KOBUK 147 



Family SYLVIIDAE: Old World Warblers, Gnatcatchers, Kinglets 

 Phylloscopus borealis kennicotti (Baird) 



Kennicott's willow warbler was designated by Paneak with an 

 Eskimo name Songakpalutungik, meaning small bird the color of bile, 

 and he recognized it when I first showed him a specimen. Since Shel- 

 don applied the same name to a specimen identified as Dendroica pete- 

 chia amnieola^ his recognition of both species is questionable. Paneak 

 considered the name Songdkpalutungik explicit for P. horedlis, which 

 greatly outnumbered the not so common D. petechia and W. pusilla in 

 our experience at Anaktuvuk. We found willow warblers common 

 on the Ahlasuruk (L. Irving and Paneak, 1954), and Townsend 

 (1887) and Grinnell (1900) identified them along the wooded part of 

 the Kobuk. Although they are now widely known from the arctic 

 tundra, Grinnell's report from Kobuk seems to give the only identifica- 

 tion of willow warblers in the arctic Alaskan woodland. 



Regulus calendula calendula (Linnaeus) 



When naming ruby-crowned kinglets, Sheldon spoke of their pres- 

 ence in winter at Kobuk. Eskimos at Anaktuvuk have reported king- 

 lets there in winter, and an Indian at Old Crow, Yukon Territory, 

 told me it was a winter bird there. The few dates when specimens 

 have been taken on the arctic coast were in the early and late winter 

 (Bailey, 1948). Although I think that the information of the native 

 people is correct, confirmation is needed before designating kinglets 

 as resident during winter in the arctic forest. 



Family MOTACILLIDAE : Wagtails and Pipits 

 Motacilla flava Linnaeus 



Although yellow wagtails have now been frequently collected north 

 of timber in the Brooks Range and on the arctic slope, no previous re- 

 ports have shown them on the wooded part of the Kobuk River. On 

 the arctic tundra wagtails are found about patches of willow brush 

 on marshy ground. Sheldon reported that wagtails were found in 

 such situations near Kobuk. The bird is so distinct and well known 

 to Alaskan Eskimos that Sheldon's statement is evidence for its oc- 

 currence near Kobuk. 



Family PARULIDAE: Wood Warblers 



Among the six species of Parulidae reported by previous observers 

 on the Kobuk, only the myrtle warbler was explicitly named by Shel- 

 don in Kobukmiut. The yellow warbler and pileolated warbler are 

 common near Kobuk, but in our discussion I did not establish their 



