254 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



occasionally saw bank swallows in spring at Anaktuvuk and they 

 nest commonly 100 miles south, along the Koyukuk and lower Alatna 

 Rivers. 



Simon Paneak recalled (see p. 90) seeing mud nests with frozen 

 young cliff swallows {Petrochelidon fyrThonota) while hunting with 

 some other young men along the west branch of the Kuparuk River, 

 about 40 miles northeast from Anaktuvuk. His report indicates that 

 a colony once ventured to settle in an Alaskan location 200 miles north 

 of any place where they are now known to nest. Their attempt was 

 unproductive and it cannot have been often repeated or the con- 

 spicuous evidence of their nesting would have been remarked. 



In 1849 Rae reported seeing the nests of cliff swallows on cliffs along 

 the Coppermine Eiver (Richardson, 1852) , but I do not know whether 

 that was a single venture or a sustained habit. I have never had a 

 report of a cliff swallow at Anaktuvuk, although they are the most 

 numerous nesting swallows around Bettles. They are more colonial 

 than the other swallows and perhaps do not wander so much indi- 

 vidually. 



It was only in 1952 that I obtained evidence that a rusty blackbird 

 {Eufhagus carolinus) had raised young in the mountains. Indi- 

 viduals are seen each year and as their common nesting grounds are 

 nearby this event cannot be taken to represent a new trend. Except 

 for the two reports on swallows the evidence obtained so far indicates 

 no tendency of the birds designated as visitors to expand from 

 transient to more lasting occupation of Anaktuvuk. In the stories 

 from past years I can find no sign which shows that expansion or con- 

 traction of the range of birds at Anaktuvuk is visibly in progress. 



The common range of these visitors is not far from Anaktuvuk, 

 17 being regularly seen along the Koyukuk and Alatna Rivers, and 4 

 being known to nest along the arctic coast. The frequency of their 

 brief appearances varies, but only a few hours' flight would be re- 

 quired for them to travel from their known regular ranges. 



As I have noted in numerous instances in the descriptions of the 

 species, the occasional appearance of these visitors has been long 

 remarked by the Nunamiut. Some of the intervals between observa- 

 tions were long (about 40 years separates two occasions when homed 

 grebes were seen) but the birds were well remembered, explicitly 

 named, and regarded as rare but not strange appearances. 



While we must regard the evidence of bird occurrence at Anaktuvuk 

 as indicative of a well established fauna, it is reasonable to suggest, 

 however, that the transient visits of certain species represent a tendency 

 among birds from both north and south of Anaktuvuk to make occa- 

 sional sallies from their usual range. That is, the visiting habit is 

 thus a normal form of behavior in those populations, even though it is 



