OLD CROW 207 



which a bird or animal usually disregarded as food nevertheless 

 served for a meal. Eskimos and Indians relate these experiences as 

 objective comparative characterizations of the flesh and structure 

 of animals rather than from gastronomic interest. The Indian name 

 is Nastok. 



Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus) 



Although we did not see a boreal owl they were obviously familiar 

 to the Indians at Old Crow, who call them Nastotesul. Joe Bryant 

 of the Canadian Fish and Wildlife Service reported that he saw an 

 owl of this size about April 5 at Crow Flats, and Albert Abel gave 

 a good description of one which he saw there on April 16. Although 

 I have not seen one of these owls alive they are clearly described 

 by Indians and Eskimos as not unusual sights in the arctic forest 

 of Yukon and Alaska. 



Family PICIDAE: Woodpeckers, Wrynecks 



Colaptes auratus borealis Ridgway 



1 male June 4 weight 154 g. no fat testes 6x15, 7x8 



mm., brood path 



1 female June 4 weight 152 g. little fat egg forming 3 rapc- 



tured follicles, 

 brood patch 



A flicker was heard calling north of the village on May 16 and 

 near Crow Point later on the same day. On May 19 Francis Wil- 

 liamson saw one near the village. On June 4 one was calling as it 

 moved about in the mixed spruce and birch near Kenneth Nukon's 

 cabin. After a prolonged search Robert Bruce collected a pair when 

 they came to inspect an old flicker's hole near the nest of a pair of 

 hawk owls (see p. 206). This hole had not been used this year by 

 the flickers, but the condition of the female showed that she had 

 first laid about June 1. 



Flickers occur in the arctic forest from Mackenzie across Yukon 

 and Alaska. In migration they pass through British Columbia 

 (Munro and Cowan, 1947) as well as the Provinces to the east, but 

 the wintering area is too broad to assign a probable migration route 

 to the birds of the northwestern arctic forests. Their Indian name 

 is Chut lut. 



Picoides tridactylus fasciatus Baird 



male June 14 weight 61.3 g. little fat testes. 3.5x5, 4x5 



mm. 



John Moses sent word that a nest of this northern three-toed wood- 

 pecker was near his camp. Leonard Peyton found it about four feet 

 above ground in a stump and took the male, which was inside with sev- 



