48 ZS^ATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IX ALASKA. 



2C. Stercoeaeius LONGiCAUDrs Vieill. Long-tailed Jaeger (Esk. Yilng-^k). 



This graceful and handsome bird is the most common of the Jaegers ou the Alaskan coast and 

 vicinity, and especially about Saint Michaels. They arrive in this vicinity aljout May 12 or 

 15, but are not numerous until ten days or more later. They are first found quartering the marshes 

 in small parties of from two to six or eight. They have a shrill pheu-phiiilpheu pheo, uttered while 

 they are flying, and when the birds are quarieling or pursuing one another the ordinary note is 

 often followed by a harsh qua. At other times they have a rattling kr-r-rr, kr-r-r-r, kr rr-r, kri, 

 krikri-kri, the latter syllables shrill and querulous and sometimes followed by the long-drawn 

 pheil pheu-pheu in the same tone. They apiiear to be much more playful than the other Jaegers, 

 and parties of six or eight may be seen pursuing one another back and Ibrth over the marsh. The 

 long, slender tail-feathers and extreme grace on the wing of these birds render them very much 

 like the Swallow-tailed Kite. 



The mating occurs with a great amount of noisy demonstration on the part of several rivals, 

 but once paired the birds keep by themselves and early in June deposit their eggs in a depression 

 on the mossy top of some knoll uj)ou rising grouud. In one instance, ou Juue 10, while I was 

 securing the eggs of a Macrorhamphus, a pair of these Jaegers kept circling about, uttering harsh 

 screams and darting down within a few feet. As I approached the spot where the snipe's eggs lay 

 I had noticed these birds ou a knoll just beyond, but had paid no atteutiou, but as the birds kept 

 leaving me to hover over tLe knoll and then return to the attack, I examined the spot, and there, 

 in a cup-shaped depression in the moss, lay two dark greenish eggs marked with an abundance of 

 si)ots. During the breeding season these birds and the preceding species have a cuuuiug habit of 

 tolling one away from their nest by dragging themselves along the ground aud feigning the 

 greatest sufleriug. Tiiey roll about among the tussocks, beat their wings, stagger from side to 

 side, and seem to be unable to fly, but they manage to increase the distance from their starting 

 . point at a very respectable rate, and ere long suddenly launch forth ou the wing. 



After a successful hunt the Jaegers of this and the last species alight upon some promiueut 

 knoll and sun themselves, their white breasts sliowiug for a long distance. They are very curious 

 at times, and I have called them within gunshot ou several occasions by tossing some conspicuous 

 object into the air as the birds were passing. On one occasion I saw a Jaeger swoop down at a 

 duck ])addling quietly on the surface of a pond, and the latter went tiappiug away in mortal terror 

 while the Jaeger passed on, probably highly pleased at giving the duck such a fright. 



Their taste is omnivorous and they harry the marshes for mice and lemmings, and feast upou 

 the dead flsh and other animal matter cast up by the sea, or search the hillsides for berries. The 

 arrival of a vessel in their neighborhood calls them about to secure the oflal thrown overboard. 

 The Eskimo say that they eat just what men like, hence the name given them, derived from the 

 word yuk or man. 



Up to the present date they are not known from the Aleutian chain. Elliott saw but two on 

 the Fur Seal Islands, and this was the last of July, and the birds were evidently stragglers. Tliey 

 are abundant along the low coast to Bering Straits, but, except about Kotzebue Sound, they are 

 not common to the north of that point. It is also found ou the east coast of Siberia, and I am led 

 to believe, from accounts brought me by natives, that it breeds also ou the Upper Yukon. 



All the Jaegers are very destructive to the eggs of other birds, and in spring uests of various 



s 



water-fowl are often destroyed by them. 



Like the other Jaegers, this species moves south during September. The long-tailed species 

 is less frequently found at sea than the last, and is rarely found about the ice-pack north of Bering 

 Straits. 



The swiftness and dexterity with which they pursue gulls and force them to disgorge is a 

 beautiful sight to witness, aud while either of the small terns or gulls can drive the Jaegers from 

 the viciuity of their nests yet the latter rob them of their prey at pleasure. While I was cami)ing 

 at the Yukon mouth a pair of these birds made their haunt in the viciuity of my tent and fed 

 ui)on the offal thrown upon the ice a few yards from the door. They soon became very familiar 

 and were always on hand hovering close overhead wheu we came in from a hunt. They would 

 stand about within a few yards and watch us with wistful eyes ready to pounce upon any morsel 



