[■Jult 5, 1880. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



455 



STUDIES IN ALASKAN NATURAL 

 HISTORY. 



Sitka, AlaBka. May 2Uh. 



AT last Sitka and its surroundings has done something 

 toward redeeming its reputation with us as a coun- 

 try in which it was possible to obtain some little amuse- 

 ment with a gun. Month alter month the good time 

 coming has been postponed, until at length we gave up in 

 despair and stowed awa}' our Parkers ; but for the last 

 four weeks we have had as good shooting as any one 

 could ask for, but within the last four days it has gone 

 to "Hans Brideman's barty ; where, is dot batty Bow?" 



First the ducks flocked, preparatory to their flight 

 northward, and their numbers were beyond computa- 

 tion. And when a flock got up, from a shot among 

 them, the noise of their wings could be heard a mile. 

 We did not pay much attention to them : we were tired 

 of ducks, and the flocks were very wary, and, beside, we 

 had better business with the beach-birds, which came in 

 immense quantities. While we were working at them 

 the ducks disappeared. None of the sea fowl breed in 

 this vicinity, lint the Indians still bring in a few mallard, 

 which is a pity, as they are now breeding in the lakes 

 among the mountains. A few green-winged teal, too, 

 have come, These birds winter further south : they were 

 the first to come and to go last fall, and are now coming- 

 back after the others have left. The Canada goose also 

 bleeds here, and some of them, taken young, are i 

 captivity ashore. I think that Barrow's golden eye also 

 winters further south, I got some early last fall, none 

 during the winter, and two during the last week. The 

 mergansers, harlequins, surf ducks, oldwives, scoters, 

 butler balls and scaups were plentiful all winter, but 

 have gone probably to the valley of the Yukon. For 

 two or three weeks, though, the beaches and marshes 

 and flats have been alive with birds. One of our offi- 

 cers brought home one hundred and thirty snipe and 

 plover from an afternoon's work on the flats, and bags 

 of forty or fifty were common, among which would be, 

 of plover, the semi-palmated, the ring neck, the surf 

 bird, and another with four toes, which is neither the 

 ''beetle headed" or surf bird, as described by Coues, genus 

 tHt) and 103, as the only four-toed plover in the United 

 Slates. I obtained from an Indian several of these, both 

 male and female, but could not find out where they were 

 shot. We got none on the beach that I know of. I will copy 

 from my note book my description : Plovers, May 10th, 

 male and female. Male— Length, 10-} inches; extent, 31-J 

 inches; wing, 64, inches; bill, f of an inch; gap, l| 

 inches ; tarsus, 1£ inches ; toes, 4 ; middle, with claw, 1J 

 inches ; hind, with claw, 1J inches ; full tail, 2£ inches ; 

 12 feathers ; toes not lobate ; legs yellowish green ; tibia 

 feathered two-thirds of length ; colors : upper part, 

 head, back and scapula, dark brown, mixed with lighter 

 brown, the feathers on back having dark brown fields, 

 fringed and tipped with yellowish white ; rump, upper 

 tail coverts and one inch of back adjoining, white ; tail, 

 dark plain brown; under parts, chin and throat white 

 and brown mottled ; belly and anal regions white, with 

 a lew black-tipped feathers ; under wing, white. Fe- 

 male— Length, 8 inches : extension, 10 inches ; bill, 1 inch ; 

 tarsus, f of an inch ; 4 toes, hind one little over ^ of an 

 inch ; legs, olive green ; colors : back, dark brown, fields 

 edged with yellowish white ; head the same, but lighter, 

 and back of neck lighter still ; upper wing coverts slaty 

 brown, edged with white, the long outer feathers having 

 white (prills ; under part mottled brown and white : 

 rear of belly and anal regions white. At first I took 

 this for the female of the surf bird, but there was one 

 striking difference. In the bill of the surf bird there is 

 on each side a V shaped groove, the apex toward the 

 end of bill and nostril situated in lower posterior. With 

 this plover— which certainly is not genus 189, as its bell}' 

 was white — there were on the bill two short, longitudi- 

 nal grooves, end to end, separated by a. little partition, 

 the nostril being in the rear of the hinder one. I have 

 saved the skins, and shall send them to Prof. Baird. 



From the marshes we have got a few golden plover. 

 Of snipe I have identified as follows, using "Coues' Key ;" 

 No, 203, Wilson's snipe. No. 204, gray snipe, of which, 

 by the way, the cut of head and bill in "Key" is perfect, 

 and the membrane between outer and middle toes very 

 "evident," My bird is a large one; dimensions as fol- 

 lows ; Length, 11 inches ; extension, 19£ inches ; wing, 6 

 inches : head, 1£ inches ; bill, %i inches ; tarsus, 1£ 

 inches ; middle toe and claw, 1| inches, outer pair semi- 

 palmated; legs, yellow-brown; tail, 12 feathers; colors 

 about as described by Coues. No. 200, semi-palmated 

 sandpiper. No. 207 to 209, least sandpiper, Baird's sand- 

 piper, jack snipe. No. — , black-bellied sandpiper and 

 jack curlew. The latter I didn't get, but feel quite sure 

 1 recognized, 



For a few days we had flush times, but about the 20th 

 the birds had about all gone from the immediate vicinity, 

 and we had to search other fields, Hearing that at the 

 head of a deep bay (Crab Bay, which penetrates the 

 eastern side of Kinzoff Island, about twelve miles to the 

 westward) there were extensive flats, which at low wati 

 were covered with birds, a party of us started on the 

 24th and explored the country. We found the flats, as de- 



scribed, but instead of being covered with birds they were 

 covered only with seaweed, stranded starfish and clam 

 a,nd scollop shells. Our day's work gave us but one 

 black-bellied sandpiper, one shot at a goose, which, al- 

 though hit, carried off the No. 8's, and one at a bald 

 eagle. The day was, however, a splendid one, and as a 

 picnic the affair was a success. 



The starfish were wonderful as regards colors, which 

 were purple, red and green, in different shades. One spe- 

 cies resembled in shape the Asterias vulgaris, and an- 

 other, with eight or ten short arms surrounding a wide 

 body, resembled more nearly the Ctenedisc.ua crispatus, 

 so far as comparative length of body and legs went, All 

 were of great size, some over a foot in diameter. In 

 every direction the flat seemed to be filled out with foun- 

 tains, for great spurts of water, three to four feet high, 

 were constantly occurring, which of course we transla- 

 ted clams, and dug for them, and such clams ! I 

 brought some on board and weighed them, and they 

 weighed one and a quarter pounds each, and were from 

 six to seven inches long by four to five inches in length 

 and breadth. 



Desiring to preserve the shellB, I sent them forward 

 to be opened and cleaned, and my cook found in each 

 a crab of light yellow hue, soft shelled, and with great 

 quantities of eggs, almost ready for laying. The era lis 

 were alive, and I would suppose had crept into the open 

 shells for an asylum during their egg-laying season ; 

 but the man insists that they were inside the clam it- 

 self, and says that he first noticed the little claws pro- 

 jecting from the body of the fish, and that when he 

 pulled them out a cavity remained. If this is so — and 

 another Chinaman confirms him, only he says "Clab he 

 inside that stlomack"— may it not be that the crab was 

 burrowing in the clam's flesh and thus obtaining food as 

 well as lodging while "in the straw?" Certainly they 

 would not have been in the stomach, and living, also ; 

 and these lived some time after extraction. Of course 

 the man failed to give me a chance to look into this phe- 

 nomena. 



I believe if I shot a "phillaloo bird," and laid it aside 

 for study, that cook would serve it up for my breakfast 

 without a question, if not warned. He did serve me 

 that way with an ousel. Well, I've got the crab in alco- 

 hol, and shall try to get a specimen intact of both. 



Mount Edgecomb is on Kinzoff Island, and from a lake 

 on its foot-hills flows through this Crab Bay flats a pretty 

 tittle river, which I believe is the one from which the 

 trout I sent you a description and drawing of in my last 

 were obtained. I hardly believed the Indian who told 

 me that these fish ran up into the lake in fall, lived there 

 all winter and ran down in spring ; but after a talk with 

 Whilford, who, in his capacity of oldest inhabitant and 

 trader, has more information about fish, game, etc. , as 

 obtained from the Indians, than any other man in Sitka, 

 he fully confirms the story of the Indian, and says that 

 every spring they are brought in not only from the lake 

 on Kinzoff Island, but from the mountain lakes, in 

 which, during winter, the Indians catch them through 

 the ice. The Indian name for the fish is "quot." 



During our flush times with the beach-birds every boy 

 in town who could rig up a bow and arrows, or borrow a 

 cheap shot gun, was busy with robins, which in count- 

 less numbers tarried with us a few days and spent their 

 time on the beaches feeding on herring spawn and small 

 Crustacea. They, too, have winged their way northward, 

 and now the shore line and flats are devoid of life. 



I learn that the question as to how many and what 

 variety of crows exist in Alaska is now agitating ornith- 

 ological circles. I will give my mite toward settling the 

 question. During our year here three species have been 

 more or less plentiful. I have not shot any, not hanker- 

 ing particularly for crow as game, but shall soon do so 

 now that they are "wanted" by science. 



All summer, all winter, and until a month ago, ravens 

 were very plentiful — living in the town itself, thronging 

 the streets as plentifully and as impudently as does in our 

 Eastern cities the pet (aversion) of Coues, the Passer do- 

 ■mestievs. A month ago the cayote dogs killed a turkey 

 on shore— I might almost say the turkey, for there were 

 but two in town — and its body, well seasoned with 

 strychnine, was hung up just high enough to enable the 

 dogs to continue their repast. But the ravens got in 

 ahead, and for weeks their dead bodies have been liber- 

 ally sprinkled around the vicinity, and either nearly 

 all were poisoned, which I do not consider probable, or 

 those which escaped poison have been frightened away. 

 I have not seen over half a dozen within the last month. 

 During the same season, and still continuing to be 

 plentiful, a crow very similar to our ordinary crow, al- 

 though, I think, somewhat smaller, and differing in its 

 voice, lives among the islands and infests the flats at low 

 tide, flying in immense flocks every morning to Indian 

 River, where they all perform their ablutions and await 

 the early ebbing tide to get their breakfast. 



Last fall there were among the islands quantities of a 

 small crow, not over twice the size of a blackbird, and 

 with a note which, although very different from the or- 

 dinary crow's, was enough like it to stamp the bird as 

 one of the family. It was my impression then that they 

 were young orows, but since receiving "Coues' Key" I 



am inclined to believe that they are identical with the 

 fish crow, or the "crow, var. carinus, Baird." I shall 

 look the matter up. 



Besides the birds I have mentioned, those most common 

 here now are bald eagles, ospreys and various hawks, 

 and a few song birds, of which I have not as yet obtained 

 specimens. The fact is my scientific turn isn't quite 

 strong enough to completely overturn my sportsman's 

 ideas, and I don't fancy crow and sparrow shooting. 



I suppose my young friend, Prof. Merriam, who, when 

 a boy, being hard up for a dog skeleton, killed and boiled 

 his own mastiff in his mother's soup kettle, would not 

 appreciate this sentimentality, 



In the way of fish I have little to tell you. The salmon 

 have not as yet come in to great extent. The first school 

 came in, driven by a herd of porpoises, on the 13th hist,, 

 and a few were taken by the Indians ; since then there 

 have been three or four small schools, but the run cannot 

 be considered as having begun. It is this late opening of 

 the season which operates against the canning interests 

 here, The Columbia River salmon are probably on the 

 market at San Francisco by this time, and it is uphill 

 work to establish a market for the Alaska salmon when 

 it does not come to hand until the market is well sup- 

 plied with a well-known article. The time for Alaska 

 will come, when the fish, so scarce, get too dear to pay 

 for further south. Here the cost of the fish is a bag- 

 atelle. 



I have been surprised at one thing. We arrived here 

 June 15th last year, and it was well on toward Septem- 

 ber before the salmon began to run up the streams and 

 change color. I don't think I saw a "dog" till late in Au- 

 gust, but already this year numbers of them have been 

 taken from Sawmill and other rivers ; roe fully devel- 

 oped and colors changing. 



The salmon trout have not as yet run into the streams, 

 although they are hovering around in the bay, for they 

 have been taken in nets, and arrivals from outside re- 

 port salmon plentiful a few miles away, Can it be that 

 the unusual quantity of snow water affects the salt 

 water to such an extent that both classes of fish are 

 waiting for a change? No more "quot" have been seen. 



Ou the beach, where last fall the caplins and smelt 

 came ashore in quantities, there has been captured dur- 

 ing the last week quantities of sandlances, about five 

 inches long, five eighths of an inch deep, half an inch 

 broad, and long, sharp head. As soon as these creatures 

 are left by the receding waves they burrow into the sand 

 until but their tail is visible. Ab table fish they are ex- 

 cellent. Halibut are still plentiful and good, and a bass 

 which resembles greatly the ordinary fresh water black 

 bass is very plentiful, and is caught by trolling with any- 

 kind of a spoon ; the Indians troll with a strip of halibut' 

 belly skin on a Bingle hook. No Fontinalis as yet, but 

 expected daily. 



I have quite a collection of fish in alcohol, and am im- 

 patiently awaiting Prof. Bean in the Yukon, who will, I 

 know, be glad to get them, and will be able to classify 

 and describe them. The Yukon is expected daily, and 

 by next steamer Prof. Dall will arrive (his chief assistant. 

 Mr. Baker, having arrived by the last steamer), and the 

 Yukon will go on surveying and other scientific work. 



PlSECO. 



M I » I ^ 



GAME PROTECTION. 



MIGRATORY QUAIL. 



Quebec, June SOth. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



I read your number of the 24th of June in the expec- 

 tation of getting some migratory quail news, especially 

 with regard to the birds that were turned loose previous 

 to this year, but I regret to find your correspondents are 

 very shy about committing themselves to any statement 

 on the subject. I must therefore report what 1 have no- 

 ticed in the birds I have sent adrift. Eighty birds were 

 placed in the county of Quebec, and fourteen were planted 

 at the mouth of the Saguenay ; one hundred went to 

 Montreal. Of the birds (ten) I turned out on my own 

 farm, one has been found broken up by hawks, who hunt 

 the grass fields most carefully ; but we find "dustings" of 

 quail on the roads and paths, and we have seen one 

 couple duBting. They appear to be as regular in this 

 habit as chickens, seeking places not far from hams or 

 buildings, evidently preferring the risk of the domestic 

 cat to the danger of the chicken hawk. We have never 

 heard any cry or call coming from the quail. 



In the midst of my walkings 1 found a young part- 

 ridge {Perdriw gris) just; hatched, This was' on the 14th 

 of June, consequently any quail hatched in August will 

 be very late broods, and very weak birds for a migratory 

 experiment. Where there are no native quail the dust- 

 ings are the surest sign of the old birds, as they will visit 

 the same spot every day, and there can be lio mistake 

 about this sign, and the ground for quail is grass or grain 

 land near a wood. 



I hope some of your other correspondents will occa- 

 sionally give you some news, as what is written in local 

 papers is interesting outside the locality, and 1 know of 

 no medium of communication for migratory quail news 

 as good as the columns of a journal such as yours, hav- 

 ing a continental circulation. Wil, Rhodes. 



Danville, P, Q,, June 28th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Your favor of tne IHth inst. came during absence. The 

 quail arrived in fine condition, on the 17th inst., and are 

 now rejoicing in their freedom, except a dczen, which I 

 am keeping over in conftnement. Shall try to winter 



