BIRDS. 49 



tossed the'iu, and if a fragiueut was held up iu the baud tliej' would bover a few feet over it, 

 although not daring to come closer. They also soon became used to our shooting and scarcely 

 noticed it even when near by. Unfortunately our companionship lasted only about ten days, when 

 I broke camp, and so lost the opportunity of gaining their complete confidence. After the first 

 few days they seemed to ai)i)ropriate the camp and made a fierce attack upon any others of their 

 kind that chanced near. 



This is the common Jaeger at Point Barrow, where Murdoch did not find it breeding. It ap. 

 pears to be rare on the Near Islands, where Turner saw only two. 



Gavia alba (Gunn.). Ivory Gull. 



Specimens of this little known species were seen on several occasions by the naturalist of the 

 Jeannette, Mr. E. L. Newcomb, during the long imprisonment iu the icy sea to the west of our 

 northern coast. Murdoch noted it as a rare visitor at Poiut Barrow, and in addition these birds 

 have been noted by various expeditions among the network of channels north of British America, 

 especially by McClintock at Cape Krabbe, iu latitude 77° 25'. From the region north of Europe 

 we have most of our knowledge concerning the Ivory Gull's habits. 



Malmgren found them nesting abundantly on the limestone clifts in Murchisou Bay, Sjiitz- 

 bergeu, latitude 82^ north. This was 'on -July 7, 1861, and their nests were in clefts and niches 

 midway on the cliffs, and above them were nesting Kittiwake and Glaucous Gulls. The nests con- 

 tained one egg each, and consisted of shallow depressions, in loose soil on the rocks, lined with a 

 few dry plants, grass, moss, and feathers. On July 30 the eggs contained large young. These 

 birds have the habit of watching about seal-holes in the ice, waiting for the seal, whose excrement 

 the gull devours. 



RissA TEiDACTYLA POLLicAEis Ridgw. Pacific Kittiwake (Esk. PtMlc). 



The entire coast line of Alaska with all its numerous islands, both near the mainland and far 

 out at sea, are inhabited by this beautiful gull. The explorers of the Telegraph Exi^edition found 

 it abundant from Sitka to Bering Straits. 



On the Near Islands Turner records this gull as not abundant and not known to breed. On 

 tlie Commanders it breeds abundantlj'. The writer's first acquaintance with them was in the 

 Aleutian Islands in early May, 1877, when they were common, and again the same season, on June 

 13 and 16, they were found migrating off the Fur Seal Islands and the Yukon mouth. At Saint 

 Michaels each year they arrive from the 10th to the ISth of May, and were first seen searching for 

 food iu the narrow water-channels iu the tide cracks along shore. As the open sj)aces appeared 

 they congregated there until iu early .Juue wheu the ica broke up and moved ofl'shore. At this 

 time the Kittiwakes sought the rugged clifls aloug the shore of the mainland or the precipitous 

 islands dotting Bering Sea and the adjoining Arctic. Although nesting abundantly at the head 

 of !N^ortou Bay none were found near Saint Michaels after the migration uutil toward the end of 

 July or 1st of August, wheu they were found again about the outer points and rocky islets oft- 

 shore. They are verj'' gregarious aud fly to and from their feeding grounds in long straggling 

 flocks. During the middle of the day they were usually found gathered in a large body on the 

 rocks. 



By August 5 or 10 the young, conspicuous by their black nuchal area, were found iu consider- 

 able numbers with the adults. When one of their number is shot the others circle about for a 

 short time, but wheu a second or third is killed the rest make off, usually straight out to sea, aud 

 do not return for hours. From the end of August they frequent the inner bays and mouths of 

 small streams, and are often seen in large i)arties feeding upon the myriads of sticklebacks which 

 are found along the coast at this season. 



They pursue their prey in the same graceful manner as the terns, by hovering over the water 

 and plunging down headforemost. It is an extremely interesting sight to watch a large flock 

 passing over calm water in this manner. They are liu)ited strictly to tide- water aud rarely ascend 

 even the Yukon delta over a few miles. 

 S. Mis. 150 7 



