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 72 THE CONDOR Vol. XVI salmon-berries and devil-club, together with fallen logs, makes the woods almost hnpenetrable. On the slopes of the mountains some distance back from the xvater's edge are extensive open, boggy meadows covered with coarse grass and various kinds of berry bushes, and sparsely timbered with the squaw pine. Above timber-line, which is at about 25oo feet altitude, two species of heather flourish, furnishing focd nd protection to ptarmigan, pipits and Savannah sparrows. h walking through the forests, and swamps, and over the bare tops of the moun- tains, one who is familiar with the abundant bird-life of more favored sections of the United States, is at once struck by the extreme scarcity of bird-life. I once walked for four hours on the mountains of Chichagof Island without seeing a single bird. The only places where land birds are in any sense plentiful are around 17ig. 33. THE SUMMER HOME Ol THE DIXON ROCK PTARMIGAN: GREAT ]ASTERN MOUN- TAINS, BARANOIt ISLAND, SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. PHOTO TAKEN SEPTEMBER 25,1911. the edges of clearings, in the grass and underbrush bordering the beach, and along streams. When, however, the ornithologist becomes weary looking for birds where there seemingly are no birds, he may turn his attention to the salt water and the ever interesting variety of water fowl to be found thereon. Gulls, auklets, murrelets, puffins, petrels and many other interesting groups are here in plenty, many species nesting on the outlying islands, others being migrants or stragglers. The most important breeding ground of the water fowl in the vicinity is St. Lazaria Island, a National Bird Reservation, about fifteen miles from Sitka and close to Kruzof Island. There are less important nesting colonies of water birds on the small islands off Biorka, and on Sea Lion Rocks west of Kruzof Island. This section has many times in the past been visited by ornithologists, the