ANAKTUVUK PASS 85 



Aegolius funereus richardsoni (Bouaparte) 



1 male Oct. 3, 1950, weight 115.8 g. 



Savlojoik 



These small boreal owls were described as residents of the spruce 

 forests and were named Takpilyakruk by the Nunamiut before speci- 

 mens were at hand for verification. Normally residents of the timber, 

 they do, however, occasionally venture north. The specimen recorded 

 is from within the most northern spruce forest at the head of the 

 Savioyuk River. But one was recorded observed May 18, 1949, at 

 Tuluak Lake and another September 27, 1950, at the head of Inak- 

 pasugaruk Creek. From these records they are considered to be 

 occasional summer visitors to the treeless country of Anaktuvuk 

 Valley. 



Family PICIDAE: Woodpeckers, Wrynecks 

 Colaptes auratus borealis Ridgway 



On May 31, 1952, 1 saw a yellow-shafted flicker 3 times at the edge 

 of the willows near the mouth of Inakpasugaruk Creek, and I saw 

 it again twice the next day. I could find no opinion that one had 

 previously been seen in the mountains. However, from my descrip- 

 tion, Simon Paneak recognized it as like the skin of one which David 

 Tobuk had shot while it was hammering on a pole by his house at 

 Settles Village. The people at Kobuk know the flicker well and say 

 that to have its skin brings good luck. The bird observed at Inak- 

 pasugaruk is considered a rare visitor from the forested country. 



Dendrocopos pubescens nelsoni (Oberholser) 



1 female Sept. 7, 1948, 



Tuluak Lake 



Another specimen of Nelson's downy woodpecker was obtained No- 

 vember 27, 1947, within the spruce forest at Hunt Fork and sent to 

 George Sutton, who identified it. 



The Nunamiut distinguish two woodpeckers, Toyuh, and a larger 

 bird Toyukpuk. The name for the smaller bird refers to the downy 

 woodpecker, which is well known in the forest and occasionally seen 

 in the willows north of the mountain line, but only in winter. The 

 3-toed woodpecker has never been seen north of the forest. 



The willows of the northern valleys occasionally reach a diameter 

 of six inches at a height of from one to three feet above ground, and 

 there are very rare sparse northern stands of small cottonwoods. 

 Dead, stunted willows do not look like good residential material even 

 for a small woodpecker, and I could find no evidence that nest holes 

 have been seen in the tundra willows. It may be that the downy wood- 

 pecker nests in timber and sometimes ranges north after the nesting 



