NORTH AMERICAN BIRD*. 9 



more or less abundantly in all suitable places. It is common during the summer 

 months in Greenland. In Labrador it breeds in the first part of June; in Hudson 

 Strait, eggs maybe collected from the middle of June to the middle of July. Through- 

 out Alaska, Mr. Nelson says, the present bird is by far the most abundant species of 

 Loon. From the first of June until the first of July fresh eggs may be found. The 

 nesting sites chosen are identical with those of the Black-throated species. Mr. 

 M. Abbott Frazar says that on the islands and along the coast of Labrador this 

 species nests on the edge of the smaller ponds, these often being mere pools of sur- 

 face water. The birds make no nest, but deposit their eggs in a bare hollow space 

 on the ground, usually not over a foot from the water's edge* Two eggs are laid, 

 and the color varies from deep reddish-brown to grayish-green, sparsely spotted with 

 brownish-black. In size they vary from 2.65 to 3.00 long by 1.70 to 1.85 broad. A set 

 of two eggs collected by J. N. McFadden, on Resolution Island, Hudson Strait, June 

 18, measure 2.74x1.78, 2.72x1.81. Two sets of eggs collected by Mr. Pope near Anti- 

 costa Island, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, measure as follows: 2.90x1.81, 2.88x 

 1.75; 2.98x1.76, 2.90x1.70, respectively. These are in the writer's collection. 



12. . TUFTED PUFFIN. Ltimla cirrliata (Pall.) Geog. Dist. Coasts and 

 islands of the North Pacific, from California to Alaska, and from Japan to Bering 

 Strait. Accidental on the coast of Maine. 



A curious bird with a parrot-like bill, hence the name of Sea Parrot which is 

 applied to all the Puffin. This species breeds on the islands along the Pacific coast, 

 from the Farallons northward to the islands of Bering Sea. Its general color is 

 black, with a conspicuous white face mask, long, floating yellow ear-tufts, bent like 

 the horns of a ram; the legs are red, the beak is red and green, making altogether 

 a grotesque looking creature. The birds deposit their single egg in crevices of rocks; 

 a burrow is often dug in the guano, which has for ages accumulated on these islands; 

 sometimes a few pieces of weeds are found in the bottom of the cavity, but often no 

 material is used as a nest lining. Mr. C. Barlow, who has made a careful study of 

 the birds on the Farallons, says that the nest of this species is usually at the end 

 of natural burrows in the granite cliffs; the cavities vary in length from two fo five 

 feet. At one place they are found depositing their eggs in little depressions behind 

 the rocks; the eggs being generally out of sight of the passer by f Mr. W. 0. Emer- 

 son, who has collected extensively on the Farallon Islands, says that one of the birds 

 may always be seen at the entrance of their nesting places on guard duty; they are 

 among the most noisy of the sea birds, always screaming while out on the rocks, 

 and constantly "growling" while in their burrows. Fresh eggs may be collected in 

 the middle of June. Mr. Emerson informs me that he has taken fresh eggs and young 

 birds in the latter part of July. One pair will rear two or three birds in a season. 

 The eggs have a ground color varying from a pure white to a yellowish buff. Some 

 have a circle of lilac markings about one or both ends. Eggs will be found in a large 

 series having tan colored spots over the entire surface; others have lines and zigzag 

 markings, while some seem to be immaculate, but upon close examination deep-lying 

 shell markings are noticeable. Four eggs measure 2.87x1.88, 2.83x1.86, 2.84x1.86, 

 2.82x1.89. In a paper entitled "Birds and Eggs from the Farallon Islands,''^ based 

 principally upon Mr. Emerson's "matchless collection of birds and eggs, and his 



* Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XII, p. 2. 



t A few Notes on the Tufted Puffin in The Oologist, Vol. XI, p. 353. 



t Read before the California Academy of Sciences, December 19, 1887. 



