REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 51 



NORTH AMERICA. 



BRITISH AMERICA. 



Canada.— Among the objects received from the various provinces of 

 Canada were bird-skins, minerals, ores, mammals, photographs of nat- 

 ural scenery, ethnological material, etc. 



A large series of fossils, from the St. John group, was presented by 

 Mr. W. B. Hamilton. 



Mr. G. F. Matthews presented fifty- three specimens of Cambrian fos- 

 sils from the St. John group. 



UNITED STATES. 



Alabama. — Interesting mineralogical and ethnological collections have 

 been received from S. E. Johnson and Frank Burns, of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, as well as various ores and minerals sent for examina- 

 tion and report. 



Alaska. — From Fort Alexander, Mr. J. W. Johnson, Signal Service 

 observer, sent an important collection of bird-skins (one hundred and 

 five specimens) including skins of the recently discovered Plectrophenax 

 hyper bor ens j also a collection of quaternary fossils in clay concretions, as 

 well as stone implements and objects illustrating the domestic life of 

 the Eskimo. 



From Lieut. T. Dix Bolles, IX. S. Navy, come an Eskimo mask, and 

 various implements and carvings, taken from graves of Shuaui in south- 

 eastern Alaska. 



From Henry D. Woolfe, in charge of the coaling station at Cape 

 Lisburne, Alaska, belonging to the Pacific Steam TVhaling Company, 

 have been received collections of great interest and of varied character, 

 full lists being given in Part V; not the least interesting are the nests 

 and eggs of several species of birds which breed iii this remote locality. 



Mr. Charles H. Townsend, an assistant of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 was sent to Alaska by the Commission to make some investigations 

 into the fur-seal fisheries on the Pribyloff Islands, and during his stay, 

 through the courtesy of Captain Healy, he accompanied the United 

 States revenue steamer Corwin to Hotham Inlet. Thence in the steam- 

 launch Mr. Townsend proceeded, under the guidance of Lieutenant 

 Cantwell, to the mouth of the Kowak, and up the river to the head of 

 navigation. On this occasion a large collection * of fishes, birds, mam- 

 mals, and plants, together with a valuable series of ethnological ob- 

 jects, was secured. 



The collection of birds is especially valuable, and among the rarest 

 species may be mentioned : Tringa damacensis, an Asiatic sandpiper, new 

 to the North American fauna ; Plectrophenax hyperboreus, which was 

 found breeding on Hall Island, in Bering Sea; a good series of theUna- 



* Accession 16914. 



