OLD CROW 217 



Eobins at Old Crow had little fat. Among 10 males at Anaktuvuk 

 in May one was fat, the others had little fat. They are one of the 

 arctic nesting species which are not fat during the time of arrival from 

 migration, but September arctic specimens may be fat and heavier by 

 about 10 grams. 



Lazarus Charlie's report of a robin on Johnson Creek on May 8 is 

 a date consistent with a migratory path through the southern part of 

 Porcupine Valley to Old Crow. Williamson found robins at Fort 

 Yukon when he arrived there on May 10 and they were reported arriv- 

 ing at Anaktuvuk on May 12, 1957. They were reported as first seen 

 at Frances Lake on April 22, 1943 (Rand, 1946). As Frances Lake 

 is 300 miles south by east from Old Crow there appears a discontinuity 

 in dates of arrival across the Ogilvie Mountains, which also appear to 

 offer a difficult migratory course. It can be suggested that robins may 

 enter the southern Valley of the Porcupine through Peel Valley from 

 Mackenzie Valley. 



They probably travel the central flyway to the Mackenzie Valley 

 and turn westward to occupy central British Columbia, Yukon, and 

 Alaska. 



The Indian name is Syo. 



Ixoreus naevius meruloides (Swainson) 



Males Females 





Weight 



Fat 



Testes 



Weight 



Fat 



Eggs 



Date 



ig.) 





(mm.) 



(g.) 







May 4 



71.6 



LF 



6x9, 4x7 









May 20 



66.7 



NF 



7x12, 8x11 









May 25 









86.6 



F 



4 broken follicles, brood 

 patch 



June 1 













2 fresh eggs 



June 3 



81.5 



F 



6x10, 6x10 







6 half incubated eggs 



June 4 









98.2 



MF 



3 mm. 



Junes 













4 slightly incubated 

 eggs 



(aver.) 73. 2 



The earliest varied thrush seen was flying from the top of a spruce 

 into the willow brush along Dave Lord Creek on May 4, when the 

 first signs of melting were seen. Its testes were not so large as were 

 those of specimens taken later in May. No more thrushes were noticed 

 at Old Crow until May 16, when they were heard singing among the 

 spruce. The interval between the first sighting and evidence of com- 

 mon establishment was longer than for robins which were conspicu- 

 ously exposed about the village. After May 16 varied thrushes were 

 often heard but not easily approached. 



The female collected on May 25 had begun laying about May 21. 

 This early date of laying suggests that pairs probably started prepara- 

 tions for nesting some 10 days earlier and that the first arrivals near 



