30 Loom/is and Young— Shell Heaps of Mai/ne. 



The goose (Brant a canadensis Linneus) occurred sparingly, 

 being hard to capture. Sonic of these large birds were 

 presumably caught while nesting. 



In addition to the above, there were, especially on White 

 Island, Flag"' Island, and at Winter Harbor, considerable num- 

 bers of remains of small birds, which we have not been able to 

 identify. So abundant were they on Flagg Island, that we 

 conclude that the Indians, there, were adepts at catching 

 birds, and used them for a very large portion of their food 

 supply. 



Among the reptiles, only two broken turtle shells (Chrisemys) 

 were found, so it would seem as if they could hardly be con- 

 sidered as an element of the food supply. 



Bones of frogs occurred three times, indicating that they 

 were too scarce to form any regular part of the larder. 



The cod (Gadus callarias Linneus) was the staple fish found 

 in all the heaps, though in greatly varying quantities. The 

 remains, when found as vertebrae, do not sufficiently represent 

 the numbers in any locality, so that for purposes of counting 

 the upper jaw (maxilla) is used, but in the lower layers of each 

 heap these cranial bones are very much disintegrated, so 

 that in the tables the numbers of fishes are. invariably 

 underestimated. However, Sawyer's Island caught cod in 

 great numbers, though not nearly so many as Winter Harbor, 

 for the work on Sawyer's Island covered four times as long as 

 that at Winter Harbor. The scarcity on Flagg Island is very 

 marked, and to be correlated with the abundance of auk and 

 other birds. 



The haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus Linneus) were 

 found where cod remains were found, but they occurred much 

 more sparingly in the heaps than would be expected by the 

 relative abundance of the two fishes in the sea to-day. 



Sculpins (Myoxocephalus octodecimspinosus Mitchill) were 

 probably caught only incidentally, but, having been caught, 

 were brought to camp and eaten : for, presumably, these 

 Indians, like the modern ones, utilized every animal for food, if 

 there were anything edible about it. However, they would not 

 have fished for such a form. On Flagg Island their remains 

 are by no means scarce, and probably some were overlooked in 

 digging, such tiny bones being hard to see. 



The spotted flounder (Lophopsetta maculata Mitchill) made 

 up an appreciable element in the diet of the campers on Flagg, 

 Calf, and Seward Islands. 



Gunners (Tautogolabrus adspersus Walbaum) were abundant 

 on Flagg Island, but they did not occur in any of the other 

 heaps examined, except one specimen on Seward Island. 



The sturgeon (Acipenser sturio Linneus) was found 

 occasionally, and was probably a great prize, the fishes being 



