Valdez daily prospector., 1909-01-15

at present occupy the limelight in the public eye, little is heard of the fish in it's waters, the game of the hills or the birds of the air; for aside from its vast storehouse of mineral Alaska is the haunt of myriads of birds and wa terfowl; the chosen home of our larg- est game animals and the source of great profit from it's fisheries and fur industry.
 To the naturalist the country teens with rare and interesting forms, and hunters find here about the last stand of America's big game on our own rapidly disappearing frontier. Yet even now the march of progress is slowly but surely crowding these or iginal denizens of the hills to the point where the survival of the fit test" will leave civilization in possess sion and they relegated to the past This may not occur in our day, how ever, but nevertheless theirs is the same dark future that has overtaken the buffalo and other game of the plains who gave their lives that the the pioneer might live.
 To one not familiar with conditions it is generally a matter of surprise to know that in the case of birds nearly all the species that inhabit Puget Sound occur here also, together with many that are peculiar to this coun- try alone. For instance among the game birds we have a great variety of ducks: Mallards, Pintails, Gadwals, Widgeons. Bluebills, green and blue winged Teal, Goldeneye, Butterballs, Longtails, Canvassbacks, Harlequins, Scotters, Shelldrakes, in fact, nearly all varie ties, except the eastern Wood-duck. Among the larger waterfowl are two species of Brant; both Canadian and the Blue Goose, Trumpeter Swan and Sandbill Crane. Waders are repre- sented by Golden Plover, Hudsonian and Esquimaux Curlews, Red-breast- ed and the Jack Snipe, and over a dozen varieties of Sandpipers, Turn stones, Surf birds and Oyster-catchers; the latter an interesting species with jet black body and long flame colored bill, noticed among the rocks at the edge of the surf seeking mus sels and shell fish which are opened with their peculiar shaped bills. Of salt water birds two kinds of Looms are common, the Red-thrOated Diver and the Northern Loon, and half a dozen varieties of Grebes, often called "Hell-divers," their white silky breasts being in demand for various trimmings for the fair sex. In the vii cinity of the open sea one will find isolated islands used as a breeding ground for many of the real sea birds living together as great happy fam fly. At 3 distance the colony will ap- pear to be made up of sed gulls, the air about the place is filled with their white wheeling forms and discortlant notes, but nearer approach will re- veal among the rocky walls groups of Brandts and violet-green cOrmorants, black loon-shaped birds with long slender necks known as "Shags." At other points grotesque Puilins or "Sea Perrots' peer out at you among the rocks; the black and white Horned Puffin and the black Turfted Puflin with long flowing yellow plumes, red eyes and feet and white and orange varigated bill, q clown of color among the birds. Perched upright in solemn rows in nitches along the cliffs are stupid Murres that waddle off into the sea when disturbed, each leaving cX posed it's green pear-shapcd egg upon the bare rock.
 Wherever sufficient soil i8 found the hillside will be honcy-combed with bird burrows running beneath the sod, terminating in a spacious cavern in which will be found the parent bird and it's single egg-be it the large RhinOceros Aux, the little Cassins Auklet or one of the varieties of Stormy Petrels, the "Mother Cary's Chicken" of the story books. These tunnel dwellers are nocturnal in their habits, moving about only at night, each sex taking turn about in the in- cubation of the egg. While the par ent goes to sea in search of food the other remains at home, and SO accur- ately is the return timed that the in- coming and outgoing bird will pass each other in the burrow or not far from the entrance.
 The Gulls, of which the Glacous winged is our common bird, occupy the top of the rocks, arranging a slight nest among the dead grass where their three brown spotted eggs are laid, the warm sun doing the greater part of the matching process. Of the several species of smaller Auks called Murrelets peculiar to Alaska, the handsome little Ancient Murrelet will be found the most common breed- CT among the rookeries, while the Marbled Murrelet, little Aux no larg- CT than quail, of rusty brown plum age, is one of the most abundant spe- cies. Yet it's breeding ground has never been discovered This bird, like nearly all the other sea birds that re- main the year around changes to an entirely different plumage during the