THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 135 



interesting one of all the water fowl frequenting the Pribylov islands, for it conies here every summer by millions 

 to breed. It is comically indifferent to the proximity of man, and can be approached almost within an arm's length 

 before taking flight, sitting squatted upright and eyeing you with its peculiar " watch-ring" optics, that wear an air 

 of great wisdom combined with profound astonishment. 



Usually, about the 1st or 4th of May, every year, the " choochkie " makes its first appearance around the islands 

 for the season, in small flocks of a few huudred or thousand, hovering over and now and then alighting upon the 

 water, sporting one with the other in apparent high glee, making an incessant, low, chattering sound ; but they are 

 only the van to flocks that by the 1st or Gth of Juue have swarmed in upon the islands, like those flights of locusts 

 which staggered my credulity on the great plains of the west. They frequent the loose stony reefs and bowlder- 

 bars on St. Paul, together with the cliffs on both islands ; and what is most remarkable, they search out an area 

 over five miles square of basaltic shingle on St. George island, which lies back and over, inland from the north 

 shoreline. To the last position they come in greatest numbers ; they make no nest, but lay a single egg far down 

 below among the loose rocks, or they deposit it deep within the crevices or chinks in the faces of the bluffs. 



Although, owing to their immense numbers, they seem to be in a state of great confusion, yet they pair off and 

 conduct all of their billing and cooing down under the rocks, on the spot chosen for incubation ; making, during this 

 interesting period, a singular croaking sound more like a "devil's fiddle" than anything I have ever heard outside 

 of a city's limits. 



To walk over their breeding-grounds, at this season, is highly interesting and most amusing, as the noise of 

 hundreds and thousands of these little birds, which are directly under your feet, gives rise to an endless variation 

 of volume of sound, as it comes up from the stony holes and caverns below ; while the birds come and go, in and 

 out, whistling around your head, comically blinkiug and fluttering. 



The male birds, and many of the females, regularly leave the breeding-grounds in the morning and go off to 

 sea, where they feed on small water-shrimps and sea-fleas, returning to their nests and sitting partners, in the 

 evening. It is one of the sights on St. George, this early morning departure and the early evening return of 

 the myriads of choochkies to their nests. The Simorhynchus lays a single pure white egg, exceedingly variable in 

 size and shape, usually oblong-oval with the smaller end pointed. I have several specimens almost spherical, and 

 others drawn out into an elongated ellipse; but the oblong oval, with the pointed smaller end, is the prevailing 

 type. Compared with the size and weight of the little bird, the egg is excessively large. Average length, 1.55 ; 

 width, 1.12. The length of the bird, 3 inches ; width, 2 inches. The general aspect of the egg is very much 

 like that of the pigeon's, excepting the roughness of the shell. The chick is covered with a thick, uniform, dark, 

 grayish-black down, which is speedily succeeded by feathers, all much darker than those of the parent, when 

 it takes its flight from the island for the year, six weeks after hatching. Old birds feed their young by disgorging, 

 never carrying anything up in their bills, and when the young leave, they are just as large and just as heavy as 

 their parents. I am strongly inclined to think that the male bird feeds the female while incubating, but have not 

 been able to verify this observation, as they are always hidden from sight at the time, and they cannot be told 

 apart by size or color. 



39. Lomvia troile, var. californica. Murre; "Guillemot." 



Limited numbers of the Californian guillemot are found occasionally perched on the cliffs with the arrie; they 

 can only be distinguished at a short distance by a practiced eye, for they resemble their allies so closely and conform 

 so strictly to their habits, that it will be but repeating the description of the L. arm, given below, should I attempt 

 it. The largest gathering in any one place, that I have seen on the islands, of these birds, was a squad of about 

 fifty on the high bluffs at St. George, but they are generally scattered by ones, twos, and threes among thousands 

 and tens of thousands of the arra. 



40. Lomvia arra. Thick-billed Guillemot; "Arrie." 



This is the only egg-bird that has the slightest economic value to man on the Pribylov islands. The bird 

 itself is in bodily size a true counterpart of our ordinary barnyard duck, only it cannot walk or even waddle as 

 the domestic swimmer does. It lays a single egg, large and very fancifully colored; a bluish green ground, shot 

 with dark-brown mottliugs and patches, but exceedingly variable as to definite size and color. The outline of the 

 egg is pyriform, sometimes more acute, again more ovate. It is the most palatable of all the varieties found on the 

 islands, except the fulmar; and when perfectly fresh I can testily to its practical equality with our deservedly 

 prized hen's eggs; it never has any disagreeable flavor whatever, for the birds feed entirely upon marine Crustacea. 

 I have never found any fish in their craws. 



This bird is the true arra of Pallas, a name derived undoubtedly from its striking similarity to the 

 harsh sound uttered by the bird. It is present in immense multitudes, countless flocks, principally surrounding St. 

 George island, although Walrus islet is fairly covered by them. They appear very early in the season, but are 

 slow in laying, not beginning usually until the 18th or 25th of June. I feel quite well assured that these birds do 

 not migrate far from Bering sea during the most severe winters, and in the milder hyemal seasons numbers of them 

 are around the islands during the entire year. They lay their eggs upon the points and narrow shelves, on the faces 



