110 KNI'KDITION TO POINT BAIlliOW, ALASKA. 



eggs is to withdraw KOIHC distance, and sit down patiently and wait for the bird to go back to her 

 eggs, watching her it' necessary with a lield-glass. Having marked her on to the nest, one must 

 walk towards it in a straight line, looking neither to the right nor the left and keeping his e> es 

 fixed upon the spot she rises from, lie is then pretty sure of the eggs. However, the surface of 

 the tundra is so uniform that a careless glanee to one side or the other alter the bird is Hushed 

 may throw the collector wholly ofl' the track, and then he has to go back and wait for the bird to 

 return again. 



r.oth males and females take a share in the incubation. In 1882 the sitting bird was fre- 

 quently secured with the eggs, and in every case turned out to IKS a male; but in 1883 a number of 

 .sitting females were taken, and finally, in one or two cases, both parents were taken with the eggs, 

 and bc'.a males and females had their breasts bare, as if incubating. 



The nesting season continues till the first or middle Of July, about which time the adults begin 

 to collect in flocks, feeding together around the ponds on the higher tundra, associated sometimes 

 with a few Knots or a straggling Curlew. 



The old birds leave for the south about the end of July, and no more Plovers are to be seen 

 till about the middle o/ August, when the young, who heretofore have been keeping out of sight, 

 scattered over the tundra, gather into flocks, and for several days are quite plenty on the dryer 

 hills and banks, after which they depart. Stragglers may be seen up to the end of August. 



528 a. MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS SCOLOPACEETS (Say) Coues. 



1!K1> BELLIED SNIPE; GREATER GRAY-BACK. 



fe 



A few of these birds bred near the station, but they .are decidedly rare during the breeding 

 season. The young of the year, however, appear in large flocks about the middle of August and 

 stay for a few days about the small ponds on the tundra, especially on the high land below Cape 

 Smythe. 



At this season they are rather plenty, and when feeding associate with the young Dunlins and 

 Grass-birds. They were much less abundant in 1883 than they were the previous season. 



The nest was never found, although a pair were taken June 28, 1883, that were evidently nest- 

 ing, as both had their breasts plucked and bare, showing that, as in the case of the Golden Plover, 

 the male does his share of the work of incubation. 



In the spring of ISSii a native boy brought in a female of this species, and what, he said, were 

 the eggs. This was accepted without question at the time, although the eggs seemed rather small 

 for the si/e of the bird. 



A further acquaintance with the eggs of some of the smaller waders led to considerable 

 doubt, which was justified by comparison of the set with authentic eggs of this species in the 

 National Museum. 



The eggs are certainly not those of this species, but closely resemble those of the Dunlin. 

 The bird appears bat little known to the natives, and as usual in such cases we had various 

 names applied to it. Many thought it was a Northern Phalarope (Sabranna). 



529. TRINGA CANUTUS Linn. 

 KNOT; UOBIN SNIPE (Tila-u-ia). 



The Knot appears to be quite rare about Point Barrow. Only a few of the natives to wlioui 

 one was shown recognized it and had a name for it. 



In the season of 1883 only one was seen, appearing with a rather large flight of small waders. 

 They were rather more abundant during the preceding season, and evidently bred somewhere in 

 the vicinity, as a female was taken on July 11, with full-sized yolks in her ovaries. The nest, 

 however, was never found. 



The adults were not seen after July ~>, and not one of the young appeared in the flocks of 

 young waders in the fall. 



