82 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
15. Idaho: Lake Coeur d’Alene, October 6. California coast: Ar- 
rives in September. 
Egg dates.—Greenland and Iceland: 33 records, May 10 to July 
21; 16 records, June 6 to 21. Mackenzie: 15 records, June 10 to July 
25; 8 records, July 1 to 6. Northern Alaska and Siberia: 11 records, 
June 6 to July 15; 6 records, June 26 to July 4. Hudson Bay and 
Labrador: 8 records, May 30 to July 5; 4 records, June 6 to 19. 
Family ALCIDA, Auks, Murres, and Puffins. 
LUNDA CIRRHATA (Pallas). 
TUFTED PUFFIN. 
HABITS. 
After six long days at sea we were thoroughly tired of tossing 
about on the turbulent waters of the Pacific Ocean, weary of watch- 
ing even the graceful evolutions of albatrosses, fulmars, and petrels, 
and we hailed with delight our first glimpse of the Aleutian Islands, 
as the rugged peaks of the Krenitzin group, Tigalda, Avatinak, and 
Ugamak, looked up in the horizon, dimly outlined in the foggy dis- 
tance. They are the sturdy sentinels of rock that guard the entrance 
to Bering Sea, shrouded in perpetual mist, their snow-capped sum- 
mits enveloped in heavy banks of cloud. Such is the gateway to 
this interesting region and here we were introduced to its wonderful 
bird life. We had seen a few tufted puffins at sea, migrating toward 
their summer home, but it was not until we reached the entrance to 
Unimak Pass that we began to realize the astonishing abundance of 
this species in that region. The sea was smooth, and scattered over 
its surface for miles, as far as we could see, were thousands and 
thousands of tufted puffins. We stood in the bow and watched them 
in their ludicrous attempts to escape as we passed through them. 
The wind was very light and was behind us, which made it almost 
impossible for them to rise from the water; fey flopped along the 
surface in the most helpless manner; they baraly managed to avoid 
being run over, but almost never sacebedad in flying and only oc- 
casionally did they have sense enough to escape by diving, at which 
they were very skillful. They had probably only recently arrived 
and were congregating in the vicinity of their breeding grounds. 
The tufted puffin is largely pelagic in its habits, during the great 
part of the year migrating well out at sea, almost out of sight of 
land, and gradually working in toward shore, as the breeding sea- 
son approaches. They are usually in pairs when they arrive. 
Spring—The arrival of the “ Toporkie,” as they are called, is a 
cause of great rejoicing among the Aleuts, for it heralds the approach 
of summer and means an abundant supply of good food, for both 
birds and eggs are a welcome relief from salted and dried seal meat 
