Gray -Crowned Rosy Finch Leucosdcte tephrocods irvingi (see pp. 112, 148). 



3. Kobuk 



Tt was in may 1952 that I was introduced to a new portion of the 

 -*- northwestern interior of Alaska in the pleasant company of Terris 

 Moore, president of the University of Alaska, when he piloted me to 

 Kobuk village, the upper Noatak Eiver, and Howard Pass (see 

 map, fig. 1). 



The climate of the Kobuk Valley is tempered by the protection of 

 the mountains along its northern margin, so that subarctic plants 

 flourish and cottonwood, birch, and spruce reach good size. As a result 

 of irregular glacial deposition and the meandering of the river through 

 its gravel plain the wooded areas vary in extent and pure stands of 

 timber are rare. Water collects on level areas because it cannot drain 

 through the underlying permanently frozen ground. Some of the fre- 

 quent marshy flats and lakes give way to areas of dry tundra over 

 the outwash from tributaries and moraines in the upper valley. Wil- 

 low and alder thickets are extensive. Because of the terrain and prox- 

 imity to the coast there are some tundra and maritime species of birds 

 in addition to the fauna of the northwestern forest. 



131 



