Nov., igoo] BIRDS Ul" THK KOTZHBUE SOUND REGION. 13 



The last Arctic Terns in '98 were seen flying down the Kowak River on August 

 19. They were first seen in the same locaht}' in the spring of 99, on May 20th, 

 when four were observed around a lake. But they were never as numerous up the 

 Kowak as along the coast. They were very common in the Kowak delta in June. 

 There we found them nesting out on the tundras, as much as a quarter of a mile from 

 the nearest lake. And then again, a small islet out toward the centre of a pond 

 was the selected spot. The full set of eggs was apparently as often of one as of 

 two. Dr. Coffin found one set of three eggs. The nests on the tundra were simply 

 slight depressions in the moss, usually on top of a low hummock. A nest on an 

 islet was a depression in the earth, with a thin lining of short dry gra.sses. The 

 terns in this region were never found nesting in colonies; in fact, two nests were 

 seldom fc/und within 100 yards of each other, and usually a single lake was the 

 rendezvous of but one pair of terns. The earliest egg was found in the delta on 

 June 14th, and downy young on June 22nd. At Cape Blossom a considerably in- 

 cubated egg was taken on June 30th. So that the middle of June appears to be 

 the average date for depositing the eggs. The eggs secured present the usual 

 variations in ground color and markings. They average 1.58x1.17. 



Fiihiiants glacialis rodgersii (CahS.). 

 RoDGERs's Fulmar. 



This was a common species through Bering Straits and for a few miles north- 

 ward. I saw a single Rodgers's Fulmar on July 5, '98, about forty miles from 

 Cape Blcssom in the outer waters of Kotzebue Sound. 



Piiffimis temdrostris (Temm.). 

 Slender-billed Shearwater. 



On July 4th, '99, I secured a single specimen about four miles off Cape Blos- 

 som. It was resting on the water not far from a small ice-floe and was in an 

 emaciated condition. 



Phalacrocorax pclagicKS robustus Ridgw. 

 Violet-green Cormorant. 



At Chamisso Island on July 9th, '99, I saw a single cormorant fl^'ing past the 

 northernmost detached islet. A pair were seen on June 27, '98, among the ice-flces 

 a few miles north of Bering Straits. 



Merganser serrator (Linn.). 

 Red-breasted Merganser. 



I found this to be a common species in the Kotzebue region. At Cape Blos- 

 som on August ist, '99, I encountered a brcod of six downy young with the 

 female parent. The}' were out in the middle of a lake, and the juveniles swam in 

 a close bunch. The parent ke])t diving at short intervals, and whenever she reap- 

 peared, which might be at a considerable distance from where she dove, the band 

 of young with one accord scrambled over the water toward her with flapping arms 

 and almost running on the surface. The foremost chick, probably always the 

 hungriest of the lot, was apparenth- the one to obtain the prey which in all cases 



