108 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
to the feeding grounds and back again. Whatever their route, it is certain 
that they are most rapid flyers, and in the dim evening and morning light 
it is a difficult feat to follow their bulletlike flight against the sky. If the day 
be foggy or dark, the usual early morning departure may be delayed for an 
hour or so. Under such circumstances they rest in front of their burrows, or 
wander about the neighborhood, uttering their curious nasal cry of four short 
notes rapidly repeated. 
Behavior.—Doctor Grinnell (1899) gives an interesting account of 
his efforts to get within gunshot of a rhinoceros auklet swimming on 
the water, which well illustrates its power of diving and swimming 
for long distances under water. He also says: 
The manner and pose of the rhinoceros auklet, resting or swimming on the 
water are quite different from those of any other sea bird met with around 
Catalina. It is short and chunky, with head drawn in close to the body, leaving 
scarcely any tract that might be called a neck. The water line comes up to 
about the lower edge of the wings when closed against the body, so that the 
bird does not rest lightly on the water, like a gull or phalarope. The head is 
held on the same line as the body, directly out in front, so that the top of the 
head and back are on the same level. The whole bird at a little distance 
looks most like a block of wood floating on the water. We did not once see 
one flying. They all preferred to dive. One which was shot at and probably 
slightly wounded, attempted to take flight but failed to get clear of the water, 
and after dragging along the surface for several feet, instantly dove. The great 
ease and rapidity which is shown in diving and traveling under water is re- 
markable. We heard no note, and there was never but one in sight at a time. 
They were mostly seen about a quarter of a mile from shore. 
Professor Heath (1915) writes: 
In former times the rhinoceros auklet was far more numerous than it is at 
the present time, according to the reports of the Indians. As late as 50 years 
ago many of the slopes now untenanted afforded nesting sites for these and 
other birds, and the hills now occupied had a far greater population than one 
finds to-day. In those earlier times the sky was literally darkened as they put 
out to sea, and the sound of their cries was a veritable babel. The diminution 
might naturally be ascribed to the activity of the natives, who relish this 
species above all others, but the natives themselves meet such a claim with the 
evidence of many scores of years when, with a much larger tribe than at present, 
they gathered eggs and birds in vastly greater numbers without any appreciable 
decline in the bird colony. Their explanation rests solely upon the belief 
that the decrease is due entirely to the rank growth of underbrush and ferns 
which form a tangled mat too dense to permit of ready flight to and from the 
burrows. In former times, even within the memory of some of the older men 
of the tribe, the country was much more open; and it is certainly a readily 
observed fact that this species avoids the thickets and seeks out more open 
ground. Occasional nests are found in salmonberry patches, but well-worn 
runways invariably lead into the open. 
Mr. Dawson (1909) describes the method used by the Indians for 
catching the auklets on Destruction Island as follows: 
When the female begins to brood her single egg the male spends his days at 
sea, returning after nightfall to feed his mate and, it may be, exchange places 
