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418 SOP•R,Results ofBaj•n Island Expeditions tJuly[Auk MASON, EDWIN A. 1941. EBBA News, 4 (9): 5. STACK,J. W. ANDHAP. NED, R. L. 1944. Seventeenyears of banding White-throated Sparrowsand Slate-colored Juncos at Michigan State College. Bird-Banding, 15 (1): 3. STEVENS,O. A. 1930. Hours of the day when Harris's and White-throated Sparrows were trapped during migration. Bird-Banding, 1 (4): 174-176. WHARTON, WILLIAM P. 1935. Survival as indicated by returns to Summerville, South Carolina. Bird- Banding,6 (4): 125--130. ß4o-•9 BeechAvenue Flushing, New York e4 Overlook Drive Huntington, New York ORNITHOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE BAFFIN ISLAND EXPEDITIONS OF 1928-1929 AND 1930-1931, TOGETHER WITH MORE RECENT RECORDS BY j. OEWE¾ SOPER (Continued [rom page œ$9) 55. N¾ctea n¾ctea (Linnaeus), SNowY Owr,. Eskimo: Agktpik.--On the 1928- 1929 expedition the Snowy Owl was so scarce that not a single one was noted until July 12, 1929, when a solitary bird was recorded as the party ascendedBlue Goose River northeast of Camp Kungovik. It was not observed again that season. Dur- ing 1930-1931, at Lake Harbour, the specieswas comparatively rare. In the former seasonthe writer saw only three individuals during August, none in September, and only one during October. It was not again noted up to the time of leaving the country in early August, 1931. The writer has recordsof the Snowy Owl nestingat Amadjuak Bay and Cape Dorset (1926), so it may be assumedthat scattered pairs breed throughout southern districts. Judging from personalobservations made at Pond Inlet in the late summer of 1923, the speciesis much commoner in far northern sections of the island. 56. Otocoris alpestris (Linnaeus), HORNI•D LARK. Eskimo: Ksp•nwd"pd.-- There is still some uncertainty regarding the true identity of the southern Baffin Island horned larks. The races are not easy to define, and this is especially true where rangesmeet or overlap, as they obviouslydo on Baffin Island and apparently, as well, on Southampton Island. It now appears fairly certain, however, that southern Baffin Island birds are referable to both hoyti and alpestris (seeSoper, 1928: 108-109, and Sutton, 1932: 211). On the whole, the population in this territory appears to be a mixed one, but with alpestrischaracters predominant. With much more collecting carried out from eastern and western extremes, it appears probable that birds from the southeastern part of the island will prove to be the strongest in those characters which typify Vol.1946 631J SOPI•R,Results ofBa2•n Island Expeditions 419 alpestris,while those to the west and north becomeprogressively farther from this form and nearer to hoyti [Gross(1937: 36) refers specimensfrom the near-by Button Islands, Hudson Strait entrance,to O. a. alpestris,while Taverner (Bray and Manning 1943: 532) provisionally identified Manning's specimensfrom Taverner Bay, Foxe Basin, as O. a. hoyti]. If the above conclusionsprove correct, the statements of range in the 1931 A. O. U. Check-List (pp. 212-213) will need to be modified to extend the territory of hoyti considerablynortheast of the west coast of Hudson Bay, and alpestris north of Hudson Strait. The following notes compiled at the end of the writer's 1928-1929 and 1930-1931 expeditions cannot definitely refer to the subspecies;they will have to serve the southern Baffin Island birds as a whole, concerningoccurrence, relative abundance, nesting, etc. Horned larks appear in small numbers along the south coast of Foxe Peninsula during the spring migration, but they are not known to occur or nest there during the summer. In 1928, the birds were seenonly during the last days of August at Nuwata and at variousplaces along Foxe Channel as far south as King CharlesCape. Ex- amples were first noted at Bowman Bay on June 3, 1929, after which they occurred daily there in small numbersuntil June 13. During the latter half of June, only one individual was recorded, but about the Blue Goose nesting ground it was rather commonly dispersed on low granite outcrops in early July. This circumstance offered a goodexample of the peculiaritiesof local distribution, for at Camp Kungo- vik, only a few miles away, it was absent, though the two localities are very similar in nature. The numberof larks frequentingthe abovearea, and the volubility of the singingmales, unquestionably indicated breeding,though no nestswere found. With the exceptionof a solitary lark recordedat Cape Alberta on August 4, the bird was not observedagain after we left the Bowman Bay plains on July 24. At Nettilling Lake the birds breed in abundance. This is one of the scarcestof small land birds that visit the Lake Harbour region. During the spring migration in early June, moderate numbers were seenfrom day to day if considerabletime were spent in the field. At the height of summerand during the autumn, it is rarely encountered, though it is known to breed there to a very limited extent. The first spring record in 1931 was representedby a small band of six individuals on June 5. From this date until June 13, a few were noted nearly every day, after which they were rarely seen. On June 25, a single individual was observedseveral miles up Soper River, and one was collectedthere three days later. On July 8, an adult pair with two young, just awing, were seenon Copeland Island in North Bay. While we were cruising along the coast in the neighbourhoodof Itivirk Bay and Tanfield Cape on July 10, several were met with on rocky hillsides. Horned larks are not nearly so common along the south coast as in the interior about Nettilling and Amadjuak lakes. The Eskimos also report them breeding in larger numbers over the higher plateau region north of Lake Harbour than in the coastal areas. This bird is very hardy and begins nesting when much snow still lingers, earlier than either the Snow Bunting or Lapland Longspur. 57. Corvus corax prlnclpalls Ridgway, lXToRTH•R•RAV•. Eskimo: T•l"•auk'. --This bird is of widespreadoccurrence in southern Baffm Island, and is one of the few speciesthat figures as a relatively common permanent resident throughout. Though broadly coveringan immenseterritory, it is often notably erratic and local in distribution, and especiallyso during the winter months. As the bird is largely coastal in habit, it is rather rarely observedfar inland, but odd individuals or pairs may appear at random in almost any locality. 420 SOPER,Res,ts 4 E:ptitio, tju,y[Auk They usually nest on high cliffsoverlooking the sea. This choiceof site rendersit both difficult and hazardous to reach the nests, so that eggs are rarely secured. On May 6, 1928, we obtained from an Eskimo a set of six fresh eggswhich was taken from a cliff the previousday, at Pudla Inlet, near Dorset Harbour. It is understood from the natives that thesebirds sometimesnest in mid-April. The sexesnecessarily take turns in covering the eggsas sub-zerotemperatures may prevail at this period and occasionallyinto early May. Height of abundanceis reachedin bold, moun- tainous terrain near the sea, such as in the Cumberland Sound region. Ravens consistentlydiminish in numberswestward to the flat tundra landsbordering Foxe Basin, from which they are absent except as rare stragglers. 58. Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa (Omelin), GREENLANDWHEATEAR. Eskimo: Ek•l"iggkq--The writer's experiencefrom 1923 on indicatesconclusively that this bird is one of the rarest of the avifatma over most parts of southern Baffin Island. Previous to the expedition of 1930-1931, the few authentic recordsof its occurrence on the island existedonly for the CumberlandSound region. Upon reachingLake Harbour in late July, 1930, the writer was told of a "small grayish bird with white in the tail" which had nested in a erevice of a rock near the post about a month earlier. Details made it appear certainly referableto leucorhoa,though nothing was seenof it during the remainderof the season. In 1931,a singleexample was observedon June 12, and another two days later. Nothing further developeduntil June 27, when a breedingpair wasfound on the propertyof the AnglicanMission; the nest wasfound containing six eggs. Forbes(1938) found eleven of thesebirds in a restrictedarea in early August, 1937, at BrewsterPoint, FrobisherBay, wherethe specieswas nesting. He is of the opin- ion that it is not as rare on Baffin Island as ornithologistshave been led to believe. It is certainly more commonlocally along the easterncoast than earlier surmised, but it is now a well-known fact that the speciesis entirely absent from very large areas of the island. There are no records of its occurrence anywhere in extreme southern and southwestern Baffin Island, nor in huge tracts of the interior to the northward. Manning (Bray and Manning, 1943: 532) reports a single specimen taken at Taverner Bay--so far as known the only recordfor the westernpart of the island flanked by Foxe Basin. 59. Antbus spinoletta rubescerts (Tunstall), A•mmCAN Pn'•T. Eskimo: Ingik"tciy•k•.--TheAmerican Pipit, like the Snow Bunting, is of widespreadand almost universal distribution in southern Baffin Island. In abundance, however, it variesmarkedly from placeto place. As its preferredhaunts are amongthe rugged hills of mountainousdistricts, it is found most plentiful in suitable localitiesalong the seacoastsof the south and east, where lengthy fiords occur with their protected coastalvalleys and more luxuriousvegetation. The extensivelowlands of the in- terior are less suitable and attract a much smaller population. From the swampy tundras of the west, relieved by no outcropping granites, the birds are entirely absent,except for a few scatteredindividuals that resortto beachlines during migra- tion. In 1928,pipits were found inhabitingall suitablerocky country in FoxePeninsula up to mid-September.They first appearedat BowmanBay on June4, 1929,and soonbecame tolerably commonon the scatteredgranite ridges.

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