ledges, but elsewhere close to the water at the base of a cliff. Even 
so the eggs of most species (especially of those, such as the ])aro- 
quet auklet, that scatter in lonely pairs, not associating in colonies) 
are difficult to obtain, because secreted far under the tumbled rocks, 
out of reach of foxes, crows, and other enemies. 
RED-FACED CORMORANTS ON WALRUS ISLAND IN BERING SEA 
From a Photof?raph by A. C. Bent 
Among gulls, the pomarines, and the parasitic jaegers are numer¬ 
ous in summer; and both of the kittiwakes, the burgomaster, and the 
short-billed gull, are present all along the chain, breeding in thou¬ 
sands on certain islands. Turner notes that the short-billed gull is 
very fond of sea-urchins, for which it hunts at low tide; having 
found one it carries it some distance into the air, then drops it on 
the rocks to break it, so that it can get at the soft interior ])arts. 
Both the arctic and the Aleutian terns occur in the western part of 
the islands, but neither is plentiful. 
Those oceanic wanderers the albatrosses, fulmars, and fork-tailed 
petrels are rarely seen, but various cormorants breed on all the 
princij)al islands. “The nest,” says Turner, “is usually placed on a 
ledge of some bold-faced rock, and in most instances about forty feet 
above the sea.” The eggs are laid early in June, and are pale blue 
in color. Some of the crags are fairly covered with these birds, and 
they look like black bottles standing in rows. They are caught or 
otherwise killed in vast numbers by the Aleuts, for the sake of both 
46 
