260 The Crested Auklet 



In length individual birds vary from eight and one-half to nine 

 inches. 



The plumage in winter is the same as in summer, but the bill is 

 markedly different. The Crested Auklet not only moults its feathers like 

 other birds, but sheds the red, horny plates about the base of its beak 

 after the breeding season. 



The very young bird, whose appearance has not long been known, 



is a ball of smoky down, in no way resembling its 



Seasonal parents. In the immature bird the frontal crest and 



Changes ,...,, . , 



white feathers beneath the eye are wanting, or but 

 slightly developed, while the bill is much smaller and dusky brownish. 



At the Pribilofs, it is no uncommon sight to see fur-seals, sea-lions, 

 and many kind of sea-birds, including Crested Auklets, in great abund- 

 ance within a radius of fifty yards. 



We need not concern ourselves, I think, about the preservation of 

 these auklets. They dwell among the high cliffs and boulder-strewn 

 beaches of a thousand uninhabited islands, and know how to stow away 

 their eggs so safely that neither natives nor bdue foxes can get them 

 easily. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Crested Auklet belongs to the Order Pygopodes, Family Alcidcp, and 

 Genus ALthia. Its scientific name is JELthia cristatclla. It inhabits, all the year 

 round, the coasts and islands of Bering Sea, moving southward in winter to the 

 Aleutian Islands and Japan. 



This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, by the National A 

 Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 



issociation of 



