142 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



Strix nebulosa nebulosa Forster 



The great gray owl is known by both Nunamiut and Kobuk people 

 as a woodland resident with the same name and clearly described 

 appearance. Indians at Old Crow, Yukon Territory, named an ex- 

 ample, which one of them shot for us, and remarked upon its appear- 

 ance, habits, and even its merit as food which distinguish it from the 

 great-homed owls. The Old Crow Indian name, nastoh, is one of the 

 three Indian specific names among 91 which resemble Eskimo naming. 

 (L. Irving, 1958b) . Arctic people seem to have a special interest in 

 collecting and recalling information about owls. The great gray 

 owl had been mentioned earlier on the Kobuk only in rather vague 

 comments by McLenegan ( 1889 ) . 



Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus) 



The boreal owl is also well described by Eskimos at Kobuk, although 

 it had not been earlier reported there. This little owl is named and 

 described alike by Nunamiut (L. Irving, 1953) and at Kobuk. Like 

 the great gray owl, it usually keeps in thick timber, where it is not 

 commonly seen, but I find that many people living in the arctic forests 

 are likely to give clear details as to localities and circumstances in 

 which owls have been seen and that they are usually precise in the 

 descriptive comments by which they distinguish the species. 



Family ALCEDINIDAE: Kingfishers 

 Megaceryle alcyon caurina (Grinnell) 



Sheldon gave me three names for kingfishers and showed his special 

 liking for them by saying that he would not care to shoot one. King- 

 fishers have been noted by all ornithologists on the Kobuk. I have 

 seen them there and on the Alatna and upper Koyukuk Elvers. The 

 Nunamiut have heard of them from their forest-dwelling neighbors, 

 but I could find no sign that kingfishers had been seen north of the 

 large forested rivers. 



Family PICIDAE: Woodpeckers, Wrynecks 

 Colaptes aiiratus boreulis Ridgway 



The yellow-shafted flicker, reported only by McLenegan (1889) on 

 the upper Kobuk, was unmistakably described and named by Shel- 

 don who reported it frequently heard in the spring of 1954. When 

 I reported seeing a flicker at Anaktuvuk to the Eskimos there, they 

 were surprised at its appearance on the tundra for they had only 

 heard it described by neighbors living on the wooded Koyukuk. 



