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L. W. SOWL 



southeastern Alaska and the southern Kurile 

 Islands. Bent (19636), on the other hand, lists 

 their breeding range as extending from Wash- 

 ington to Agattu. Clark (1910) noted this 

 species in small numbers at Atka and Agattu. 

 Because of the lack of proof, Udvardy prob- 

 ably had no options. I believe that Bent was 

 probably closer to describing their original 

 range. I base this assumption on recent obser- 

 vations and on the additional fragments of in- 

 formation reported by Gabrielson and Lincoln 

 (1959). Murie (1959) failed to find this species 

 anywhere in the Aleutians, but his primary 

 reason for being there, the fox-farming indus- 

 try, may have had a lot to do with his not 

 being able to find any. 



The FWS surveys in Prince William Sound 

 in July- August 1972 located small numbers of 

 rhinoceros auklets in breeding plumage at the 

 Wooded Islands and at Stoney Island and 

 Channel Island in Montague Strait. These 

 birds gave every impression of being local 

 breeders. David Roseneau (Isleib and Kessel 

 1973) encountered two at the Barren Islands 

 in June 1965. Isleib and Kessel (1973) list a 

 few other records from this area. 



My own experience leads me to believe that 

 there is a large colony somewhere on Afognak 

 Island, probably on or near Tonki Cape. On 30 

 May 1973 I noted a lone bird north of Afog- 

 nak Island. Later, on 8 and 9 August, I saw 

 several in the same area. On 13 August in 

 Marmot Strait I observed a number of rhi- 

 noceros auklets, either singly or in groups of 

 up to 12. Some of these had small fish in their 

 beaks. As they flushed, they all flew off 

 toward Tonki Cape. This observation was 

 made just at last light, and I believe that 

 there were many others about that could not 

 be seen in the dying light. We did not encoun- 

 ter this species along the Alaska Peninsula 

 during the FWS survey in 1973 until we 

 reached the end. There I had one quick 

 glimpse of what I was certain was a rhi- 

 noceros auklet at Amagat Island. 



Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata) 



The horned puffin is one of the most abun- 

 dant breeding birds in the Gulf of Alaska. 

 There are only a few really large colonies but 

 these birds breed just about anywhere there is 

 a cliff (even a low one) with suitable fractures 

 and crevices. During the Alaska Peninsula 



surveys in 1973, I estimated that the fre- 

 quency with which these birds were seen on 

 the water was about half that of the tufted 

 puffin. They have been recorded in so many 

 places that there is nothing to be gained by a 

 reiteration of the record in the literature. 



The horned puffins reach their greatest den- 

 sity in the Gulf of Alaska west of Kodiak Is- 

 land. Murie (1959) estimated that the colony 

 at Amagat Island, Morzhovi Bay, contained 

 15,000 birds, one of the largest he had seen. It 

 contained at least 50,000 in 1973. Even at 

 that, it was no match for the colony on Little 

 Koniuji Island with its minimum 140,000 

 horned puffins. Other colonies with large 

 horned puffin components were at High Is- 

 land (40,000), Castle Rock (20,000), Mitrofani 

 Island (35,000), and Sosbee Bay (15,000). 



Earlier in this paper, I commented at length 

 on the great and often rapid fluctuations in 

 populations of tufted puffins. The same phe- 

 nomenon affects horned puffins. In 1975 there 

 were relatively small numbers of horned 

 puffins at Little Koniuji where they had 

 flourished 2 years earlier (James Bartonek, 

 personal communication). Because they are 

 apparently subject to erratically oscillating 

 populations, it is hard to tell how they have 

 fared over the years. 



Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata) 



The tufted puffin, as previously indicated, 

 is also a bird with widely fluctuating popula- 

 tions. Until we develop an understanding of 

 their population dynamics and can under- 

 stand the underlying cause of these fluctua- 

 tions it will not be possible to assess trends in 

 their populations or understand the implica- 

 tions of such trends. 



Tufted puffins are abundant throughout the 

 Gulf of Alaska. Small colonies can be located 

 almost anywhere. Along the Alaska Peninsula 

 there are a number of colonies with an esti- 

 mated breeding population in 1973 of more 

 than 15,000 birds. These are: Ashiiak Island 

 (20,000), Central Island (90,000), the Brother 

 Islands (45,000), The Haystacks (19,000), 

 Castle Rock (85,000), Bird Island (none, but 

 may contain 500,000-1,000,000 at times), 

 Peninsula Islands (35,000), the Twins 

 (18,000), Amagat Island (40,000), and Umga 

 Island (22,000). These colonies correspond to 

 the area where colonies were listed for the 



