THE CRESTED AUKLET 



By CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 65 



This is a bird of the far North, frequenting the coasts and islands of 

 Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. We first got acquainted with 

 the Crested Auklets at the Pribilof Islands, where they abound, and 

 afterward saw them in Bering Strait, and above the Arctic Circle at 

 Kotzebue Sound. Later on, in the fishery surveys by the steamship 

 Albatross, we saw them from Kadiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula 

 through the whole Aleutian Archipelago, and beyond 

 to the Commander Islands off Kamtschatka. The bird Habitat 



is also found along the Kuril Islands, down as far as 

 Japan on the western side of the Pacific. Rich as were our experiences 

 with auklets in many of these places, they did not prepare us for what 

 we were to see in the Shumagin Islands, south of the Alask^ Peninsula. 



On the evening of August i, the Albatross came to anchor in Yukon 

 Harbor, at Big Koniushi Island of the Shumagin group. While the ship 

 was working her way into this wild and uninhabited bay, everyone noticed 

 the increasing numbers of auklets. The farther in we went the more 

 numerous they became, until the Captain called me to the bridge to tell 

 him what I could about them. 



The birds were nearly all of the crested species, and were present in 

 myriads. The surface of the water was covered with them, and the air 

 was filled with them. Large, compact flocks launched themselves into 

 the air from the lofty cliffs, and careered toward the vessel with great 

 speed and whirring of wings. The Crested Auklets were here more 

 numerous than were the "Choochkies" (Least Auklets) at St. George, 

 in the Pribilofs, celebrated as the center of abundance for that species. 



Twilight did not come until after nine o'clock, and during the long 

 evening the birds were amazingly active. Flocks of 

 them continued to come in rapid succession from the Amazing 



,. . , 11- 1-1 j Numbers 



cliffs, many passing close to the ship at high speed 

 and swinging about the harbor. After the anchor was dropped near the 

 cliffs, a loud blast of the whistle made the auklets still more abundant. 

 The bird-legions swept from the cliffs until the misty air and the water 

 about the ship was alive with them. It was a memorable ornithological 

 display, and when darkness came the birds were still moving actively. 



These birds appeared to be nesting chiefly in crevices in the cliffs, 

 although they could be heard under the boulders near the beaches. We 

 did not stay long at Yukon Harbor, and I have always wanted to revisit 

 the place and get better acquainted with the metropolis of the auklets. 

 At the Pribilofs, we found the birds apparently more abundant under 



