LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 63 



in the nest, but usually only bare earth in the enlarged end of the burrow. 

 Three eggs only were taken, although a number of holes were opened. On the 

 31st of January we tried the colony again and found a few birds on eggs 

 nearly ready to hatch. In two holes examined cold eggs were found contain- 

 ing young birds alive, though barely able to move. One young bird 3 days 

 old was found in another burrow. Several single adult birds of both, sexes 

 were taken from holes and these on dissection showed small sexual organs. 

 Some holes that showed fresh soil about them were opened, but no birds were 

 found In them. On February 7th several rotten and a couple of fresh eggs 

 were foimd where they had been scratched out of holes, and many holes showed 

 signs of digging. 



On the 19th of January, 1914, I visited Santa Clara Island 10 miles off 

 Masatierra and found colonies of birds nesting in the soft ground on top of 

 the island. Some of the burrows here were just below the grass roots and 

 easily opened while others ran deep down. Nearly all the nests were nicely 

 lined with foxtail straws and an occasional burrow also had a lining. Most 

 of the eggs were well advanced In incubation and in one nest I found a bird 

 setting on two eggs. One of these proved however to be rotten and was prob- 

 ably a last year's egg. The pink-footed shearwater when disturbed on its egg 

 becomes decidedly pugnacious picking wildly at any object and frequently at 

 a single blow will break its egg before it can be removed from the nest. The 

 birds about the island In the daytime spend most of their -time sitting on the 

 water In flocks differing in this respect from their neighbors, the neglected 

 petrels which nest along the cliffs, and spend their daylight hours in swinging 

 singly about over the ocean. 



Eggs. — The eggs of the pink-footed shearwater vary greatly in 

 size and shape. They are usually " elongate ovate," sometimes nearly 

 " cylindrical ovate," and occasionally " ovate." The shell is smooth, 

 finely grained, and without lustre. The color is white, which is 

 often more or less stained, sometimes with a pinkish tinge. The 

 measurements of 11 eggs, collected by Mr. Beck, average 71.7 by 

 46.2 millimeters; the eggs. showing the four extremes measure 79 

 by 47, 76.2 by 48,8, and 53.5 by 43.2 millimeters. 



Eggs in American collections, supposed to be of this species, col- 

 lected on Breaksea Island, western Australia, are probably eggs of 

 Ardenna cameipes, which has also been called the pink- footed shear- 

 water. The eggs described above, collected by Mr. Beck, are, I 

 believe, the only eggs of Ardenna creatopus in existence. 



Yotmg. — There are three specimens of the downy young of the 

 pink-footed shearwater in the Brewster-Sanford collection, which 

 are probably the only specimens in existence. They were also col- 

 lected by Mr. Beck, on Masatierra Island, on January 31, 1914. 

 They are thickly covered with long fluffy dt)wn, which varies on the 

 upper parts, from " drab " to " cinnamon drab," the exact color de- 

 pending on how the light strikes it ; the color fades off to " drab- 

 gray " on the sides, to " pale drab-gray " on the throat and to pure 

 white on the chin, breast, and belly. There are no specimens show- 

 ing the subsequent changes into the adult plumage. 



