JAEGERS 17 



ondaries tipped witli white ; sides of head, neck, and throat velvety sooty 

 brown ; under parts pure white. 

 Winter pluiiiaije : sifles of head, 

 neck, throat, and under parts 

 pure white ; a duskv stripe 

 back of eye. Yoiuig : like Fig.dS. California Murre. 



winter adults, but with white more restricted on sides of head and lower 

 throat faintly mottled with dusky. Wincj : 8.;]0, bill 1.8(5. 



Distribution. — Pacific coiist of North America; south to southern Cali- 

 fornias 



J£ggs. — Deposited on the bare rock. 



The attention of the ornithological worhi has been called to the 

 murres by the San Francisco Qgg industry, which threatened to de- 

 st^'oy the rookeries on the Farallone Islands. Between 1850 and 1856 

 three or four millions of eggs are said to have been brought to San 

 Francisco, where they sold for a little less than liens' eggs. In the 

 eighties the number of eggs marketed annually, ^Ir. Bryant states, 

 averaged from 180,000 to 228,000. This w^holesale destruction de- 

 creased the numbers of the murres to such an extent that in 1897 

 the attention of the Lighthouse Board was called to the matter, and 

 they put a stop to the business on the islands. 



The murres' eggs arc considered a delicacy not only by man, but 

 by gulls and young sea lions. Two or three gulls will sometimes 

 combine to rob a nest. When they try to steal the yoimg. the murres 

 crowd their little ones from the rocks so they can escape by diving. 



In describing the habits of the murres ]Mr. Bryant says that on the 

 rocks they continually low their heads and make a great noise, and 

 when on the wing sometimes emit a curious grunting note. They 

 are especially clamorous before a storm. 



AVhen incubating, one bird stays on the nest during the day and 

 the other during the niglit, and when the exchange is made a great 

 commotion ensues, the air being filled with ({uarreling, screaming- 

 masses of bird life. 



ORDER LONGIPENNES: LONG-WINGED 

 SWIMMERS. 



(FamTI-IKS STKKr()I{.\lMII> !•:, I-.\HII).K. KT< .) 

 FAMILY STFRCORARIIDiE: JAEGERS. ETC 



GENUS STERCORARIUS. 



Cifmrnl Cfidrartfrs. — Bill stronuly h<i<»k»'d, nostrils nc.ir luiddli'. section 

 above and back of nostrils covered with a s.iddle-like plate ; tail with 

 middle pair of feathers much the lonjjest. 



