vi INTRODUCTION 



observations on the part of the scientific party. The difficulties encountered in the execution 

 of work in the Polar Regions must be experienced in order to be properly appreciated. Storms 

 are frequent in the winter, and observers, in going to and from observatories and instrument 

 shelters, have often to crawl upon hands and knees in the face of high winds, whirling snow 

 particles, low temperatures, and in the darkness of winter. The hearty and unselfish 

 cooperation of all concerned is amply indicated by the execution of the great amount of detail 

 work that is reported upon in this volume. 



The natural features and natural history of the Franz Josef Archipelago could have been 

 studied to advantage but for the lack of trained men, while the impossibility of transporting 

 collections discouraged any systematic attempt to secure specimens. It might, however, be 

 noted that coal was discovered by Mr. Anton Vedoe at Cape Flora in August, 1904, and was 

 used during the following winter. The vein is a lignite of poor quality, which, however, burns 

 freely. Brown coal was found by Mr. Russell Porter on Coalmine Island, Booth Channel, at a 

 high elevation. Another vein containing fossils was discovered by Mr. Anton Vedoe at Cape 

 Washington, the eastern extremity of Ziegler Island. Traces of coal were also found at Cape 

 Richthofen, and without doubt other deposits would have been uncovered on the different 

 islands had extended search been made. A detailed geological survey of the Archipelago 

 would present some difficulties, owing to the fact that its islands are for the most part covered 

 by a dome-shaped ice-cap extending to the sea. Strata are, however, exposed on Alger Island 

 from base to summit, while the southern coast of the Archipelago presents many oppor- 

 tunities for the geologist. 



No discoveries were made in the flora of the Islands during the two brief summers of 

 work. Of the fauna, ptarmigan were seen for the first time in the Archipelago, and several 

 were shot at Teplitz Bay in the summer of 1904, as also on Alger Island and at Rubini Rock. 

 The nesting place of a pair of brants was discovered by Messrs. Stewart and John Vedoe at 

 Camp Ziegler in the summer of 1905, and the eggs secured. 



Mr. Miller, Assistant Ornithologist of the American Museum of Natural History, 

 furnishes the following notes regarding the Ptarmigan : 



"The pair of Ptarmigan collected by the Expedition on Alger Island, Franz Josef Land, 

 in June, 1904, belong to a little-known species of considerable rarity in collections. This is 

 the Spitzbergen or Hyperborean Ptarmigan, Lagopus hyperboreus, a very near relative of two 

 well-known species, the Alpine Ptarmigan, L. mutus of the mountains of Europe, and the 

 Rock Ptarmigan, L. rupestris of the Arctic regions of both hemispheres. From both these 

 species it differs in larger size and the presence of a greater amount of white on the tail 

 feathers, though in the latter respect there is considerable individual variation. In habits it 

 does not differ from its near relatives. 



"The Spitzbergen Ptarmigan was first described by Sundevall in 1838, and it is repre- 

 sented by a colored plate in Elliot's Monograph of the Tetraonidse. It had not before been 

 recorded outside of Spitzbergen, and from the fact that no Ptarmigan had previously been 

 observed on Franz Josef Land it seems likely that the birds found there in 1904 had been 

 blown over from Spitzbergen. 



" The present pair of birds is an excellent illustration of the fact, already recorded, that 

 ^he male of this species retains the white winter plumage considerably later in the spring than 

 does the female. The male is wholly pure white, while the female, although taken at the 

 same time, is in the brown plumage of summer. ' ' 



