THE CRESTED AUKLET 



By CHAS. HASKINS TOWNSEND 



%§e jRattonal &&30tiation ot &u&ubon Societies 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 65 



This is a bird of the far North, frequenting the coasts and islands of Bering 

 Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. We first got acquainted with the Crested 

 Auklets at the Pribilof Islands, where they abound, and afterward saw them 

 in Bering Strait, and above the Arctic Circle at Kotzebue Sound. Later on, 

 in the fishery surveys by the steamship 'Albatross,' we saw them from Kadiak 

 Island and the Alaska Peninsula through the whole Aleutian Archipelago, and 

 beyond to the Commander Islands off Kamtschatka. 



The bird is also found along the Kuril Islands, down as far as Japan on 

 the western side of the Pacific. Rich as our experiences with the Auklets 

 were in many of these places, they did not prepare us for what we were to 

 see in the Shumagin Islands south of the Alaska Peninsula. 



On the evening of August i , the 'Albatross' came to anchor in Yukon Har- 

 bor at Big Koniushi Island of the Shumagin group. While the ship was working 

 her way into this wild and uninhabited bay, everyone noticed the increasing 

 numbers of Crested Auklets. The farther in we went the more numerous they 

 became, until the Captain called me to the bridge to tell him what I could 

 about them. 



The birds were nearly all of the crested species, and were present in myriads. 

 The surface of the water was covered with them, and the air was filled with 

 them. Large, compact flocks launched themselves into the air from the 

 lofty cliffs, and careened toward the vessel with great speed and whirring 

 of wings. The Crested Auklets were here more numerous than were the 

 'Choochkies' (Least Auklets) at St. George, in the Pribilofs, celebrated as the 

 center of abundance for that species. 



Twilight did not come until after nine o'clock, and during the long evening 

 the birds were amazingly active. Flocks of them continued to come in rapid 

 succession from the cliffs, many passing close to the ship at high speed and 

 swinging about the harbor. After the anchor was dropped near the cliffs, 

 a loud blast of the whistle made the Auklets still more abundant. The bird 

 legions started from the cliffs, until the misty air and the water about the 

 ship was alive with them. It was a memorable ornithological display, and 

 when darkness came the birds were still moving actively. 



These birds appeared to be nesting chiefly in crevices in the cliffs, although 

 they could be heard under the boulders near the beaches. We did not stay 

 long at Yukon Harbor, and I have always wanted to revisit the place and get 

 better acquainted with the metropolis of the Auklets. At the Pribilofs, we 



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