98 NATUEAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA

think ^it a sort of general term as theynse it,

—

somethinglike "_gull."

This species is far less

common

in

Cumberland

than glaucus.

On

the Greenland coast it is the

most common

gull, except

Mssa

tridactyla.

My

opportunities forstudying leueopterus

were

not very extensive,

and

my

conclusions

may

betoo hasty; butstill it isworth while forothers that

may

get better opportunities, to observe if the following jioints ofdifferenceare constant

First. Leuco^terus, 24inches orless; (jlaucus^ 21 to32 inches.

Second. Tarsus

and

toesofleucopterus in fullyadult birds oftenorange- red,

and

notflesh-coloredas in glaucus.

Third.

Eing

around the eye in leucopterus flesh-colored; in glaucus, reddishpurple.

Fourth.

Young

of glaucus in first

plumage

aslight asthe bird of the second year; the

young

of leucopterus nearly as dark as the

yonng

of glaucescens.

The

bill is also

weaker and

thinnerthan in glaucus.

GovernorFencker saj^she has often

had

birds that answered neailj tothe description of L. hutchinsii,but with chrome-yellow^l)ill,withVer- million spot,

and

not flesh-colored,with

dusky

tip; these birdswere always foundto measure less,however,thanthe averageglaucus, which

isdirectly theox)positcof

my

experiencewithImtcliinsii. There

may

be a ^gradation between the

two

species as far as regards size; butthe above cited points of difference

have

proved

good

sofar as

my

obser- vations

have

gone.

They mix

indiscriminately with glaucus at aU times, but are always readily distinguishable

by

^their smaller size.

Eggs

were procuredatClaushavn, ^Greenland,Avhich areindistinguisha- ble fromthose of glaucus exceptinsize.

A

^{finespecimen,}afull-fledged young,

was

secured

on

the

Hunde

Islands, Disko Bay, that

had

four

feet, thesecondpair growingout of theknee-joint in front.

65. Larusglaucescens, Licht.

"Nowyah," CumberlandEskimo.

So far as I

am

aware this is thefirstinstance onrecord of thisbird being taken on the Atlantic coast.

They

are quite

common

in the upper

Cumberland

waters, Avhere theybreed. Arrived with the open- ing ofthe water

and

soon

began

nesting.

The

nest

was

^placed on the shelving rocks

on

highcliffs.

Two

pairsnested very near ourharbor;

buttheravenstore the nest

down and

destroyed theeggs.

Only

a^sin- gle well-identified

egg was

secured. This gullis

unknown

to Governor Fencker on the Greenland coast.

They

remained about. the harbor agreatdeal,

and

wereoftenobserved

making away

with suchscraps as

BIRDS.

99

the cook

bad thrown

overboard; were «hy

and

difficult to shoot. Full-

grown young

of this species were shotin thefirst days of September

j

thesewere even darker than the

young

of L. argentatus, the primaries

and

tailbeingverynearlyblack.

66. Larus mariuus,Linn.

"Nayanlluk,"Greenlanclers.

Observedin Cumberlautl onlyin late

autumn

; cannot ascertainthat they bi'cedthere_; quite

common

on theGreenlandcoastform03^ to 70^

N. lat.

Abundant

in October

on

the South Labrador coast

and

aSTew- foundland.

Hundreds

dailyfrequentSt.John'sHarbor,!N"ewfoundland.

67. Larusargentatus,Briinu.

"Nowyali,"Cumberland Eskimo.

Not uncommon

in Cumberland,

and

breeds to lat. C7^ N.

A mere

straggler on the Greenlandcoast.

Specimen

shot

June

^{20 in}

Cumber-

land containedovaas large as buckshot.

68. Pagophilaeburnea, Gm.

"Nayauarsuk,"Greenlanclers.

Very common

ⁱⁿ

Kingwah

Fjord

and

vicinity justbeforeitliozeuj), for afew days only.

None

seenin spring.

Does

notbreedin

Cumber-

land.

By no means common

ontheGreenlandcoast.

The

food of those Iexaminedconsisted of small crustaceans. I

saw

onetrying to swallow theicingofa 8om.mollissimathat thecook

had thrown

overboard,

when

Ishot it.

The wing was

so lodged intheoesophagus thatit

would

cer- tainlyhave chokedthe bird

had

^itnot disgorged. Those that visited our neighborhood

seemed

to have a very decided preference formeat.

I once

saw

three or fouralight

on

aseal that

had

justbeen killed,

and

attemi^t to get at the flesh.

They

are easilydecoyed within shot

by

strewing pieces of

meat

on theice.

Were

one of the most abundant

and

greedy birds around a whale carcassthat

had

beenkilled in the vicinity.

The

specimensIprocured thatwere nearlyin adult

plumage had

agreenish yellowbill at base

and

brightyellowtip, with no dusky markings; the younger birds only

had

the bill clouded with dusky.

There appears to be a

marked

difference inthe sizeof the sexes, the femalebeingoneto

two

inches shorter thanthe male.

69. Rissatridactyla,Linn.

"Nowaviih"(LittleNowyali),CumberlandEskimo. " Tattarat,"or''Tatarak,"

GreenlandersandEskimoaboutFrobislier Straits.

The

kittiwake

was

first noticed in the Straits of Belle Isle,on our outward passage,the 18th ofAugust,1877.

From

thispointnorthward

tliey were,witliiisconstantly,if

we

were near land or farout at sea, in stormor calm, fog orsnow; no day

—

^{scarcelyanliour}

—

but

some

of these interesting bii'dswereourcompanions^; often afewindividualsonly, at other timesflocks of

many

hundreds oreven perhaps thousands onthe islandsof the north Labradorcoast. In

Cumberland

theyare

by

farthe

most common

^gull,

and

infactthe

most abundant

species infall, butso faras I could learndo not breed there.

From

September till the ice

covered thewater they wereextraordinarilyabundant, congregating in

immense

flocks.

When

thetide runs strong theyfollow thestreamfor

many

milesinregularorder,abouthalftheir

number

constantlydipping into the water, while the restflyon ahead a fewfeet; while thus feeding theyremind oneof aflock of passenger-iiigeons feedingin a grain-field.

The

food obtainedatsuch a time ismostly small crustaceans.

When

a

good

feeding-placeisfound,thewholeflock settles down,

and

so closetogether thatalmost

any number

can beshot.

The

jaegers are always

on

the alert for such flocks,

and when

they get nearthegulls,

they allfoolishlytakewing,

when

the jaegersingles outalikelylooking subject,which is soon

made

todisgorge.

The

flock soon settles again,

and

the

same

manoeuvreisrepeated.

I did not see a single kittiwake in the upper

Cumberland

waters during spring or

summer, where

there were thousands the previous autumn.

A

veryfew

immature

birds were noticed on aniceberg, July

18,near

Cape

Mercy; butthesewereallI

saw

tillnearing theGreenland coast,

where

ihej are

more common

still.

The

fleshis highlyesteemed

by

the

Danes

residenton theGreenlandcoast; infact, theyform

no

in- considerableportionoftheir

meat

supply duringthelatteri)artofJuly

and August and

September.

We

foundthefleshofthe

young

quite ac- ceptable.

A

few

young

birds were observed along theeast coast of the

Penny

Peninsula as far as Exeter Sound,

and

ⁱⁿ the pack-ice

an

occasional specimen

was

seen; but

when

nearingthe coast ofDiskotheir

numbers

increased to thousands.

They

followed the schooner constantly from thisi^ointtill

we

gottothe southernslioresofNewfoundland,

where

few were seen.

Among

the specimens collected

by me

were

some

that

had

scarcely

any

hallux, whileinothers it

was

as well developed as in

any

gull,

and

having aperfect^nail. There is alsoevery gradation betweenthe two.

1

saw

agull a little larger than tridactyla, in

Godhavn

Harbor, one day; it

had

ablack head.

The same

afternoon Governor Fencker sa^v

BIRDy.

101

it ill iiontofoneof the

Eskimo

huts, feeding from a pileof garbage;

he also failed to secure it.

The

bird looked to

me

like an adult L.

franJdini, a birdnothitherto taken

up

as belonging to the Greenland fauna.

70.

Xema

sabiuii,(Sab.)Leacli.

On

the Cth of October, 1877, on the passage from the Kikkerton Islands northward, apair of these birds kept close tothestern of the schoonerfor

many

miles. Icould easily

have

shot them, but it

would have

beenimpossible to procure

them had

Idone so.

Saw no

others at

any

time.

71. Sternamacrura,Naiim.

"Emukitilak,"Cnmbeiiaud EskimoauclGreeulantiers.

On

the 19th

and

20th of

June

there were thousands of these birds aibout

Annanactook

Harbor, but this

was

alsothe only time I

saw

any.

The Eskimo

say they breedonthe Seven Islands in

Cumberland some

years.

They

were first noticed in the Gulf of Saint

Lawrence

in

Au-

gust.

From

this pointthej"

seemed more

or less

common

along theen- tireLabradorcoast

and

theislandsnorth ofHudson's Straits,butnotin Cumberland.

On

the Greenlandcoast they are abundant, in suitable localities,to lat.73°N. InDisko

Bay

theyarevery

common, and

breed

by

thousands.

They

begin migrating southward duringthelatterdays ofAugust,

when

the

young

arelarge

enough

to take care of themselves.

Appeared

to beplenty atthe

mouth

of Exeter Sound, where " kaplin"

arevery abundant.

72. Fulmarus glacialis, Leacli.

"Oohudluk," Cnmberland Eskimo. "Kakordhik" (white) aud "Igahsook"

(dark), Greenlauders.

On

^ouroutward passage these birds werefirst noticed off Belle Isle,

August

20.

From

thispoint northward their

numbers

increased; they were everywhereclose inshore

and

farout atsea,atalltimes

and

in all

weather. ISTearly all the

Fulmars

I

saw

ⁱⁿ the

autumn

of 1877 were light-colored;

saw

nonesodark asI didinthespring.

They

were very

common

ⁱⁿ

Cumberland

^till the middle of October.

Were

especially

abundant

oft" Shore,

Cape

Chidly,Eesolution Island, Grinnell Bay,

and

Frobisher Straits,duringthelatterpart ofAugust, September,

and

fore part of October. These were white witha pearlygrey mantle

and

bright yellow bill. I also i^rocured afewthat Avere ashy; these I i)resumed were

young

birds;butin July, 1878, 1found a few ofthese dark-colored ones,darker than

any

Iever

saw

infall,breedingnear Quickstep Harbor,

inCumbeilaiKl, on sojue siniill rocky islands.

When

Ireslitliesedark- colored birdshavea bright olive-green gloss, especiallyapparent on the neck

and

back.

The

bill is shorter, stouter,

and

thicker,

dusky brown

insteadof yellow.

On

Blue Mountain, Ovifak, Greenland, these birds breed by myriadsto the very

summit

of themountain, about2,000^feet.

Here

I could seehut

few

darJcbirds; eventhefull-fledged nestlingswere white.

In Exeter

Sound and

tothenorthwardalong thewestshores ofDavis Straits

and

Baffin'sBay, thedarkvarietyseems to predominate.

Near Cape

Searle theyare extraordinarily abundant, breeding

by

thousands on the Padlie Island,

and

they are so

tame

about their nesting-places that theycan bekilledwith astick.

The

eggs,even afterbeingblown, for

many months

stiUretainthe

musky

odorpeculiarto thebirds. Per- fectlyfresh eggsare quite

good

eating, butif a couple of days old the

musky

odorlias so permeated them, even thealbuuien, thattheyare a

littletoo

mucn

^fora civilized palate.

So

faras

my

observations went,

more

darkbirds

were

seen in spring tlian in fall,so the dark

plumage

cannotbe characteristicof theyoung.

The moUimoke

isone of the greediest of birds. I

have

seen

them

feedingonthe carcass ofawhale,

when

theirlooks

and

actionswereper fectlythose of a^vulture,

—

^completelybegrimed witbblood

and

grease,

and

sofull thattheycould not ^{take wing. I} found great difficultyin

procuring white specimensthat were not

more

orless

daubed

overwith

" gurry," especiallyaboutthe

head and

neck. These birds possess ex- traordinarypowers offlight,

and

are marvelouslygraceful

on

the wing, risingwiththe billow

and

againsettling intothe troughofthe seawith- out

any

apx)arent motion of the wings.

73. Cymochorea leucorrhoa, Cones.

Noticedsparingly about

Cape Mercy and

Exeter Sound.

Two

speci-

mens

seeninDisko Fjordin August,

when

they were probablynesting.

Ear

less

common

on thepassage southward than ^{the following.}

74. Oceanites oceanica,Keys.

Traced as farnorth as Eesolution Island onoiu-outwardpassage; on the

homeward,

first seenaboutone

hundred

miles south of

Cape

Fare- well.

75. Puffinuskuhli, (Bliss.)I3oie.

Common

from Belle IsletoGrinnell Bay.

Not

^observedin

Cumber-

land, on the Greenland coast.

BIRDS. _.

103

76. PufSnusmajor, (Briss.)Faber.

Abundant

from Belle Isle to Eesolution Island.

Not

observed in

Cumberland.

77. Colymbustorquatus,Liuu.

"Toodlik,"Cumberland Eskimo and Greenlanders.

Quite

common

in Cumberland,

where

itbreeds.

Saw no

ipecimens that approachedthe variety adamsi.

78. Colymbusarcticus,Linu.

" Codlulik,"CumberlandEskimo.

Not common,

butbreedsin

Kingwah

Fjord. Firstspecimenshot

June

24.

Saw

a few in

autumn

near Grinnell Bay.

Not

found in North Greenland according toGovernor Fencker.

79. Colymbusseptentrionalis, Liuu.

"Kuksuk," CumberlandEskimo. "Karksauk,"Greenlanders.

Very common

in all thelocalitiesvisited

by

me. Begins nestingin theupper

Cumberland

waters in the latter j^art of June.

The

nest is

placed on the low rockswith verylittle grass

and moss

beneath the eggs.

They

arevery noisy, especiallyduring the mating season.

Do

not leave as long as thereis openwater.

80. Utamaniatorda,Leacb.

" Akparnak,"Greenlanders.

Was

seen

on many

occasions

and

often in closeproximitytothe ship from theouterislandsoftheMiddle Labradorcoast toFrobisherStraits.

They

were often noticed considerable distances from land.

Are

not foundin Cumberland, but

by

no

means

rare on the entirewestcoast of Greenland to latitude69° N. Off the

North

LabradorcoastI noticed on several occasionsa small

auk

(?)intermediate in sizebetween Iler- gulus (die

and

Uriagrylle, with

much

the

same

pattern of colorationas the former, but with tuftsorplumes of whitefeathers

on

the head. I

saw some

with singleyoung,

and

at one timekilled three at a single discharge; but the ship

was

under such

headway

that thesailor sta- tioned on the waist could not reach

them

with hispole

and

net.

The

birdisentirely

unknown

tome, butIsuspectitwillbe foundtobe one of the

smaU

aukshithertosupposedtobelongonlytothe

North

Pacific.

81. Frateroulaarctica, (L.)111.

" Killaugak," Greenlanders.

Observed abundantlyin theGulfof St. Lawrence,

and

thencenorth-

ward

to Hudson's Straits.

Not known

to the

Cumberland Eskimo;

but

common

on the Greenland coastto ^70c>N. at least. Breedsplenti-

fully outhe Hiinde

and Green

Islandsin Disko Bay, where eggs were procured. There seems to be

no

appreciable difference in Gulf of St.

Lawrence

specimens and thosefrom Xorth Greenlandexceptin size.

82. Mergulusalle, L.

" Kaerrak,"Greculaucleis.

Common

on thenorth coast of Labrador, oft' Itesolution Island, Grin- nell Bay,

and

Frobisher Straits, but did not see any in Cumberland.

I

showed

specimens tothe Eskimo,

and

theycalled ita

young

" alqia"

{Lomvia arra). So I

presume

the bird is Aery rare,if found at all, in the

Cumberland

waters. Still they are

abundant

off" Exeter Sound*

and

to the northward

on

thewest coast of Bafidu's Bay. GovernorFenc- ker says they nest to latitude ^{78^-} N.,

and

jierhaps farther. IS'est

abundantly on the

Whale

Islandsin Disko Bay. I procured

young

off'

llesolution Island in the fore part of Sei)tember.

They

were very

common among

the pack-ice in Davis Straits during July. Often a considerable

number would

be seen sitting on the ice.

They

seem devoid of fear. I

have

caught

them

from the schooner's deck with a neton the

end

of apole whilethey were

swimming

alongside.

83. Uriagrylle, (L.)Lath.

'•'Pesliolak,"CumberlaudEskimo. " Serbek,"or" Sergvak,"Gieeulauders.

Was

^firstobservedoff Eesolution Islandinthefirstdays of Septem- ber, 1877.

They

were thenbusily

engaged

fishing

and

carrying thefish Tipthe cliff's to the young, which were^{not yetin the water.}

They

^are

most

expert divers

and

areoftenseen fishing

where

thereisaconsider- abledepth of water. Ionce shot

an

adult female that

was

carryinga

little

Morrhua

7inchesinlength

up

to heryoung. This

was

onthe 19th of September,

and

the

young

were not

more

thanthree-fourths

grown

at this date. Ivisitednolocality eitheron

Cumberland

or onthe Green- land coast

where

this bird

was

^not abundant.

Some

sections are of course

more

suitable than others,

and

here they are very numerous.

They began

^{to changeintothe winter}

plumage

inthe latterpart of Sep- tember.

Some

of the earlier-hiitched

young

were

much

earlier than

this, butthe adultswere not in perfect winter dress till the middle ^of October.

They

remained about our winterharbor aslongas there

was

openwater,

and

even oneor

two

staid in the

Kingwah

rifts allwinter.

Inspring they returned as soon as there

was

openwater.

About

the Southern

Cumberland

waters

some

remain all winter,

—

^the

^Eskimo

say only the

young

birds.

At Annanactook Harbor

they

began

nest- ing about

June

25.

The

normal

number

of eggs ^is

two

; veryrarely

BIRDS.

105

throe arefound.

Always

nestincrevices

and

fissuresof cliffs,whereit is oftenextremelydifficult to getatthem.

They

arevery

tame

; but it isnexttoan im^iossibilitytoshootoneon thewater ifthe birdiswatch- ing you, fortheydive quite as quickly as a loon. I

have

seen three entirelyblack si^ecimens,which I considered tobe ^TJ. carho.

One was

procuredinCumberland, but

was

^lost,with

many

others, after

we

arrived inthe United States. I

have

examined ispecimensof carho since inthe Smithsoniancollection,

and my

bird

was

nothingbuta melanistic si)eci-

men

of U.grylle. Ialsohave seenan albino specimen.

ThereAvereafew birdsin anair-hole in theicenearour harborin the latterdaysof

June

that to allapi)earance resembled the

autumn

i^lum- ageoftheyoung; buttheice

was

tootreacherousfor

me

toventureout, so I sent an Eskimo.

He

returned

and

reported

them

^"Kanitucalo pechulak" (very near a Guillemot).

But

ifhe

meant

that theywere inimperfectj)lumage oranotherspecies closelyresemblinggrylle^Icould not

make

oat.

He

could not getclose

enough

totheair-holeto procure the si)ecimenhekilled,

and

Inever

saw

orheardanything

more

ofthem.

84, Lomviaarra, Brandt.

"Akpa,"Cumberland EskimoandGreeulandors.

I

had hoped

to beable to throw

some

^lighton the subject of there- lationshipof theMurres, but I find

my

material correspondswith

my

opportunitiesforobservation

—

^{very poor}

^and

unsatisf\ictory. I first

met

thesebirdsin

numbers

oft'the coast of Eesolution Island,but

many

were seenfarther south.

About

Grinnell

Bay and

FrobisherStraitstheyare

common

even asfaras the

mouth

ofCumberland, but apparently quite rare in the w^atersof thatsound

The Eskimo

say theyformerlybred in great

numbers

ou theKikkerton Islands; but they

have now

appa- rently

abandoned

them. There are large breeding-places about

Cape Mercy and Walsingham,

the largest "rookery" being on the Padlie Islandsin Exeter Sound.

On

^theGreenlandcoasttheyarevery abund- ant,breeding

by

thousandsin

many

localities. Observedplentifullyin the pack-ice in July. All the sx)ecimens collected

by me

were typical arra. Iprocuredbut one single troile.

The

var. rlngvia, Brlinn., Gov- ernorFencker hasnot

met

duringelevenyears' collectingon the Green- landcoast;

and

var. troileappears tobe farfrom

common.

There isa remarkablevariation in thedistributionof the dark color,

some

being- whiteon the throatquite tothebill,

and

again 1 haveseenspecimens entirelyblack.

The

dark markings onthe eggs of L. arra

and

troile,as

\\ellasA. torcla, canreadilybeobliterated withhike-

warm

water.