BIRDS. 209 



it of telling the leiudoer when a man is in pursuit ; and it is also said to tell the deer whether or 

 not a man is a good shot. Knmlien adds that he has seen au Eskimo waste his last charge in 

 vainly trying to kill one of these birds, although a herd of deer was near by. 



In examining a large series of these birds, contained in the Xatioual Museum collection, great 

 variation is observed between specimens from the same locality, and it is diflficult to distinguish 

 any difference which may be ascribed to geographical influence. Spring specimens from the 

 Upper Yukon have a decided ashy shade on the crown, nape, and back, though toward the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts there is a more brownish shade. The dark centers of the feathers over this 

 region, the wings, and the tail are brown-edged, especially on the back, with a lighter shade. The 

 dark ashy of the nape extends forward on the ear-coverts, and the rest of the cheek, superciliary 

 stripe, and the entire under surface are of a nearly uniform buff or a yellowish-brown of vary- 

 ing intensity. The chin and tail-coverts are a little paler. A series of small, poorly-marked black 

 and brown spots extends down the sides of throat from the bill and reaches across the breast, thence 

 continuing towards the sides. A young bird obtained at Saint Michaels, July 29, 1S77, has the 

 crown and sides of the head brown, and the nape has au ashy wash of buff; the superciliary 

 stripe is faintly outlined. Back brown, with dark central areas to feathers, as in adult. The wings 

 dark-brown edged with fulvous-brown. Tail similar to adult. A well-marked series of dark 

 spots and shaft-streaks extends down the sides of the neck to bill and forms a heavily -marked area 

 across the breast, and a less strongly-marked series extends along the sides and flanks. In the 

 youngest specimens the buffy shade is less marked than in those which have attained their 

 second plumage or are in the process of moulting. Bill, feet, and legs are pale in young birds. 

 The s{>ring birds from the northwest appear grayer and more ashy above than specimens from the 

 Eastern United States at the same season. 



Anthus cervinus (Pallas). Eed-throated Pipit. 



This species was accredited to the Aleutian Islands in Zander, Cab., Jour, fiir Orn., Extra- 

 heft 1, 14, 1853. 



A specimen was recorded by Mr. Dall, at Saint Blichaels, during the Russian Telegraph 

 Ex[)editiou. This specimen has been alluded to by myself, Ridgway, and others, erroneously, as 

 A. pratensis, which latter species is not known from Alaska. 



CiNCLtJS MEXICANUS Swaius. American Dipper (Esk. Kiithl-liu-gdyuk). 



Throughout the Territory, wherever clear, swift-running streams afford suitable locations, this 

 bird is found. It has been obtained at Sitka and on the island of Unalaska, in the middle of the 

 Aleutian chain, and by Turner in the Near Islands, in August, and I have specimens from Fort 

 Reliance, at the headwaters of the Yukon, as well as from various points along the lower course 

 of this stream, and along the shores of Norton and Kotzebue Sounds, where the small streams flow 

 into the sea. Some natives from the interior, near the northeastern part of Kotzebue Sound, in 

 about latitude 09° N., described to me a little black bird that remains all winter about open spots 

 in the ice on the swift-running streams, and swims and dives in the water like aduck; this is 

 undoubtedly the Ouzel, and I received specimens from several localities in that region. Several 

 were obtained and brought me in mid-winter from the head of Norton Sound, during a cold period 

 when the thermometer registered as low as —50° at Saint Michaels, and they must frequently 

 endure a temperature of —60°, or even lower, since in the interior the cold is almost invariably 

 much more severe than along the coast. On tlie Upper Yukon it is also a resident, whence the fur 

 traders brought me wintering specimens. In this region also the cold is intense, as shown by the 

 fact that in one iustance a bottle of mercury suspended on the south side of a house remained 

 frozen for six weeks, during which time there were no means of ascertaining how low the temper- 

 ature descended below the —-123 necessary to produce this result. Throughout this period these 

 hardy little birds were busily seeking their food as usual about the open places in the ice marking 

 the rapids in the smaller streams, the icy waters and the frigid temjierature of the air not appearing 

 to affect them in the least except, perhaps, to make them a trifle less active than usual. It seems 

 S. Miss. 156 J 7 



