342 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT (ETH. ANN. 18 
again, thus giving a pecking motion and imitating the movements of 
feeding. Various toys of this character are made by the Eskimo to 
represent familiar animals or birds. 
Fic. 124—Toy mouse (about 3). 
Figure 124 represents a toy obtained at the village of Sabotnisky, on 
the lower Yukon. It is a slender, flat rod a little over an inch wide 
and about 16 inches long, perforated with six round holes at equal 
. intervals along its length, through 
which is passed in and out a sinew 
cord, having its ends fastened to the 
extremities of a small, narrow strip of 
fur, forming an endless loop. Grasp- 
ing the rod by the handle at one end, 
the child draws on the free part of the 
cord, causing the strip of fur to run in 
and out of the holes along the surface, 
thus representing a mouse. 
The children also have small figures of birds, seals, and other ani- 
mals, which their fathers carve in ivory, bone, and wood. Along the 
seacoast ivory is the material ordinarily used for making these objects, 
but among the Eskimo of the tundras, or along the 
rivers of the interior, bone or deerhorn is more com- 
monly employed. The bird images usually represent 
geese, murres, or other waterfowl, and are made flat 
upon the lower surface, so that they sit upright. 
On St Lawrence island, and at various other points 
which were visited, many of these objects were ob- 
tained, of which the toy bird shown in figure 125 is 
an example. They are similar in character to the 
images with which a sort of game is played among 
the eastern Eskimo. 
In addition to the foregoing objects, dolls made for 
girls are among the most interesting of the children’s 
toys. On St Lawrence island two were obtained; i 
these are shown in figure 7, plate xo, made rudely Wn 
of wood, and figure 8, plate xcru, which is ofivory.  rie.126—Clay doll (4). 
The makers of these displayed very little skill or 
artistie ability, as might be expected from their general lack of culture 
in this direction compared with the people of the adjacent American 
coast. Along the Alaskan shore wherever I went, as well as along 
Fic. 125—Toy representing a murre swim- 
ming (full size). 
