120 IJATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IX ALASKA. 



A strong quiveriug motion of tbe atmosphere bluriert anil rendered unrecognizable distant 

 objects on land, as well as on tbe still icebonnd sea, now a sheet of dazzling white, reflecting 

 the sun's rays from myriads of constantly altering facets. From the distant hill-side came the 

 long-drawn plaintive whistle of the Curlews, and nearer at hand the sweet musical cry of the 

 Golden Plover. Circling over the ice-locked bay were Glaucous and Kittiwake Gulls, adding their 

 hoarse cries to the strange sounds of the distant chorus of wild fowl flocking about the borders of 

 ponds and lakes on the not distant flats. The house became unendurable, and, gun in hand, I 

 had scarcely left tbe building behind when a pair of Bufi'-breasted Sandpipers, the first I had 

 seen in this vicinity, were before me, feeding busily on a large dry knoll. After watching their 

 graceful motions for some time, I shot one and the other flew off out of sight, l»nt an hour lat^r it 

 returned and was secured, and on examination it proved to be the female. 



It is an abundant summer resident at Point Barrow, where they arrive the 1st of June and 

 leave early in August. Mr. Murdoch found them nesting there on the drier parts of the tundra, 

 where they lay four eggs in a little moss-lined depression on the ground. In one instance five eggs 

 were found. During the breeding season tbe males have some curious habits. Murdoch frecjueutly 

 saw solitary birds walking about, at this season, with one wing fully extended and held high in tbe 

 air. At times two birds would meet and " spar" for a few minutes and then rise together for 30 

 feet or so like towering birds and drift off to the leeward. Sometimes one would stretch himself 

 up to bis full height and, spreading his wings forward, pufi" out his throat and make a sort of 

 clucking noise, to the apparent admiration of bis companions. As a rule they were notably quiet 

 even at tbe mating season. 



The oOth of May, 1879, a party of three was «een by the writer on one of the islands in the 

 Yukon delta, and Dall records two specimens from the Y'ukon below Nulato and one from Sitka. 

 To the east, in Northern British America, especially in the Anderson Eiver region, it is present 

 and breeds in large numbers. Tbe 1st of August, 1881, 1 found them rather common on the north 

 coast of Siberia west of Koliuchin Bay, and they were evidently on their breeding ground there. 

 The eggs are fully described in Coues's Birds of the Northwest. 



From the meager opportunities I have bad to observe this interesting bird, I judge it to be 

 one of the gentlest and least suspicious of its kiud, as it is one of the most elegant in form and 

 markings. 



AcTiTis MACULAEiA (Linu.). Spotted Sandpiper. 



A few specimens were taken at Nulato, from the 10th to the 30th of May, by Dall, but the 

 record by the same naturalist that these Sandpipers are "not scarce at Saint Michaels in the fall," 

 is certainly erroneous, since during four successive autumns I i^aid special attention to securing 

 all the species of waders occurring there, but did not find a single example of this bird. It was 

 taken by Bischoff at Sitka, and this ends our verj- insufficient knowledge of its distribution in the 

 Territory. 



XuMENius HXJDSONicus (Lath.). Hudsouiau Curlew (Esk. Muy-u-nuoVh-taluVi). 



From May IS to 35 these birds begin to make their appearance on the coast of Norton Sound, 

 where, however, only a very few pairs remain to nest, the others passing on still farther north to 

 the extended open country bordering the shores of the Arctic. At the Y'ukon delta, on May 31, 

 1879, a pair was found mated and evidently about to nest, from tbe manner in which they greeted 

 my invasion of their haunt. 



The last days of May, and sometimes the first of June, they are rather common in flocks and 

 small parties on the dry hill-sides about Saint Michaels, but tbcy are never abundant and are 

 always rather shy. Their long, mellow whistle is a familiar sound at this time, and is a pleasant 

 note amid the many harsh tuougli joyous cries from the lusty throats of the various waterfowl. 



They are soon gone, except a stray pair here and there; but early in August, as tbe bine- 

 berries and "crow-berries ''begin to ripen, flocks of this and tbe following species come down, young 

 and old, from their summer homes, and remain during most of August, until they are fat and heavy 

 through much feeding. Early in September they are on their way still further south, and are seen 



