FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 51 



go, is the introduced blue fox. Petrels appeared to be especially 

 palatable to these carnivores, or perhaps they are easy prey at 

 their burrows. On Salt Island the species had been entirely elimi- 

 nated by foxes, and this appeared to be true of Ilak, also. 



Petrels are attracted by ship's lights at night. They flock 

 around the ship, chirping and chattering incessantly, striking 

 the rigging and fluttering about the deck. Often, they get into 

 staterooms, the galley, or other portions of the ship, and some- 

 times in the excitement an egg or two may be dropped on the 

 deck. Joseph Mailliard (1898), writing of the petrels on St. 

 Lazaria Island, Sitka Bay, quotes Grinnell as saying that it was 

 impossible to keep a fire alight in the middle of the night be- 

 cause the petrels flew into it in such numbers that they ex- 

 tinguished it. 



Oceanodroma leucorhoa: Leach's Petrel 



Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa 

 Attu : Ke-Kech 

 Atka : Ki-ki-tich-noch 

 Russian, Commander Islands: Malinka tschornaja sturmofka (Stejneger) 



The Russian name given by Stejneger means a small black 

 petrel. Leach's petrel has a more southern distribution than 0. 

 furcata and does not range far into Bering Sea. Though it 

 nests throughout the Aleutian chain and on Copper Island, ac- 

 cording to Stejneger, it is much less abundant than the other 

 species. Farther south, it becomes much more abundant. Bent 

 (1922) states that on St. Lazaria Island, at Sitka Bay of Baranof 

 Island, Grinnell and Ma'illiard estimated that 0. leucorhoa out- 

 numbered 0. furcata four to one. They also are extremely nu- 

 merous on Forrester Island. 



On the Aleutians we found this ratio reversed. Among 

 the remains of petrels left by foxes, those of O. leucorhoa were 

 scarce. The petrel colonies of any size were 0. furcata. When 

 flocks of petrels fluttered about the ship's lights at night they 

 were usually furcata, though sometimes there were a few leu- 

 corhoa. It is interesting to note that in 1941 Gabrielson found 

 Leach's petrel outnumbering furcata at Kasatochi Island. There 

 may have been a nesting colony nearby. 



Thus, we find that these two species more or less intermingle 

 in their ranges. But 0. furcata has a more northerly center of 

 abundance, and ranges farther north, while 0. leucorhoa is more 

 concentrated somewhat farther south, and does not reach far 

 into Bering Sea. 



