i 22 CHAMBERLAIN, Birds of Southern Greenland. [July 
seals. Insummer the Gulls, and in winter Eiders and Auks pre- 
dominate, of the seafowl that seek food there. Near to the mouth 
of the fjord, where the walls are especially high and steep, Gulls 
breed in large colonies—some numbering several thousand. 
Amid the adjacent hills ie numerous lakes where Gulls might 
be supposed to make their nests, but in a careful survey of several 
suitable localities no evidence was discovered that the Gulls ever 
visit these inland waters. Mr. Hagerup considers that this neg- 
lect of such apparently favorable nesting ground may be attributed 
partly to the presence of foxes, and partly to the continuous pur- 
suit of the birds by the native Greenlanders and the Danes. An- 
other cause may be found in the fact that lakes at a higher altitude 
than 700 feet above sea level are not free of ice before the first of 
July. Along the margins of these highland lakes are thin fringes 
of stunted vegetation, and in their depths swarm schools of trout 
that feast during the summer upon larve of the mosquito which 
abound there. 
The mean temperature of Ivigtut for the three coldest months 
of the year is—5° C., and for the three warmest months, 7° C. 
The lowest point registered by the thermometer during the winter 
of 1886-87 was—28° C., and the highest temperature during the 
summer following was 21°C. The mean temperature of January, 
1887, was—12° C. The rainfall aggregates-354 inches in a year. 
Arsuk Fjord was covered with ice on November 19, 1886, but 
during the winter the southeastern gales (which are numerous at 
that season, and are often accompanied by warm rains) broke off- 
large flakes from the seaward margin of the ice, and as ice did not 
form again on the places thus opened, the result was that the ice- 
covered portion of the fjord was continually being diminished 
even while the mean temperature was becoming lower. ‘The 
upper section of the fjord was not free from ice until the first days 
of June, the date that usually finds the leaves opening on the wil- 
low bushes. By the roth of September these leaves are bleached 
by the night frosts. 
Urinator imber. Loon.—This species is a not uncommon summer 
visitor, breeding in suitable places. In 1886 the first examples were seen 
on May 22, and in the autumn the last was seen on November 18, 
when the fjord was partly covered with ice. In 1887 the first spring arrival 
was seen on May 5—a young bird, which was shot. Mr. Hagerup thinks 
it improbable that this species breeds at a greater height than 700 feet, or, 
