142 THE CONDOR VoL. X Island and it certainly would have been very appropriate, as meadow mice simply overrun the entire island from the beach clear up to the very summit of the highest peak that we were on (2500 ft.). They are large fellows almost as big as a gopher and are evidently the "grey squirrels" that we hear about that are overrunning Montague. On the whole I was rather disappointed in Montague. Altho the island lies well exposed to the ocean it is comparatively cold, and barren in number of species. This is probably due to the snow which even now lies in thick slides along the whole range of mountains that forms the backbone of the island. I secured one Ptarmigan and saw another, but both of them were exceedingly wild. Ground hogs (Hoary Marmots, or Whistlers) were very shy on the moun- tains so we did not succeed in getting any. Hasselborg secured another Leucosticte and two Redpolls. The Leucosticte was one of a pair that we watched for some time as they flitted about the cliffs and rock slides. I am quite sure that they had a nest in a cliff as they kept returning repeatedly to the same spot. I examined the stomach of the bird that was shot and found that the majority of the contents was of a vegetable and not an insect nature. Sprouting buds of some small plant was the chief item. The Ptarmigan were lying close under some scrub spruce trees just at the upper edge. of timber line. They are almost in full summer plumage by this time. I cannot understand why we never find any female Ptarmigan. I know that they are there but I have never yet seen one as all that I have yet secured have been males. The three little eaglets that I worked so hard to get are all dead now. The two biggest ones pecked the little one to death. Then the largest one slew his brother and in turn was accidently drowned the other day. I secured two half- grown eagles from a nest on Hinchinbrook Island and have the largest one still. I may be able to get some more if he should die but he is a good sailor and unless the canoe capsizes or we get some place where there is no meat, I think that the "Villian" will survive. The young eagles are clothed in a white down at birth. In about three weeks this white down begins to disappear and is replaced by a coarser sooty grey down which remains until th? feathers come in and the bird weighs ten pounds or so. The Duckhawks that I raised last year did not go thru this sooty-gray-down stage but changed their coats of white down for one of feathers direct. I never saw such hard things to dry as young eagle skins. They won't even dry in the sun. They just rot. We have had trouble in drying our small birds as we only stop a week or so at a time and the collecting chests are full of small mammals. We either have to dry the bird skins in a hurry or else pack them around green. If they dry too rapidly the unequal heat from the stove causes them to warp as the side that is toward the heat dries first and shrinks pull- ing the tail around. If they. are packed in a box, even very carefully, while green they are bound to get out of shape. I may be too cranky about the skins coming out well but I hate to put a good skin away and find it all dried out of shape later. A perfect or nearly perfect skin is a joy forever, especially from a place like this where it is almost impossible to secure good skins. Green Island is low and the vegetation comes on early. Many of the land birds such as the Hermit and Varied Thrushes have families of youngsters flying about as have also the Song and Townser?d Sparrows. As we came down the channel along Green Island we ran into a feeding ground of Puffins. There were literally swarms of them. The Horned Puffins were perhaps the more numerous but there were hundreds of their dark-bodied cousins with long flaxen curls. One of the two species makes a very odd sound while feeding. It is a series of droll Aw! Aw! Aws! , deep and long drawn out. It sounds as tho they were making fun
