68 NATUEAL HISTOEY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



wind-bound or astray. Mr. Dall obtained a specimen at Unalaska October 12, 1871, and notes it 

 as not uncommon among the ducks brought in there by the Aleuts. He gives it as a winter vis- 

 itant, migrating about May 1, but as it has never been found along the coast of the mainland to 

 the north I am inclined to believe that it breeds in the Aleutian chain, merely seeking more 

 secluded quarters on the approach of spring. 



It was not noted by me either ou Saint Lawrence Island or the coast of Siberia during the 

 summer of 1881, although it^ight have been present, as our short visits at each place gave but 

 little time for a thorough survey. 



It is a numerous but irregular visitant to the Commander Islands. 



Anas ameeioana Gmel. Baldpate. 



The present species may be considered among the least common of the ducks which breed on 

 the marshy flats bordering Bering Sea. They arrive at Saint Michaels from May 5 to 10, in 

 spring, and remain until the frosty nights of late September and early October send them off with 

 the other water-fowl. They were so uncommon about Saint Michaels and the Yukon mouth that 

 I learned nothing about their habits in the mating season. Their first eggs are laid the last of 

 May, in situations exactly like those chosen by the Pintail. 



A brood of half-grown young was found in a pond the middle of August, and small ducklings 

 were seen ou several occasions during July. Old and young are on the wing by the 1st of 

 September. I once came suddenly upon a female widgeon, with her brood of ten or a dozen little 

 ducklings, in a small j)ond. As I approached the parent uttered several low, guttural notes and 

 suddenly fluttered across the water and fell heavily at my feet, so close that I could almost touch 

 her with my gun. Meanwhile the young swam to the opposite side of the pond and began to 

 scramble out into the grass. "Willing to observe the old bird's manceuvers, I continued to poke at 

 her with the gun as she fluttered about my feet, but she always managed to elude my strokes 

 until, just as the last of her brood climbed out of the water, she slyly edged away, and suddenly 

 flew off to another pond some distance. I then ran as quickly as possible to the point where 

 the ducks left the water, yet, though but few moments had elapsed, the young had concealed 

 themselves so thoroughly that, in spite of the fact that the grass was only 3 or 4 inches high and 

 rather sparse, I spent half an hour in fruitless search. 



Mr. Dall found these birds more common at Nulato than on the coast, and I had specimens 

 brought me from Fort Yukon and other points in the interior, and from the coast north to the 

 north shore of Kotzebue Sound, where they breed. 



This duck is a summer visitor to the Near Islands. Bean took a specimen in Kotzebue 

 Sound the last of August, and Stejneger took a single specimen on the Commander Islands, 



Anas caeolinensis Gmelin. Green-winged Teal. (Esk, Trng-sliUng-i-d-gulc). 



This species, the smallest, as it is one of the most richly-colored of the Alaskan ducks, is found 

 widely spread and rather common over the mainland, and is a resident the entire length of the 

 Aleutian chain. 



At Unalaska Mr. Dall found it a plentiful winter resident, the majority moving north the first 

 of May, The same author afterwards found it a resident throughout the Aleutian Islands, as far 

 west as Kyska, and casual in summer at Attn. This species was one of two or three which supplied 

 their table while at work in these islands ; he found the young ones abundant at Amchitka in July, 



On the Yukon, Dall notes it as one of the first arrivals in spring, and one of the first to lay 

 its eggs. One set of eggs was taken from a nest of dry grass in a sedge tussock, on May 20, at 

 Nulato. Bischoft" found them at Sitka and Kadiak, and the writer saw them several times about 

 Kotzebue Sound. 



In spring the Green-winged Teal reaches Saint Michaels by May 10, in early seasons, and 

 remains until the 1st to 7th of October. It is very sociably inclined, and is commonly found in 

 flocks, except when the breeding season has scattered them about the marshes. 



The fur traders brought me specimens taken at Fort Eeliance, on the Upp er Yukon, May 3, 

 and other records go to prove it to be one of the hardiest ducks. 



