BinDs. 211 



of fragments from the beetling oliffe above to join the rooky mass which had already fallen. While 

 occupied in searching cautiously for a firm footing, a faint, wiry note struck my ear and brought 

 me to a sudden standstill. All about lay huge blocks of riven lava, from which arose the over- 

 hanging crags ; a little back a more sloping bluff presented its face, the inequalities of which were 

 dotted by scattered grass and other vegetation, now dead and yellow, or in spots were iiecked-with 

 patches of snow. As my eye scanned this abrupt slope, the author of the notes was seen clinging 

 to a dwarf willow bush at the very brow of the bluif, over which the wind came with great force, 

 beating the bush back and forth as if it would uproot it. I put in a shell with No. 6 shot, and 

 fired. To my joy I saw a small brown body drop down the face of the bluff and lodge in a bunch 

 of grass. With eager haste I reached the spot, raised the little songster, and made my first 

 acquaintance with this hardy Wren. Glowing with pleasure, I sat for some time examining my 

 prize, and then continued my way, filled with that peculiar exhilaration enjoyed by the field natu- 

 ralist when he finds a coveted prize. 



The last of September and first of October, 1881, while the Oorwin lay at Unalaska, I had still 

 further opportunities for studying this little-koown species iu its home. They were very common 

 everywhere on the lower portions of the island, wherever the rank grass and other plants, combined 

 with the stunted bushes, offered a fitting shelter. Here the birds were seen repeatedly, swinging 

 on the projecting sprays or flitting busily from point to point, and sho wing a peculiar sprightliness 

 and activity common to it and its kind. Specimens have been taken along the entire Aleutian 

 chain, but it is unknown on the coast to the eastward of these islands. i 



The original description of the species gives the character of the young in the first plumage 

 sufftcieutly well. They may be distinguished from the adult by a smoky brown shade on the sides 

 of the head, chin, and throat, and a brighter rusty-red on the back, especially on the rump. In 

 the adults the bill is longer and proportionally slenderer, and the faint, light superciliary line is 

 better marked. The crown is dull brown, shading into a dingy rufous brown on the rump and 

 tail. Below, the adults are indistinguishable in coloration from rufous specimens of the common 

 Winter Wren obtained in Virginia and Illinois. Young specimens of alascensis approach nearer 

 Memalis in the amount of rufous on the back and in the size of the bill. Another character is the 

 lack of maculatioDS on che back and rump of alascensis. The latter then may be characterized as 

 grayer, larger, and longer-billed than the common Memalis and its variety pacificus, and is, per- 

 haps, less differentiated from Memalis than Melospisa insignis is from the eastern 31. melodic. Thus 

 far, however, comparison of the Winter Wrens from the adjoining coast of Alaska with those of 

 the Aleutian Islands shows a greater amount of difference than exists between the Aleutian Wren 

 and its eastern congener. This argues in favor of the specific distinctness of alascensis. 



Oerthia familiauis AMERICANA (Bouap.). Brown Creeper, 



In the National Museum collection is a single specimen of this bird obtained at Fort Kenai 

 May 6, 1869, by Bischoff. According to Hartlaub it was seen at Sitka by Kittlitz. These are the 

 only records of its occurrence in the Territory, although from its presence at the localities named 

 it is to be inferred that it occurs in the intermediate country, thence to Washington Territory 

 where the bird is known to be abundant. 



Partjs atricapillus sbptentrionalis (Harris). Long-tailed Chickadee 

 (Bsk. GMMpi-pi-d-HJc). 



Throughout the wooded region of Alaska, from the moist, heavily-wooded coast in the Sitkan 

 and Kadiak region north throughout the entire Yukon and adjoining country, this bird is a common 

 resident. Specimens were secured both at Cook's Inlet and Kadiak by Dr. Bean. I secured speci- 

 mens from various places throughout the northern portion of the Territory, at times even along 

 the barren sea-coast, where it only found shelter in the stunted alder or weed patches. Its visits 

 to the coast, however, were mainly in roving parties during spring or fall. A few days of mild 

 weatlier, at this season, a,re almost sure to bring some of these familiar birds about the coast set- 

 tlements, and its familiar dee-dee-dee is a welcome sound on the clear frosty mornings which usher 

 in the stinging blasts of winter, or announce the approach of spring. One meets it again while 



