22 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



LEAST AUKLET 

 ^thia pusilla (Palliu) 



A. O, U. Number 20 



Other Names. — Alinute Auklet ; Knob-nosed Auklet ; 

 Knoll-billed Auklet; Choochkie. 



General Description. — Length. 65^ inches. Color 

 above, black ; below, white ; bill, shorter than head, with 

 knob at base ; no crest. 



Description. — Adults in Summer: Front, top, and 

 sides of head, sprinkled with white delicate feathers ; 

 a series of exceedingly fine hair-like feathers from back 

 of eye down back of head and nape; some white on 

 shoulders and on tips of some secondaries ; otherwise 

 entire upper parts, glossy-black ; throat and under parts, 

 white clouded with dusky, usually more thickly across 

 breast ; bill, red, darker above at base ; legs, dusky ; 



iris, white. Adults in Winter; Bristles of head, fewer 

 and less developed; white of under parts, more exten- 

 sive, reaching almost around neck; bill, brownish. 



Nest and Eggs. — The single egg, chalky-white or 

 faintly tinged with greenish or bluish, unmarked, is 

 deposited in a burrow in the ground or in a crevice 

 among rocks on an island or on a coast adjacent to the 

 sea. 



Distribution. — Coast and islands of the north 

 Pacific ; breeds from Bering Strait south to Aleutian 

 Islands; winters from Aleutian and Commander islands 

 south to Washington on the American side and to 

 Japan on the .-Xsiatir. 



The Least Auklet is one of the commonest of 

 the water fowl in Bering;- Sea. It congregates in 

 countless thousands on the rocks in Bering Strait, 

 making them look like great beehives. In the 

 spring they are very playful, especially while 

 they are in the water, where they chase each 

 other in great apparent good nature, meanwhile 

 keeping up an incessant but subdued chattering. 

 Like the other Auklets, they build no nest, but 

 lay a single egg deep in the crevice of a clilT. or 

 among the rocks well below the surface, or in 

 a burrow in the ground. 



"A walk over their breeding grounds at this 



season," wrote Doctor Baird, " is exceedingly 

 interesting and amusing, as the noise of hundreds 

 of these little birds directly under foot gives rise 

 to an endless variation of sound as it comes up 

 from the stony holes and caverns below, while 

 the birds come and go, in and out, with bewilder- 

 ing rapidity, comically blinking and fluttering. 

 The male birds, and many of the females, reg- 

 ularly leave the breeding grounds in the morning, 

 and go off to sea, where they feed on small water 

 shrimps and sea fleas, returning to their nests 

 and sitting partners in the evening." {North 

 American Birds.) 



ANCIENT MURRELET 



Synthliboramphus antiquus (Giiiclin) 



A. O. U. Xumber 21 



Other Names. — Gray-headed Murrelet; Black- 

 throated Murrelet ; Black-throated Guillemot; Old Man. 



General Description. — Length, io',< inches. Color 

 above, dark slate; below, white; bill, small and short, 

 zvith no horny growth at base. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Head, black, sooty 

 on chin and throat ; a conspicuous white stripe over each 

 eye to nape, spreading on sides and back of neck into 

 a series of sharp white streaks; a trace of white on each 

 eyelid ; upper parts, dark slate, blackening on tail ; 

 under parts, white; sides of body, velvety-black, the 

 black feathers lengthening behind and overlaying the 

 white flanks, extending upward in front of wings, meet- 

 ing that of nape and there mixing with the white 

 streaks; bill, yellowish-white, black on ridge and base; 

 fe»t. yellowish, webs, black ; iris, dark brown. Adults 



IN Winter: Upper parts, darker, the slate obscured by 

 dusky, especially on wing, tail-coverts, and rump ; fore- 

 head, crown, and nape, sooty-black without white 

 streaks ; eyelids, sometimes largely white ; no black on 

 throat, but dusky mottling at base of bill; white of 

 under parts extending nearly to eyes and far around 

 on sides of nape. 



Nest and Eggs. — The single egg. huff with markings 

 of grayish-lavender and light brown, is deposited in 

 holes or burrows in banks on the coast or on a sea 

 island. 



Distribution. — Coasts and islands of the North 

 Pacific ; breeds from Aleutian Islands to Near Islands 

 and from Kamchatka to Commander Islands; winters 

 from the -Meutians south to San Diego, California, and 

 to Japan ; accidental in Wisconsin. 



