19 
but dived. A third, on the wing, crossed the bow and its red face could be 
plainly seen, with glasses, at about 100 yards. This bird had a heavy 
white flank, yet was of a brownish colour rather than glossy black.” 
Whether this was imagination in conjunction with a little better light than 
usual working on P. p. pelagicus, or really P. urile in the flesh, cannot be 
stated positively; but almost certainly it was urile. At no other place 
was this species even suspected. 
A brown cormorant with white flank seemed difficult of belief even 
when seen with one's own eyes. The observation was recorded with much 
hesitation. But a sentence in Stejneger's discussion of the plumage of 
pelagicus gives ample verification: “These white feathers do not belong 
exclusively to the adult plumage as a young female shot in February has 
the thighs of the sooty plumage broadly streaked with white feathers, 
which are not dense enough, however, to form a continuous patch.” In 
the bird above, observed at Atka island, there was decidedly a continuous 
patch. 
Merganser merganser Cassin. American Merganser 
On July 28, at Petropavlovsk, a large female merganser was observed 
and studied in the glasses as she swam on the middle of the lagoon behind 
the village. Probably this species. 
Mergus serrator Linnaeus. Red-breasted Merganser 
Seen only during the spring voyage. Quite numerous on the protected 
waters between Esquimalt and Ladysmith, February 28, where about one 
hundred were seen. There were several flocks of a dozen; a large pre- 
ponderance of males. On March 3, 7, and 8 several Red-breasts were met 
again at Trout harbour and waters adjacent to Wrangell, Alaska. On April 
13 two more were found in the wide lagoon at Kuluk bay, Adak island. 
This bird was never seen singly and the small juntas were always allied 
with some others of the waterfowl. 
Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus. Mallard 
Small numbers of mallards, doubtless wintering birds, were encoun- 
tered at Wrangell, Taku, and Swanson harbour, Alaska, and in the Aleutians 
even more sparingly at Unalaska, Adak, and Kyska island, these observa- 
tions being between March 7 and April 16. On May 7, at Hitokappu in 
the Kurils, Lieut.-Col. Broome reported meeting a drake, apparently a 
breeding bird, and on the return trip, July 22, a female with a brood was 
found on a stream flowing through a muskeg in the hills behind Petro- 
pavlovsk, Kamchatka. Specimens secured in the spring were in very poor 
condition. 
6 Taku, Alaska. March 9 
9 Swanson harbour, Alaska. March 11 
The male is just coming into full plumage from either immature or eclipse. 
Mareca penelope (Linnaeus). European Widgeon 
On July 22, in the same muskeg stream mentioned above, a duck 
mother with brood was thought to be of this species. Owing to the manner 
in which she flapped about in the grassy cover, it was difficult to get a good 
view of her, and shooting her seemed inadvisable. Her young were not as 
far advanced as the young of the Mallard. 
