CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 7 



and an occasional raven will be the only birds seen during that time, hence there are for the greater 

 part of the year but few birds to be added to the collection. 



The notes on the birds are, except in few instances, the results of rny own observations in the 

 field. Several species collected by rne are new to the North American bird fauna, and others, very 

 rare species, which had hitherto been special desiderata. To my own notes is an appendix contain- 

 ing a list of all the birds known to occur within the limits of Alaska. That many more names of 

 birds will be added to the list is only a question of the time when the Territory will be fully inves- 

 tigated by a thorough exploration, as many species are knoWn to be abundant on the borders of 

 the country. Yetthc fact of there being no recorded instances of their occurrence in Alaska has 

 been sufficient to exclude them from the list. 



Without entering into a detailed account of the manner in which the birds are best obtained 

 in a country whose features have but little in common with others more southern, I could only be 

 sure of securing all the "birds I could attend to by being well prepared With a hunting outfit, so 

 far as gun (a fine one made by Parker Bros., West Meriden, Conn.) and ammunition were con- 

 cerned — for without these it is impossible to obtain specimens where the birds perceptibly become 

 scarcer and wilder each year, due to the introduction of immense quantities of cheap shot-guns 

 that do more harm by scaring than killing in the hands of the native youths. At Saint Michael's 

 the geese and ducks have greatly decreased in numbers, if we may believe the reports of the hunt- 

 ers of former days who bagged many times the quantity which may now be obtained, and this with 

 infinitely better guns and certainly not worse shots. Among the Aleutian Islands the birds have 

 forsaken the vicinity of the villages, and only by visiting the uninhabited islands can a complete 

 series of specimens be obtained, as the people and foxes have driven the birds away. This is note- 

 worthy from the fact that the natives of Attu speak of a large cormorant, which, from the descrip- 

 tion given by them, could have been none other than the greatly desired Pallas's cormorant 

 (Phalacrocorax perspicillatus Pall.). This bird is now not to be found, where but twenty years ago 

 (when no fire-arms were used) it was quite abundant at Attu and among the other Nearer islands. 



At the present time most birds are seen as the vessel quietly moves through the still waters. 

 At sea myriads of auks of various kinds sit among the tide streams, feeding on various substances, 

 and are only disturbed by the vessel making a narrow break in their ranks as they stretch away 

 for miles in length, where even in moderately rough weather the birds spend most of their time, 

 each species in a manner by itself, but with an occasional intrusion of a puffin, gull, or other bird 

 in theseriation formed by the gently undulating sea. Though generally each species or it and its 

 congenors keep well together, yet the interval separating the species is generally distinct, even of 

 but few yards or by overlapping ranks but slightly separated. 



The gulls and ravens prefer the shingly beach or sands, and carefully scan the surface for a 

 scrap of anything fit or not fit for food. The former sedate and often of solemn mood, the reverse 

 of the wary raven ever on the alert for a trap in which his foot may be caught, for they frequently 

 walk along and instantly jump as though something had exploded directly under it, yet continue 

 its fantastic actions for hours. 



The snipe and kindred birds seek the more marshy places, where they abound in their season. 

 But few species of the waders remain in the Aleutian Islands and none in the northern portions of 

 the Territory during the winter. The ducks and geese are widely distributed, and in a great 

 measure modified forthe time being by their surroundings in each locality. 



The list of mammals presented represents all the known living and fossil species, the greater 

 part being found on the mainland. On the Aleutian Islands the only mammals are the foxes and 

 the seals, with few species of rodentia, of which two species are imported. There are no mice or 

 rats on the extreme western islands at the present time, and only one species of fox, Vulpes 

 lagopus. One of the small islands near Kiska Island is said by the natives to be literally honey- 

 combed with the holes of a species of spermophile. I was unable to secure specimens for identifica- 

 tion. I was also unable to procure a specimen of the bat, which is plentiful at Kadiak, and occa- 

 sionally ranges, in the months of July and August, even as far north as Nulato, on the Yukon River. 



(A large collection of insects and shells was also made by me, but owing to circumstances beyond 

 my control I am not able to present the notes pertaining to them in this connection, or to give a 

 list of the species.) 



