On a 1000 linear meter transect (1000 × 1) east of Barrier Lake we collected (Aug. 3, 1951) 19 pellets from the edge of the uplands and from prominent mounds on the lowlands. One pellet contained a complete radius-ulna of an Arctic fox and another a foot of a ptarmigan.
At Kaolak River (July 12, 1951) the only sign of owls was pellets on the upland tundra. They were covered with green algae and fungus several years old.
On an air flight from Point Barrow to Kaolak River (July 11, 1951) we saw one snowy owl on the Coastal Plain and on the return flight (July 19) two more; one was approximately 40 miles south of the Will Rogers monument and the other about one half way between the monument and Point Barrow. When flying from Teshekpuk Lake to Point Barrow (Aug. 4, 1951) we saw one snowy owl flying over the tundra.
Greater abundance was indicated by observations in 1952, a year in which brown lemming were at a high peak in their cyclic fluctuation: Entrails of a brown lemming were on top of a mound used by snowy owls as evidenced by the numerous fresh owl pellets, at the west side of Salt Water Lagoon on June 17; three snowy owls fed in the surrounding area (June 17-27); one owl seen at Driftwood on August 30-31; eight owls recorded on our two mile trip south of Barrow Village on September 6; four owls observed one half mile south of the Arctic Research Laboratory on September 7; three owls seen at Point Barrow on September 11.
Asio flammeus flammeus (Pontoppidan): Short-eared owl.—Specimen, 1: 2 mi. W Utukok River, 161°15'30", 68°54'50", 1275 ft., 1, No. 31319, ad. male, August 31, 1952.
A short-eared owl was seen at Chandler Lake on August 16, 1951. Another flew across the middle of Gavia Lake on August 22, 1952, hunted the south shore, caught two small rodents and pursued one Lapland longspur that escaped. From August 27 to 31, 1952, at Driftwood individual short-eared owls were noted daily. On August 31, a family group of five flew in close formation and fed in the low wet marsh in the valley adjacent to the river. An adult male from two miles west of Driftwood (Aug. 31, 1952) was 370 mm in length and weighed 417 grams.
Chordeiles minor minor (Forster): Common nighthawk.—Clifford Fiscus told us that a nighthawk was seen by an Eskimo in the summer of 1952 at Wainwright.
Tachycineta thalassina lepida Mearns: Violet-green swallow.—At 6:00 P.M. on August 17, 1951, at Chandler Lake, a northern violet-green swallow came to our camp, inspected us at a distance of four feet, fluttered over and around the tent for two minutes, then flew over the water, and continued south.
Corvus corax principalis Ridgway: Common raven.—Specimen, 1: Umiat, 152°08', 69°22', 337 ft., No. 31320, juv. female, August 19, 1952.
William Wyatte of Umiat told us that ravens were the only birds that remained at Umiat throughout the winter of 1951-52. He observed them flying when temperatures were so low that moisture from the ravens froze into floating ice crystals.