FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 199 



The least auklets gather in large swarms — from a distance, 

 they sometimes give the impression of swarms of insects, or of 

 smoke. In flight, the flocks change shape, twisting like drifting 

 smoke, and sometimes the "bottom" seems to drop out of the flock 

 in some sudden maneuver. 



No attempt was made to estimate the total numbers in any 

 given colony, but, while anchored offshore at Gareloi on the eve- 

 ning of July 29, 1937, I watched a constant procession of least 

 auklet flocks moving out to sea, low over the water. After some 

 time, I decided to count the flocks for a given period of time. 

 During 5 minutes, I counted 106 flocks with an average of 50 

 birds per flock. This indicated that 5,300 least auklets passed out 

 to sea in my line of vision during those 5 minutes. By that time, 

 a parallel line of flocks had begun to return to the island. 



We observed least auklets foraging at sea about 6 or 7 miles 

 from their nesting place on Kiska Island. Apparently, this was 

 the limit of their feeding range, though it could vary with the 

 distribution of organisms on which they feed. We also have 

 seen them flying at night. Aleuts informed us that least auklets 

 winter in the Aleutians and that, in winter, they continue to 

 enter their rock crevices for shelter — thus giving the blue foxes 

 a further opportunity to prey upon them. Stejneger (1885) says 



FrGURE 38. — Least auklet. 



