's in the spring, are the only 

 ones found on the shore of Bering Sea. They add very considerably to the bird's known range. 



PICIDiE. AVOODPECKERS. 

 PICUS PUBESCENS Linn. 



(51.) The Downy Woodpecker. 



The Downy Woodpecker, a common species in the interior of Alaska, makes frequent 

 visits to the sea-shore iu the north, especially during the spring and fall. It is then found about 

 the alder patches, and rarely visits the houses. I obtained a number of specimens from the 

 flagstaff and sides of the storehouse at Saint Michael's, during my residence there. It is more 

 numerous at the mouths of the larger rivers, as the Yukon and Kuskoquim. Here the close 

 api)roach of the wooded interior to the coast renders its presence common, and it even nests close 

 to the sea-coast in the bushes on the lower Yukon. It is not known from any island of Bering 

 Sea nor from the Siberian coast, but is found in the alders about Kotzebue Sound at times. 



COLAPTES AURATUS (Linn.j Sw. 



(.52.) The Yellow-Shafted Flicker. 



This is a still more uncommon bird on the shore of Bering Sea. It approaches the coast about 

 the head of Norton Sound, and in rare instances on Kotzebue Sound. During the winter of 1878, 



