FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 195 



In the Shumagins, however, the crested auklets evidently have 

 nested in huge numbers. Townsend (1913) has given us a vivid 

 account of his experience with these birds at Big Koniuji, in the 

 Shumagins. In Yukon Harbor there were "myriads" of these 

 birds, and Townsend declares that here the crested auklets were 

 more numerous than the least auklets were on St. George, in the 

 Pribilofs. 



The crested auklet occurs along the north side of Alaska Penin- 

 sula, but not as a nesting bird. Turner (1886) observed them in 

 Bristol Bay and along the north side of the Peninsula. Osgood 

 (1904) records 2 specimens taken by J. W. Johnson at Nushagak 

 on April 22, 1885, and he records 2 specimens taken by McKay 

 at Nushagak and Ugashik. 



This auklet nests throughout the Aleutian chain, though usually 

 not in great numbers. There are sizeable colonies, however, on 

 Chagulak, Seguam, Koniuji, Kasatochi, Gareloi, Semisopochnoi, 

 Kiska, and Buldir, and, of course, there are lesser colonies on 

 other islands. Turner (1885) reported them to be plentiful and 

 nesting in the Near Islands. Hartert (1910) noted a few near 

 Unalaska, "but at Atka, Attu, and especially Agattu, they were 

 much more plentiful." Stejneger (1885) reported this bird nest- 

 ing on both of the Commander Islands, though not abundantly. 



Nesting and Feeding Habits 



The crested auklet nests deep in crevices among boulders on 

 the beach, in cavities in cliffs, or among jumbled lava rock on 

 high slopes. When feeding, they fly in compact flocks and often 

 go far out to sea. 



On August 9, 1937, we had an opportunity to observe large 

 numbers of foraging crested auklets. They came in flocks through 

 the pass between Tagalak and Ikigmak Islands (which lie west 

 of Atka) , and the water in, and south of, the pass was dotted with 

 the birds. Here, they were literally "loading up" with food to 

 take back to their young, and some were so full they could hardly 

 fly. From our knowledge of the existing nesting places in this 

 section of the Aleutians, we knew that these swarms of auklets 

 must have come from Koniuji or Kasatochi, or both, and that 

 they would have a distance of at least 10 miles to fly with their 

 loads of food. It is certain, then, that crested auklets will go at 

 least 10 miles out to sea to forage, perhaps farther. 



Observations on the nesting grounds show that small Crustacea 

 form an important part of the diet. The rocks about the nest 

 crevices were streaked pink with excrement or with material 

 occasionally spewed out by the birds. 



