Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-05-12

~ Dlr0S observed curing Trip III
~ Alaska has been published by |
the Smithsonian institution, as
reported by F. Seymour Hersey, who
was in the field for A. G. Bent, collect |
ing data and photographs for the COM
pletion of the Life Histories of North |
American Birds"
Leaving Seattle on the revenue cut
ter Bear, the party steamed northward |
through the inside passage" where |
the scenery was delightful all the way
to Ketchikan. From that point the
Bear passed through Dixon's entrance
and headed for Unalaska. AS they
neared Unimak pass various members
of the tubinares, or tube-nosed birds,
were noticed, together with sooty
.. shearwaters, petrels and albatrosses.
AS they approached the pass the num-
Der of birds increased to poin: al
most beyond belief. AS far as the eye
could see masses of birds were bedded
on the water; INJURIES and puff1ns ere
| everywhere. 1T was utterly impossi-
! BILE to form any definite estimate of
| the number of birds seen," says the
author; hundreds of thousands does
not exaggerate their abundance" The
ship seems to have literally plowed it's
way through them. The Bear lay at
Unalaska three days, during which
time Mr. Hersey collected a number of
species peculiar to that locality.
After touching at ST. George and St.
=. Paul islands, they proceeded on to
Nome, which port the ship did not ac-
tually reach on account of the ice, but
anchored out in the stream and sent
the mail ashore by dog teams.
To the Yukon in Open Boat.
At St. Michael Mr.. Hersey left the
Bear and made arrangements with the
owner of small open power boat to
carry him and his outfit to the mouth
of the Yukon river. They went
through the so-calIed canal between
ST. Michael island and the mainland,
but encountered a severe storm which
forced them to land and encamp for
three days. Birds were plentiful in
the neighborhood Of the camp and Mr..
Hersey employed the time to good All
vantage, securing many specimens of
eggs.
Proceeding onward, they arrived at
the mouth of the Yukon and estab-
lished their headquarters at the wire
less station, eight miles from the ma
tive village of Kotlik. The country all
around is reported very fat, making g
safe feeding ground for the little
brown cranes and geese, since it was
impossible to approach them unob
served. In describing it, Mr. Hersey
says: $50 bare and level is the coun
try that a photograph of the river
taken from the shore, shows the op
posite bank as nothing but straigh
line, such as might be made across the
print with a ruler and a coarse stuI
pen" Here the author remained dur
: ing the greater part of the breedin,
season. He found pintails and severa
species of shorebirds breeding abun
dainty; gulls, terms and jaegers com
mon, and redpolls. Alaska yellow wag
tails, willow ptarmigan and Alaski
longspurs also well represented in thi
: region.
!, Delayed in the Ice OFF Barrow.
Later in the summer he returned t
!, Nome and again embarked on tn
Bear, which stopped at many point
along the coast, among which wer
: Golovin bay, Cape Prince of Wales
Cape Dyer, Point Franklin and Bal
: row. Before reaching Barrow the
= encountered considerable ice and wer
! delayed ten days en- route At Barrow
the northernmOst point of this trip, tn
ice conditions were so bad they onl
. remained long enough to land tn
u mail and take aboard several men VIII
had been caught in the ice the pr
, vious season and obliged to winter {