November, 1902. | 
THE CONDOR 
135 
Olbiorchilus hiemalis pacificus. Western Winter Wren. This is the common- 
est bird in the great redwood forests, where it is thoroughly at home and sings 
frequently. Humboldt Bay and Crescent City. 
Cistothorus palustris paludicola. Tule Wren. I found the tule wren in a 
small open treeless boreal swamp at Crescent City. [Reported from “marshes of 
Humboldt Co.” C. H. Townsend, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. X. 227.] 
Certhia familiaris occidentalis. California Creeper. Observed at Humboldt 
Bay. [Collected at Crescent City. T. S. P.] 
Parus rufescens. Chestnut-backed Chickadee. A common and characteristic 
bird of the redwood swamps, more open forest, and thick groves of shore pine 
close to the coast. The species probably does not breed farther south than the 
limit of the Sitka spruce. 
Chamaea fasciata phaea. Coast Wren-tit. Not uncommon in thick brush close 
to the coast where it is oftener heard than seen. 
Hylocichla ustulata. Russet-backed Thrush. An abundant and musical 
species in the shady moss-hung forests. I also found it in groves of shore pine, 
within sound of the surf. Humboldt Bay and Crescent City. 
Ixoreus naevius. Varied Thrush. This superb bird undoubtedly breeds in 
the dense redwood forest where I secured a specimen June ii, and again saw one 
June 28. It is, however, rare and so retiring that it has heretofore escaped de- 
tection in this region. The specimen, an adult female, is typical naviiis, the back 
being a rich brown. 
Merula migratoria propinqua. Western Robin. An abundant breeding bird. 
Humboldt Bay to Crescent City. 
Sialia mexicana occidentalis. Western Blue Bird. Not uncommon in cleared 
land. 
A List of Birds Collected in Norton Sound, Alaska. 
BY RICHARD C. MCGREGOR. 
N June 13, 1900, the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Pathfinder left 
Seattle, Washington, for Norton Sound, .Alaska, where she had been de- 
tailed to make a survey. Our trip up was a quick one. Several days at 
Dutch Harbori and a few hours at Nome City were the only stops in our voyage. 
With the exception of a very few days we were not inconvenienced by rain, fog 
or wind. As to temperature we found it very agreeable during our whole stay in 
Norton Sound, from June 27 to September 25. 
From afar the shores of Norton Sound for the most part are uninviting, the 
great scarcity of trees giving the whole country a desolate appearance. The 
tundra plain extends a distance of one to three miles from the beach, where it 
rises on low ranges of hills, barren except for patches of brush and tundra moss. 
Viewed at close quarters the tundra is found to support an extensive and varied 
flora, and to be as full of water as a wet sponge. 
Along the shore and for several miles east of Thor and extending inland for 
from one to five miles are thick spruce woods, and just east of Cape Denbigh there 
is a small patch of the same species. 
I. Dutch Harbor is a small bay on the eastern side of Ainaknak (=.Amagnak) which is a small island separated 
from Unalaska (=Oonalaska) Island by a narrow strait All these names refer to practically the same locality. I have 
included in this paper notes on several species observed at Dutch Harbor, tho they do not belong to Norton Sound. 
