442 Mr. E. Adams on the Birds of Michalaski. 
only to feed^ but were continually flying about tbe marshes^ and 
diving and screaming upon tbe lakes. This species is a complete 
mocking bird^ at least of harsh sounds; its cry often sounds 
like the squalling of a cat_, the barking of a dog, the harsh 
laugh of a man, or the quacking of a duck, sometimes of all 
these united into one loud scream, as it dives into the lake 
I in play. 
1 Their nests were numerous, and generally placed quite close 
to the water on the banks of the lake; they consisted merely 
of a little loose grass pulled into a hollow; but some few were 
more carefully formed, though none of them were lined with 
feathers or down. The eggs, two in number, were of an olive- 
greenish colour, thinly spotted with dark brown; in some 
most of the spots were collected about the large end, in others 
not so. 
j- Crested Auk. Phaleris cristatella. 
Tub-e-uk, Eski. 
[Phaleris cristatella, Dali & Bann. p. 309.] 
Two of these birds were picked up at sea by a native on 
the 14th of June. They were weak and half starved, but with 
no marks of injury about them. I saw none except these; but 
they are occasionally met with by the natives at some dis¬ 
tance from the shore. The Esquimaux about Kotzebue 
Sound and Port Clarence use the small orange-coloured 
plates at the base of the bill for ornamenting their waterproof 
frocks; and, from the great number attached to one frock, 
there must be extensive breeding-places somewhere in that 
vicinity. 
The time of observation on these birds extended from Oc¬ 
tober 1850 to the end of June 1851, at which time most of 
the birds had eggs nearly ready for hatching; but no young 
birds had appeared. The above list includes every bird, I 
believe, that visited the immediate vicinity of Michalaski 
during that period. 
