66 NATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



and sliriiups, over ami around the nest. At the end of six weeks tbei' equal their parents in size 

 and are ready to take wing. Not until the beginning of the second year do they get the bright 

 glossy plumage and bright colors on the gular sac. This shag is a stupid and very inquisitive 

 bird, and utters no sound whatever except when flying over and around a boat or ship, which 

 apparently has a magnetic power of attraction for them. At such times they sometimes utter 

 a "low, droning croak." In their stomachs our author found the remains of small fish and coils 

 of parasitic worms. 



As this bird is found during the whole, winter, in spite of severe weather, perched on the 

 sheltered blufifs, tlie natives (of these islands) regard it with a species of affection, for it furnishes 

 the only supply that they can draw upon for fresh meat, soups, and stews, always wanted by the 

 sick; and were the shags sought after throughout the year as they are during the short spell of 

 intensely bitter weather that occurs in severe winters, driving the other water-fowl away, they 

 would certainly be speedily exterminated. They are seldom shot, however, when anything else 

 can be obtained. 



Upon Saint Matthew's and Saint Lawrence Islands, as well as upon the cliffs on both shores of 

 Bering Straits and the islands in the middle of the pass, this cormorant is a more or less common 

 summer resident. It is rather common about the cliffs at the head of Norton Sound, and is seen 

 at long intervals near Saint Michaels, and nests on Cape Vancouver, Nelson Island, and Cape Eo- 

 manzoff". Unfortunately my opportunities for studying the species of this genus in Bering Sea 

 were very limited, but I may note here that these birds offer an inviting field of investigation for 

 such naturalists as may visit the Territory in the future. 



Meeganser americanus (Cass.). American Merganser. 



Not a single individual of this species was seen by the writer during over fonr years' residence 

 in the Territory. Eecords of its occurrence in this region are furnished by Mr. Dall. It was 

 taken at Sitka by Bischoff and at Fort Yukon by Lockhart. The same writer secured the heads 

 of several specimens killed in tbe outer bay at Unalaska the 20th of December after a severe 

 storm. He considered it as an accidental visitor, although he was informed that it occurs about 

 the Fur Seal Islands in winter. Hartlaub records the capture of a male at Chilcat April 2G. It 

 has also been recorded from Alexandrovsk Island, Kenay by Finsch, from Kadiak by Beau, who 

 took a female July 30, 1880, and from Chilcoot by Hartlaub. (Stejueger, Orn. Expl. Kamtsch., 1885, 

 p. 177, footnote.) 



Merganser serrator (Linn.). Eed-breasted Merganser (Esl: Pai-yiM.).- 



This species is recorded from Amchitka Island, in the Western Aleutians, by Dall, who found 

 it breeding. Specimens were taken by Bischoff at Sitka and Kadiak, where they breed. It is a 

 common resident of the Near Islands and occurs on the Commander Islands. On an island in the 

 Yukon delta Dall found six nests of this bird. They were all carefully concealed under dead 

 leaves and were generally sheltered by a log of drift-wood, and in a small hollow lined with down 

 from the parent's breast. They contained from six to ten rich cream-colored eggs. 



At Unalaska, on June 5, 1877, 1 found a small flock of these birds near the mouth of a creek 

 at the head of a bay, and was led to suppose they were nesting in the vicinity. They are not re- 

 corded from the Fur Seal Islands, where they undoubtedly occur in tbe migrations. 



During the summer of 1881 I found them breeding upon Saint Lawrence Island and along the 

 Siberian coast from Plover Bay to Cape North through Bering Straits. On the Alaskan coast 

 they breed everywhere in suitable places from Sitka north to Icy Cape and perhaps to Point 

 Barrow. They are rather numerous about tbe head of Kotzebue Sound and the adjacent Selawik 

 Lake. At the Yukon delta and Saint Michaels they generally commence to arrive with tbe 

 open water about the middle of May and some seasons even as late as the 25th. The first 

 eggs are laid early in June, and the site for the nest on the marshes is ordinarily the same as that 

 chosen by other species of ducks with the usual foresight as to concealment and p roximity to a 

 pond. 



Fresh eggs were secured by me up to August 3, and on tbe Cth tbe downy young only a 

 few days old were found. Tbis bird is extremely gregarious and arrives in flocks of from ten to 



