LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 191 



Courtship. — Mr. W. Elmer Ekblaw contributes the following 

 interesting notes on the courtship of this species : 



The birds begin mating about the last week in May, the birds in their best 

 years being probably the first to begin. The mating season is at its height, 

 however, about the fifteenth or twentieth of June. Mating takes place both on 

 the ice and on the ledges of the clilT. Their courting and nuptial struggles are 

 grotesque. The male is very aggressive and persistent, the female apparently 

 most indifferent to all the male's blandishments or reluctant to assume the task 

 of incubation and brooding. Sometimes she so effectively resists the attentions 

 of the male by pecking and striking him that he gives up in despair and 

 neglects her. Then she usually squats seductively before him. The sexual act 

 seems to be of great interest to the birds upon the same and neighboring ledges, 

 for they crane their necks to watch it, and chatter volubly, as if commenting 

 caustically upon such open and flagrant misconduct, even at home. Often a 

 pair, in their nuptial struggles on the cliff, tumble precipitately off like balls of 

 black-and-white yarn. The male does not for a moment release his hold upon 

 the female's crest, apparently determined to do or die, even though both he 

 and she be dashed to death upon the ice or rocks below. But always, just as an 

 awful bump seems inevitable, they separate, flying congenially out across the ice 

 or over the open sea. 



Nesting. — Mr. J. D. Figgins has sent me the following notes on the 

 breeding habits of this species in Greenland : 



Briinnich's murre nests on bare ledges of vertical cliffs (Parker Snow Bay 

 and Saunders Island, Greenland) from near the water to about 200 feet above. 

 The first eggs are laid about June 25. Because of excessive crowding of the 

 narrow ledges and a lack of nest material, many eggs are lost. Fresh eggs 

 were found about August 1, but there is no evidence of there being a second lay- 

 ing other than because of breakage. In other words, I saw no evidence of rear- 

 ing a second young. Both males and females were on the cliffs but in what 

 proportion I am unable to say, but because of the absence of the birds, except 

 in the immediate vicinity of the rookery, it may be presumed that they remain 

 with the females during the season. The exception to this is in the instances 

 where the young are on the water. Small young are often seen on the water at 

 some distance from the rookery, always accompanied by the female only. As 

 young of considerable size were numerous on the cliffs during August, it was 

 believed those seen on the water had been dislodged rather than through intent 

 of leaving the ledges. 



As there is no attempt at nest building, eggs being deposited on the bare rock, 

 many are lost through the continual cumbersome movements of the birds. 

 Quarrels or unusual sounds often create local panics among the adults and 

 when they leave the ledges a shower of eggs and often small young are precipi- 

 tated to the water below. Gregarious in the extreme during the breeding sea- 

 son, Briinnich's murres mass upon certain ledges, although equally suitable 

 localities adjoin. There was no evidence of mating performances. Scolding 

 was continuous. 



Mr. Ekblaw has sent me the following account of the Saunders 

 Island colony: 



To attempt to paint an adequate picture of the rookery on Saunders Island 

 would almost be futile ; to succeed in doing so, would be to convict one's self 

 of wild exaggeration. Literally millions of the birds make the west end of 



