XO. 2 BIRDS OF ALASKA AND SIBERIA — HERSEY 3 



covered a storm arose which forced us to make camp, and I remained 

 here until June ii. Although impatient of this delay, I found birds 

 plentiful and the time was employed to good advantage. Eggs of the 

 Pectoral Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher, as well as several 

 other species, were secured while here. At last we were able to 

 resume our journey and left this point about seven o'clock at night 

 and reached our destination at four o'clock the next morning. 



Headquarters were established at the wireless station at the mouth 

 of the river. There were no houses near ; the village of Kotlik, eight 

 miles away, being the nearest settlement. The people of this village, 

 mostly natives, were at this time at their summer fishing camps, some 

 distance away. Excepting the men at the station, I saw almost no 

 one during my stay here. 



The country is low tundra, very little above sea level, flat and 

 monotonous. It is dotted with little sloughs and ponds, and inter- 

 sected by numerous creeks. The drier parts are covered with a 

 grayish moss and a little grass and Jow creeping vines, but about 

 the creeks the grass is heavier and greener. Small clumps of dwarf 

 willows and alders are found in places. Scattered along the shore 

 of the river are low mud flats, sometimes quite extensive. They are 

 covered by water _at high tide and support a scant growth of stiff, 

 coarse grass about 6 or 8 inches high. These flats make safe feed- 

 ing grounds for Little Brown Cranes and geese, as it is impossible 

 to approach them unobserved. So bare and level is the country that 

 a photograph of the river, taken from the shore, shows the opposite 

 bank as nothing but a straight black line, such as might be made 

 across the print with a ruler and coarse stub pen. 



The bulk of the breeding season was spent here, during which 

 time many miles of tundra were tramped over, and with a boat I 

 explored such of the flats in the river as I could reach. I found 

 Pintails and several species of shore birds breeding abundantly. 

 Gulls, Terns, and Jaegers were common, and among the willows 

 and alders were Hoary and common Redpolls, and Alaska Yellow 

 Wagtails. Willow Ptarmigan and Alaska Longspurs were common 

 and widely distributed species in the region. 



Several species found by Mr. Nelson at the time of his visit were 

 not seen by me, or were present in very small numbers. As I was 

 in the country a comparatively short time, I was not able to explore 

 a large section, especially the great expanse of territory between the 

 Yukon and Kuskoquim Rivers. Could I have done so it is possible 

 that I would have found some of these species, although, personally, 



