LIFE HISTORIES, OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIEDS. 121 
hidden to see and were beyond our reach; the rocks were far too large 
for us to move. 
On Walrus Island, in the Pribilof group, we found them nesting 
with the paroquet and least auklets in exactly similar situations under 
the loose bowlders which were piled up on the beach. Here we had 
no trouble in moving the rocks sufficiently to uncover the eggs, but 
we experienced considerable difficulty in identifying the eggs. 
Whereas the paroquet auklet usually sat complacently on its egg or 
crouched near it, the crested auklet usually ran away as soon as we 
began to move the rocks, and we would soon see it scurrying out 
from under our feet and flying off to sea. Only occasionally did we 
succeed in catching one near enough to its egg to identify it. The 
single egg was laid on the bare rock or ground or on a bed of small 
loose stones, which could hardly be called a nest. At the time of our 
visit, July 7, 1911, the eggs of this and the other auklets were in 
varidus stages of incubation, but no young were found. 
The following account by Mr. C. H. Townsend (1913) would seem 
to indicate that the center of abundance of the crested auklet lies 
south of the Alaska Peninsula. He writes: 
On the evening of August 1 the Albatross came to anchor in Yukon Harbor 
at Big Koniushi Island, of the Shumagin group. While the ship was working 
her way into this wild and uninhabited bay everyone noticed the increasing 
numbers of crested auklets. The farther in we went the more numerous they 
became, until the captain called me to the bridge to tell him what I could about 
them. 
The birds were nearly all of the crested species and were present in myriads. 
The surface of the water was covered with them and the air was filled with 
them, Large, compact flocks launched themselves into the air from the lofty 
cliffs and careened toward the vessel with great speed and whirring of wings. 
The crested auklets were here more numerous than were the “ choochkies” 
(least auklets) at St. George, in the Pribilofs, celebrated as the center of 
abundance for that species. 
Twilight did not come until after 9 o’clock, and during the long evening the 
birds were amazingly active. Flocks of them continued to come in rapid 
succession from the cliffs, many passing close to the ship at high speed and 
swinging about the harbor. After the anchor was dropped near the cliffs a 
loud blast of the whistle made the auklets still more abundant. The bird 
legions started from the cliffs, until the misty air and the water about the ship 
was alive with them. It was a memorable ornithological display, and when 
darkness came the birds were still moving actively. s 
These birds appeared to be nesting chiefly in crevices in the cliffs, although 
they could be heard under the bowlders near the beaches. 
F-ggs—the single egg of the crested auklet can not always be dis- 
tinguished with certainty from that of the paroquet auklet, although . 
it is usually slightly longer and more pointed. In shape it varies- 
from “ovate” to pointed ovate, or more rarely to “rounded ovate.” 
The texture of the shell is finely granulated, but hardly rough, and 
without any luster. The color, in all I have seen, is pure white or 
