148 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



be measured, but color and markings are the same as in the one last described. 

 I have both the females from which these eggs were taken. 



Plumages. The downy young still remains unknown, and the se- 

 quence of plumages to maturity is not fully demonstrated by speci- 

 mens, but from what we have seen it is fair to assume that the 

 changes are similar to those of the closely related marbled murrelet. 



The adult has two seasonal molts similar to those of the preced- 

 ing species. I have not seen enough specimens to work out the 

 dates of the molts satisfactorily. Mr. Turner's bird, collected April 

 24, is still in full winter plumage, and so is a specimen in the United 

 States National Museum, taken April 3, but possibly these may be 

 young birds. The complete molt in the late summer or early fall 

 produces a winter plumage entirely unlike the nuptial plumage and 

 much like the winter plumage of the marbled murrelet; Kittlitz's 

 murrelet in this plumage may, however, be distinguished by its 

 much smaller and shorter bill and by having much more white on 

 the sides of the head and neck, which includes the lores, extends 

 above the eyes, and forms a broad collar nearly around the neck, in- 

 terrupted by only a narrow, median, dusky band. The prenuptial 

 molt apparently involves all of the contour feathers, the scapulars, 

 and perhaps some of the wing coverts. This produces the beauti- 

 fully mottled nuptial plumage, which is worn through the spring 

 and summer. Nearly all of the specimens in collections are in this 

 plumage. 



Food. The two statements included in the above quotations tell 

 all that we know about the food of this species. Mr. Nelson (1887) 

 remarked that it appeared to be "feeding upon small Crustacea." 

 Doctor Grinnell (1909), in Mr. Dixon's notes, states that the "prin- 

 cipal diet was a slippery, slug-like animal about an inch long." 



Winter. Regarding the fall migration and the winter home of 

 Kittlitz's murrelet very little is known. It certainly does not mi- 

 grate south along the American coast. The indications are that it is 

 a bird of Asiatic origin, which has extended its summer range north- 

 ward to the arctic coast of Siberia and eastward through the Aleu- 

 tian Islands to its Alaskan breeding range. If such is the case, it 

 probably returns to spend the winter in the region from which it 

 emanated, perhaps somewhere between the Commander Islands and 

 the coast of Japan. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. Presumably from the Aleutian Islands (Atkha, 

 Amchitka, and Unalaska) east along the southern Alaskan coast to 

 Glacier Bay. Has been taken in the Kurile Islands in summer and 

 several specimens at Indian Point, Siberia. Records of the marbled 

 murrelet from Plover Bay and other points on the Siberian coast may 



