50 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA [No. i. 



many nearly-fledged young were noted on July ist. From August i to t2, '98, 

 juveniles were plentiful in the vicinity of the Mission. They were in small com- 

 panies or scattered singly in the edge of the tall grass bordering the beaches. 

 The tendency at this season seemed for them to be gathering into flocks; and on 

 the nth, the last day of our stay on the Sound, I saw a flock of about 25. I last 

 saw the Alaskan Longspur in 1898 on the i6th of August; it was on our way up 

 the Kowak, and at a point about 100 miles from the mouth. A small company flew 

 across the river in front of our steamer in a southerly direction. In the spring of 

 '99, on the Kowak, the first longspurs were noted on the 20th of May. In this 

 region they inhabit the bare level stretches of tundra extending at intervals from 

 the river back to the foot-hills. On June ist I secured a nest and five fresh eggs. 

 The nest was embedded in the moss under an overhanging clump of dead grass, 

 and consisted of fine dry grasses, with a lining of dark feathers of ptarmigan and 

 Short-eared Owls. The diameter of the nest cavity is 2.50, with a depth of i.oo. 

 The eggs are nearly oblong-ovate in shape and measure .87X.60, .86x.6i, .84x60, 

 .86x.6o, .85X. 61. Their ground-color, as disclosed for a limited space at the small 

 ends of two eggs, is very pale blue. Otherwise the eggs are so completely covered 

 with pigment as to be almost uniform isabella-color. Overlying this are scattered 

 scrawls and dots of bistre. I found another nest, on Chamisso Island on the 9th 

 of July. This was similarly located and contained four eggs in which incubation 

 was nearly complete. Native name, Po'b-to"b-ke'li-uk. 



Amniodramus sandwichensis alaudinus (Bonap.). 

 Western Savanna Sparrow. 



The Western Savanna Sparrow was fairly numerous in the vicinity of Cape 

 Blossom. The grassy meadows bordering lagoons seemed to be its most con- 

 genial haunt, although I met with a few on the hillsides toward the interior of 

 the peninsula. I found half^flcdged young in the grass on July 10, and by the 

 20th juveniles could be heard calling in every direction. By the first week in 

 August they had become conmion along the beaches where a sparse growth of 

 tall grass clothed the sand above tide-limit. The eskimo knew it by the name 

 Ik-sik-ti'ook. The Western Savanna Sparrow was rare in the interior, for I saw 

 it but once. On the 29th of May, near our winter camp on the Kowak, I saw a 

 pair and secured the male. 



Zonotrichia leiicophrys gambelii (Nutt.). 

 Gambel's Sparrow. 



A few Gambel's Sparrows were observed in the vicinity of Cape Blossom in 

 Jul3^ They were always seen in brush patches or at their borders, just as is the 

 case in winter in Southern California. An adult in much worn nuptial plumage 

 was taken on July loth. Full-fledged young were seen on July 20, and for a few 

 days thereafter they would come around the cook-tent for crumbs. They were 

 unusually shy, and my appearance at the tent door was sufficient to send them in 

 their flurried zigzag flight to the nearest thicket on the opposite hillside. At our 

 winter quarters on the Kowak they were very common the last week in August, 

 and their song was often heard from the dripping woods, for the rain was almost 

 incessant at that season. They left suddenly and together. Two, the last 



