14 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA [No. i. 



observed was a small fish. Another brood of small young was seen in the Kowak 

 delta on August 12th. This species was last seen in the fall, a flock of six, near 

 our winter camp on October 7th. It was not again seen until the middle of June 

 in the Kowak delta. On Chamisso Island, July 9th, a nest and five fresh eggs 

 were found. It was on the side of the island about fifty feet above the surf well 

 hidden among clumps of tall grass. The native name for this bird is 

 pa-zho"bg'a-ruk. 



Anas boschas Linn. 

 Mallard. 



This was seemingly a rare duck. A male was shot by a member of our party 

 near the confluence of the Cogaluktuk and Kowak Rivers about May 17th. I saw 

 one in the Kowak delta on June 9th, and a pair on June loth. 



Mareca americana (Gmel.). 

 Baldpate. 



This was a common duck in the Kowak Valley. They were numerous in the 

 fall of '98 along the river near our winter camp. Flocks of juveniles were to be 

 found feeding along the banks where beds of willows and marsh grass indicated 

 the mouths of sloughs. The last one was noted on September 20th, though the 

 majority had left two weeks previously. The first in the spring, a single pair, 

 were shot on May 22nd. The Baldpates were most plentiful in the Kowak delta, 

 where in June we shot a good many but failed to find any eggs. 



Nettio7i carolinensis (Gmel.). 

 Green-winged Teal. 



On September 3rd, '98, we shot. six Green-winged Teal along the willowy 

 border of the Kowak opposite our winter camp, and several others were seen. 

 On June 23rd, '99, in the Kowak delta, I shot a solitary adult male. These were 

 the only times I met with this bird. 



Dafila acuta (Linn.). 



Pintail. 



This duck was noted everywhere we landed along the coast, and up the 

 Kowak River Pintails formed a frequent addition to our camp fare for two or three 

 weeks after our arrival at the site of our winter quarters. They were most abund- 

 ant during the first week in September, and the last were noted on the 14th of 

 that month. At this season they were feeding on the seeds of a kind of grass 

 which bordered the sloughs and pcnds, and this material was often the only con- 

 tents of the stomachs of the birds shot. Not a single adult male was seen during 

 the fall, the entire flocks consisting of the previous summer's broods with the 

 female parents. In the spring of '99, the first Pintails made their appearance in 

 pairs on May 14th, and a week later they had arrived in full force. Two or three 

 pairs were often found about a single lake or pond. Those bodies of water with a 

 broad margin of marsh grass were most usually selected as the rendezvous for the 

 future brood. The first eggs, a set of six fresh ones, were obtained on June ist. 



