BIEDS. 179 



The habits of this species are included iu the description of the following bird, as thej' are 

 indistingaish£(,b]e. Bo it remembered, however, that exilipes is the prevailing form at Saint Mich- 

 aels, and the observations refer mainly to it. 



ACANTHis LINARIA (Linn.). Eedpoll (Esk. O-liwikh-ia-glmk.) 



This species is found in Alaska in smaller numbers than the preceding. On the southeast- 

 era coast of the Territory, including the Kadiak and Sitkan region, the present bird is found to 

 the exclusion of the other, as also to the south along the coast to Washington Territory and Brit- 

 ish Columbia, where Mr. Lord found it resident. Taken at Cook's Inlet on July 1, on August 

 31 at Chamisso Island, Kotzebuo Sound, by Bean. In Kamchatka it is the common breeding 

 form, and on the Commander Islands it is the most common form in winter. It is not consid- 

 ered by Stejneger to be a summer resident there. 



This and the closely-allied species commence to nest iu the vicinity of Saint Michaels, even 

 as early as May 22, and in 1878, before the ground was free from snow, and while the sea and 

 small streams were still covered with ice, we found a nest of this bird cunningly placed in a cavity 

 in a stout branch projecting from a log of drift-wood, which a high tide, many years before, had 

 stranded on the bare tundra several miles from the sea. In the bottom of the shallow cavity, to 

 which the bird gained access by a small knot-hole, was placed a compact structure of fine straw 

 and grass, lined with ptarmagin-feathers and containing three eggs. The log was from 20 to 25 

 feet in length, and while a native sat at the farther end the female entered the nest, the male keep- 

 ing close by and continually uttering his cheerful notes, as if to assure his partner of his presence 



A pair of these birds built their nest early the same season within the shelter afforded, 

 by my inverted kyak, as it lay upon the staging close by the house, and nests were found all about 

 in bushes, or tufts of grass, indifferently, accoiding to the locality. The material used by them is 

 as varied as the sites chosen, and appears to consist of such material as comesfirst to hand. One, 

 for instance, is composed entirely of an irregular mass of fine dry twigs with a very few ptarmigan- 

 feathers for lining; another, is a fine, compact, cup-shaped structure of dry, coarse grass, warmly 

 lined with a finer material of the same, united with feathers and the cotton obtained from willows 

 and other i)lants. 



It has been recorded from the Aleutian Islands, at Unalaska in E.lis's voyage, and this is the 

 only record from those islands. To the north I found it and exilipes on both shores of Bering Sea 

 to the Arctic. On the Alaskan coast the two were common about Kotzebue Sound, exilipes, 

 however, being the predominating species. In the vicinity of East Cape and adjoining portions of 

 the Siberian coast the two forms occur, exilipes being in the majority there, as it is on our shore. 



The first nests are built early in spring, as noted, and from the middle of May until the last of 

 June and first of July they are seen but rarely in the vicinity of the houses. After about the 1st of 

 July, however, they come trooping about, young and old, in large parties, with great confidence and 

 a peculiar pertness, taking possession of the premises and using the roofs and fences for convenient 

 perches, making excursions thence to whatever point appears likely to yield food, or chasing each 

 other i)layfully about. In spring they are beautiful objects, with their bright rosy hues and 

 fluffy plumage. On warm sunshiny days during April they come familiarly up to the very windows 

 and doors, and peer about with an odd mixture of confidence and curiosity, examining everything, 

 and scarcely deigning to move as^ide as the people pass back and forth. By the 8th of June their 

 young are frequently hatched, and by the 1st of July are fully fledged. All through July and 

 August they are extremely abundant, but iu September the number commences to diminish, 

 until toward the end of September the majority are gone, and but comparatively few are seen in 

 the vicinity of thecoastuntilspring approaches. Flocks of considerable size, however, iiniteatthis 

 season and remain about the country, frequenting the bushy tracts on the hillsides until into 

 November, when all but a few of the hardiest leave. The migrants mainly flock to the interior, 

 where they brave the severest weather. The last of March and early in April they reappear on 

 the sea-coast and make their first visits to the houses. Their movements at this season are rather 

 erratic. They sometimes appear in considerable numbers and remaiu i)ermanently, and again 

 remain for a few days or hours, and then disappear for several weeks. 



