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 oologieal 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. 1 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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