28 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



small remaining supply of mifrozen water. When I reached Anak- 

 tuvuk in early March I found that both willow and rock ptarmigan 

 had been even more numerous than during the preceding winter, and 

 from Bettles northward along the John Valley their winter progress to- 

 ward the tundra was shown by their tracks in the snow. With Simon 

 Paneak I discussed his winter observations of birds and his collection 

 of data on the feeding and night shelter of the willow ptarmigan. 



We met again in Bettles in mid- June to fly to Howard Pass, where 

 Terris Moore and I had briefly surveyed the snow-covered coimtry 

 in the preceding spring (L. Irving and Paneak, 1954), and landed 

 on Itivlik Lake 20 miles east of the Pass. For 6 weeks we searched the 

 valley of the Ahlasuruk, finding 46 species of nesting birds. This is 

 14 fewer than in Anaktuvuk, and the absence at Ahlasuruk of some 

 migrants from the American continent that are very familiar in Anak- 

 tuvuk suggests that on the Alilasuruk, 140 miles westward, the strength 

 of their westward migratory movement diminishes. 



Since that time I have visited with Paneak and his family occasion- 

 ally at several camps in Anaktuvuk Valley, at Savioyuk Kiver, and at 

 Anivik Creek, the last two being winter camps in the northern border 

 of the forest. Simon and his wife Susie have continued to record bird 

 migrations, and in 1955 he visited me at Anchorage for a month. 



In March 1957, while he was in Fairbanks to join our expedition to 

 Old Crow, Paneak developed an illness which was diagnosed as pul- 

 monary tuberculosis and he went to the Alaska Native Hospital in 

 Anchorage for treatment. His illness, when I saw him during the 

 summer confined to the hospital, was in sad contrast to his former 

 vigor. In October surgery promptly changed his outlook and pros- 

 pects and late in the winter we enjoyed his frequent visits in the 

 laboratory and for dinner at home. During March and April he 

 kept watch from the fifth floor of the hospital with a telescope, record- 

 ing the arrival of the earliest migratory birds. On April 22, 1958, 

 he was discharged, and left eager to see his family and home after 

 a year's absence. 



The Birds of Anaktuvuk Pass 



The accounts that follow here and in subsequent chapters are pre- 

 ceded by a 5-column tabulation of the number and sex of all specimens 

 collected; the date on which they were collected; weight in grams; 

 fatness on a scale ranging from fat (F), medimn fat (MF), little fat 

 (LF), to very little fat (VLF) ; and, where important, certain 

 measurements. 



