THE BIRD BOOK 





'20 



Least Auklet. Aethia 



pu.1t 



lla. 



"Lo: 



Range. — North Pacific on tlie islands and coast 

 of Alaslfa. This is the smallest of the Auklets; 

 length 6.5 in. This species has no crest, but has 

 the slender white plumes extending back from 

 the eye. The entire under parts are white sparse- 

 ly spotted with dusky. This species is by far the 

 most abundant of the water birds of the extreme 

 Northwest, and thousands of them, accompanied 

 by the two preceding species, nest on the rocky 

 cliffs of the islands of Bering Sea. Their nesting 

 habits are the same as those of the other Auk- 

 lets, they placing their single white egg on the 

 bare rocks, in orevices on the cliffs. Size 1.55 x 

 1.10. Data.^Pribilof Is., Alaska, June S, 1897. 

 Single egg laid in crevice. Thousands breeding 

 on the island. 



Anhigxt Murkelbt. 

 anfiquus. 



S y iitltliborampliiis 



iKt Auklet 



.VnciPnt Mvirr<-']et 



Marljled Mui-rclel 

 The Murrelets have no crests or 

 ■plumes and the bills are more slen- 

 der than the Auklets and are not 

 highly colored. The ancient Mur- 

 relet or Black-throated Murrelet, 

 as it is also called, has a gray 

 back, white under parts and a 

 black head and throat, with a broad 

 white stripe back of the eye and 

 another formed by the white on 

 the breast extending up on the side 

 of the neck. They breed abund- 

 antly on the islands in Bering Sea, 

 laying one or two eggs at the end 

 of burrows in the banks or on the 



Range. — Pacific Coast, breeding from the bord- 

 er of the United States, northward, and wintering 

 south to southern California. 



"1 -* 



''^: 



Burl 



ground, and in some localities in crevices on the cliffs. The eggs are a buffy 

 white color and are faintly marked with light brown, some of these being iii 

 the shape of spots and others lengthened. Siae 2.40 x 1.40. Data. — Sanak Is- 

 lands, July 1, 1894. Two eggs on the ground under a tuft of grass and in a 

 ■slight excavation lined with fine grass. 



26 



