36 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



Anser albifrons frontalis Baird 



female May 23 weight 2844 g. 



White-fronted geese are familiar migrants, making frequent spring 

 and fall flights through the mountains. The earliest observations are 

 May 16, 1949, May 21, 1950, May 9, 1951, May 18, 1952, May 13, 1953 

 and May 15, 1954. In Nunamiut they are called Niklivik, which means 

 "goose." Most of the numerous flights are heard passing high among 

 the mountains during the short nights of late May. Landings have 

 occasionally been observed in spring but not from the southbound au- 

 tumn flights. The nearest nesting of these geese known to the Nuna- 

 miut is along the lower Colville River. It was my impression that 

 white-fronted geese flew higher and more directly on their course 

 than any but snow geese. 



Chen hyperborea hyperborea (Pallas) 



1 female May 20, 1954 very fat egg 30 mm. 



Snow geese were first reported seen on May 20, 1949, May 15, 1950, 

 May 19, 1951, May 14, 1953, and May 15, 1954, and many landed in 

 Anaktuvuk Valley just north of the mountain line in 1948. In recent 

 years none had been killed until a few landed in 1954. These geese, 

 called Kangoh in Nunamiut, are known as regular spring migrants 

 which sometimes land in the Valley. They often fly high among the 

 mountains, being the highest flying of the migrating birds. Occa- 

 sionally they are seen in the fall, but they are not known to land at 

 that season. A few are known by the Nunamiut to nest about the large 

 river mouths on the eastern Alaskan arctic coast. Snow geese are 

 more rarely seen than other geese and usually only in small flocks. 

 Occasionally one or a few of them join in the flights of white-fronted 

 geese. 



Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos Linnaeus 



2 males May 24, 1949, June weight (3), 1099, 



26, 1951 1151, 1310 g. 

 1 female May 28, 1949 weight 800 g. • 



The earliest records of common mallards are May 20, 1949, May 

 16, 1950, May 13, 1953, and May 15, 1954. To the Nunamiut they 

 are well known and are called Ogiiiguh, a word representing their 

 call, and a better representation of the sound than our "quack." 

 Six mallards were reported May 24, 1949, several groups of 8 to 10 

 were seen in 1953 and a few are seen in each spring. A male was 

 seen in the Killik Valley near Odrivik Lake August 10, 1950, and a 

 moulting male unable to fly was taken June 26, 1951, in Pitaich Lake. 

 None are known to nest in the mountain valleys, but from the fact that 



