THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted Exclusively to the Interests of 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Volume 1. 



MAY, 1897. 



Number 9. 



NOTES ON THE MARBLED MURRELET. 



JOSEPH GRINNELL, PASADENA, CAL. 



S one becomes acquainted with the 

 water-birds of the North 

 Pacific, he soon notices the 

 preponderance both in num- 

 bers and species of the 

 family A/cii/a-, which in- 

 cludes the Auklets, Mur- 

 relets. Puffins, Murres and 

 Guillemots. These birds of 

 such marked structure and 

 habits, I found in large 

 numbers in the vicinity of Sitka Bay, Alaska, during 

 the summer of i8g6. 



After the larger, more conspicuous Puffins and 

 Murres had succumbed to my curiosity, a much 

 greater desire quite naturally came to me to secure 

 the tiny, timid Murrelets, which would not allow 

 themselves to be taken so easily. They would leave 

 the water and fly out of range long before the sloop 

 with its towering sails approached near 

 enough. It was only after I learned the 

 use of the rolling treacherous Indian 

 canoe, that I was enabled to form their 

 closer acquaintance. By stealthily drop- 

 ping down with the wind toward the 

 birds while they were feeding, and pad- 

 dling with might and main after they 

 dove, I managed to get within range. 

 Even then I considered myself lucky if I secured one 

 bird out of three shots. Some days when the water 

 was smooth or the tide not running favorably, I could 

 not get a single bird. 



Usually the most propitious time was during the 

 middle of the day, when a shifting breeze caused an 

 erratic ripple, so that the canoe was not so conspicu- 

 ous. However, there is no rule, and if one wants to 

 shoot Murrelets, he must stay out early and late until 

 he is familiar with the habits of these elusive birds. 

 The Murrelets are sometimes out in the open bay, 

 but they usually remain close among the clusters of 

 small islands, and about the numerous inlets and 

 sounds. Although so common in the immediate vi- 

 cinity of Sitka, their nearest breeding grounds were 

 on an island over thirty miles distant, as I afterward 

 learned, though I did not visit the locality myself. 



LIVE NLARBLEl) MURRELETS 



All the adults which I shot during July and August had 

 bare areas on their abdomens, on which the feathers 

 and down were entirely absent. This showed that 

 the birds were incubating. The adults were fre- 

 quently in pairs, but often singly or in scattered 

 groups when feeding. The white-breasted immature 

 birds of the second year were always alone and re- 

 mained mostly about the kelp-beds where they easily 

 obtained food. Small fish caught by diving seemed 

 to be the standard article of food, but dissection of 

 the stomachs also showed remains of some small 

 mollusks. A shoal of candle-fish was sure to have 

 among its followers, besides a cloud of Pacific Kitti- 

 wakes, several of the Murrelets 



Murrelets seem to be perfectly adapted to locomo- 

 tion in, on, and out of the water. The wings alone 

 serve the purpose out of the water ; the webbed feet 

 alone, on the water ; but both wings and feet in the 

 water. I do not think the tail is used at all in any of 

 these actions, as it is so short. The tail 

 with its coverts seems only to be a proper 

 posterior termination of the spindle- 

 shaped body, to prevent any drag or 

 wake during movement through the air 

 or water. 



The wings are the organs for flight, not 

 only through air, but especially qualified, 

 as I believe, for progress through water 

 The quills are exceedingly stiff and strong ; the wing 

 is narrow and short. These characters are essential 

 for the use of the wing in water, for the resistance 

 of a wing stroke in water is many times heavier than 

 that of a stroke in air. Therefore the strength of a 

 wing which must fly in water is far greater in propor- 

 tion to its size, than in one which has only to oppose 

 the yielding resistance of the air. 



I wounded a Murrelet in the head by a chance 

 shot, and although its movements were not under 

 regular control of the injured brain, full vigor 

 seemed to be retained. The water was smooth and 

 very clear, and I had a fine opportunity to watch 

 from the canoe the /luniiis operandi in diving. The 

 feet seemed not of very great aid in diving, except 

 at change of direction, when they were moved in al- 

 ternate rhythm. The wings gave regular strokes, 



