4S4 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



toria and Port Simpson. {Fannin) Common in the fall ; rare in 

 the spring at Ciiilliwack B.C. {Brooks.) Like the snowflake this 

 species has acircumpolar distribution and is recorded from nearly 

 every point visited by explorers along the shores of the Arctic sea 

 coast. {Nelson.) This species arrives at St. Michael from the 5th to 

 the 1 5th May. A few arrive at first, and before a month elapses it is 

 the most abundant land bird seen in the locality. {Turner.) Quite 

 common at Point Barrow, but breeding inland on drier places than 

 the snowflake which prefers the sea shore and the lagoons. {Mur- 

 doch.) I saw a small flock at the Aphoon mouth of the Yukon 

 on the 27th August, 1899; later they were seen at St. Michael and 

 onUnalaska Island. ' {Bishop.) 



Breeding Notes. — My acquaintance with the birds at this 

 point was limited to the few hours ashore during this evening and 

 the next. But the Alaskan longspurwas, with the single exception 

 of the snowy owl, the only land bird observed. The low-lying 

 moss-covered tundras with not even a dwarfed bush or any exten- 

 sive patch of grass to offer attraction to any other land bird, 

 seemed to constitute a congenial abode for this species, and the 

 longspurs were fairly common. They seemed to show preference 

 for the driest tracts lying just back of the beach and on the higher 

 ground separating the numerous lagoons and lakes. In my tramp 

 across these tundras I would frequently meet with a male long- 

 spur standing motionless on some conspicuous hummock. If I 

 approached too close he would attempt to get out of my way by 

 stealthily running to one side, but if pressed he would take flight, 

 and mount upwards circling high overhead and uttering his pleas- 

 ing song. I sometimes heard them singing from their perches 

 on the ground, but they were most genexally heard while circling 

 with apparent aimlessness far above, the yellow reflection of the 

 midnight sun bringing out their forms against the indigo sky. To 

 my ear the song of the Alaskan longspur resembles closely that 

 of the western meadowlark, except that it is much weaker and 

 more prolonged. A nest was found at this point containing two 

 newly-hatched young and three eggs. It was sunk into a hum- 

 mock of spahgnum and completely concealed from above by a 

 tussock of grass, part of which was artfully arched over it. The 

 nest proper consisted of a remarkably scant lining of long, fine 

 grasses. At Cape Lowenstern, on July ist, I noted a few long- 

 spurs, and at Cape Blossom, over the rolling hills just back of the 



