126 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



these birds fnrnisli, dm-injj the wiuter season in especial, an almost certain source of snpply for fresb meat. 

 But the heart of the Aleut swells to its greatest gastronomic happiness when he can repair, in the months of June 

 and July, to the basaltic cliffs of St. George, or the lava table-bed of Walrus islet, and put his grimy hands on the 

 gaily colored eggs of the "arrie", Lomvia arm; and if he were not the most improvident of men, instead of taking 

 only enough for the day, he would lay "P a great store for the morrow, but he never does. On the occasion of one 

 visit, and my first one there, July 5, 1872, six men loaded a badarrah at Walrus islet, capable of carrying four tons 

 exclusive of our crew, down to the water's edge with eggs, in less than three working hours. 



Di.SAPPEARANCE OF BIEDS IN WINTER.— During the winter months the birds are almost wholly absent, 

 esi)ecially if the ice shall have closed in around about the islands; then there is nothing of- the feathered kind save 

 the stupid shag, Oraculus bicrktatus, as it clings to the leeward cliffs, or the great burgomaster gull, wliich sweei)s 

 in circling flight high overhead; but, early in May they begin to make their appearance; and they come up from 

 the sea overnight, as it were, their chattering and their harsh caroling wakes the natives from their slothful, 

 sleeping, which, however, they gladly break, to seize their nets and live life anew, as tar as eating is concerned. 

 The stress of severe weather in the winter months, the driving of the snow "boorgas'', and the floating ice-floes 

 closing in to shut out the open water, are cause enough for the disappearance of the water-fowl during the hyemal 

 season.* 



Castaway birds on the Pribylot islands.— The position of the islands is. such as to be somewhat outside 

 of the migratory path pursued by the birds on the mainland; and, owing to this reason, they are only visited by a 

 few stragglers from that quarter, a few from the Asiatic side, and by the millions of their own home-bred and 

 indigenous stock. One of these migratory species, Strepsilas interpres, however, comes here every snmmer for 

 three or four weeks' stay, in great numbers, and actually get so fat, in feeding upon the larvae which abound in the 

 decaying carcasses over the killing-gronuds, that it usually bursts open when it falls, shot on the wing. A heavy 

 easterly gale often brings a strange bird to the islands from the mainland; a grebe, Podiceps grueUiena, was 

 stranded on St. George in 1873, whereupon the natives declared the like of which they had nCAcr seen before ; when 

 1 found a robin one cool morning in October, the 15th, the natives told me that it was an accident— brought over 

 by some storm or gale of wind that took it up and oft' from its path across the tundra of Bristol bay. The next fair 

 wind sweeping from the north or the west could be so improved by this robin, Tusdus migratorius, that it would 

 spread its wings and as abruptly return. Thus hawks, owls, and a number of foreign water-fowls visit the islands, 

 but never remain there long. 



Failure to iniroditce ravens — The Eussians tried the experiment of bringing up ft-om Sitka and 

 Oonalashka a number of ravens as scavengei-s, a number of years ago, and when they were very uncleanly in the 

 village, in contrast with the practice of the present hour; they reasoned that they would — these ill-omened biiMls — 

 be invaluable as health ofiicers; but the C'orvidcc invariably, sooner or later, and within a very short time, took 

 the first wind-train back to the mainland or the Aleutian islands ; yet the natives say that if the birds had heen 

 young ones instead of old fellows, they would have remained. I saw a great many, however, at St. Matthew island, 

 in August, 1874:; also, their slowly -marked flight overhead was a common sight on St. Lawrence. 



Poultry kept by natives.— The natives keep a small number of chickens, and often they take their poultry 

 into their living rooms and coop them up in the corners; they get return in eggs; but of all the forlorn, wretched, 

 bedraggled specimens of domestic fowls, those that have to shiver and shake themselves outside when viewed 

 on the seal-islands are the most miserable. They do not exactly freeze, but the raw, damp, incessant violence of 

 the weather keeps them inactive and cowering for such long, unbroken periods that their feathers seem to fall out, 

 and disease marks them for its own. 



OoLOGiCAL WEALTH OF WALRUS ISLAND. — I am much divided in my admiration of the two great bird- 

 rookeries of the Pribylov group, the one on the face of the high bluffs at St. George, and the other on the table-top 

 of Walrus islet; but, perhaps, the latter place gives, within the smallest area, the greatest variety of nesting and 



* While daily served on St. George, duriug June and July, with eggs of indigenous sea^fowl, I recorded my gastronomic comparisons 

 ■which occurred then as I ate them. Here follows a recapitulation : 



Fresh-laid eggs of " lupus,' or /'.j/aciaZis.. Best eggs known to the islands; can be soft-hoilcd or fried, and are as good as o<ir own 



hens' eggs; the yolk is light and clear; the size thereof is in shape and bulk like a duck's 

 egg; it has a white shell. Season: June 1 to 15, inclusive; scarce on St. Paul and not 

 abundant on St. George. 



Fresh-laid eggs of " arrie," or L. arm Very good ; can be soft-boiled or fried; are best scrambled ; yolks are dark; no strange tasfe 



whatever to them; pj-rifonn in shape; large as a goose egg ; shel 1 giii ly colored ; they are 

 exceedingly abundant on AValrus island and St. George ; tons of them. Season: June 25 

 to July 10, inclusive. 



Fresh-laid eggs of gulls; Lar'ida' Perceptibly strong; cannot be relished unless in omelettes; yolks veryd.irk; siz(' and shape of 



our hen's egg; shell dark, clay-colored ground, mottled. Se.\son: June 5 to July 20, 



inclusive; they .are in moderate supply only. 



The other eggs in the list, such as those of the "choocbkie", the "shag", and the several varieties of water-fowl which breed here, 



are never secured in sufficient quaniity to be of any consideration .as articles of diet. It is, perhaps, better that the scarcity of their kind 



continue, judging from the strong smack of the choochkie's, the repulsive taint of the shag's, and the "tv/ang" of the sea-parroi's, all of 



which I tasted as a matter of investigation 



