922 TUli J'lGKoX CL'ILLE.MOT. 



but that tliey colonize upon some of tlie liigher slopes of the Olympic Moun- 

 tains where they lav their eggs in burrows; and one of the Indians claims to 

 ha\'e come updii >uch a colony several years agn while hunting in company 

 with a white man. The Indians at I lowkan, on Long Island, Alaska, told Mr. 

 George G. Cantwell that they supposed the birds nested high up in the moun- 

 tains in hollow trees. 



It sounds hshv, I know; but I have one slight confirmation for such an 

 lu'pothesis. At Glacier, on the Xorth Fork of the Nooksack l\i\-er, and near 

 the fool of Mount I'aker. having risen beft)re daybreak fur an early bird- 

 walk, on the morning of May ii. 1905. I heard voices from an invisible party 

 uf Marbled MiuM-elets high in air as the)- proceeded down the valley, as the to 

 repair to the sea for the day's fishing. It was too late in the season for 

 migratory flight, and the Murrelets are not known to visit interior waters 

 (altho I ha\e seen them on Lake Washington in winter). Shearwaters of 

 two species are known to nest in the high mountains of New Zealand, miles 

 from the ocean ; but such behaxinr on the ])art of any American sea-bird would 

 be uniciue in our annals. 



No. 371. 

 PIGEON GUILLEMOT. 



A. ( ). I'. No. 29. Cepphus columba (Pall.). 



Synonym. — Slv\ Piceon. 



Description. — Adult in suiinnrr: General jilumage sooty black, glossed with 

 green, pure black (ju wings and tail: a large white patch on wing, oval in general 

 outline, but interrupted by strong re-entrant wedge of black on distal margin : bill 

 and claws black, lining of mouth and feet carmine ; irides brown. Plumage fading 

 in late summer, color of wings and tail changing to gray, and white wing-patch 

 becoming soiled with brown. .Idiilt in 7i'intcr: Most of head and neck, rump and 

 tnider])arts white: back and hind-neck black, varied l)y white: tail and wings black 

 with ])atch on latter clean white. I nunaturc : Above chiefly sooty slate: below 

 white varied by duskv : traces of wing-i)atch in nxitcmpping white: bill black: feet 

 reddish black. Doicny ymiiiii: Sooty black bill, and feet brownish black. Length 

 of adult: 12.00-14.00 (304.8-355.6): wing 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1): tail 2.00 

 (50.8) : bill 1.30 (}^},), de])th at base .43 ( 10.9) : tarsus 1.20 (30.5). 



Recognition Marks. — Teal size: dusky ajjpearance : solid black with white 

 wing-patch nf ordinary ])lumage unmistakable: a strange ]Mcd gray bird in winter. 



Nesting. — Eggs: 2. sub-elliiitical. |iak' green or buffy of \'arious shades, 

 boldlv and handsomelv spotted or blotche<l with pur])lish black or deep brown, with 

 shell markings of purplish gra_\' : deposited on bare rock at bottom of crevice or at 

 end of tunnel in earth-bank, or even. rarel\-. on ground in thick grass. .\\. size. 

 2.40 X 1.60 (61 X40.6). Season: June-July; one brood. 



