38 Universifij of Calif ornia Puhlications in Zoology. [Vol. 7 



Sterna paradisaea Brlinnich. Arctic Tern. 



A single specimen, an adult female, secured in Bradfield 

 Canal on July 26 (no. 9890). Many arctic terns were seen in 

 Frederick Sound, near Thomas Bay, on August 13 ; and the 

 species was fairly common at the head of Thomas Bay, August 

 13 to 23, feeding in company with the numerous gulls seen 

 at this point. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus Pallas. Pelagic Cormorant. 



Generally distributed through the region, and in places 

 quite abundant. Probably more were seen about Kupreanof 

 Island, and in the bays and channels on the west side of 

 Prince of Wales Island than anywhere else, but at least a few 

 individuals were observed at nearly every point we visited. At 

 the north end of Kupreanof Island numerous large flocks were 

 encountered on the evening of April 10, flying in to roost on 

 some rocky islets. 



Individuals with and without the conspicuous white flank 

 patches were seen throughout the summer, sometimes in the same 

 flocks. The single specimen preserved (no. 7215, Kupreanof 

 Island, April 10) is an adult female in breeding plumage, with 

 large white flank patches. This bird at the time of capture 

 had many long, slender M'hite plumes scattered over the glossy 

 purple plumage of the neck, and some on the interscapulars, 

 but these feathers seemed to be very brittle and easily broken, 

 and in the manipulation necessary to the proper preservation of 

 a greasy skin a large proportion of those on the neck and all on 

 the back, w^ere lost. Of the available specimens in nuptial 

 plumage (five in the Museum collection, and two in the Grinnell 

 collection) but a single bird (no. 1343 coll. J. Grinnell, Sitka, 

 Alaska, July 16, 1896) shows any trace of white plumes on 

 the back. These might be lost in the natural process of abrasion, 

 or else in the preparation of the specimen, but in the freshly 

 killed bird they are very conspicuous, while they are evidently 

 entirely lacking in most museum specimens. 



