74 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



They practice every artifice to decoy an intruder from the vicinity of 

 the nest shamming lameness, and uttering the most plaintive cries ; flit- 

 ting from crag to crag before the pursuer till they have led him far be- 

 yond the nest, when suddenly they seem to have recovered, and take 

 longer flights, till at last they jump up very smartly .and fly away ap- 

 parently highly elated at the little ruse they have so successfully prac- 

 ticed. 



This little bird is considered a great enemy by the Eskimo. They say 

 it warns the reindeer of the approach of the hunter, and, still worse, 

 will tell the reindeer if it be a very good shot that is in pursuit, that 

 they may redouble their efforts to escape. The Eskimo never lose an 

 opportunity to kill one of these birds. I have seen one with a rifle 

 wasting his last balls in vain attempts to kill one when he knew that 

 there was a herd of reindeer not more than a quarter of a mile away. 

 They are generally distributed on both sides of Cumberland Sound and 

 the west shores of Davis Straits to lat. 68 IS", at least, but nowhere 

 very abundant. Toward autumn they become more or less gregarious, 

 and seem to migrate along the seashore. 



4. Sitta carolineiisis, L. 



Caught on shipboard off the coast of Newfoundland October 22. 



5. Dendroeca coronata, (L.) Gray. 



A single example, an adult male, in Godhavn Harbor, Greenland, 

 July 31, 1878. 



6. Siurus naevius, (Bodd.) Coues. 



Caught on board the Florence in Straits of Belle Isle, August 18. 



7. Tachycineta bicolor, (Vieill.) Cab. 



A couple of these swallows followed the schooner for two days in suc- 

 cession off Belle Isle, in August, 1877. Where were they during the 

 night I 



8. Pyrrliula ? 



July 19, 1879, while hunting among the mountains near Oosooadluin 

 Harbor, in the northern waters of Cumberland, my attention was called 

 by a bird whistling somewhat like Ampelis garrulus, but louder and 

 clearer. I soon discovered it flitting among some small willows on the 

 grassy ledges of a perpendicular cliff about 1,500 feet above tide-level. 

 I could not scale the cliff', and had to content myself by watching it. It 

 was apparently nesting among the willows, but kept continually just 



