The Marbled Murrelet 



in our collection taken on Monterey Bay in the month of July, and one 

 in June" (Joseph Mailliard, Condor, Vol. VI., Jan. 1904, p. 15); "The 

 Marbled Murrelet appeared (at Monterey) early in July but it did not 

 become common until at the end of the month" (Loomis, California 

 Water Birds, No. 1, 1895, p. 211.) 



On the eighteenth of May, 1914, while in camp with a party on 

 "Major Creek," at a point well up in the foothills of the Santa Cruz 

 Mountains, I roused at early dawn to see a dark meteor crossing the sky 

 and going down the valley in a fashion which suggested an Auklet or a 

 Murrelet; but because the bird was silent, I let the incident pass unchal- 

 lenged. When, however, some fifteen minutes later I heard cries, meer, 

 meer, as familiar as the voices of childhood, I sprang to my feet. Two 

 pairs of Marbled Murrelets passed overhead in full cry, each going straight 

 down the valley at a height abou ttwice that of the surrounding redwoods. 

 The following morning, Sunday, I believe, as I lay dozing, the cries of 

 Murrelets again aroused me, and I woke up to count six passing parties, 

 all descending. Somewhere on the slopes of Ben Lomond there is a nest- 

 ing colony of Marbled Murrelets, and these birds were returning to sea- 

 duty after spending the night with their mates or young. 



In June, 1916, we made our oological camp about half a mile back 

 from the ocean near Trinidad, in Humboldt County. I soon began to 

 suspect the presence of Marbled Murrelets from distant lispings; but it 

 was not until the evening of the 20th, at about 7:30, that a party of them 

 passed almost directly overhead bound for the interior. On the evening 

 of the 22nd, and again on the morning of the 23rd, I had the good fortune 

 to note both the landward and seaward passage of Marbled Murrelets. 

 Some birds passed quite low over our camp, at 7:50 in the evening, on 

 the way to their mountain (?) nesting site, and birds were heard returning 

 at 4:15 the following morning. I repeatedly observed a Marbled Murrelet 

 in full breeding plumage in the harbor of Trinidad on the evening of June 

 24th. 



On the morning of July 1st, having spent the night with Mr. and Mrs. 

 H. E. Wilder of Carlotta, we rose for an early start, and were immediately 

 greeted by Murrelets. Thrusting head out of window, I distinctly heard 

 two birds as they made their way down the valley. This time we were 

 twenty miles from tide-water. Somewhere on the slopes of the Trinity 

 Mountains there is a breeding colony of Marbled Murrelets! 



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