10 WATER BIRDS 



23. MARBLED MURRELET. — Brachyramphus 

 marmoratus. 



Family ■ The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. 



Length: 9.75. 



Adults in Summer: Above dusky, barred with rusty brown ; under parts 

 white, each feather tipped with umber, producing a mottled effect. 



Adults in Winter : Above slate-gray with white band across nape ; scap- 

 ulars mixed with white, and feathers of back tipped with brownish ; 

 lower parts white, more or less mottled with gray. 



Young : Above uniform dark gray, with light band on nape more or less 

 distinct. Lower parts white, mottled with gray. 



Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from South- 

 ern California to Alaska. 



Breeding Range : From Oregon coast northward. 



Nest : In burrow in ground, or hole in bank, or crevice in cliff. 



Eggs: 1 ; buffy, marked with purple-brown. Size 2.14 X 1.42. 



The Marbled Murrelet is found only in the Pacific 

 Ocean, and breeds in such inaccessible places that little 

 is known of its habits. The adult birds and young are 

 found in numbers about Vancouver Island, but its nest- 

 ing sites are difficult to find. It is more common, along 

 the coast of British Columbia than farther south. The 

 best authorities seem to agree that the nesting habits of 

 this species are like those of the ancient murrelet and 

 their usual breeding grounds only a little farther south. 

 In California they are common near the coast all winter 

 as far south as San Diego. At Monterey we found 

 them exceedingly timid, diving at the slightest alarm 

 and impossible to approach. Their food consists of 

 small invertebrates, which they pick from the rocks at 

 some distance under water. 



