118 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



. ToTANUS PLAViPES (Gmel.). Yellow-legs. 



Durlug the exploiatious of the "VYesteru Uuion Telegraph Expedition speciraeus of the small 

 Yellow-legs were taken at Sitka aud Kadiak Island, on the southeastern shore of the Territory, 

 and at Fort Yukon Mr. Lockhart secured its eggs. Hartlaub records it in small flocks on Chilcat 

 River. Dall fouud it at Nulato and the Yukon mouth, and the middle of August, 1878, I shot a 

 bird of the year, at Saint Michaels, as it was feeding on the boi'der of a brackish pool. The 

 natives were familiar with the bird, but told me it occurred only rarely. 



In the Upper Yukon region, however, it is more or less common, and among the skins brought 

 me by the fur traders is a female, taken on May 3, at Fort Reliance, and another secured on the 

 7th of the same mouth. On the Lower Yukon it is not common, and is very rare along the shore 

 of Bering Sea. 



Spring birds from the tapper Yukon have many black feathers with irregular whitish borders 

 scattered over the back, mixed with the ordinary winter dress. The young bird from Saint 

 Michaels has the same pattern of coloration as the adult, but the colors are dull. There is no 

 record of this species from the Asiatic shore nor from the Arctic coast of Alaska. 



ToTANUS soLiTARius (Wils.). Solitary Sandpiper. 



A few skins of this Tattler were brought me from Anvik aud Nulato, both on the Lower 

 Yukon. At the latter place Dall records it as a scarce species, arriving about May 5. There is 

 no instance known of its occurrence in Southeastern Alaska, but its capture on the Lower Yukon 

 involves its presence along the upper part of the same stream. Notwithstanding the general dis- 

 tribution of this bird, and its occurrence during the breeding season through, the Northern States, 

 its eggs still remain among the special prizes to be drawn by some fortunate collector. 



In the Bulletin oi^ the Nuttall Ornithological Club, October, 1878, Dr. Brewer describes the 

 first and only known set of its eggs which hear the marks of authenticity. As a commentary upon 

 the character of the eggs which have been xiroduced so frequently as those of the bird in question, 

 I quote the doctor's remark, that " during the 'ast year eggs were sent to me for verification from 

 five different parties, and all were deemed not worthy of credence." The doctor learned of the 

 capture of a bird from the nest near Castleton, Yt., and secured the loan of both parent and egg, 

 and 1 quote the gist of his remarks below: 



The bird and egg were taken about the middle of May, 1878, on the ground, in a pasture bor- 

 dering a swamp. The bird fluttered from her nest when approached and ran a short distance, then 

 stood still until shot by the finder, Mr. J. Richardson. The single egg was placed in a small 

 depression in the ground, without any attempt at a nest. The egg had the appearance as if 

 jirematurely taken from the parent, and was smaller than the doctor anticipated, measuring only 

 1.37 by .95, whereas the egg of the European Totanus ocUropus, a closely-allied bird, corresponding 

 in size and shape, measures 1.50 by 1.10. The ground color is light drab, similar to that of the 

 egg of 2Egialitis melodus. Over this are scattered small rounded markings of brown, some of these 

 quite dark and nowhere confluent, aud never large enough to be called blotches. At the larger 

 end there are a few purplish or lilac shell-marks. The shape is as usual in snipe-eggs. 



Heteractitis incanus (Gmel.). Wandering Tattler (Esk. Tsle-l-fibv-i-ul-). 



Well termed the " wandering" is this plainly colored and graceful bird. 



Over the entire coast of the Pacific north of the equator its presence has been noted by the 

 various natui'alists whose Bohemian tastes have made their lives somewhat akin to that of this 

 gentle wanderer. Across the broad ocean it ranges to those bits of paradise dotting the South 

 Seas, tripj)ing its way daintily on the beaches of the coral-inclosed islands, their feet laved by 

 the warm waters of the tropics, and their eyes familiar with the luxuriant face of nature in its 

 gentlest and most lovelv state. The next season may find them thousands of miles to the north, 

 und(?r the shadow of the stupendous clitfs and grand but desolate and repellaut scenes of the 

 Aleutian Islands. It reaches the north in May, and a specimen in the National IMuseum collec- 

 tion M-as taken by Dall on May 27 at Nulato, on the Yukon. 



