142 THE CONDOR VoL. X 



Island and it certainly would have been very appropriate, as meadow mice simply 

 overrun the entire island from the beach clear up to the very summit of the highest 

 peak that we were on (2500 ft.). They are large fellows almost as big as a gopher 

 and are evidently the "grey squirrels" that we hear about that are overrunning 

 Montague. On the whole I was rather disappointed in Montague. Altho the 

 island lies well exposed to the ocean it is comparatively cold, and barren in number 

 of species. This is probably due to the snow which even now lies in thick slides 

 along the whole range of mountains that forms the backbone of the island. 



I secured one Ptarmigan and saw another, but both of them were exceedingly 

 wild. Ground hogs (Hoary Marmots, or Whistlers) were very shy on the moun- 

 tains so we did not succeed in getting any. Hasselborg secured another Leucosticte 

 and two Redpolls. The Leucosticte was one of a pair that we watched for some 

 time as they flitted about the cliffs and rock slides. I am quite sure that they had 

 a nest in a cliff as they kept returning repeatedly to the same spot. I examined 

 the stomach of the bird that was shot and found that the majority of the contents 

 was of a vegetable and not an insect nature. Sprouting buds of some small plant 

 was the chief item. The Ptarmigan were lying close under some scrub spruce trees 

 just at the upper edge of timber line. They are almost in full summer plumage by 

 this time. I cannot understand why we never find any female Ptarmigan. I know 

 that they are there but I have never yet seen one as all that I have yet secured 

 have been males. 



The three little eaglets that I worked so hard to get are all dead now. The 

 two biggest ones pecked the little one to death. Then the largest one slew his 

 brother and in turn was accidently drowned the other day. I secured two half- 

 grown eagles from a nest on Hinchinbrook Island and have the largest one still. 

 I may be able to get some more if he should die but he is a good sailor and unless 

 the canoe capsizes or we get some place where there is no meat, I think that the 

 "Villian" will survive. The young eagles are clothed in a white down at birth. 

 In about three weeks this white down begins to disappear and is replaced by a 

 coarser soot}^ grey down which remains until the feathers come in and the bird 

 weighs ten pounds or so. The Duckhawks that I raised last year did not go thru 

 this sooty-gray-down stage but changed their coats of white down for one of 

 feathers direct. I never saw such hard things to dry as young eagle skins. They 

 won't even dry in the sun. They just rot. We have had trouble in drying our 

 small birds as we only stop a week or so at a time and the collecting chests are full 

 of small mammals. We either have to dry the bird skins in a hurry or else pack 

 them around green. If they dry too rapidly the unequal heat from the stove 

 causes them to warp as the side that is toward the heat dries first and shrinks pull- 

 ing the tail around. If they are packed in a box, even very carefully, while green 

 they are bound to get out of shape. I may be too cranky about the skins coming 

 out well but I hate to put a good skin away and find it all dried out of shape later. 

 A perfect or nearly perfect skin is a joy forever, especially from a place like this 

 where it is almost impossible to secure good skins. 



Green Island is low and the vegetation comes on early. Many of the land 

 birds such as the Hermit and Varied Thrushes have families of youngsters flying 

 about as have also the Song and Townsend Sparrows. As we came down the 

 channel along Green Island we ran into a feeding ground of Puffins. There were 

 literally swarms of them. The Horned Puffins were perhaps the more numerous 

 but there were hundreds of their dark-bodied cousins with long flaxen curls. One 

 of the two species makes a very odd sound while feeding. It is a series of droll 

 Aw! Aw! Aws! , deep and long drawn out. It sounds as tho the}' were making fun 



