202 IS^ATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN^ ALASKA. 



Island the 1st of July, and skins were brought me from various points along the course of the 

 Yukon from where this river crosses the British boundary line to its mouth. It breeds to the shores 

 of the Arctic Ocean wherever it can find a willow or alder patch wherein to place its nest and shelter 

 its young. Its well-known breeding range thence south, reaching fjar within the temperate zone, 

 and from one side of the continent to the other, gives it the most extensive breeding habitat of 

 any American Warbler. Its lively presence, even among the pleasant surroundings of the south, 

 lends animation to the scene, and even more impressive is its presence under the dismal skies 

 and in the damp, depressing climate of the north, where such visitants are only too rare. Its 

 bright form, full of sprightly gaiety, is seen flitting about the dark-green alder-patches, and its 

 lisping song greets the ear like a memory of the past. But a change in the weather drives it to 

 shelter within the low but densely clustering masses of foliage. In spite of the untoward sur- 

 roundings in its far northern home, the little fellow takes matters as they come, and makes him- 

 self merry while opportunity is afforded. In fall, from the last of July to towards the last of 

 August, they come about the houses and native villages to feast on the fare they find provided 

 abundantly in those localities, until, a little later in the season, a few chilling storms send them 

 trx)oping away with others of their kind to far distant winter quarters. 



This species, as also several others, arrives at or near the Arctic Circle, along the Lower Mac- 

 kenzie, and the whole course of the Yukon, at almost the same date that it reaches the Middle 

 States. The autumn migration occurs from the 1st to the 20th of August, mainly about the middle 

 - of this month, after which the bird is very rare. 



It is the only warbler, with the exception of the Black-capped Flycatelier. which nests in the 

 alder-thickets in the vicinity of Saint Michaels. 



Dendeoioa coronata (Linn.). Myrtle Warbler. 



This species is the hardiest of the American warblers. Even during its winter visit to the 

 south it frequently passes this entire season in parts of the country where there is abundant snow 

 and severe cold. In spring, by May 5, it reaches Fort Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, and by the 

 15th of May it is recorded at Nulato and reaches Saint Michaels from the 18th to 20th of this 

 month in ordinary seasons. For comparison with the dates of its arrival in the north, I may add 

 here that this warbler is recorded as reaching Northern Vermont on the 1st of May, and on the 

 15th of this month, Eastern Maine. It occurs along the open coast of Bering Sea merely as a 

 straggler or passing migrant, and after being observed for a day or two about the houses in the 

 spring it is not seen again until it returns towards the south during the first half of August. By 

 the 3d of June it lays its eggs on the shores of Great Slave Lake, in the interior of British 

 America, and it has been recorded as breeding also along the Anderson Eiver. Kumlien obtained 

 a single specimen July 31, at Godhaven, Greenland, and in Alaska it breeds to the northern tree- 

 limit, considerably inside the Arctic Circle. I have no record of its occurrence on the southeastern 

 coast of the Territory, although it is undoubtedly a visitant to that portion. A strange point in 

 the history of this bird is the fact that it has been found breeding on the island of Jamaica, thus 

 connecting the tropics with the extreme Arctic in its breeding range, although it is unknown 

 during the summer in most of the intermediate region. Its nests in the north are placed on 

 low spruces or even on the ground, according to MacFarlane, who found nests thus placed on the 

 Anderson Eiver. During its visit to the sea-coast, like various other species of warblers, the 

 Myrtle Warbler makes its headquarters in the vicinity of the trading posts or the native villages, 

 where it apparently finds an abundant supply of its favorite food. The garden plot and fences at 

 Saint Michaels afibrd this and several other kinds of warblers favorite gathering" places, where 

 they feed in passing to and fro in their migrations. 



Dendkoica striata (Forst.). Black-poll Warbler. 



Although this species has its breeding ground in the wooded interior, it occurs along the sea- 

 coast of Norton Sound during the spring migration. I have noted it as early as May 27 at the 

 Yukon mouth, where it breeds, and from this date on to the 5th or 6th of June it continues to 



