II. BIRDS. 



By JOHN MURDOCH, A. M., Sergeant Signal Corps, United States Army. 



The birds and eggs brought home by the expedition were collected, with a few exceptions, 

 within a circle of fifteen miles from the station, and, it is believed, give a tolerably complete rep- 

 resentation of the bird-fauna of this limited region. This it will be seen is arctic in its character, 

 witii the addition of a few species like Komatcria v-nigra, peculiar to the western parts of the con- 

 tinent. The range of a few species heretofore recorded only from the eastern part of the continent 

 has been found to extend to this point. 



The country in this region is a low slightly rolling tundra, interspersed with higher and drier 

 patches, and covered with lakes and ponds of all sizes, sometimes connected by insignificant 

 streams. The lower portions of the tundra are wet and marshy, and thickly covered with grass. 

 On the higher portions the covering of grass is more scanty and the ground often bare, muddy, 

 and black, partly covered with black and white mosses and lichens. 



This we were in the habit of calling the " black tundra," and it was the special breeding-ground 

 of certain species of birds, for example the Golden Plover, while others were to be sought for in 

 the marshy lowlands, and others again on the dry grassy banks. 



The birds breeding in this region are two or three species of land-birds and most of the waders. 

 The great majority of the water-birds, the ducks, gulls, &c., pass on to more favorable breeding- 

 sites on the sandy islands fringing the northern shore of the continent, and on the banks of the 

 groat rivers running into the Arctic Ocean east of Point Barrow. 



Most of the birds and eggs were collected by the writer and Sergeant Midd'eton Smith, though 

 valuable additions to the collections were made by Lieutenant Kay, Captain llercudcen, and other 

 members of the party. 



The nomenclature employed is that of Hidgway's Catalogue (Bull. U. S. Nat. Museum, No. 21, 

 1881), to which the numbers refer, and the Eskimo names have been appended wherever possible. 



[21.] SAXICOLA CBNANTHE (Linn.) Bechst. 



STONECIIAT (S 



As Mr. Nelson remarks, this species appears to be very erratic in its occurrence in Northern 

 Alaska, being quite common some seasons and wholly absent the next. 



Early in the spring migrations of 1882 we had these birds in comparative abundance near the 

 station for a few days, but none remained to breed, and in the season of 1883, though a careful 

 lookout was kept for them, not a single one was noticed. 



Curiously enough, this alternation of seasons appears to have hold good for the two preceding 

 years. In 1880 Dr. Beau found them not uncommon from Kot/.ebue Sound to Cape Lisburno, while 

 Mr. Nelson, visiting the same region the following season, failed to find a single individual. 



The first one seen was taken May 19, 1882, when very little of the snow had melted and 

 there were but a few patches of bare ground near the coast. It was a male, and feeding on the 

 bare grassy spots near the house, and was very shy. The stomach contained much digested 

 material. 



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