The Marbled Mur relet {Brachgramphur\ marmoratiis) 



By James M. Macoun 

 Length : About 9 inches. 



Range : Along Pacific Ocean islands, mostly north of Vancouver. 



Sometimes seen in the Aleutian Islands, and near Unalaska. Quite com- 

 mon alon gthe coast of British Columbia. They breed on Vancouver Island and 

 on some of the smaller islands of Gulf of Georgia. Common in the bay at 

 Douglas, B. C. Marbled Murrelets, as the name implies, are diminutive Murres. 

 These several varieties all make their homes on the' Pacific ocean, usually on 

 the islands. Large numbers of this species are observed at Sitka, Alaska, and 

 they inhabit the Aleutian Islands, where they reach their northern limit at their 

 breeding grounds in this chain of remote islands, while the southern range is as 

 far southward as Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia. They 

 fly rapidly and swim and dive like grebes, but seldom alight except in rocky places, 

 where it is possible for them to launch into the air and eventually return to the 

 water, for the legs of these birds are set so far back upon the body as to make 

 them extremely awkward on land. The eggs are deposited in holes made in the 

 turf or sod, over-hanging the brow of a clifif. One, and sometimes two eggs, are 

 laid. 



DoWltcher {Macrorhamphus griseus) 



Range : Breeding range unknown, but probably northern Ungava ; winters 

 from Florida and the West Indies south to northern Brazil. 



The dowitcher, or brown-back, as it is known in many places, is one of our 

 most important shorebirds, both by reason of its great numbers, its excellence for 

 the table, and the sport it furnishes. If we include under the name "dowitcher" 

 the western form, with its longer bill and other slight differences, the bird may 

 be said to visit all parts of the United States in its migration. It is, however, far 

 more common on the coast than in the interior, and formerly it visited the Atlan- 

 tic shore in mulitudes. The brown-back, however, is one of the most unsuspicious 

 of our shorebirds, and comes to wooden decoys with the utmost readiness. Even 

 after a flock is decimated and the dead and dying cover the ground, the survivors 

 will return again to the fatal spot. No wonder that the multitudes spoken of 

 by many earlier writers no longer visit our shores. There is every reason to 

 believe that the absolute prohibition of the shooting of this bird for a term of 

 years will do much toward rehabilitating the species. Then, with the prohibi- 

 tion of spring shooting and with a small bag limit, it may be possible to retain 

 the brown-back on the list of game birds. But sportsmen may rest assured 

 that anything short of drastic measures will be followed by the extermination of 

 this important wader. 



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