BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE COMMON MURRE 101 



on 6 May 1970. However, these estimates were based 

 on counts of 400 and 300 birds, respectively (Osborne 

 and Reynolds 1971; Varoujean 1979). Human impacts 

 to these murre colonies may date back to the early 

 nineteenth century when Russian hunters worked along 

 coastal areas (Essig et al. 1991 ). In the 1 850s, a Chinese 

 abalone fishery operated out of Point Lobos and 

 fishermen worked the rocks at least as far south as Point 

 Sur (Armentrout-Ma 1981; Lydon 1985). On 20 April 

 1875, the steamship Ventura ran aground on either 

 Castle Rocks and Mainland or Hurricane Point Rocks 

 (Reinstedt 1975). Several shipwrecks have occurred in 

 the vicinity of Point Sur. 



Possible Historical Colonies in Marin and 

 San Francisco Counties 



Murres may have previously bred at other locations 

 with suitable habitat between the Russian River and 

 San Pedro Rock which probably would have been 

 extirpated by the activities of early settlers, including 

 egging, before documentation as murre colonies. Bryant 

 (1848) noted that, in 1847, "some of the islands in the 

 harbor, near San Francisco, are white with guano 

 deposited by these birds [i.e., "waterbirds"] , and boat 

 loads of eggs were taken from them." White (1995) 

 considered this observation to probably refer to murre 

 egging at the Farallon Islands but several potential 

 breeding islands for murres and other seabirds exist at 

 the entrance and inside the mouth of San Francisco Bay. 

 Bryant (1872) displayed several engravings which 

 showed birds (possibly murres but not identifiable to 

 species) on various rocks in this area. Near the town of 

 'Two Rocks" (i.e.. between Estero Americano and Estero 

 San Antonio in northern Marin County), Bryant 

 remarked (p. 560) that "The innumerable birds that make 

 their nests upon the broad, flat summits of these rocks 

 are not so kindly treated, being robbed at regular 

 intervals by an egg company formed for that purpose. 

 Wild and precipitous as these rocks appear, they can be 

 scaled without difficulty, and the time will inevitably 

 come when the birds will learn to avoid the place, and 

 these rocks will lose their chief attraction - their chief 

 attraction, it must be understood, for the multitude." 

 Aldrich (1939) noted murres "congregated" on Seal 

 Rocks, along with sea lions and other seabird species. 

 However, no details were provided and other observers 

 of this frequently-visited area did not note breeding 

 there. 



Possible Historical Colonies in Monterey and 

 San Luis Obispo Counties 



There is no specific documentation of murres 

 breeding between Hurricane Point Rocks in central 



Monterey County and Prince Island in the northern 

 Channel Islands of southern California. Dawson (1923) 

 indicated that breeding occurred at the Farallon Islands 

 and "in lesser numbers south to Prince Islet . . ." but with 

 no other details. Several other authors also have reported 

 breeding as far south as Prince Island without details. 

 Murres may have previously bred at several 

 undocumented locations with suitable habitat before 

 extirpation by human activities or natural factors. 

 European settlement of parts of this coast occurred in 

 the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when 

 large and small ranches, towns, and ports were 

 established. Early settlers likely harvested birds, eggs, 

 and guano from small islands, close to shore and 

 accessible to small boats. For example, Piedras Blancas 

 Island was an early and major landmark for coastal 

 shipping for the Spanish galleons returning from the 

 Philippines in the eighteenth century and was located 

 beside a large ranch and port set up for sending food 

 and other products to inland missions at San Antonio 

 de Padua (esL 1 77 1 ) and San Miguel Arcangel (est 1 797) 

 (Bancroft 1886; Hamilton 1974). Native people were 

 sent to the coast daily to obtain sea food that probably 

 included seabird meat and eggs for the missions. For 

 three years in the 1880s, guano was harvested from this 

 rock and sent to San Francisco (Hamilton 1974). Murres 

 breeding at Piedras Blancas Island probably would have 

 been extirpated because of early human activities. Many 

 other human activities also occurred along this coast 

 (including hunting, mining, logging, shipping, fishing, 

 etc.), especially since 1850 when human populations 

 expanded rapidly (Hamilton 1974). Russian hunters 

 also worked this area in the nineteenth century and may 

 have egged and eliminated small colonies even earlier 

 (Essig etal. 1991). 



Southern California Colonies 



Prince Complex 



Hunt et al. (1979) summarized data originally 

 provided by L. Kiff (personal communication) for the 

 southernmost known colony of the common murre at 

 Prince Island, just north of San Miguel Island off 

 southern California. The colony disappeared in the early 

 twentieth century, possibly due in part to specimen 

 collecting for private egg collections. I reviewed egg 

 records and other information to further investigate the 

 loss of this colony. Several details on the egg specimens 

 that I examined differed from those presented in Hunt et 

 al. (1979). possibly because of more recent accessions 

 to the WFVZ collection as well as different data 

 treatment. Between 60 and 227 murre eggs were 

 collected at Prince Island between 1885 and 1912. Most 



