Vol. XVn r- 1 \T 4 ' .^ 



,8^8 J General Notes. 49 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Notes on the Egg of the Marbled Murrelet. — While collectinif this 

 season off the Alaskan coast in the Prince of Wales Archipelago, it was 

 my good fortune to take an &^^ of the Marbled Murrelet {Brachyrum- 

 phiis tnarmoraius), the first I believe that is known to science. Mv head- 

 quarters at that time were at the Indian village of Howkan, on Long 

 Island, near the open end of Dixon's Entrance. The birds had been very 

 abundant all winter and b}^ May had taken on their rusty summer dress. 

 Females taken at that time plainly' indicated that they were about to nest, 

 the ovaries containing eggs nearly formed. A careful w-atch failed to 

 reveal any nesting sites and on inquiring of the Indians about it, thev 

 told me that they had always supposed the bird to breed high up on the 

 mountains in hollow trees; one old fellow declared he had found the 

 young in such places. As I had previously noticed the birds flying about 

 high overhead at dusk I resolved to look into the matter, and spent many 

 hours searching for them in the woods, but without success. 



One day, the 23d of May, an Indian boy came to the cabin and 

 wanted to borrow my ' scatter gun ' to shoot ducks. I gave him the gun 

 and some shells, I also asked him to bring me back some 'divers' if he 

 could. He returned in the afternoon with four Marbled Murrelets and 

 said, in Chinook, that "he thought one had an egg in it," and suiting 

 the action to the word, squeezed the bird's abdomen, and before I could 

 prevent it I heard the egg break Taetween his fingers. On opening the bird 

 I found the remains of a large clear green ttgg spotted with black and 

 brown, which I patched up the best I could and sent to the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



By a promise of a reward for eggs I soon had all the Indian boys of the 

 place after them. Many of the birds they got had incomplete eggs in 

 them and others had already laid, but I never secured another perfect 

 specimen. 



The birds were in the channels the entire summer, and on August 5 

 I noticed the first young in the immature white plumage, and by the 

 middle of October the old birds had also assumed the Avinter dress. — 

 Geo. G. Cantwell, y««ert?<, Alaska. 



[The above mentioned egg, kindly sent to the National Museum by 

 Mr. Cantwell, measures about 2.4S inches (length) and 1.3S (width). In 

 shape it is elongate- ovate. The color is a greenish yellow, w-ith brownish 

 violet and dark brown spots, the latter being larger at the base. — • "\V. L. 

 Ralph ] 



Gull Dick. — The American Herring Gull (^Larus argentatus smiik- 

 sonianus), known as ' Gull Dick' (see Auk, Vol. IX, p. 227 ; Vol. X, p. 76; 



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