BIRDS. 199 



Clivicola kiparia (Linn,). Bank Swallow. 



Along the Arctic sea-coast, as well as the shores of Bering Sea, this is an extremely rare visitant, 

 occurring merely as a straggler daring its migration. On the river courses of the interior, how- 

 ever, it is one of the most abundant, if not the most abundant, species of swallow. Ball found it 

 nesting in great numbers on the Yukon, and counted over seven hundred swallows in a sand-blufE 

 near Nuklukhayet; he found from two to six eggs in the nests which he examined. These eggs 

 were laid upon scanty beds of fine twigs without straw or other lining. Richardson found colonies 

 numbering thousands of these birds about the mouth of the Mackenzie Eiver in latitude 69°, and 

 it is common all along the rivers of Arctic America. A single bird taken by the Point Barrow 

 party, and a few others seen there the last of July and first of August, show that this species 

 extends its range to the extreme northern point of the mainland. In I^Torthern Asia also it is a 

 very common species along the river courses, nesting to latitude 69° north, and passing south to 

 the shores of the Indian Ocean during the winter. It arrives at the Yukon mouth from the 20th 

 to the 25th of May, and leaves that region the last of August. 



There is no record of the Bank Swallow's presence on the southeast coast of the Territory, 

 though it is to be expected there owing to its wide distribution. It is unknown on the islands of 

 Bering Sea. 



Ampklis gakeultjs Linn. Bohemian Wax wing. 



There is no record of this bird's occurrence anywhere along the shores of Bering Sea or the 

 Arctic. In the interior, however, it is rather common, and specimens were brought me which were 

 obtained in May at Nulato, and at Fort Reliance from October 2 to 16 and on May 9. Dall states 

 that it arrives at Nulato about June 10, when it becomes common, and undoubtedly breeds in the 

 vicinity. That it arrives earlier in the season is shown by the specimens brought me from that 

 locality. By Mr. Dall's observations it appears that the bird is migratory in that section of the 

 Territory. 



The only American examples of the Waxwing's nest and egg were taken by Kennicott at Fort 

 Yukon July 4, 1861. The nest was placed on the side of a branch of a small spruce which was 

 growing on the edge of a clump on low ground. The nest was at an elevation of about 18 feet. 

 It was large, the base being made of dry spruce twigs, and the nest itself constructed of fine 

 grass and moose-hair, lined internally with large feathers. The female was shot as she left 

 the nest. The single egg obtained measures .90 by .65 of an inch, and has a grayish-slaty or 

 stone-colored ground. The spots are dark brown with a deep violet shade. This nest and egg 

 remain unique among American collections, notwithstanding the presence of the bird in consid- 

 erable numbers in various parts of Arctic America. A 



The nest described above is considerably smaller than the European nests of the Waxwing. 

 The eggs of the European bird are also much larger, being an inch long and from .70 to .69 of an 

 inch in breadth. Hundreds of these birds' eggs were obtained in Lapland by Wolley and others. 



Through the labors of this last-named naturalist and of various other ornithologists, it has 

 been ascertained that these birds breed in the northern part of the Old World from the last of 

 May to the end of June, but most of them have their complement of eggs by the second week of 

 June. Their breeding range varies so much in different years that a locality where many of its 

 eggs are found in one season may not yield a single set the next. There is no record of the Wax- 

 wing's presence on the southeastern coast of the Territoiy, although undoubtedly it is found there. 



Lanius borbalis Vieill. Northern Shrike (Esk. Ti-U-GUtu-icfik). 



The only specimen of this bird from Southeastern Alaska in the National Museum collection is a 

 full-plumaged male, which was obtained at Fort Kenai, Cook's Inlet, May 19, 1869, and it has 

 not been taken on any of the islands in Bering Sea. Hartlaub records a specimen seen January 

 4 at the mouth of Chilcat Eiver and a second on Lynn Canal. Over the entire northern portion of 

 the Territory from Bering Sea east to the British boundary, and north of the Alaskan Mountains, 

 it is a resident, rather common in some places but nowhere abundant. It is found as a rare visitor 



