Notes on Bonasa and Numenius in Alaska
Notes on Bonasa and Numenius in Alaska.-It seems desirable to place on record specimens of two species recently handled in the course of reviewing Alaskan bird material.
Bonasa zrmbeZZus.-On September 24, 1943, I collected three Ruffed Grouse just below the Canadian line on Channel Island in the Taku River. 4t that time there were approximately thirty birds on this island in four or more coveys. The specimens were examined by John W. Aldrich who wrote: “Your three specimens do not approach very closely any of the three nearest races, namely, yukonensis, umbelloides, and ufinis, but seem to approach most closely in color phain, from the relatively humid western slopes of the Rockies in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington. They are somewhat darker and more grayish than phaia, however. Furthermore, the tarsus appears to be more extensively feathered in which respect they are closer to umbelloides.” Since birds from Atlin, British Columbia. which is near the headwaters of the Taku River, were assigned to umbelloides by Aldrich and Friedmann (Condor, 45, 1943:99), the specimens from Channel Island probably are closer geographically to that race than to any other. Despite the uncertainty of subspecific identification, it seems desirable to record the fact that this species does occur in southeastern Alaska.
Numenius phaeopus variegatus.-Bailey (Auk, 56, 1939:333) records a specimen of the Siberian Whimbrel taken by Brower at Barrow, Alaska, on June 10, 1938, as the first record for North America. There is, however, an Alaskan specimen in my collection (no. 3975) which antedates Brower’s bird. It is a bird without sex identification in rather worn plumage collected at Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island, on July 23,1937, by Gren Collins and sent to me as a salted Skin.-IRA N. GABRIELSON, Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, DC., June 10, 1952.
