BIRDS. 177 



A single specimeu of tbis bird is recorded from Fort Rupert, Vancouver Islaud, June 1, 1862, 

 but tliis reference uudoubtedlj- belongs to littoralis. Mr. Ridgway is inclined to consider this bird 

 a well defined species, and to separate it from the form to ■wliich it has been referred, claiming 

 that the two do not intergade, as has been supposed. Tbis supposition may be true, but it is diffi- 

 cult to definitely settle the matter until more is known of the geographical range of the two. L. 

 arctoa has been ascribed to the Aleutian Islands, but apparently upon insufficient evidence, 

 although Bonaparte and Schlegel, in their work (l<jc. cit.), state that Ibey have seen specimens of 

 this bird which were killed upon the islands. It was recorded by Steller as one of the birds he 

 found upon Beriug Islaud, and it is well known from the Kurile Islands and the coast of Kam- 

 chatka. 



On the Commander Islands Stejneger found griseoniicJia resident, and most numerous on Copper 

 Islaud, where they frequented the rugged coast-line. This observer notes them as a shore-loving 

 species during the breeding season, but when the young are able to follow the parents lead them 

 inland along the streams iu search of insects. He shot full-fledged young on July 7, and adds 

 that many pairs raise two broods in a season. 



It winters in Southeastern Siberia, frequenting the vicinity of villages, and becomes very 

 familiar, approaching the houses for its food. A young griseonucha, about two- thirds grown, obtained 

 on Saint George Island, on July 12, by Elliott, has the entire body fuscous-brown or umber-brown. 

 A dingy rusty wash on back and breast. The head may be called a dark umber with a grayish 

 wash. The outer edges of secondaries and wing-coverts pale rose. Tertials edged with rusty. 

 Wing aud tail feathers dark brown-edged with a narrow pale border. The basil half of feathers on 

 body dull, pale plumbeous, which shows through on the abdomen, and less distinctly on other 

 parts of the body, giving a peculiar shade to the general tint. A full-grown bird of this species, 

 in this plumage, is figured with an adult iu Bonaparte and Schlegel. {Loc. cit.) 



Toward the close of the last century, Sauer, a member of Billings's Expedition, writes that the 

 Unalaskan Aleuts prized this bird for its feathers, which they used for ornamental purposes on 

 their clothing. 



Leucosticte tepheocotis LiTTOEALis (Baird). Hepburn's Leucosticte. 



The I j'pes of this form came from Sitka, where they were obtained during the explorations of 

 the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition, and the original description is contained in a com- 

 munication by Professor Baird in the Transactions of the Cliicago Academy of Sciences, p. 318. 

 Since then specimens have been obtained from Sitka, Kadiak, British Columbia, Wyoming, and 

 various i>ortions of the central Eocky Mountain region, as far south as Colorado. We learn from 

 Mr. Ridgway, in his monograph of this genus,* that littoralis occurs iu winter with tephrocotis 

 throughout the hitter's southward range, the abundance of the former increasing to the westward. 

 " We have seen it in the winter idumage from Kadiak aud Sitka of the Alaskan coast, from Fort 

 Simpson, British Columbia, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, while it is known to extend in very 

 severe winters as far southward as the parallel of 3"J° iu the Sierra Xevada and contiguous ranges 

 to the eastward. On the Cascade Mountains J. K. Lord found them in October." 



In summer plumage this race has been obtained only iu Colorado, where Mr. Aiken shot 

 it from flocks of teplirocotis as they were passing to the northward in the spring. From the fact 

 that it has been found during winter iu the northwest, from the island of Kadiak southward, it is 

 exceedingly probable that the breeding ground of this race is the coast system of mountain ranges 

 of Southeastern Alaska and British Columbia, possibly extending southward to the alpine sum- 

 mits of the Cascades of Washington Territory and Oregon. Mr. Ridgway further states that a 

 series of eleven winter specimens in the National Museum collection, representing the '■'■ campcstris" 

 style, forms a connection between littoralis and teplirocotis. On Kadiak Island littoralis aud 

 griseonucha occur in company, and it„is possible that further study, in this and the adjoining region, 

 may show that the two forms intergrade. For a most complete and satisfiictory treatment of 

 this genus those interested are referred to Mr. Ridgway"s monograph, previously cited. The 

 Kadiak specimens, obtained in February, are indistinguishable in general coloration from the 



* Bull. U. S. Geol. aud Geog. Surv., I, No. 2, second series, 1875, p. 62. 

 S. Mis. 156 23 



