16 NESTS AM> 1 :<;<!$ OF 



20. LEAST AUKLET. xinnnrhiiiu-him inmillux (Pall.) Geog. Dist. Coasts and 

 Islands of "in Sitka and Japan northward to Bering Strait. 



Of all the water fowl of Bering Sea this trim little bird is the 

 most abundant." Like the Paroquet and Crested Auklets, this species has a great 



preference for the deep western half of Bering Sea, ex- 

 cept along the Aleutian chain. Mr. Nelson does not 

 think they breed north of the strait, except on some of 

 the cliffs on the Siberian shore. By the 1st to the 6th 

 of June they arrive in great numbers on these islands, 

 ind begin to lay. It is said to be comically in- 

 different to the proximity of man, and can be ap- 



10. LEAST ACKLET, Ai>- 



. MALE, SUMMER. proached almost within an arm's length before 



taking flight, sitting upright and eyeing one with great wisdom and profound as- 

 tonishment. Dr. Coues says: "This curious little bird, the smallest of all the Auks, 

 and one of the least of all water birds, inhabits the coasts and islands of the North 

 Pacific, resorting to favorite breeding places by millions, with X. itxitttiruliix and X. 

 tfllnit. The nesting is similar, the single egg being laid in the recesses of 

 rocky shingle-over the water; size 1.55x1.12."* The bird is not known to come south 

 BO far as the United States. 



21. ANCIENT MUBBELET. .s'i/////i/i&o/-/;/</,// M x unti'iinix (Gmel.) Geog. 

 Dist. Coasts and islands of the North Pacific, from Sitka and Japan northward. 

 Accidental in Wisconsin. 



; Guillemot, or Murrelet, is found in the North Pacific Ocean, 



breeding on the islands and along the coasts from Sitka northward. It breeds in 

 abundance on Near Islands, where a few are resident. On the Commander 

 Islands they also breed. Nests that have been found of this species were 

 in holes in banks, or in burrows in the ground, similar to those used 

 by the Fork-tailed Petrel. On some of the islands of Bering Sea, however, the birds 

 are known to deposit their eggs in the crevices of cliffs. A single egg is laid, pale 

 buff in color, with small longitudinal markings, somewhat subdued, of lavender* 

 gray and light brown. Sizes range from 2.15 to 2.50 long by 1.40 to 1.55 broad. 



22. TEMMICK'S MUBBELET. N//>i/////Wr/m/*////x vuwizxxumv (Temm.) 

 Geog. Dist. Coasts and islands of the North Pacific, from Japan and (Washington t) 

 northward. 



The Japanese Murrelet, according to the best evidence at hand, is not entitled 

 to a place In the avifauna of North America. Mr. Hidgway remarks that it is "v< -ry 

 doubtfully Am* n in his "Birds of Alaska" says: 'Tin present 



species has be- the northwestern coast of America, and I mention it 



here merely to call attention to the fact that no explorer has found it in the r- 

 covered by this paper." It has since been eliminated from the A. O. U. Check 1 



MABBLED MURRELET. 1lru<-liiirainiihnx ntarin'mitiis (Gmel.) Geog. 

 Dist. Coast and islands of th- i he American coast from San Diego 



northward, and Vancouver Island. 



This is another of the diminutive Murres confined to the Pacific Ocean. Tin r: 

 seems to be little known concerning its nidification, but its nesting habits and eggs 



Is, p. 809. 

 Stejneger. Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus. IX, 1888, p. 524. 



