CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IIT THE ARCTIC OCEAN. Ill 



STBRCORARIUS PARASITICUS (Liun.) Saunders. 

 (163.) LONU-T AILED JaEGER. 



The present species is tlie most elegant of tlie Jaeg^ers in its general makeup, and especially 

 when on the wing. At this time the bird shows all the grace and ease of movement which 

 characterize such birds as the Swallow-tailed Kite and otiier species with very long wings and 

 slender bodies. It appears to delight in exhibiting its agility, and two or more frequently perform 

 strange gyrations and evolutions during their fliglit as they pass back and forth over the low, Hat 

 country which they frequent. It is like the parasitic Jaeger, found more i)lentifully along the 

 low portions of the coast than at sea, and is very numerous along the coast of Norton Sound. 

 It was noted but a few times by us during the cruise of the Corwin north of Bering Strait, but 

 was seen at Saint Lawrence Island and various other i)laces visited along the shores of this sea, 

 especially on the American side. Toward Si)itzbergen these birds are said to be rare and to 

 increase in numbers toward Bering Strait. It is one of the species noted during the drift of the 

 Jeannette in the ice to the north of Wrangel Island, but was very rare. 



PROCELLARID^. PETRELS, ALBATROSSES. 

 DIOMEDEA NIGRIPES Aud 



(163 «.) Black-footed Albatross. 



The " gony," as this bird is called on the North Pacific, is an abundant bird over this entire 

 stretch of the ocean. It takes company with a vessel on its leaving San Francisco, and follows it 

 to the neighborhood of the Aleutian Islands where it disappears; and, as we noted, in October, 

 1881, soon after we left Ounalaska these birds api)eared and were with us continually in pleasant 

 or gtormy weather until we approached Sail Francisco. The majority seen were young, the light- 

 colored birds being observed only at intervals. Nearly all are dark smoky-brown, but here and 

 there may be seen one with a ring of white feathers around the run^p, at the base of the tail ; and 

 all have a marked line of white surrounding the base of the liill. Those with the white on the tail 

 almost invariably have a white spot under each eye. The graceful evolutions of these birds attbrd 

 one of the most pleasing sights during a voyage across the North Pacidc, and they are a source of 

 continual interest during the otherwise monotonous passage. 



DIOMEDEA BRACHYURA Lemm. 



(164.) Short-tailed Albatross. 



On July 11, 1881, at Cape Rome, Alaska, Just south of Bering Strait, was seen a young 

 Albatross of this species in the dark plumage. It had a bright yellow bill, with a bright ring 

 around the base, evidently produced by the white feathers surrounding the base of the beak. 

 Later in the season adults of this species were seen between Saint Lawrence Island and Plover 

 Bay, Siberia; and the mandibles of two specimens were obtained in the mined villages on Saint 

 Lawrence Island. As we passed the Uiomede Islands, in the middle of Bei'ing Strait, in July, a 

 young Short tailed Albatross was observed circling back and forth over the rising sea, which was 

 being covered with foam by the gale which was rising at that time. 



These records are the most northern which we possess of this bird, and extend its range, as 

 noted, to the middle of Bering Strait; and we can infer from this that the bird occasionally 

 wanders into the Arctic Ocean. To the south among the Aleutian Islaiuls, reaching the vicinity 

 of the seal islands occasionally, this bird is very abiiudant, in some instances fifteen or twenty 

 being in view at one time while a vessel is sailing through some of the i)asses. In May, 1877, 

 many of these birds were seen by me while passing from Ounalaska Island east to Sanakh, and 

 again upon the return trip. They rarely approached the vessel, however, and it was impossible to 

 secure one of them. 



