The white iris also contributes to the alert appearance of the bird’s 
head. The feet are bluish, with dark webs. That portion of the red 
beak around the corner of the mouth is soft and flexible. 
In length individual birds vary from eight and one-half to nine 
inches. 
The plumage in winter is the same as in the summer, but the 
bill is markedly different. The crested auklet not only molts its 
feathers like other birds, but sheds the red, horny plates about the 
base of its beak after the breeding season. 
The forward-curved crest of the auklet, resembling that of the 
California quail, suggests the name sea-quail by which it is known 
to English-speaking persons. The native name “kanooska” is of 
Russian origin, and means “little captain.” 
The very young bird, whose appearance has not long been 
known, is a ball of smoky down, in no way resembling its parents. 
In the immature bird the frontal crest and white feathers beneath the 
eye are wanting or but slightly developed, while the bill is much 
smaller and dusky brown. 
At the Pribilofs, it is no uncomon sight to see fur seals, sea-lions, 
and many kind of sea-birds, including crested auklets, in great abun¬ 
dance within a radius of fifty yards. 
We need not concern ourselves, I think, about the preservation 
of the auklets. They dwell among the high cliffs and boulder-strewn 
beaches of a thousand uninhabited islands, and know how to stow 
away their eggs so safely that neither natives nor blue foxes can get 
them easily. 
56 
