Contributions to the natural history of Arctic America; made in connection with the Howgate Polar Expedition, 1877-78 - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1879 Excerpt: ...found July 11, that contained small young, was thickly lined with the hair of Vulpes lagopus. Some contain only feathers; others both hair and feathers. The number of eggs in all the nests I found was six. They present an almost endless variation in size and coloration, great difference being observable even in the same nest. The snow bunting is generally distributed on both sides of Cumberland, but is nowhere abundant. Almost any locality is suitable, but I doubt if the food supply 'would be sufficient if they did not scatter well over the country. They are very common on Disko Island and around Disko Bay. Half-fledged young were taken near Godhavn August 2. The first plumage of the young is a uniform ashy gray. The food of the snowbird in summer consists largely of aquatic dipterous larvae. For these theyare constantly searching among the grass at the edges of freshwater ponds. During the autumn they feed mostly on various kinds of seeds. They are very fond of the berries of Empetrum nigrum and Vaccinium uliginosum. As soon as the young are full-grown, they begin to congregate in small loose flocks, and move southward with the first snowa of September. The young have by this time become lighter in plumage, and the russet wash begins to appear on the head and neck. They were often seen on board the schooner on the passage, at one time two hundred miles at sea, off Cape Chidly. There seems to be a striking difference in the size between Greenland and Alaskan specimens, the latter being the larger. 15. Plectrophanes lapponicus, (L.) Selby. "Kioligak," Cumberland Eskimo. "Narksormutak," Groculauders. Not nearly so common as the preceding in Cumberland. In the autumn of 1877, I found a good many in the vicinity of Niantilic, but nowhere els...