Page:Condor20(5).djvu/32

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

186 THE CONDOR Vol. XX but differed sufficiently to rouse a slight doubt as to its identity. It was shorter and of different quality, at times suggesting the laugh of the Loon but shorter and softe.ned. Probabilities refer it to kennicotti. 24. Ceryle alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. Very common along all shores. 25. Dryobates villosus. Hairy Woodpecker. This species was identified by its notes once or twice, but the bird could not be seen. 26. Phloeotomus pileatus. Pileated Woodpecker. Heard several times and seen eace in heavy timber adjoining the village. 27. Colaptos auratus (sp?). Flicker. Heard in the distance several times about the village but not seen. 28. Selasphorus rufus. Rufous H, ummingbird. Common about the flowers in the small gardens in the village. 29. Cyanoitta stelleri. Steller Jay. Common in the slashings near the mouth of the Nimkish, and seen several times in the deep woods along the railroad to Nimkish River. All taken are stelleri, but the black on the back is sootier than is'shown by our other specimens from farther south on the island. 30. Perisoreus canadensis, Canada Jay. Said to be common at higher elevations in adjoining parts of Vancouver Island, bu? not seen personally. P.c. ob$curus seems to be the form occuring on the island farther south. 31. Corvus corax. Raven. Said to occur rather commonly. Several times I thought I heard its hoarse voice but could not locate the croaker. 32. Corvus caurinus. Northwest Crow. Very common along all shores. The Crows and the tide perform the riffice of garbage collector at Alert Bay. Practically all th.e household refuse is thrown on the beach. The crows are absurdly tame and shortly the little they leave is washed away by the incoming and retreating tide. 33. Agelaius phoeniceus. Red-winged Blackbird. I heard circumstantial accounts of this bird's occurrence on Nimkish Lake, though on my short visit there I did not dis- cover it. 34. Melospiza melodia. Song Sparrow. The only sparrow seen and not very common or so retiring in the molting season as to be seldom seen. They inhabited the densest tangles in the slashings and could rarely be induced to come out where there was a chance of finding them after shooting. Three juveniles were secured. In spite of their ragged and juvenile condition I refer them to rufi?a. 35. Swallows. No swallows of any species were seen, though all the residents spoke of them nestin? about their sheds and buildings. In the face of a nearby clay cliff I noted a number of holes that looked like the work of Bank Swallows. 36. Bombycilla cedrorum. Cedar Waxwing. One specimen taken on top of the ridge behind the village. 37. Nannus hiemalis. Winter Wren. Fairly common in the densest brush but so retiring as to be seldom seen, and when shot almost impossible to find. Only one was secured, a richly colored red bird that I refer to pacificus. 38. Penthestes rufescens. Chestnut-backed Chickadee. The commonest land bird present. Parties of from four to ten were seen almost everywhere, from the dense shade of the logging road to Nimkish I?ake to the open sunlight of the burnt ridge tops. 39. Regulus (sp?). Kinglet. A few seen in the high tree tops, but too far up and in too poor light for identification. Individuals that momentarily dropped low enough were shot, but invariably caught in the spreading-fronds of the evergreen branches and could not be retrieved. 40. Planesticus migratorius. Robin. Several seen about the village. Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada? April 5? 1918.