BIRDS. 41 



Diiriug the cruise of the Oorwiu in 1S81 I found the Paroquet Auklet breeding in extreme 

 abundance on the ishinds in Bering Straits, and great bunches of them were brought on board by 

 the Eskimo. Being without fresh meat we bought them and tliey were served up on the cabin 

 table for some time, but were fishy and couhl only be tolerated. This was in July, and they were 

 nesting in crevices among the masses of loose stones along the sharp slopes on the islands and 

 the high clift's. From our anchorage thousands of them could be seen tlyiug about and the surface 

 of the sea was dotted with them for miles. 



They are found for a short distance north of the straits on the American shore, but along the 

 Siberian coast they were found for nearly 200 miles northwest of the straits. They are abundant 

 summer residents along the same coast south to Plover Bay at least. In Plover Bay they were 

 common its entire length, some 18 miles inside the heads; they are also abundant about Saint 

 Lawrence and Saint Matthew's Islands. 



Wherever we found these birds during our cruise they were always observed feeding offshore, 

 and at Plover Bay every one shot had its craw distended with small crustaceans, and as these 

 latter animals swarm in all the waters of this bird's haunts it is only reasonable to suppose that 

 they form its usual food. Brandt's idea that the peculiarly shaped bill is used to pry open 

 bivalves is not well founded. The deep water and very abruptly sloping beaches where these 

 birds are most numerous render it impossible for them to find a supply of bivalves, and the 

 bird's beak is altogether too weak to be used in the manner indicated. Mr. Dall suggests that 

 the peculiar bill is used for picking Crustacea out of crevices in the rocks and from under round 

 stones. The idea that the peculiar recurved bill of this bird must have some unusual office is not 

 unnatural, but my observations of the bird's habit of invariably feeding some distance oft'shore and 

 rarely in water less than 10 to 20 fathoms deep, render any such use highly improbable if not 

 impossible. 



On the Fur Seal Islands they breed in abundance, arriving there early in May, and nest 

 on the clitfs, where its eggs, one to each bird, are laid on the bare ground at the bottom of the 

 crevices. They have a low, sonorous, vibrating whistle and do not fly in flocks like most other 

 auks. This peculiarity was also noted at the breeding places in Bering Straits. Mr. Elliott's 

 observations, like my own, are that " it feeds at sea, flying out every morning, returning in the 

 afternoon to its nest and mate." They frequently sit dozing for hours at the entrance to their 

 nest. In Bering Straits a large number of eggs were easily secured. They were fresh in July 

 and were white. Those taken by Elliott on the Seal Islands measured from 2.25 by 1.50 to 2.35 

 by 1.45. 



At the Seal Islands the young take wing about the middle of August. Old and young leave 

 the islands by the first of September. At Amichitka Island, at the western extremity of the 

 Aleutian chain, Dall found these birds rather common, and in the Shumagins, in July, ISSO, Dr. 

 Bean found them abundant, so their breeding ground appears to extend the entire length of the 

 Aleutian Islands. 



For the bill-moult of this species see Stejneger (loc. cit.). 



SlMORHTNCHUS CRiSTATELLUs (Pall.). Crested Auklet (Esk. Tu'-gi-uU), 



This strangely ornamented bird has a range almost identical with that of the preceding spe- 

 cies, and I do not recall a single instance in which the Paroquet Auklet was seen in any numbers 

 where the present species was not found. A few were observed in the passes near Unalaska in 

 May, and the 13th of June a single pair were seen off the Seal Islands. This bird breeds plenti- 

 fully on the Xear Islands, but does not winter there. They also breed on the Commander Islands. 

 The night of June 17, like C. psittucidus, they were extremely numerous among the ice off Saint 

 Lawrence Island, and off the Yukon mouth the next day they outnumbered the other species. They 

 were in pairs and small flocks, and either sat in the water and stared wonderingly at us as we 

 passed, scarcely getting out of our way, or flew about with a buzzing flight like a heavilyladeu 

 bee. They continually uttered a chirping note, and were very conspicuous by reason of their 

 bright-colored bill. One bii'd fell upon deck. 



S. Mis. 15G 6 



