398 THE PUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOP .ISLANDS. 



many a meal is obtained, and unfortunately our pretty red legged kittiwake too often 

 falls a victim. Some summer specimens show signs of immaturity by having a jjlum- 

 beous band on the back of the neck .or darker plumbeous spots on sides of hea-d back 

 of the eyes and around the eyes.' Such specimens have slenderer and less strongly 

 hooked bills than more adult birds, and have more or less yellowish feet. No. 118712, 

 ?, is evidently immature. Head, spotted; bill, pale greenish yellow, tip lighter; 

 angle of mouth, greenish yellow; interior, deep orange red; feet, dull orange red; toes 

 lighter and yellowish; eye ring, Vandyke brown; iris, dark brown; naked part of 

 tibia, and tarsi, yellowish. Six eggs taken by Mr. Elliott on St. George, June 25, 

 1873, measures 2.06 by 1.61, 2.23 by 1.70, 2.22 by 1.67, 2.31 by 1.58, 2.31 by 1.60, and 

 2.36 by 1.70. Their color and markings are similar to those of polUcaris but perhaps 

 lighter. " Once in a while an egg will have on its smaller end a large number of suf- 

 fused bloQd-red spots." — {Elliott). 



38. Xema sabinii (Sab.). Forked-tailed Gull. 



Xema saMnii, A. O. U. Ch. List, 1895, 22.— Saunders, Cat. B. Br. Mus. XXV, 1896, 162.— Couks, 

 Key, 1890, 753.— Eidgway, Man. 1896, 38. 



Possibly of regular occurrence. Mr, Elliott saw one on St, Paul, June 4, 1890, and 

 I saw probably the same individual several times afterwards up the Lagoon, Several 

 were taken during the summer of 1896, as I am /informed by Mr, P. A. Lucas, and one 

 was shot on St, George by Mr. D. W. Prentiss. No. 151605, ad. 5 , TJ.S.N.M., June 

 26, 1890. 



39. Sterna paradisaea Briin. Arctic Tern. 



Sterna macrura, Saunders, Cat. B. Br. Mns. XXV, 1896, 62.— CouES, Key, 1890, 764. 

 Sterna paradiscm, A. O. U. Ch. List, 1895, 25.— Ridgway, Man. 1896, 43. 



Capt. D. Webster, who has spent many winters' on St, George, informed me that 

 a tern, which he accurately described, was fairly abundant every fall under the cliffs 

 of St. George. None breed on the islands. Mr. F. A. Lucas informs me that he saw 

 two of this species flying over the Lagoon on St. Paul on July 26, 1897. 



Order PALUDIOOLAE. Cranes and Bails. 



40. Grus canadensis (Linn.). Little Brown Crane. 



Grus canadensis, Townsend, Cruise, Gormn, 1887, 99. — CouES, Key, 1890, 667. — Sharpk, Cat. B. 

 Br. Mus. XXIII, 1894, 256.— A. 0. U. Ch. List, 1895, 75.— Eidgway, Man. 1896, 35. 



Jake, a well-known Aleut sealer, told me on June 28, that he had seen three cranes 

 that morning north of Kamminista Lake. Going there, I found five, but they were 

 very wild. They remained in the neighborhood until after August 1, as I saw them 

 frequently picking up insects on the tundra. One was caught in a trap near the 

 village in June, 1888. "While at St. Paul Island some natives came to me and 

 reported having seen a large, long-legged bird wading in a shallow pond near the 

 village, and gave me a long feather which the bird dropped in its flight."— ( Townsend.) 



Order LIMICOLAE, Shore Birds, 



Fourteen species are known to occur, of which one is a common summer resident, 

 almost entirely confined to the islands; another breeds in very limited numbers, while 

 the others are either stragglers or transients. Several occur in enormous numbers. 



' Apparently, according to some, a case of feather repigmentation, but evidently due to defective 

 change, a lapse ur partial failure to attain the higher colors of the species. 



