CRUrSE OF STEAMER CORWIN IX THE ARCTIC OCEAX. i)l 



slightly elevated land bordering an extensive series of flats. It had a loud, clear note, very 

 similar to that of the Hudsonian Curlew, and was not shy. I readily approached them, and 

 secured the male, and afterwards severely wounded the female. The only other instance of its 

 capture in the north is the single s])ecinien secured at Kodiak by Biscliotf, in 18 — 



It is a well-known bird on the islands of the South Pacific, where it e.vists in great nundiers, 

 but its presence in the Xorth is rather unexpected, and like that of several otlier birds, notably 

 the Pacific Golden Plover and Pacific Ixodwit, which wander to subartic regions in summer, its 

 winter home is among those islands dotting the South Pacific. 



PHALAROPODID.E PHALAIiOPES. 

 PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS (Linn.) Bp. 



(111.) The Red Phalakope. 



The present handsome si)ecies is extremely abundant on the Alaskan and Siberian coast of 

 the Arctic, north to Wrangel and Herald Islands and thence south along both shores of Bering 

 Sea. It breeds from the mouth of the Kuskoquim River, north along the coast of Alaska, and on 

 the Sibeiian coast, mainly along the northern shore. Throughout the breeding season it is limited 

 rather closely to the shore, but when the young are tledged and able to follow their parents all 

 leave the shore behind or frequent the lagoons and brackish lakes in the immediate vicinity of the 

 sea. The few vessels which break the monotony of these northern waters in summer find dcttting 

 the waves on every hand these buoyant and graceful birds, their quick, agile, and elegant 

 movements attracting attention, while their numbers render them conspicuous as they wheel and 

 circle in flocks about the vessel, their wings flashing in the sunlight. 



To the whalers in this region they are known with the next species as " bowhead birds," from 

 their habit of feeding upon minute animalculfe which afford the right whale or bowhead its food. 

 Hence a community of interests attracts these pigmies and the largest cetacean of the North fo 

 prey upon the same fare. A logical deduction follows, based upon experience, by which the 

 whalers predict the presence of whales wherever this elegant bird is to be found in great numbers. 

 We saw it repeatedly while cruising in the ice off Wrangel and Herald Islands and thence a('ross 

 the Arctic to Point Barrow or the Bering Sea coast. The calm spaces between the large fields and 

 blocks of ice afford favorite resorts for the members of the numerous bands of Phalaropes along 

 the edge of the i)ack. They are quite plentiful around the entire Arctic Zone and are familiar to 

 fishermen, whaleis, and explorers who visit this dreary region. They are among the few species 

 which the forbidding climate of the highest latitudes does not appear capable of deterring fri>m 

 making their summer home there. Xordenskiold found this bird's eggs laid on the bare ground of 

 Spitzbergen, and reports it as the commonest species along the north coast of Asia. 



LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS (Iiinn.) Cuv, 



(112.) The Northern Phalarope. 



Like its relative just mentioned, the Northern Phalarope is an extremely abundant bird in the 

 north, although its disposition is perhaps less maritime and less northern than the one just 

 described. On the Bering Sea coast of Alaska the Northern Phalarope is in great excess of its 

 stouter relative. Thence north the Red Phalarope is the more numerous, and especially so in various 

 parts of the Arctic. Ou the northern coast of Siberia the Northern Phalarope was found sparingly, 

 whereas the other species was in the greatest abundance. Both forms unite in the same riocks 

 and were found throughout the sea as far as the Corwiu penetrated daring the summer of 1881 ; 

 but in this part of the range the Northern Phalarope, in spite of its name, was less and less 

 numerous the farther north we advanced, while the other species was in equal number throughout. 

 Both birds occur during the migrations about the Aleutian and other islands of Bering Sea. But 

 the Northern Phalarope appears to be the only species breeding in the Aleutian chain and thence 

 north to Saint Lawrence Island, where the Red Phalarope nests. We learn from Nordenskiold 

 that the Northern Phalarope breeds on Nova Zembla and at the New Siberian Islands, besides 

 being found all along the North Siberian coast. 



