7o 
THE CONDOR 
Voi.. VII 
knew they must be breeding, and it was not long before proof was secured. On a 
little high tide island supporting a single spruce tree, an old goose was flushed 
from her nest of five eggs. She floundered out of the thick branches about the 
base of the tree with a great commotion and made off to join the flocks at the up- 
per end of the flat. A short search on hands and knees under the tree revealed 
the nest and the warm eggs. The nest was a slight hollow in the sandy ground, 
lined with spruce needles, bits of dead grass, vegetable refuse, and a small quantity 
of down and feathers. In completeness and compactness it could not compare 
with the nests of many of our ducks. This was on May 22 and the eggs were quite 
fresh. Later in the day, another nest freshly made but without eggs was found in 
an exactly similar location. On returning to the first nest toward evening we 
failed to surprise the bird again, but found the eggs carefully covered with feathers. 
We soon left the flats and spent the greater part of the day on the mountains 
in search of ptarmigan, which we had been told were to be found about timber- 
line. After a fierce tussle with the thick undergrowth, we finally emerged in a 
series of beautiful open glades high up on the mountain and above them found 
open slopes with banks of snow scattered about. We crossed many of these glades 
and saw much of interest but failed to see any ptarmigan, though our doubts as to 
their occurrence were set at rest by finding several shed feathers, pure white and 
unmistakable. 
O11 the way down the mountain I was proceeding cautiously along a well 
beaten deer trail in hopes of seeing a deer or even a bear, as signs of them were 
numerous, when a whirr of wings at one side and not three feet from the trail, 
brought me to a standstill and caused me to whirl in my tracks in time to see a 
grouse pass through the network of branches and alight in a nearby hemlock. I 
lost no time in bringing it to the ground and was both pleased and surprised to 
find it a Canac Hites, of what species I did not feel certain since it was a female. I 
even entertained the thought that it might represent a new species. At least it 
was new to that part of Alaska and possibly to the Territory. Subsequent com- 
parison showed it to be Canachites frank/ini, previously unknown from any part of 
Alaska. Careful examination of the ground from which it was flushed brought to 
light its nest, a depression in a bed of moss, thickly overlaid with dead spruce 
needles, and well sheltered by a tiny seedling spruce. It contained five eggs which 
I wrapped in a handkerchief and placed in the top of my hat. The return through 
the thick woods was somewhat retarded by this breakable burden, but after several 
hours of carefully threading the labyrinth, I reached camp. 
On the mountain many small birds were seen, the most important being: Dry- 
obates v . picoideus, Sphyrapicus r. notkensis, Empidouax dijjicilis, Cyanocitta s. car- 
lotta:, Junco h. oreganus , Helminthophila c. lutescens, Dendroica tow 7 isendi, Wilsonia 
p. pileolata , Olbiorchilus h. pad ficus. Partis rufescens , Hvlocichla guttata , and Ixoreus 
ncsvius. 
The next morning the boat was loaded for the return to Hollis. Just as we 
were starting, a small hawk, doubtless a black merlin ( Falco c. suckleyi), came soar- 
ing over the flat toward us. This was a bird I had long been looking for and I 
wanted it, in fact I ‘wanted it bad’. Hastily taking a couple of shells from a wet 
pocket of my shooting coat, I started to put them into the gun, but they were 
swelled by the dampness and when about half way in stuck fast and would neither 
go in nor come out. Meanwhile the bird seemed to understand and took an un- 
usual interest in us, approaching nearer and nearer and finally sailing almost 
directly over the boat. And I stood there trying with might and main first to get 
those shells in and then desperately wrenching to get them out. All the while l 
