94 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIX IX THE ARCTIC OCEAX. 



of tlie body-color from tlie jetblrtck of the lieail and neck, was very conspicuous, and an inch in 

 width in some specimens seen at Ounalaska the autumn of 1S81. The small flock of these Geese 

 seen at Ounalaska, with their dark, handsomely contrasted colors and gentle ways, made very 

 interesting and tine-Iookiug pets. They were noted upon the Seal Islands liy Elliot, who tells us 

 that they occurred there as irregular or straggling visitants, which remained but a short time 

 before resuming their line of migration. There is no record of this species from the Siberian shore, 

 where, liowever, it undoubtedly occurs. It reaches the extreme northern coast of Alaska, where 

 it breeds. 



BERNICLA CANADENSIS OCCIDENTALIS iBairdj Dall & Bann 



(lis.) The [iAR(»KR WlllTK-CIIEEKED COO.SE. 



The present bird, although intorgrading with tlif latter species, (litters in ordinary examples 

 sufiiciently to be readily distinguished, iiuiinly by its lighter colors aud larger size. Its distribution 

 is somewhat dill'erent as well. I do not know of its occurrence on the Aleutian chain ; and, in fact, 

 its abundance appears to be greatest at the Vukon mouth and thence up this river, and perhaps to 

 the southward. Xorth of the Yukon mouth it is much less common than the smaller form, and at 

 Saint Michael's ten of the smaller birds were secured to every one of the larger form. At the 

 Yukon mouth the i)roportion of the two forms is about equal. All of the birds seen sufficiently 

 near to ascertain their identity while we were in Kotzebue Sound were of the smaller form, an<l I 

 doubt if the larger bird (the subject of the present notes) occurs in any cousiderable numbers nortli 

 of the Bering Sea coast, excei)t in the interior, where it is found along the course of the Yukon. 



The true Canada Goose, so well known in Eastern North America, is unknown anywhere on 

 the lower Yukon and tlie coast of Alaska, either on tiie Bering Sea or Anttic shores. 



BERNICLA NIGRICANS i^Lawr.) Cass. 



(lilt.) The Black Brant. 



On the shores of Bering Sea, including the various islands ami Alaskan coast, the Black Brant 

 occurs in large numbers during the si)ring migrations. During this season it is in such numbers 

 that it art'ords better sport than all of the other geese combined, and is the bird which recurs most 

 frequently on the fur-trader's table at that season. In autumn it occurs much more rarely, only 

 straggling parties being found along the sliore as autumn closes. In Ball's notes on the ornithology 

 of the Aleutian Islands he speaks of securing the eggs of this bird on the Semicki Islands, near 

 Attou, and at Kyska and Amchitka. This note, liowever, is to be referred to the White-cheeked 

 Goose which breeds on these islands, but the Black Brant is unknown there during the breeding- 

 season. Its farthest south ijreeding ])oint which I have been able to ascertain is the Yukon mouth, 

 where I saw a single bird in June, 1879; thence north it is extremely rare until the vicinity of 

 Bering Strait is passed, after which occasional pairs occur with more or less frequency during the 

 breeding season, until the low imrthern coast from beyond Cape Lisburne to Point Barrow i.s 

 reached, ami thence eastward the bird breeds in great abundaiuje wherever the flat marshy country 

 affords it suitable giouiuls. While at Point Barrow in August, 1881, a considerable number of 

 these birds were brought oil by the natives, and an examination showed that they were moulting 

 their quill feathers, thus proving conclusively that they were summer residents in the vicinity. 



Captain Smith, an experienced whaler and trader in these waters, has assured me of having 

 seen these birds going and coming to the northward of Point Barrow, thus proving the existence 

 of land farther north in that direction. They are also known to breed in the greatest abundance 

 along the northern shores of British America, selecting the lower courses of the large rivers which 

 flow into the Arctic in that region. The natives informed me that occasional pairs were found 

 breeding in the vicinity of Saint ;\Iichaers, but that they were extremely rare. On the first of 

 June, 1879, a single pair were seen by me a fev/ miles south of that place, and by their anxiety 

 showed plainly that their nest was in the vicinity. This, with the single individual seen at the 

 Yukon mouth, is the only instance which came directly to my knowledge of its occurrence during 

 the breeding season south of the Straits. Although it undoubtedly occurs on the Siberian shore. 



