ANAKTUVUK PASS 73 



British Columbia and the United States is given by Pitelka (1950, 

 p. 17) as males (11), 99 grams, females (7), 115 grams. In view of 

 the known capability of some species of birds to deposit large amounts 

 of fat and as small warm-blooded animals necessarily consume their 

 intrinsic resources rapidly, weights recorded at different seasons and 

 localities might not be of much use as indices of race. The agreement 

 of our weights in the arctic with those of Pitelka shows that these 

 dowitchers do not vary significantly in weight with season and place. 

 Apparently they neither store nor exhaust much substance during 

 migration. 



In 1954 ten examples of dowitchers were weighed at Anaktuvuk on 

 May 25 and 26 by Simon Paneak. This sampling, taken in a spring 

 season reputedly uncommonly cold, did not deviate significantly from 

 the mean weights of the preceding 5 years. 



By comparison with specimens in the U. S. National Museum our 

 dowitchers agree in characters with those from Alaska marked 

 scolopaceus. 



The flights of dowitchers are numerous but pass rather swiftly. 

 The first records are June 3, 1948, May 20, 1949, May 26, 1950, May 18, 

 1951, May 29, 1952, May 16, 1953, and May 25, 1954. Many birds 

 are seen in pairs but the largest developing egg found was 9 mm. In 

 1949 the maximum number recorded by Thomas Brower was 200 on 

 May 30. Soon thereafter only a few were seen and it is believed that 

 they pass rapidly to nesting grounds further north. 



The Nunamiut name, Kilyaktalik^ means "like a bundle when seen 

 from behind," a rather apt description which should not, however, 

 disparage the excellent ability of dowitchers in flight. They are 

 said to be seen very rarely in the valleys during summer, but 140 miles 

 west, along the Ahlasuruk, we have seen dowitchers in summer which 

 acted as if nesting (L. Irving and Paneak, 1954) . While it is thought 

 that they may nest at Anaktuvuk, no indications of nesting are 

 explicitly recalled, so I do not list them as nesting birds. 



Micropalama himantopus (Bonaparte) 



9 males 



June 1-4 



weight (10), 53-66, 

 average 58 g. 



3 females, not 



June 8-12 



weight 54, 56, 55 g. 



preserved 







Stilt sandpipers were also recorded from two examples which Ray 

 Hock and I examined after they had been taken on May 30 and 

 June 3, 1948, and in observations by Thomas Brower between June 1 

 and 6, 1949. Since that time they were not again reported until 

 between May 31 and June 12, 1954, when two singles, a group of 8, 

 and a group of 3 were reported by Simon Paneak. 



