THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated MLagazine of Poptalar Ornithology. 

 Pahlisl)ed IVIorjtbly. 



VoLUMB I. (New Series). JULY, 1902. Ndmbsk 7. 



NOTES ON BIRDS OF THE PRIBYLOF ISLANDS. 

 By Dr. D. W. Prentiss, Jr. 



The following notes were made during a two months' stay on the Pribylof 

 Islands in the summer of 1895. They were taken for my own pleasure and 

 not for publication. I give thom now as they were written. 



A few words about the summer climate of the seal islands will not be 

 without interest. Upon our arrival in the latter part of June snow was found 

 in ravines and at the foot of every cliif ; the flat lands were studded with pools 

 of water from the melting snow, and there was broken ice in the bay, and on 

 the lakes. The temperature was in the thirties, but did not get as low as the 

 freezing point. The atmosphere is wonderfully clear, so clear in fact that the 

 new-comer has difEculty in judging distances correctly, always underestimat- 

 ing it. The days are like those of Newfoundland, warm in the sun and cold 

 in the shade; the nights are always cold. The mean daily temperature was in 

 the neighborhood of .50° Fahr. Days of fog and drizzling rain greatly out- 

 numbered the clear days; if this is true of every summer I do not know. 



The islands are of volcanic origin and present hills, ravines, plateaus, 

 low plains, sand dunes, cliffs and all varieties of beach and a few lakes; hills rise 

 in one place to about 900 feet. The plateaus are covered with broken lava or 

 fine volcanic dust. 



I am no botanist so can give but a very imperfect idea of the vegetation. 

 There are no native trees or bushes. In one sheltered place a few trees have 

 been introduced and seem to thrive. Reindeer moss covers nearly everything; 

 scattered or rather crowded together in the moss are numerous varieties of 

 flowers; among them the sweet pea and poppy are conspicuous.. Lupins and 



