BIRDS OF ALASKA, WITH A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALASKAN 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In view of the fact that the author's personal observations covered a la'rge portion of the 

 Territory, this report has been extended to include all the species of birds known to occur within 

 Alaska. In additit n to the territory personally visited, as detailed in the accompanying narrative, 

 I received from one of the fur traders, Mr. L. N. McQuesten, about two hundred bird-skins collected 

 along the valley of the Yukon, between the mouth of the Tanana Eiver and the point where the 

 Yukon crosses the British boundary line. By teaching intelligent natives how to prepare bird- 

 skins, I also secured various specimens from the course of the Yukon below the Tanana and from 

 the Kotzebue Sound region. The collection gathered by me amounted in all to over two thousand 

 bird-skins and fifteen hunrl red eggs. To complete the report I have made free use of the skins 

 contained in the Smithsonian collections, obtained by other collectors in Alaska, and the literature 

 on that region has yielded many notes and facts of interest. The author's aim has been so far as 

 possible to embody herein all of importance that is known concerning the birds of Alaska, but for 

 unavoidable causes he has been compelled to curtail that portion relating to the swimming birds 

 subsequent to the ducks and geese. To explain a lack of information concerning some species 

 found, even in the districts best known to me, I may state that zoological work was done in hours 

 snatched from confining ofBcial duties, or when relieved of these for a time by the co-operation of 

 the fur company's agents, who frequently attended to my meteorological work for a day or two at 

 a time in addition to occasional longer periods. An absence on my'part, however, always entailed 

 extra work upon my return. The month of June is the most favorable time for ornithological 

 work in the north, but this is the season when our annual mail arrived, and the closing of the 

 official records for the iireceding year made it difficult to gain time for outside work. 



Between June 17, 1877, and June, 1881, my time was passed at Saint Michaels or in exploring 

 the surrounding region, for the ornithologist this is a rich field, and the varied attractions of sea 

 and shore draw a great variety of species. This abundance of birds, however, is a characteristic 

 feature during summer in high northern latitudes. Nordenskiold has well remarked that it is not 

 the Inrger animal forms, such as the seals, whales, and walrus, that first draw the attention of the 

 voyager in Arctic seas, but the innumerable flocks of birds which swarm in the polar latitudes during 

 the long summer day of the north. Around all of the rocky islands of Bering Sea and Straits 

 the auks, gulls, and fulmars fill the air and cover the sea in myriads. This was also the case on 

 Wrangel and Herald Islands, in the Arctic, which are perpetually inclosed by theice-pack. These 

 islands all reminded me of huge beehives, only the bees perpetually swarming about them are in, 

 the shape of birds. If one stands on the beach under one of the bird cliffs and looks up toward 

 the sky he soon feels giddy, from gazing at the circling throng. 



The work of a naturalist in the north is one of almost continual hardship, yet the succession 

 of novel experiences lends a peculiar zest to such a life. Many of the most enjoyable days of my 

 life were passed on expeditions in which it was a constant struggle to obtain the bare necessities 



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