BlllDS. 



117 



In winter plumage the crowu, back of neck, dorsal region, with scapulars and wiugcoverts, 

 are marked by narrow daik-browu central shaft-lines which shade rapidly into the adjoining 

 grayish brown, fpllowed by the gray of the border. There is no trace of the irregular serrated 

 pattern of edging seen in the ordinary breeding bird of either sex. The rump and tail are much as 

 in breeding birds, but,likethe wings, are lighter colored in winter. The throat and neck below are 

 dull grayish or brownish ashy ; the breast and abdomen are white, faintly marked on the sides by a 

 few obscure bars. Youug birds are shaded below with pale fawn color in winter. The set of 

 measurements appended gi\e the range in dimensions exhibited by Alaskan specimens of this 

 bird : 



Date. 



Locality. 



June 3 

 June 3 

 July H 

 June 36 

 Jnly 11 

 July 11 

 May 16 

 May 16 

 Jnner 16 

 June 16 



Unaliiska IsLiud 



..do 



Saint Michaels.. 



.. do 



...do 



...do , 



..do 



.. do , 



...do , 



...do , 



From these measurements of specimens taken at random from my collection it will be seen 

 that the females average larger than the males in every way, but especially in length of bill. 



LiJiosA H^EMASTicA (Linn ). Hudsonian Godwit. 



A single specimen, a female in a stage midway between the summer and winter plumage, 

 taken at Nulato in June, is in my collection, and Dall obtained two specimens from the Yukon 

 mouth in spring. The above comjirise all the records of this bird in the vicinity of Bering Sea. 

 At Fort Yukon it occurs more commonly as a migrant, but thus far it is not known to breed within 

 the Territory, although it undoubtedly does. A single specimen is recorded by Hartlaub as seen 

 at Chilcat. 



This bird has a remarkably wide range, extending from the Arctic regions on the north, 

 through the entire length of two continents, to the Falkland Islands and Straits of Magellan. In 

 Birds of the Northwest, we learn that a set of its eggs is in the National Mu.seum collection; they 

 are four in number, and were found by Macfarlane, June 9, on the Anderson River. They measure 

 2.15 to 2.20 in length and 1.40 in breadth. "The ground is a very heavily shaded olive-drab, 

 much darker (almost as in a Loon's or Jaeger's egg) in two of the specimens than in the other. In 

 these darker specimens the markings are almost lost in the general heavy color, merely appearing 

 a little darker ; they are chiefly evident at the greater end. In the other the markings, of the 

 same general character, are, however, much more conspicuous, owing to the lighter ground." 



It has been taken, on May 1, at Kenai, and a young bird, in its first plumage, is in the National 

 Museum collection from that locality. The young in first plumage is very different from the adult. 

 The feathers on the ci'own have dark-brown centers with narrow, pale, ashy-white, borders. The 

 back of neck is a rather sooty-brown with fulvous and dull ashy edgings. On the back the bases of 

 feathers are dnll ashy, with a subtcrmiualborder of blackish bordered at tip, or outer edge of the 

 feathers, by dull buffy or fulvous. Kump dark ashy. Upper tail-coverts white. Tail as in adult, 

 except duller and with the markings less defined. The under coverts are white with an ashy-brown 

 wa.sh, but no sign of barring. Sides of head pale fulvous, mottled with dnll ashy. A baud of dull 

 fulvous ashy extends across the breast, and the rest of the under suiface is dull fulvous. 



TOTAXUS 3IELAN0LEUCUS (Gmel.). 



Greater Yellow-legs. 



Bischott' secured several specimens of this bird at Sitka, and these are the only ones known to 

 have been taken within the limits of Alaska. It must nest wherever found in the Territory, and 

 is very likely to occur upon the headwaters of the Yukon and its tributaries. Well identilied eggs 

 of this bird still remain a great desidei'atum, although a set has recently been obtained by the 

 National Museum from one of its correspondents. 



