BIRDS. 



439 



Fig. 370. — Crested auk (Simorhynchus cresta- 

 tellus) . 



curious knot, which appears each year before the breeding season, and then 

 is shed when that period is over. A little larger is the crested auk from 

 the same seas, with its curious bunches 

 of feathers projecting from the sides of 

 the head, and the " little curl right in 

 the middle of the forehead." Its plu- 

 mage is brownish black above, ashy be- 

 neath, and the short little beak is scarlet 

 or orange. All of these forms resort to 

 the shore during the breeding season, 

 but as soon as that is over, they retire 

 to the open ocean, some of them going 

 to warmer climates to spend the winter. 



The murres or guillemots, of which 

 there are several species, must also be 

 mentioned. They, too, have similar 

 habits, spending the winter on the open 

 ocean, and coining to the rocky shores 

 in the early spring to lay their parti- 

 colored eggs. They are especially fond 

 of nesting on the ledges of the cliffs, which are hardly wide enough to 

 hold them. Here they sit in long rows, each bird with its face to the 

 cliff as it towers above them, their black backs turned to the open sea. 

 Says Dr. Stejneger : " When flying off the nest they consequently are com- 

 pelled to first turn round, and, if taken by surprise, this manoeuvre will 

 often cause them to throw the egg from the shelf into the water. It hap- 

 pened several times, when I stealthily approached in a boat under the 

 breeding colonies, that several eggs were thrown into the boat, when the 

 birds rushed off the nest, if the bare rock on which the egg is placed can 

 be called a nest, and my Aleutian oarsmen were always in a roar of 

 laughter when one of these projectiles exploded on the head of an unfor- 

 tunate companion." At other times the murres seek a more level space 

 for raising their young, and then the shore presents a singular sight. Eveiy- 

 where can be seen the birds sitting bolt upright upon their eggs, while thou- 

 sands more are circling around in the air. The eggs are highly prized by 

 the natives, and in the breeding season they form a not inconsiderable 

 part in the diet of the inhabitants of northern climes. 



The puffins are also northern birds whose strangest feature is seen in 

 the curiously ridged and even distorted beaks. Best known is the common 

 puffin or sea-parrot of the Atlantic, a bird about a foot in length, brownish 

 black above and dirty white below. Its yellow bill is crossed by three or 



