COXTIXUAi\XE OF WESTWARD VOYAGE in 



appeared about the vessel. River gulls^^^ ^\s,q showed them- 

 selves, and about six svmki,-^^ or storm fishes, gamboled around 

 us, from which we could plainly enough presage the coming storm. 

 On September i6, soon after midnight, there came up a south- 

 east wind which lasted until nine o'clock, when it suddenly 

 jumped from south to west and from there to north, then went 

 back to west again, and became south-southwest towards three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, when it began to rain. However, during 

 the forenoon we had progressed so far that at twelve o'clock we 

 figured we were yet 240 miles from A^•acha.254 This was the first 

 contest with the southeast wind, which we afterwards met so 

 often and became so well acquainted with, that we reall}' knew 

 its shifts beforehand. — In the afternoon we saw a very large 

 quantity of seaweed drifting towards our vessel from the north, 

 also the same kind of large bundles as on August 2 and the days 

 following, when we were among and between the American 

 islands.255 



lives of Bering Island for the snowy owl {Nyctea nyctea (Linnaeus), 

 Stejneger, U. S. Natl. Museum Bull. 2Q, 1885, p. 223). but it is not likely 

 that the bird seen by Steller belonged to this conspicuous species, and he 

 does not definitely identify it as such. It is more probable that by sych he 

 meant to indicate one of the smaller species, in this case undoubtedly 

 the short-eared owl {Asio flatnmeus (Pontoppidan) = A. accipitrinus 

 (Pallas), which occurs throughout the Aleutian chain, specific reports 

 being had from Attu, Atka. and Unalaska, etc. (S) 



252 No true river gulls live in the Aleutian Islands. It is therefore 

 probable that Steller mistook some other small gull for river gulls. It is 

 then permissible to conjecture that the species seen by him was the red- 

 legged kittiwake. Rissa hrevirostris (Bruch), which has bright red feet, 

 like the river gulls, and inhabits the Aleutian Islands from Bering Island 

 to Sannak (163° W.). (S) 



253 Svinka (understood morskaya) means little sea pig and, like that 

 and the German "Sturmfisch," is a general term for the common porpoise 

 (see also, above, footnote 135). 



25* The log book (Vol. i, p. 159) gives 241 34 miles. 



255 Steller under date of August 2 and the following days has nothing 

 about drifting bundles of any description. Perhaps he meant to refer to 

 the reed grass, Calamagroslis, mentioned by him in the journal (see, 

 above, p. 29 and footnote 55) without there assigning a date. (S) 



