ANAKTUVUK PASS 91 



birds which were well feathered and nearly ready to fly when they had 

 died. Paneak and I discussed this story again as we watched the cliff 

 swallows building their nests against the houses at Bettles. We agreed 

 that he had certainly observed a colony of cliff swallows nesting on the 

 Kuparuk River cliffs some 40 miles northeast of Tuluak. He has 

 not seen nor heard of such nests anywhere else north of the timber. 



The nesting of cliff swallows in natural arctic sites is not unknown. 

 "On May 28, 1949, Mr. Rae found this swallow on the banks of the 

 Coppermine, having constructed its clustered nest against the cliffs 

 at the mouth of the Kendall River, latitude 67° N., but not yet laid 

 its eggs" (Richardson, 1852, p. 395) . 



Cliff swallows are common nesting on the houses at Bettles Village 

 and Airfield, but no other report than Paneak's has shown them to 

 nest north of there in Alaska. The invasion of the arctic tundra for 

 nesting turned out to be an unproductive effort for that particular 

 colony of cliff swallows. 



I do not have any records of their occurrence at Anaktuvuk. 



Family CORVIDAE: Jays, Magpies, Crows 

 Perisoreus canadensis pacificus (Gmelin) 



4 males Feb. 17, Apr. 2, weight (1), 79 g. 



May 15, Nov. 17 

 6 females Jan. 26, Feb. 1, 21, 



July 31, Oct. 24 

 Snotsexed Mar. 2, Oct. 2 weight (1), 76 g. 



Alaska jays, called Kirik by the Nunamiut, are commonly seen north 

 of timber in winter, where 11 specimens have been taken along the 

 headwaters of the John River. During summer these birds are not 

 seen. The two summer specimens are a full-sized young female found 

 at Kangomavik July 31, 1950, and a male at Tuluak Lake taken May 

 15, 1951. Three were reported seen by Tom Brower May 8, 1949, at 

 Tuluak Lake. A young jay shot in the Killik Valley July 6, 1951, by 

 Simon Paneak and William Irving was a young enough bird to settle 

 all doubt that it was raised in the mountains. The Nunamiut remark 

 that they have never found a jay's nest is a good comment on the bird's 

 extreme secretiveness in nesting season, but a few evidences of jays in 

 summer and the young bird found on the Killik assure us that jays 

 nest in the mountains. 



Their sociable winter behavior makes the jays well known even on 

 the tundra in that season in contrast with the mystery surrounding 

 their nesting. No cold restricts their activity or range, but on cold 

 winter days they erect their feathers until they appear spherical when 

 at rest. They are seen so much more frequently in winter that I be- 

 lieve some jays travel north from their common haunts in the timber 



