NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 17 



are said to resemble those of the Ancient Murrelet, S. antiquus. They are ovate m 

 shape, ground color buffy, marked with various shades of brown. Size, 2.14 x 1.42. 



34. KITTLITZ'S MTJREELET. Brachyramphus MUlitzii (Brandt.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Kamtschatka and Aleutian Islands, east to Unalaska. 



Mr.' Nelson took the first specimen of this bird in Unalaska Harbor the last of 

 May, 1877. The birds were in company with S. antigwis and B. marmoratus. Their 

 habits appeared to be the same. In "Contributions to the Natural History of Alas- 

 ka" page 121, Turner says: "A single specimen of Kittlitz's Guijlemot was obtained 

 April 24, 1879, at Iliuliuk village on Unalaska Island. It was the only one seen in 

 that locality. The native who brought it to me asserted that this species is abund- 

 ant throughout the year at Sannakh Island. They breed there, laying a single, pure 

 white egg. The nest is placed among the roots of the large tussocks of grass on the 

 edges of bluffs and cliff ledges. I observed several of these birds to the westward 

 of Unalaska Island. Tliey are not rare on Amehitka Island and in the neighbor- 

 hood of the Old Harbor, on Atkha Island." 



25. XANTUS'S MtTREELET. BracliyrampTius hypolevcus Xantus. Geog. 

 Dist. — Coasts of Southern California to Cape Saint Lucas. 



There appears to be no literature describing the nesting habits and eggs of this 

 Murrelet. The bird is stated to breed on the coast of Southern California, from San 

 Diego southward. 



26. CRAVEEI'S MUKEELET. Braenyramphus craveri (Salvad.) Geog;, Dist — 

 Island of Natividad, Gulf of California. 



Craveri's Murrelet, of plain dark, slaty plumage above, and entirely pure white 

 beneath, breeds on the islands at the southern portion of Lower California, in the 

 vicinity of Cape St. Lucas. It nests in burrows in the ground, and its general hab- 

 its in all respects are said to be the same as those of S. antiqmis. It deposits a single 

 egg, which is ovate in shape, of a yellowish or buff ground color, thickly dotted, 

 sprinkled and marked with blackish-brown. Average size 2.03 x 1.40. 



27. BLACK GUILLEMOT. Ceppltus grylle (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Coasts of 

 ' Northern Eui'ope, south to Denmark and British Islands; coast of Maine, south in 



winter to Philadelphia; Newfoundland. (?) 



In Europe this species breeds from the northern coasts of the British Islands 

 to the Arctic Ocean. In Greenland, according to Hagerup,it breeds in colonies of from 

 two to thirty pairs, among the precipitous clilfs along the sea shore.* It is resident . 

 on the north coast of Ireland. Breeds commonly on the Hebrides, Orkneys and 

 ' other islands on the coast of Scotland. A very common species along the entire 

 coast of Norway. In North America it breeds on the islands off the coast of Maine; 

 on Grand Manan and other smaller islands it is found in countless numbers about the 

 middle of June, deppsiting its eggs in the nooks and crevices of rocks, and in all 

 sorts of places which offer shelter above high water mark. The eggs are laid on the 

 bare surface of the rock, ,with no attempt at nest building. So skillful is the 

 bird in hiding away its eggs that they are sometimes found hidden away in subter- 

 ranean caves, f Two, and rarely three eggs are laid, and they are Indistinguishable 

 from those of the following species, but average larger. 



* The Birds of Greenland. By Andreas T. Hag-eriip.' Translated from the Danish by 

 Frlmann B. Arngrrlmson. Edited by Montague Chamberlain. Boston: Little, Brown & 

 Co., 1891. 



f See "Notes on Some of the Birds of Grand Manan," by C. H. Andros, Ornithologist 

 and Oologlst, Vol. XII, pp. 179-180. 



