928 THE CALIFORNIA MUKRE. 



BdwIcs records an instance near Tacnnia <>f a tnnnel which was placed nn\\ 

 Uxo feel ab()\e the beach hne. rnciihalmn lasts a hllle ii\er tln'ee weeks, ami 

 eggs are oftener iialclied after the loth of July than liefore that dale. The 

 same burrows, if undisturbed, are used vcar after vear. 



i)ab\- ("inilleinols are co\ered from the hour of hatching with a thick 

 black down. Their feet are pale reddish black, and their bills black with a 

 tiny white tip. This plumage, one nia\- readih' see, is ])rotective only in so 

 far as it coni])orls with shadow ; the young birds, therefore, ha\e an indi\ idual 

 passion for obscurity, l^irought to the light, the chick will not rest for the 

 fraction of an instant, but is off instead in a tireless quest for a hidey-hole. 

 One bird, in particular, which 1 was trying to photograph, nearly wore a hole 

 thru my jo!) stratum. 1 had labored with the creature for perhaps half an 

 liour, in \ain. iMiially, 1 i)Ut it in the bottom of a can\'as canoe, di\'ested of 

 all ho])e t)f shelter. Not for one moment would that jiickaninny ])ause except 

 thru exhaustion, when its collapsed condition would have retlected, I fear, 

 upon the artist, and might e\-en have recjuircd ex])lanation before the S. P. 

 C. A. Upon reciu'erv, instead of j^erking u[) and taking a monientary glance 

 about, as a \'oung gull would ha\'e done, it rose up and struck out for solitude, 

 all with a single impulse which the waiting camera could not resoh'e. 



h'inalh' the chick won out. 1 returned it to its rockv ci'adle, and we both 

 hcax'ed a sigh of relief. 



About the onl_\- way to find these little black rascals is to init your ear to 

 the teeming rocks and listen for the sul.iterranean peepings. They are ad\'en- 

 turesome explorers, and it is doubtful if their own mothers can always lind 

 then'j. 



No. 372- 



CALIFORNIA MURRE. 



A. O. U. No. ,^0 a. Uria troile californica ( I'.ryant). 



Synonyms. — C.\LiroRxi.\ C.i'illiCmot. C.\liForm.\ EoG-Bir-!n. F\r.\wL0XK 

 Bird. 



Description. — Aditlt in .uiimiicr: Head and neck all arouml warm .-.ooty 

 brown, changing (_)n upperparts to dark brownish >late, feathers (^f back and 

 rump with some grayish brown edging : uniler]iarts from throat aljniptly pure 

 white, the sides shaded with dusky; wing-linings white, varied with dusky; 

 secondaries narrowly tijjped with white ; a sulcus, or groove, in plumage behind 

 eye; bill and feet black; irides brown. Adult in z^inicv: Similar, but white of 

 underparts extending to bill, and invading occiput till only a narrow central stripe 

 of black remains, shading on head enough to outline a dusky stripe behind eye. 

 Immature, first icintcr: Like winter adults, hut white not invading occiput, and 

 less extensive on side of head, with some dusky clouding in jugulum. Chicks are 



