104 XT. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



The Nunamiut identijacation of willow warblers with a name re- 

 called from their childhood is a good indication that the birds are 

 historic members of the avifauna. That they had not recently seen 

 them until I obtained a specimen in 1950 can be explained by the fact 

 that the people with whom I most associated have resided north of the 

 thick willows since 1936, whereas from 1920 to 1936 they had lived 

 principally on the arctic coast. 



I believe that my fragments of evidence combine to indicate the 

 regular arrival of willow warblers at certain dense willow patches in 

 the valleys at the end of May, where they promptly establish nesting 

 areas and lay eggs in mid or late June. The young birds appear to 

 be near adult size at the end of July and by mid- August they are in 

 migratory movement. 



It is quite imderstandable to me that the records of willow warblers 

 are few and variable, and that no nesting in arctic Alaska has hitherto 

 been confirmed in reports. From the vague literature on the subject, 

 doubts of their firm establishment in Alaska were reasonably ex- 

 pressed (Bent, 1949) . But my observations give no evidence that the 

 population of willow warblers in Anaktuvuk is small, unstable, or 

 irregular, and I believe that their existence is historic because of their 

 designation with a specific ISTunamiut name by Eskimos whom I have 

 found to be singularly precise in the recognition and nomenclature of 

 birds (L. Irving, 1953). 



Regulus calendula calendula (Linnaeus) 



I have had several reports of ruby-crowned kinglets at Anaktuvuk 

 and, surprisingly, they point to its winter residence there. In the 

 spring of 1948 Jesse Ahgook brought me an example with the bright 

 red crown feathers of a male, reporting that he had collected it in 

 early winter at Hunt Fork. The bird had deteriorated beyond possi- 

 bility of saving. Simon Paneak said that the kinglet was familiar to 

 them, that a few were usually seen in the northern part of the forest, 

 and that some remained in winter. He thought that kinglets were 

 occasionally seen north of the timber in winter. 



We discussed kinglets frequently and several people thought that 

 they had seen them among the willows north of timber in winter, 

 but realizing the critical evidence required they did not at first wish 

 to present their opinions as records. John Krog and I looked for 

 them in winter and summer without success at Anaktuvuk. We 

 obtained one specimen, identified as Regulus calendula calendula 

 (Linnaeus) at Bettles on August 25, 1951. 



Simon Paneak reported that he saw a kinglet among the thick 

 willows at Nakrak just after Christmas 1952. He watched it from 

 within a few feet during several minutes, but it was too close to 



