CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTOEY OF ALASKA. 171 



522. LoxiA letjcoptera Gmel. White-winged Crossbill. [See Plate VII.] 

 The White-winged Crossbill is abundant in the interior of the Yukon district and other wooded 



parts. It occasionally visits the neighborhood of Saint Michael's, though not in numbers, as ouly 



an individual, or a very small flock, may be seen in spring or fall. It then acts as though it was in 



a strange place and anxious to get away, for it was very shy. 



Measurements of a fresh specimen obtained from Nulato were as follows: No. 213, 5.5 by 11 



by 3 by 2.6 ; iris, bill, feet, and claws black. Dated March 15, 1875. 



Leucosticte griseonucha (Brandt). Aleutian Lencosticte. [See Plate VIII.] 



This species is common on all the Aleutian Islands, including the Pribylof Group, Sannakh, 

 mainland at Belkovsky, Unga Island, and was also observed at Kadiak Island. 



At Attu Island the bird occurs rather sparingly near Chichagof Harbor, but toward the western 

 end of the island it is more abundant. At Unalashka, in the neighborhood of Iliuliuk village, the 

 bird is also not often seen. At the village on the harbor of Nazan (Atkha Island) the bird is rarely 

 seen, though at a distance of a few miles from either of these places just mentioned the bird is 

 common enough. At the villages of Saint Paul's Island and that of Saint George Island the bird 

 is abundant in the so-called streets. I have counted as many as twenty individuals around one 

 building at Saint George's Island; and some of them within few feet of several persons. They 

 seemed regardless of the presence of man ; while at other places they were seldom seen and were 

 then shy. taking long flight when approached. 



This bird prefers the bold, ragged cliff's along the sea-shore. They are constantly in motion, 

 either on the wing, flying in sweeping, long curves, sometimes near the earth, to mount thirty or 

 forty feet at a single effort, alighting on some projecting ledge of a bluff to search for food, and 

 away again to alight for a moment on a weed stalk. Their nest is built on a small protected ledge 

 of a bluff, or else in a small crevice. 



A nest was obtained by me from a small cleft of a rock on the side of a high bluff. It was 

 composed of small pieces of wild-parsnip stalks, coarse grass stems, and finer blades of grass to 

 form the lining. The nest is not elaborate, the material being somewhat carelessly arranged. 

 Four (sometimes five) white eggs are laid in the early part of June. The young are able to fly 

 by the first of August. 



I believe that but one brood is reared in a season. In the latter part of August and during Sep- 

 tember small flocks, numbering never more than eight or ten, have been frequently observed, but 

 I was led to consider these companies as the parent birds with the brood of young just reared. On 

 the approach of winter these birds separate, so that during the winter more than one at a time is 

 rarely seen. 



In April they seem again to assemble in small flocks of not more than five to eight in number 

 and remain so until the mating season separates them. 



The number of birds seen in winter is much less than that seen in summer; hence the conclu- 

 sion that part of them migrate, but to what locality is yet unknown, as their habitat is restricted 

 to Kadiak on the east, Attu on the west, the Pribylof Islands on the north, and the southern sides 

 of the Aleutian Islands and those islands to the south of the Aliaska Peninsula forming the 

 southern border of their habitat. 



527a. Acanthis hornemannh exilipes (Coues). Eoary Redpoll. 



The Hoary Redpoll is a common bird throughout the entire Territory of Alaska. The number 

 at any given locality scarcely changes in winter or summer. 



Along the less protected parts of the coasts, where food is not so readily found in winter, the 

 birds go to the interior for a time, and only along the coast is it imperfectly migratory. In the 

 wooded districts it is a permanent resident. 



As early as March great numbers visit Saint Michael's, resorting to the bushes, weed stalks, and 

 denuded areas of ground. 



This species breeds at Saint Michael's. 



The Eskimo name of this bird is OkfeTc td gale, or dweller among the Oh/eg at, or alder patches. 



