384 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 



Family ALCIDAE. Auks, Murres, and Puffins. 



The nine members of this family which occur well represent the diversities found 

 in this group. They are exceedingly abundant and all breed on the islands, some of 

 them in communities of numberless individuals. During the early morning and in 

 the evening during the summer hundreds of thousands of several species may be seen 

 from one point of observation on St. George at the huge cliff near the village on the 

 north shore. Here is a sight of which perhaps the equal is not known. On Walrus 

 Island their number is legion, practically the whole surface being covered in the even- 

 ing and morning with the vast numbers of the breeding birds. They leave the islands 

 at the close of the breeding season, when the young are able to take to the water, and 

 are seldom seen during the winter, though a few linger until driven off by ice and 

 snow. They return in immense numbers early in May. The eggs and bodies of all 

 are utilized by the natives for food, but the murres especially are of great importance 

 as well because of their abundance as for their size. Except the Cepphus, they all lay 

 but one large egg. 



20. Lunda cirrhata Pall. Tnfted Puffin. " TawporUe." 



Fraiercula cirrhata, Coues, in Elliott's Rpt. Aif. Alaska, 1873 ; Reprint, 1875, 203. — Elliott, Mon. 

 Seal Ids. 1882, 134. 



Lunda cirrhata, Coinde, Kev. et Mag. Zool., 1860, 403. — Turner, Contr. Nat. Hist. Alaska, 1886, 

 117.— TOWNSEND, Cruise, Corwin, 1887, 98.— CotJBS, Key, 1890, 804.— A. O. U. Ch. List, 1895, 

 5.— RiDGWAY, Man. 1896, 10.— Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus., 1898, 612. 



This odd and fantastic bird is common, and is usually seen perched in rows of 

 four or five and more on the edges of the upper shelf of the precipitous bluffs. Here 

 they breed in inaccessible recesses in the broken rocks, but in some places, and espe- 

 cially on Walrus Island, they nest among the bowlders that have been pushed up by 

 the ice. In most cases, perhaps, the single large egg is laid on the bare rock, but I 

 found a nest on Walrus Island on August 7 which contained a slightly incubated egg. 

 This nest was placed between bowlders, was open to the sky, and was made of dry 

 seaweeds and sea ferns. It was quite large, about 15 inches in diameter, scanty in 

 material, and was practically bare in the center. No young were flying by August 10, 

 The natives secure them by thrusting an arm between or under the bowlders and 

 grasping a bird on the nest. They are killed by knocking them on the head or by 

 biting on the base of the skull, the wings being then locked in a peculiar manner by 

 twisting to prevent escape during .their struggles. Elliott records that they come 

 " up from the sea in the south to the cliffs of the island about the 10th of May, always 

 in pairs, never coming singly to or going away from the Pribilofs in flocks." They do 

 not seem to be as abundant as the following species. Most eggs show but very faint 

 spotting; but one, nearly fresh, taken by Mr. Elliott on Otter Island July 4, 1890, has 

 many very obscure irregular and a few fine dark spots, with a large, dark, irregular 

 blotch near the small end. It measures 2.65 by 1.86. Another taken on St. Paul by 

 Mr. Elliott is 3.00 by 1.95. 



21. Fratercula corniculata (Naum.). Pacific Puffin. " Epatlca." 



Fraiercula corniculata, Coues, in Elliott's Rpt. Aff. Alaska, 1873; Reprint, 1875, 202. — Elliott 

 Mon. Seal Ids. 1882, 133.— Turnicr, Con. Nat. Hist. Alaska, 1886, 118.— Nelson, Eds. Alaska 

 1887, 38.— TowNSEND, Cruise, Corwin, 1887, 98.— Coues, Key, 1890, 801.— A. O. U. Ch. List, 

 1895, 6.— RiuowAY, Man. 1896, 11.— Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus., 1898, 620. 



More abundant than the above species and found in the same situations with 



