204 :n^atueal histoey collections m alaska. 



Seiuetjs novebokacensis (Gmel.). Water Thrush (Esk. CMf-chi-wS-guk). 



From about May 25 to June 1 these Water Thrushes reach the mouth of the Yukon, and at 

 this time their clear, sweet songs may be heard from along the bush-grown banks of the river 

 and its numerous tributaries. The barren coast of Bering Sea north and south from this point 

 affords it but little shelter at this season, hence its extreme rarity there in spring. It occurs in 

 spring where the dense growth of bushes about Kotzebue Sound affords it available breeding 

 places. In the wooded interior, as at the Yukon mouth, it is abundant, and, in fact, is one of the 

 most common bush-frequenting birds throughout the entire fur countries, extending north even 

 beyond the tree limit. In the autumu migration it is found scattered about the country more gen- 

 erally than in spring, visiting even such points on the sea-coast as Saint Michaels, where, entirely 

 outside of its usual range, it is found in friendly companionship with the Titlarks and Yellow Wag- 

 tails, frequenting the borders of damp spots and muddy paths close to the buildings, where its only 

 shelter is afforded by the overhanging grasses. Its presence, however, at this place is to be looked 

 for only from about the 2oth of July to the 15th of August, afteu which time it passes south. I 

 have found no record of its occurrence on the southeast coast of the Territory. At Fort Yukon 

 Dall found a nest containing two eggs, in a bushy spruce, on the 1st of June; but he saw none of 

 the birds at Nulato, and considered it uncommon. My own experience at the Yukon mouth proves 

 the bird to be one of the commonest species breeding at that place. Its favorite haunts, in the 

 midst of dense thickets, shelter it from the observation of one not accustomed to its song, which, 

 however, is one of the most striking that reaches the ear of the traveler in that region ; but the 

 songster, perched on some low branch, is quick to take alarm, and skulks away beyond the sight 

 of one penetrating its haunts. 



At Fort Yukon Lockhart shot a bird from its nest on June 21. This nest was concealed under 

 a small pile of drift close to the river bank, under a large willow tree. Another nest taken near 

 by was similarly placed and made of moss lined with very iiue grass. In the National Museum 

 collection is a nest containing five eggs, from Peale's Eiver, which is composed of moss and grass 

 and lined with mouse and rabbit fur. There are also other eggs in the same collection, which 

 were obtained from Fort Yukon during the middle of June. 



Sylyania ptisilla (Wils.). Wilson's Warbler. 



The movements of this handsome little species agree closely with those of the Yellow Warbler, 

 as does its distribution, at least, so far as is shown by my experience in the north. On the 

 Upper Yukon its nest and eggs have been taken by May 20, and by the middle of this month, 

 or soon after, its presence is noted on the coast of Bering Sea, where it is a summer resident, 

 occupying the same alder-thickets as the Yellow Warbler. It first makes its appearance, like 

 the latter, about the houses in spring, but soon strays away to its summer haunts on the 

 hill sides, where it is confined until the nesting season has passed and, about the end of July 

 and 1st of August, it returns with its young to pay a last visit to the solitary group of houses 

 on the open sea-shore at Saint Michaels before it passes to the south. It is one of the commonest 

 of the bush-frequenting species in the north and extends its breeding range to the shores of the 

 Arctic Ocean, where it is found breeding about Kotzebue Sound as well as along the entire coast 

 of Norton Sound wherever shelter is afforded. Like most others of the wood-frequenting species, 

 this bird is not known on the barren rocky islands of Bering Sea, but on the mainland it forms a 

 striking and pleasant addition to the fauna so strangely attracted to these apparently forbidding 

 regions during the short and unpleasant Arctic summer. Its range in the Territory is confined, like 

 that of H. celata, to the region north of the Alaskan Mountains, and like the latter it is represented 

 to the south of these mountains by a closely-allied geographical race. 



Sylva:v^ia pusilla pileolata (Pall.). Pileolated Warbler. 



Early in May these birds have been found in Oregon, and by the 12th of this month some were 

 feeding their young there. From this region it extends north and occupies the entire Pacific 

 shore of the Alaskan mainland. It is common according to Bean at Yakutat Bay and Kadiak in 



