The kingfisher flourishes in a region where streams and fishes 

 are so plentiful ; and of woodpeckers local varieties of the downy, the 

 hairy, and the three-toed, a sapsucker, and the northwestern flicker, 

 are to be noted. There is also a hummingbird (see page 20), and 

 Vaux's swift ; but the latter is rare. 



Next comes the great order of Perching Birds. Three flycatchers 

 have been listed, but the western pewee alone is numerous. The 

 magpie is seen irregularly, and seems to be less common than for- 

 merly. Steller's jay is a numerous resident, his gaudy plumage flash- 

 ing before the eyes of the travelers along all the shores, and in clear- 

 ings and villages. Crows are common, near the coast and on the 

 islands, robbing the nests of the sea-birds as long as any eggs or 

 young are to be obtained; and at other seasons, as Willett tells 

 us, "they gather in large flocks along the beaches at low tide, feeding 

 on shell-fish and crustaceans, and when the tide is in scratching 

 among the drift-kelp along the shore." The fish crow has similar 

 habits, and may be seen in throngs, sometimes, about the fishing- 

 stages and canneries, feeding upon offal. Still more conspicuous and 

 generally distributed is the raven, of which Mr. Willett gives us a 

 graphic picture : 



. . . plentiful in the streets of Sitka, and on the near-by beaches, feeding 

 on refuse and carrion. They were also noted on the tops of the mountain 

 ranges, where they were frequently seen playing on the snow-banks and 

 glaciers. They would dig holes in the snow, and, lying down In them, would 

 scratch the snow over their backs with bill and wings, the coolness secured 

 in this way evidently affording them great enjoyment. They frequently 

 follow the eagles when the latter are hunting, probably in hopes of securing 

 a share of the prey. On one occasion I had killed a deer and left it for a 

 couple of hours. On my return the eyes and a part of the intestines had been 

 picked out by the ravens. . . . The raven is very fond of clams, abalones, 

 sea-urchins, and other shell-fish, which are secured from the rocks at low 

 tide. The shells are frequently found high up on the hillsides, where they 

 have been carried by the ravens. On one occasion Merrill watched a number 

 of birds standing around a hog that was digging clams from the mud. As 

 fast as the clams were brought to the surface they were appropriated by 

 the ravens. 



The handsomely marked form of the nutcracker may well reward 

 the keen-eyed observer, but thus far it has been seen, or at least has 

 been recorded, only once inside the bounds of Alaska. The only 

 blackbird is the wide-ranging rusty grackle, and that is uncommon. 

 No other grackles, orioles, meadowlarks, or bobolinks make music in 

 that region of dense forests and rainy skies. 



14 



