JAEGERS 17 



ondaries tipped with white ; sides of head, neck, and throat velvety sooty 



brown; under parts pure white. 



Winter plumage : sides of head, 



neck, throat, and under parts 



pure white ; a dusky stripe 



back of eye. Young: like Fig. 38. California Murre. 



winter adults, but with white more restricted on sides of head and lower 



throat faintly mottled with dusky. Wing : 8.30, bill 1.86. 



Distribution. Pacific coast of North America ; south to southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



Eggs. Deposited on the bare rock. 



The attention of the ornithological world has been called to the 

 murres by the San Francisco egg industry, which threatened to de- 

 stroy the rookeries on the Farallone Islands. Between 1850 and 1856 

 three or four millions of eggs are said to have been brought to San 

 Francisco, where they sold for a little less than hens' eggs. In the 

 eighties the number of eggs marketed annually, Mr. Bryant states, 

 averaged from 180,000 to 228,000. This wholesale destruction de- 

 creased the numbers of the murres to such an extent that in 1897 

 the attention of the Lighthouse Board was called to the matter, and 

 they put a stop to the business on the islands. 



The murres' eggs are considered a delicacy not only by man, but 

 by gulls and young sea lions. Two or three gulls will sometimes 

 combine to rob a nest. When they try to steal the young the murres 

 crowd their little ones from the rocks so they can escape by diving. 



In describing the habits of the murres Mr. Bryant says that on the 

 rocks they continually bow their heads and make a great noise, and 

 when on the wing sometimes emit a curious grunting note. They 

 are especially clamorous before a storm. 



When incubating, one bird stays on the nest during the day and 

 the other during the night, and when the exchange is made a great 

 commotion ensues, the air being filled with quarreling, screaming 

 masses of bird life. 



ORDER LONGIPENNES: LONG-WINGED 

 SWIMMERS. 



(FAMILIES STERCORARIID^, LARID^:, ETC.) 



FAMILY STERCORARIID-5J: JAEGERS, ETC. 



GENUS STEKCORAKIUS. 



General Characters. Bill strongly hooked, nostrils near middle, section 

 above and back of nostrils covered with a saddle-like plate ; tail with 

 middle pair of feathers much the longest. 





