^°'s^^n Bendire, J\uj/cs on the Ancient Miirrclet. 27 ^ 



an entrance into this matted vegetation and working their way in 

 for two or three feet, a shallow cavity, about live inches in diameter 

 and two or three inches deep, was scratched out and this was nicely 

 lined with blades of dry grass of last year's growth, carried in 

 from the outside, making a very neat and snug home, in whicli 

 the two beautiful eggs, comprising a set, were deposited. Some 

 of their nests were found fully two hundred yards froin the water. 

 In the other situations mentioned little and often no nest is made, 

 and the eggs are deposited on the bare rocks, in the soft sand, or 

 on the wet, muddy soil. I even took several sets on the bare ice 

 at the bottom of some Auklets' burrows, the ground being still 

 frozen, immediately beneath the grass and moss on July 3, when 

 I left the island. 



" The setting bird will sometimes leave the nest when danger 

 threatens, but it will frequently allow itself to be taken from the 

 eggs, and when brought to light it will screech, scratch, and bite 

 with vigor. When released they cannot liy unless thrown into the 

 air, and will then often fall back to earth. One evening, just at 

 dusk, I was crouched in the grass waiting for a shot at a Peak's 

 Falcon {Faico percgriiiiis pcalei), who made regular trips to the 

 island to prey on the Auklets and Murrelets, when I heard a very 

 low but rather shrill whistle. Turning my attention to the spot from 

 which it seemed to come, I listened ; presently I heard it again, 

 but was still unable to locate the bird, which I afterward found to 

 be a Murrelet. Subsequent observations proved that this was a 

 call-note uttered just about the time the setting bird expected the 

 return of its mate, and was evidently uttered to attract his or her 

 attention, for as far as my observations went, they, like the Auk- 

 lets, exchange places nightly, and while one attends to the home 

 cares, the other is usually a number of miles out at sea on the 

 feeding grounds. This call-note is the only one I could attribute 

 to this species while on land, and so ventriloquial are their powers, 

 that in only two instances did I succeed in locating the nest from 

 the sound. While out at sea, the Ancient Murrelet utters a pecu- 

 liar piping whistle, entirely different from the one uttered while on 

 the nest. 



" What their food consists of at this time of the year I am 

 unable to sav, for when thev returned to the land it was so far 



