104 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



17, 187!). It \v;i.s, pciiiaps, this spocie.s in platre of tlir N'iok't-ttrt'cn Cormorant wiiidi ^^a.s iioleil 

 by ns to the nordi of tliis cajjo al)out Wrangel and llcralil Lslanil.s, as well as at Cape Heanfort on 

 the north shore of Alaska and one or two other points along the Arctic shore of this territory. 



This species is well known as a i-esident upon the fur-seal islands, where Elliott found them 

 remaining throughout the winter, despite the severity of the storms and cold at various times. 

 It serves as a dainty morsel for the resident Aleuts upon these islands during the winter, 

 when other kinds of fresh meat are not procurable. According to Elliott it nests some weeks in 

 advance of the other water fowl, and builds a large structure upon a jutting slielf along the face 

 of the cliffs. These birds have from three to four eggs, and the young como from the shell almost 

 without feathers, but grow rapidly under the care of the old birds. He notes the great amount 

 of curiosity possessed by these birds at the appearance of any unusual object which approaches 

 the vicinity of their nesting ])la(!es or feeding grounds. This appears to hold everywhere. I have 

 rarely visited the haunts of Cormorants without their circling around and around, although 

 sometimes so shj- as to keep well beyond gunshot. Their curiosity appears to bring them in the 

 neighborhood of the objects of their suspicion again and again. We found this bird (piite 

 ininierous in the vicinity of Unalaska Island on our arrival there the last of September, 1881. In 

 the si)ring of 1877 it was also rather common about the harbors at tliat place. It is a resident 

 througiiout the Aleutian Islands, according to Dall. Tliese birds appear to be a fitting accompa- 

 niment of the bleak, barren coast found so frequently along the northern shore of Bering Sea. 

 The dark clifl's, with scarcely a trace of vegetation, ami the cold rocks, perhaps relieved here and 

 there by banks of snow in the ravines, are rendered still more wild and inhospitable iu appearance 

 by the presence of these large, awkward somber-colored birds, which circle silently back and forth 

 in front of their cliffs, titling habitants of the remote aiul cheerless wilds where their home is made. 



LARIDJ']. GULLS, TERNS. 



PAGOPHILA EBURNEA iPhippsi Kaup. 



(U.J.) The Ivory Gull. 



There is no record of this bird's occui-rence anywhere in Bering Sea, but Noidenskiold found 

 this gull quite frecpient during the time of his stay on the northeastern shore of Siberia at Tapkan, 

 and noted them at various points around the northern shore of Asia during his voyage through 

 that region. It is found quite commonly about Spitzbergen and Nova Zemyla, where it keeps in 

 the vicinity of the shore, and in winter is frequently seen standing near tlie seal-holes in the ice 

 waiting for the seal to appear, tlu; cause of this being its habit of devouring that animal's excre- 

 ment. It is abundant in this region and ott' the high northern latitudes of America, but very few 

 of its nests have been found thus far, one by McClintock, at Cai)e Ivrabbe, in North America, in 

 latitude 77^ 2'>' north, and again by Malmgren, at Murchinson Bay, iu Spitzbergen, iu latitude 

 82° 2' north. The two nests found by Malmgren consisted of a depression from twenty-five to 

 twenty-six centimeters in diameter in a heap of loose gravel on a ledge of a sloping limestone wall. 

 Each nest contained one egg, which on the 30th of July already contained a down-covered bird. 

 Murchinson Bay was covered with ice at the time these nests were observed. On September 4, 

 1870, this bird was seen off Herald Island by the naturalist of the Jeannette, and again in the 

 middle of June; and in July, 1880, a number of these birds were seen, and at various other times 

 during the drift of this ill-fated vessel. In the vicinity of Bennett Island on .luly 20, 1881, they 

 were again seen, and were ])robably nesting there. 



There is no North I'acitic coast record of this species, ami it appears to be a winter resident in 

 high latitudes, not i)assing south beyond the ice limit, except very rarely, when, as in a few- 

 instances, it has been taken along the coast of Maine, in eastern North America, and jterhaps as 

 far south as Massachusetts On the west coast of America we possess no such southern records, 

 and it is doubtful if it ever passes south of the Aleutian chain, although as yet we do not jiossess 

 a record of the bird south of Bering Straits. It is one of the most beautiful of the gidls, and any 

 addition to our knowledge of its biography will be a welcome contribution to northern ornithology. 



