NOTES ON MAMMALS AND BIRDS OBSERVED IN 

 SOUTHERN ALASKA IN 190 1. 



BY J. ALDEN LORING, 



FIELD AGENT, N. Y. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



In submitting these notes on birds and mammals I wish to say 

 that it should be remembered that the object of the expedition 

 to Alaska Avas to collect live animals, and the Society's repre- 

 sentative had explicit instructions to devote his entire time to 

 that work. 



He is aware that these reports are far from complete, but sub- 

 mits them for what they may be worth. They relate chiefly to 

 observations made in and above the head of Cook Inlet and the 

 Knik Arm. 



MAMMALS. 



Delphinapterus leucas, (Pall). WHITE WHALE. 



" Beluga," as both the whites and natives of this part of Alaska 

 call the white whale, were common at the upper end of Cook 

 Inlet. We did not see any in Knik Arm,, but on the way to 

 Tyonek they were noted in abundance after leaving Fire Island. 

 They followed close to shore wdth the tide, coming to the surface 

 but a second at a time. When shot at they dove, and if seen af- 

 terward, were usually a long distance off. 



Rangifer stoiiei, (Allen). STONE'S CARIBOU. 



At Tyonek I saw the head of a caribou that had been taken 

 in the mountains in the Shushitna River district. Its antlers 

 answered perfectly the description of this new species. I was of 

 the opinion it was the head of a small Barren Ground caribou 

 until the description of R. stonei appeared several months later. 



Mr. Hicks informed me they were common in the country some 

 seventy-five miles north of Tyonek. The Indians of the Mata- 



