62 Recent Literature. [January 
June, 1881. Two months of the winter of 1877-78 were spent in explor- 
ing the Lower Yukon River and the adjacent coast region. In May, 
1879, a trip was made to the Yukon delta, and in February, 1880, a long 
journey was made up the coast to Sledge Island, situated just south of 
Bering Straits. In November of the same year an extended expedition 
into the interior was undertaken, during which the Anvik River country 
and the region about the head-waters of the Innoko River were explored. 
While the principal object of these expeditions was the study of the 
ethnology of the districts visited, zodlogy and geography received much 
attention. Finally, in the summer of 1881, Mr. Nelson made a trip on 
the U. S. Revenue Steamer ‘Corwin,’ as naturalist of the expedition, to 
Bering Sea and the Siberian Coast. The collections gathered at Saint 
Michaels and on the various expeditions in Alaska, included ‘‘over two 
thousand bird skins and fifteen hundred eggs.” The author says, ‘‘To 
complete the report I have made free use of the skins contained in the 
Smithsonian collections, obtained by other collectors in Alaska, and the 
literature on that region has yielded many notes and facts."of interest. 
The author’s aim has been so far as possible to embody herein all of im- 
portance that is known concerning the birds of Alaska, but for unavoid- 
able causes he has been compelled to curtail that portion relating to the 
swimming birds subsequent to the ducks and geese.” 
Mr. Nelson’s expeditions entailed great exposure and hardship, with 
most lamentable results to his health, which gave way very soon after his 
return to Washington in November, 1881. When compelled to desist 
from work and seek a more favorable climate in the far West, his ornitho- 
ogical report was well advanced toward completion, but the final touches, 
and the revision its long-delayed publication has occasioned, had to be 
made by another hand. This revision and the eGitorial supervision fortu- 
nately fellto Mr. H. W. Henshaw, whoappears to have given very careful 
attention to the final preparation and publication of the work.* 
The ‘Introduction’ to Mr. Nelson’s report treats of the ‘General Char- 
acter and Extent of Alaska, with the Faunal Subdivisions,’ of which four 
are recognized, as follows: 1. Sitkan District, strictly limited to the 
coast directly affected by the warm southward-flowing Japanese current. 
2. Aleutian District, consisting of the Aliaska Peninsula and the Aleu- 
tian chain of islands. 3. Alaskan Arctic District, limited to the narrow 
treeless coast belt along the Arcticcoast. 4. Alaskan-Canadian District, 
embracing the wooded interior. 
The number of species treated is 267 (if we have counted them cor- 
rectly—they are not serially numbered ), the text devoted to each vary- 
ing from a few lines to several pages, largely based on the author’s speci- 
mens and field notes. The life history of many of the species is treated . 
at length, as is especially the case with several of the Puftins, Geese, 
Ducks, Phalaropes, Sandpipers, Ptarmigans, etc., from the standpoint 
*It appears that the results of Mr. Nelson’s ethnological work will form the subjec 
of a special volume on the preparation of which he is still engaged. 
