The Alaska daily empire., 1916-04-21
ALASKAN BIRD
 LIFE IS STUDIED

ported by F. seymour Hersey who was in the field for A. c. Bent col lecting data and photographs for the completion of the Life Histories of North American Birds"
 Leaving Seattle on the revenue cutter Bear, the party steamed north ward through the Inside passage, where the scenery was delightful an the way to Ketchlkan. From that point the Bear passed through Dixon's Entrance and headed for Unalaska. As they neared Unimak Pass various members Of the Tubinares, of tube nosed birds, were noticed, together with Sooty Shearwaters, Petrels, and Albatrosses AS they approached the pass" the number of birds Increased to a point almost beyond belief. As far as the eye could sec masses of birds were bedded on the water; Murres and Puffins were everywhere.
 Tt was utterly impossible to form any definite estimate of the number of birds seen" says the author, de- claring Hundreds of thousands does not exaggerate their abundance; the ship seems to have literally ploughed It's way through them" The Bear lay at Unalaska three days, during which time Mr. Hersey collected Q number of species peculiar to that locality
 Proceeded To Nome
 After touching at St. George and st. Paul Islands they proceeded on to Nome, which port the ship did not actually reach. on account of the ice. but anchored out in the stream and sent the mall ashore by dog teams. At st. Michael Mir. Hersey left the Bear and made arrangements with the owner of a small open pow CT boat to carry him and his outfit to the mouth of the Yukon River They went through the so-called "canal" between st. Michael Island and the mainland, but encountered severe storm, which forced them to land and encamp for three days Birds were plentiful in the nelghbor- hood of the camp and Mr. Hersey employed the time to good adyant- age. securing several specimens of eggs.
 Proceeding onward they arrived at the mouth of the Yukon and ts- tablished their headquarters at tho wireless station. eight miles from the native village of Kotlik. The country all around is reported very fiat making a safe feeding ground for the Little Brown Cranes and geese, since 1t was impossible to approach them unobserved In mentioning It Mir. Hersey saiys:
 "So bare and level is the country that a photograph Of the river taken from the shore, shows the opposite bank as nothing but a straight line, such as might be made across the print with a ruler and a coarse stub pen" Here the author remained during the greater part of the breed ing season. He found Pintails and several special of shore birds breed ing abundantly: Gulls Ferns and Jaegers common, and Redpolls Alas ka Yellow Waktails, Willow Ptarmi- gan and Alaska Longspurs also well represented in this region.
 Stopped Along Coast
 Later in the summer he returned to Nome and again embarked on the Bear, which stopped at many points along the coast. among which were Golovin Bay. Cape Prince of Wales. Cape Dyer Point Franklin, and Bar row. Before reaching Barrow they encountered considerable ice and were delayed ten days enroute. Att Barrow. the Northernmost point no this trip, the ice conditions were SO bad they only remained long enough to land the mail and take aboard several men who had been caught in the ice the previous season, and were obliged to winter at Barrow. Among the newcomers was W. S. Brooks. of the Polar Bear party, who had been collecting for the Mu- scum of Comparative Zoology.
 AS soon as the ship was out of the ice her course was changed to west and an effort was made to reach Wrangell Island, where the ship wrecked crew of the Karluk was known to have wintered, but after trying for ten days In fog, snow and general bad weather, gave 1t up and put back to Nome for coal, stopping at several places on the way.
 Besides making careful field notes on the birds observed the author kept a daily journal. much of which will be used in the work, now in preparation by Mir Bent Mir Her sey left the Bear at Nome and took passage on the steamship Victoria to Seattle.
 Found Aleutian Turn
 It is Interesting to note the fact that Mir. Hersey found the Aleutian Tern. which has always been scarce, and which was recently thought to be exterminated. Although he en. countered about 100 of them and collected several specimens; this bird is larger and much darker than the common Arctic Tern and has pe- culiar white forehead.
 Another rare bird mentioned is Fishers Petrel, once represented in museum collections by single speci- men, and now by only three or four Although they have been observed frequently they are hard to collect and their nesting places is not known.
 rri.o A1o,tfon cnorror- fo ona of