LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 99 



devote much time to them. There were also a few pairs of horned 

 puffins circling with a cloud of tufted puffins about another small 

 island in this bay, where a large number of the latter species were 

 breeding. Mr. L. M. Turner (1886) says of the nesting habits of 

 this species among the Aleutian Islands : 



Their nests are placed on the ledges of the highest cliffs of those islands where 

 foxes are found, and on islands where foxes are not found these birds breed 

 generally at the bases of bluffs, under the large rocks which have become de- 

 tached and fallen down. Their nest is composed of just whatever happens to 

 be there, be it sticks, stones, or earth. A few feathers may be dropped from^ 

 the bird, but not for an evident purpose of nest construction. A single egg of 

 clear white color is laid on the bare gravel or earth. The egg is very large for 

 the size of the bird, and when cooked is tolerable eating. The bird sits long at 

 a time on the egg, and does not leave it until hunger compels her to seek food. 



Mr. H. W. Elliott (1880) says: 



This mormon, in common with one other species, M. cirrhata, comes up from 

 the sea in the south to the cliffs of the islands about the 10th of May, always 

 in pairs, never coming singly to, or going away from, the Pribylovs in flocks. 

 It makes a nest of dried sea-ferns, gi-ass, and moss, slovenly laid together, far 

 back in some deep or rocky crevice, where, when the egg is laid, it is ninety-nine 

 times out of a hundred cases inaccessible; nothing but blasting powder would 

 open a passage to it for man. It has this peculiarity: It is the only bird on 

 these islands which seems to quarrel for ever and ever with its mate. The 

 hollow reverberations of its anger, scolding, and vituperation from the nuptial 

 chamber, are the most characteristic sounds, and indeed the only ones that 

 come from the recesses of the rocks. No sympathy need be expended on the 

 female. She is just as big and just as violent as her lord and master. 



Mr. B. J. Bretherton (1896) gives an unique account of the nest- 

 ing habits of this species on Kodiak Island ; he writes : 



On first arriving, these birds do a great deal of flying; they gather in 

 bands, and sit perched on the rocky face of some high bluff, and keep up a 

 continuous whistling call, at irregular intervals the whole baud will leave the 

 bluff and fly a short distance out to sea and return. 



The eggs of this species are laid in a tunnel, or burrow, dug in the ground 

 by the bird, and a few handfuls of dry grass and feathers constitute the nest. 



The construction of the tunnel is unique; it always has an opening at both 

 ends. The nesting site is some high rocky bluff overhanging the sea, and near 

 the top where the soil lies on the rock, the bird commences its excavations, 

 first constructing a sort of runway for a few feet along the face of the bluff, 

 then going directly inward, sometimes in a straight line, while others are 

 crooked. In the same way, the length of the tunnel is very variable, and the 

 nest may be at most any distance from 2 to 10 feet from the face of the bluff. 

 From the nest, the tunnel passes on inland, making a sharp upward turn to 

 the surface of the ground. 



The same burrows are used year after year, but whether by the same birds 

 or not was not ascertained. Some burrows have by long usage become as large 

 as rabbit holes, while newly made ones are only just large enough to admit the 

 birds. Both entrances are used indiscriminately by the bird, and it is sur- 

 prising to see with what accuracy they can fly directly into the holes in the 

 ground. .tp^.. 



55916— 19— Bull. 107— —8 



