84 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July 



species were observed, and many specimens were nearly a foot 

 in diameter. 



A few days afterwards I scooped up another Coelenterate, 

 very different from the Medusa, but equally as beautiful. This 

 was a species of Ctenophore.* It was of a ^transparent white 

 colour, with a red internal part, and bright yellow spots under- 

 neath. 



The beautiful, but grotesque looking, Puffin or Sea Parrot 

 {Luna cirrata, Pall), is frequently seen in Behring Sea. With 

 its brilliant colours it suggests the ludicrous among birds, almost 

 as much as the mandrill does among mammals. The head is 

 white with yellow tufts, the bill green and red, the legs red, and 

 the general colour of the body black. 



While on deck one night, when all was quiet, and it was 

 calm, mild, and still on the sea, 1 heard the cry of a Murre — 

 never heard by me before. It was a simple and single " mur ' 

 each time, coming from the distance, and at once revealed why 

 the bird had been so named. The Murres (Urici) of which there 

 are a number of species inhabiting both the Atlantic and Pacific 

 are dark coloured above and white below, and are frequently to 

 be see in the Behring Sea, either on the wing or resting on the sur- 

 face of the water. I sav/ one one day when hundreds of miles from 

 land, on the surface of the waves with her brood, which consisted 

 of a single young one ; for the Murre lays only one egg at a 

 time. Countless thousands, however, of these birds congregate 

 together among the rocks during the breeding time,so that Murres' 

 eggs have considerable commercial value. In large collections 

 of the eggs the most varied ground colours and markings are 

 displayed: the ground colours are different shades of white, differ- 

 ent shades of green, bluish, grayish, earthy : the markings are 

 spots, blotches, and zigzag lines of brown, black, or lilac : 

 occasionally eggs are devoid of markings. 



At times I have seen great numbers of sea-birds, when out 

 in a boat on the open sea. On one such occasion hundreds of 



*The Ccelcnterata are divisible into the Hydrozoa and the Actinozoa— the 

 Medusx' belong lo the former, and the Ctenophora, along with Corals, Anemones, 

 &c, to the latter. 



