stroke. The snowy plumage of these birds in winter renders them 

 as difficult to see at that season as their brown coat does in summer. 

 Ptarmigan and other grouse suffer heavily throughout the year from 

 the birds of prey that haunt their territory and pursue them relent- 

 lessly eagles, goshawks, gyrfalcons, owls, ravens, etc. 



Golden eagles occur throughout most of Alaska, ranging to the 

 Arctic Coast and well out on the Aleutian chain. The Alaskan bald 

 eagle also is numerous, and in certain places extraordinarily nu- 

 merous. The multitude of these handsome birds upon the islands 

 and along parts of the southern coast of Alaska is almost incredible 

 to one who knows the bald eagle only elsewhere. Sometimes scores 

 of them may be seen congregated about the shores of a single small 

 bay in southeastern Alaska and they are to be seen along the entire 

 length of the Aleutian chain. These eagles are reported to be a se- 

 rious pest in places where fox-farming has been attempted, as they 

 destroy the foxes, especially the young. The great gray sea-eagle 

 also crosses sometimes from the coast of Kamtschatka to the Aleutian 

 Islands. 



Horned owls are numerous in the wooded districts, and become 

 very plentiful during years when rabbits or lemmings are especially 

 abundant, providing an unusual food-supply. The traveler along 

 the frozen surface of the Yukon on winter nights frequently hears 

 the hollow notes of these birds from the forests which loom like 

 black walls on each side of the river. Late in the autumn they wan- 

 der from their usual haunts, and sometimes appear at St. Michael or 

 elsewhere on the barren tundra. 



The snowy owl, the arctic member of this family, makes its home 

 on the open tundra. It is more diurnal than most other owls, and in 

 winter may be seen gliding over the snow close to the surface, when 

 it is difficult to follow with the eye on account of its lack of color. 

 During a sledge-trip south of the Yukon, one December, I saw a 

 freshly killed snowy owl whose immaculate plumage was suffused 

 throughout with a rich and beautiful shade of lemon-yellow, exactly 

 as a salmon-color or a rosy red suffuses the plumage of certain 

 gulls and terns in spring. The following morning this lovely tinge 

 had almost completely vanished, only a trace of it remaining under 

 the wings and near the bases of the feathers. 



Ravens occur throughout Alaska, and are abundant along the 

 southern coast and on the Aleutian Islands, where they come familiarly 

 about the settlements, and have attracted the interested comment of 

 visitors since the early days of the Russian occupation. At Unalaska 



31 



