200 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



"They evidently winter on the open ocean somewhere about the 

 islands [Commander Islands]." 



F. L. Beals collected a specimen at Atka on January 31, 1941, 

 and collected another at Unimak Island, April 5, 1941. Gabriel- 

 son observed them in moderate numbers in winter among the 

 easternmost Aleutian Islands. 



Aethia pygmaea: Whiskered Auklet 



Attu : Choo-chirf-ech 



Atka: Tooch'-much 



Aleut, Copper Island: Too-roo-toork (Stejneger) 



Russian, Commander Islands: Malinka Konjuga, "small crested auklet", 



a local usage on Bering Island, or the 

 general term Petuschka (Stejneger) 



There probably is some confusion in these native names. The 

 Attu name for the whiskered auklet, as given above, apparently 

 corresponds to the Atka name for the least auklet, choo-cheah. 

 This, in turn, seems to correspond to choochkie, or its variants, 

 as so often recorded as the least auklet in the Pribilofs. Yet, 

 we had actual specimens for identification and the Attu natives 

 insisted that the whiskered auklet is identified by the name given 

 above. 



This bird, which is the rarest of our auklets, is restricted in 

 range and numbers, though it probably was more abundant in 

 the past. Dall (1874) discussed a bird obtained by him in Unimak 

 Pass in 1865, which was described by Coues as Simorhyncus 

 cassini, and says : "Brandt refers cassini to the immature form of 

 Kamchaticus, but Kamchaticus has never been authentically iden- 

 tified from the Aleutian chain, and I doubt its occurrence there." 

 Dall believed that this bird was the young of the ancient murrelet, 

 " Brachyrhamphus a?itiquus." Nelson (1887) referred to this speci- 

 men and considered it to be the young of the whiskered auklet. 



McGregor (1906) mentions specimens taken at Dutch Harbor 

 on June 8; one taken from Easy Cove, Akun Island, in winter 

 dress; and a pair taken in fall plumage in Akutan Harbor on 

 August 19. 



We found no evidence of the whiskered auklet east of the Is- 

 lands of the Four Mountains. Today, these auklets nest on a num- 

 ber of islands from the Four Mountains group westward as far 

 as Chugul, near Kiska, though in small numbers. They may still 

 occur as far east as Akutan, though we saw none there. 



We obtained 1 specimen at Kagamil, saw at least 300 at Her- 

 bert Island, and saw several flocks at Chuginadak. There were 

 at least 250 near Yunaska; they were found nesting on Chagu- 



