ALCID.E — THE AUKS — rTYCITORAMPIirs. 



517 



Choochkie, but will not follow it upon tlio ujtlands, being found only on the shore- 

 lino. It is the J'nt'iUie Jiruxlikie of the niitives, the I*aro<iuet Auk of autluu's. 



The egg — which is laid upon the bare earth or rock — is pure white, oblong-ovate, 

 measuring 2.50 by l.uO inehes. It is exceedingly diilieidt to obtain, owing to the 

 bird's great caution in hiding it, and care in selecting for that jjurposo some deep and 

 winding crevice in the facfo of the cliff. At the entrant^e to tins nesting-cavern the 

 l)arent will sonetinies S(piat down and sit silently for hours at a time, if undisturbed. 

 This bird doe>, not fly about in flocks, but seems to lead a (juiot, independent life by 

 itself, iippar'ntly not earing to associate with its kind. The young, by the 10th to 

 the l/)th of August, may be ob.-icrved for the first time coming out from their secure 

 retreat and taking to wing, being then as fully Hedged and as large as their ])arents. 

 They take their dei)arture from the 20th of August to the ist of September, and go 

 o\it upon the North Taiufie for the winttu', where they find their food, which consists 

 vf Jmp/iij)i)(hi and fish-fry. Mr. Klliott has never seen one, among the thousands 

 that were around him, opening bivalve shells, as this bird has bctni said by Trofessor 

 Ibandt to do. It feeds at sea, flying out every nu)rning, returning in the afternoon. 



The shape of its egg is extremely variable. One measures 2.25 inches by 1.50, 

 ami another 2..!55 by 1.45, the latter example being renuirkably uarrow, elongate, 

 and pointed. The shell is minutely granular, and rough to the touch ; it is white, 

 unmarked, but often found variously .soiled and discolored — sometimes by mechan- 

 ical eft'ect, and sonu'tinu's by tlu> fluids of the cloaca. So elfectually did these birds 

 seiu'ete their eggs in the deep ertn-ices of the cliifs, that Mr. Klliott was unable to 

 obtain nu)re than four perfect specinu'us, although several hundreds were brcetling 

 on the cliffs near the villagt' at St. CJeorge's Island, each piiir having been watched 

 closely by him during the s<immer of 1873. Nothing save blasting-i)owtler, or some 

 similar agcuicy, eould open the basaltic crevices in whicdi this bird hides ; and if this 

 were done the egg would be destroyed. 



An egg of this species in the Smithsonian ^Inseum is of a dirty chalky-white color 

 unspotted, of an oblong-oval shajjc, with rounded ends, and measiu'cs 2.25 inches in 

 length by l.(!() in breadth. It was taken on St. George's Island, in Uehring's Sea, 

 by Mr. J I. W. Elliott. 



Gkms PTYCHORAMPHUS, I'.uANnT. 



Pli/dmmmphit.i, Hiiandi', Mull. Ac. St. IVtersl). 11.18:37, 317 (type, Crin a!nilifn, r.M.i,.). 



CuAii. Dill cldiigutc-i'diiiral, and .soiiiuwliut (Icpri's.xctl, llio maxilla lu'iiig iiiiu'li lnoailtT than 

 deep at Mie base ; cubui'ii .straight ftir tin; liasal half, then gently cinvfil ; ^'miys .straight and 

 rajiiilly ascending teiniinally ; nostrils overhung hy the prominent, llaring edge of the nasal niein- 

 hrane, or shield, which in the hrecdiiig-season is niore or less c(irrngale<l alxive. Head ciUirely 

 destitute of any onuunentul plumes or crest ; phunage plain slaty above, whitish beneatli. 



FtychoramphuB aleuticus. 



THE ALEUTIAN AUK. 



ITria aleii/ica, Pai.i,. Z«iog. Uossn-.As. H, 182(i, :i70. 



ItifchommphuH alnttkm, niiAsiir, Pull. Ac. St. Pctcrsl). II. 1S37. 347. — Cass, in nniiil's B. N. Am. 



1858, l»10. — Haiim), Cat. N. Am. B. 1 a.lH, no. 724. - Corr.s, Vr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Pliilad. ;868, 62 ; 



Key, 1872. 343; Plicck I,i.st, 187.3, no. 02.') ; cd 2, 1882, no. 8(12.- Hnmw. Noni. N. Am. IJ. 



1881, no. 7.'>1. 

 Mi-rijiihm Vnmnii, (lAMiii'.r., Pr. Ac. Nut. Sci. Pliilnd. 184f), 200 (const of California) ; .Tourn. Ac. Nut. 



Sci. Pliilml.1 1.1850, pi. 0. 



