Sept., 1903 | 
THE CONDOR 
123 
ing their own burrows where there is soil enough, or using a crevice in the rocks 
if it is small and deep, while the guillemots will use a larger and more exposed 
crevice under a boulder. The auklets are very plentiful on these islands, less so, 
however, than on the islands farther south along the Lower California coast, 
where sandy soil offers every opportunity for them to excavate long and perfect 
burrows. At this date, June 3, the auklets all had eggs and very few were fresh, 
incubation being apparently about half completed. 
These Cassin auklets are curious little fellows, preferring to do their foraging 
and courting at night and keeping out of sight during the day. Every night and 
all night long they keep up a constant talking and calling, flying about in the 
dark with apparent ease. 
At the eastern end of the island is located one of the most curious sights of the 
place: Murre Cave it is called, and is in fact a great narrow vertical cleft in the 
eliff, facing seaward and rather difficult of access. It extends into the cliff for 
CALIFORNIA MURRE 
perhaps 100 feet, and there is a broad ledge or bench about half way in, and the 
whole place is alive with the murres. They sit close together, breast to back, side 
to side, till the cave is lined with their snowy breasts and sooty heads. They were 
uneasy at our approach, but few left till we had been inside for some little time. 
Then the leaders started, and after them came a stream of murres that kept in- 
creasing in volume till the air was full and the mouth of the cave was vomiting a 
cloud of birds, like smoke pouring out of a chimney. The murres were nesting in 
other colonies at various places about the island, one great colony being on a rock 
just off shore on the north side. At this date they had barely started laying. 
We found only a few eggs, fresh laid, and this was evidently the reason that the 
birds were shy and easily disturbed. Had we been three weeks later, when all 
would have been found incubating, we would doubtless have been able to go 
amongst them without disturbing them very much, as they are fearful of leaving 
their eggs on account of the robbing of the gulls. 
