The Xantus Mur re let 
ordinarily reaching its hey-day in Aday, spreads broadly both ways. 
In the day time the male bird is on the nest. 1 make this statement 
with a little hesitation, for my opportunity to check it has been limited. 
He is so quiet that not a sound is to be heard even when the colony is being 
invaded. In fact the only known note of these birds is the low piping 
whistle exchanged between the mates when they relieve each other from 
duty. He makes no show of resistance or protest if the eggs are taken by 
hand or scoop, even if he himself is dragged from the nest, and he never 
“flushes.” Catch one and throw him into the air. He will drop just as 
near the ground as he can fly, inches above the rocks, and make a bee 
line down the steep island side to the water. 
The normal set of eggs is generally given as two, but this is an error. 
I have the complete record of the 96 sets collected by Mr. Carpenter, 
to which I have added the last four taken in his presence to bring the 
figure to an even hundred. They show one set of four eggs; four sets of 
three eggs each; forty-nine sets ot two eggs each, and forty-six of one 
each; total one hundred sets. Undoubtedly some of the sets of one, if 
undisturbed, would have had a second egg. But a study of the data 
shows that the ratio of sets of one and sets of two is nearly even, and 
would not exceed 3 to 2. The number of eggs should be given as either 
one or two. 1 have made a special examination of the set of four. It 
is one set and the work of one bird beyond any ground for argument. 
It is worthy of remark in this connection that in not one of these 
hundred quoted cases or any others that I have been able to find has the 
bird made an attempt to improve its nesting site, either by burrowing or 
by bringing in soft material on which to deposit its eggs. This is the 
more surprising from the fact that the shells are not particularly strong, 
and the number that crack through contact with the bare rocks is very 
large. 
The eggs are almost as large as those of the domestic hen—some egg 
for a bird of this size! They show an endless variation in color, even 
within the sets, from dark chocolate to plain sky blue. The majority are 
yellowish-gray with spots and blotches of green, purple, or brown. But 
there is no coloration that could be called typical. 
That more details are not known of the life of these birds is because 
at sea they are difficult to observe, and ashore they are nocturnal. If you 
camp in one of their colonies you will be disturbed soon after nightfall by 
the inrush of the birds. They give an undeniable impression of being 
frightened,—rattled. Amid great confusion they exchange places on the 
nests; a process repeated again just before day-break, accompanied by 
bangings against the ground and the rocks that an aviator would term 
poor landings. 
H93 
