118 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



cidedly bluish, about the color of heron's eggs, but darker than the 

 palest of these. The measurements of 33 eggs, in various collections 

 average 54.3 by 37.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four ex- 

 tremes measure 58 by 33.5, 57.5 by 40, 51.5 by 37, and 52.5 by 33 

 millimeters. 



Plumages. The downy young, when first hatched, is "fuscous 

 black" on the crown, "fuscous," "Benzo brown," or "hair brown" 

 on the back, sides, throat, and breast, and "pale drab gray" on the 

 belly. These colors fade somewhat with age. A specimen, collected 

 September 1, is nearly fully grown, but is still all downy except that 

 the wings are about half grown, the white stripe is visible back of the 

 eye and feathers are visible under the down on the cheeks, breast, 

 back, and scapulars; the bill has also begun to assume the shape 

 characteristic of the species. This bird must have hatched late, for 

 another specimen, taken in July, is farther advanced into the first 

 winter plumage, with traces of the natal down still left on the head, 

 the neck, the center of the breast and the hinder parts of the body. 

 This specimen indicates that the first winter plumage is similar to 

 the adult, the under parts being pure white and the chin and throat 

 mottled. I have never been able to find any fall or winter birds in 

 collections and so can not determine what differences, if any, exist 

 between old and young birds in the fall, or what seasonal changes 

 take place in adults. 



Food. The paroquet auklet flies out to sea for its food every morn- 

 ing and returns to its mate on its breeding grounds at night. Its 

 food consists mainly of amphipods and other small crustaceans, 

 which it finds swimming on or near the surface or obtains by diving 

 down to rocky bottoms at moderate depths. Mr. Nelson (1887) says : 



Wherever we found these birds during our cruise they were always observed 

 feeding offshore, and at Plover Bay every one shot had its craw distended with 

 small crustaceans, and, as these latter animals swarm in all the waters of this 

 bird's haunts, it is only reasonable to suppose that they form its usual food. 

 Brandt's idea that the peculiarly shaped bill is used to pry open bivalves is not 

 well founded. The deep water and very abruptly sloping beaches, where these 

 birds are most numerous, render it impossible for them to find a supply of 

 bivalves, and the bird's beak is altogether too weak to be used in the manner 

 indicated. Doctor Dall suggests that the peculiar bill is used for picking 

 Crustacea out of crevices in the rocks and from under round stones. The idea 

 that the peculiar recurved bill of this bird must have some unusual office is not 

 unnatural; but my observations of the bird's habit of invariably feeding some 

 distance offshore and rarely in water less than 10 to 20 fathoms deep, render 

 any such use highly improbable, if not impossible. 



Behavior. The flight of the paroquet auklet is very much like that 

 of the smaller auklets swift, direct, and strong, with frequent turn- 

 ings from side to side as its course is altered. It can be easily recog- 

 nized by its large size and white breast; it also usually flies at a 



