118 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
cidedly bluish, about the color of heron’s eggs, but darker than the 
palest of these. The measurements of 33 eggs, in various collections 
average 54.3 by 37.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four ex- 
tremes measure 58 by 33.5, 57.5 by 40, 51.5 by 37, and 52.5 by 33 
millimeters. 
Plumages—The downy young, when first hatched, is “ fuscous 
black” on the crown, “ fuscous,” “ Benzo brown,” or “hair brown” 
on the back, sides, throat, and breast, and “ pale drab gray” on the 
belly. These colors fade somewhat with age. A specimen, collected 
September 1, is nearly fully grown, but is still all downy except that 
the wings are about half grown, the white stripe is visible back of the 
eye and feathers are visible under the down on the cheeks, breast, 
back, and scapulars; the bill has also begun to assume the shape 
characteristic of the species. This bird must have hatched late, for 
another specimen, taken in July, is farther advanced into the first 
winter plumage, with traces of the natal down still left on the head, 
the neck, the center of the breast and the hinder parts of the body. 
This specimen indicates that the first winter plumage is similar to 
the adult, the under parts being pure white and the chin and throat 
mottled. I have never been able to find any fall or winter birds in 
collections and so can not determine what differences, if any, exist 
between old and young birds in the fall, or what seasonal changes 
take place in adults. 
Food.—The paroquet auklet flies out to sea for its food every morn- 
ing and returns to its mate on its breeding grounds at night. Its 
food consists mainly of amphipods and other small crustaceans, 
which it finds swimming on or near the surface or obtains by diving 
down to rocky bottoms at moderate depths. Mr. Nelson (1887) says: 
Wherever we found these birds during our cruise they were always observed 
feeding offshore, and at Plover Bay every one shot had its craw distended with 
small crustaceans, and, as these latter animals swarm in all the waters of this 
bird’s haunts, it is only reasonable to suppose that they form its usual food. 
Brandat’s idea that the peculiarly shaped bill is used to pry open bivalves is not 
well founded. The deep water and very abruptly sloping beaches, where these 
birds are most numerous, render it impossible for them to find a supply 
of bivalves, and the bird’s beak is altogether too weak to be used in the manner 
indicated. Doctor Dall suggests that the peculiar bill is used for picking 
crustacea out of crevices in the rocks and from under round stones. The idea 
that the peculiar recurved bill of this bird must have some unusual office is not 
unnatural; but my observations of the bird’s habit of invariably feeding some 
distance offshore and rarely in water less than 10 to 20 fathoms deep, render 
any such use highly improbable, if not impossible. 
Behavior —The flight of the paroquet auklet is very much like that 
of the smaller auklets—swift, direct, and strong, with frequent turn- 
ings from side to side as its course is altered. It can be easily recog- 
nized by its large size and white breast; it also usually flies at a 
