Cornell University
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www. archive.org/details/cu31924094812041
Honoring
Macy S. Shaub
ADELSON LIBRARY
AT SAPSUCKER WOODS
> CORNELL LAB of ORNITHOLOGY
Illustration of Snowy Owl by Louts Agassiz Fuertes
,
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION -
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM ere ff
e re ie Bulletin 121
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN
PETRELS AND PELICANS
AND THEIR ALLIES
ORDER TUBINARES AND ORDER STEGANOPODES
BY
ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
Of Taunton, Massachusetts .
; WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1922
ETIN 121 PL. J
Us S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULL
Laysan Island.
A.M. Bailey.
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329,
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Bulletin 121
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN
PETRELS AND PELICANS
AND THEIR ALLIES
ORDER TUBINARES AND ORDER STEGANOPODES
BY
ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
Of Taunton, Massachusetts
qaseeenenag,
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1922
ADVERTISEMENT.
The scientific publications of the United States National Museum
consist of two series, the Proceedings and the Bulletins.
The Proceedings, the first volume of which was issued in 1878, are
intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original, and
usually brief, papers based on the collections of the National Museum,
presenting newly-acquired facts in zoology, geology, and anthro-
pology, including descriptions of new forms of animals, and revisions
of limited groups. One or two volumes are issued annually and dis-
tributed to libraries and scientific organizations. A limited number
of copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, is distributed to specialists
and others interested in the different subjects as soon as printed.
The date of publication is recorded in the tables of contents of the
volumes.
The Bulletins, the first of which was issued in 1875, consist of a
series of separate publications comprising chiefly monographs of
large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (oc-
casionally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions,
and eatalogues of type-specimens, special collections, etc. The ma-
jority of the volumes are octavos, but a quarto size has been adopted
in a few instances in which large plates were regarded as indis-
pensable.
Since 1902 a series of octavo volumes containing papers relating to
the botanical collections of the Museum, and known as the Contribu-
tions from the National Herbarium, has been published as bulletins.
The present work forms No. 121 of the Bulletin series.
Wiiuiam peC. Ravenet,
Administrative Assistant to the Secretary,
In Charge of the United States National Museum.
Wasurneron, D. C.
Ilr
INTRODUCTION.
This Bulletin contains a continuation of the work on the life his-
tories of North American birds, begun in Bulletin 107 and continued
in Bulletin 118. The same general plan has been followed and the
same sources of information have been utilized. Nearly all of those
who contributed material for, or helped in preparing, the former
volumes have rendered similar service in this case. In addition to
those whose contributions have been previously acknowledged, my
thanks are due to the following contributors:
Photographs have been contributed, or their use authorized, by
A. W. Anthony, D. A. Bannerman, H. H. Bailey, Edwin Beaupre,
Biological Survey, W. K. Fisher, Joseph Grinnell, A. O. Gross,
J. H. Gurney, Maud D. Haviland, Lynds Jones, F. H. Kennard, R. C.
Murphy, E. W. Nelson, and P. B. Philipp.
Notes and data have been contributed by D. E. Brown, T. D.
Burleigh, A. J. Campbell, H. F. Lewis, J. T. Nichols, C. W. Rich-
mond, and J. R. Whitaker.
The distributional part of this Bulletin has been done by the
author. Messrs. Robert Cushman Murphy and John Treadwell
Nichols have examined and revised the distribution of the Tubinares
and Mr. James H. Fleming has done the same for the Steganopodes.
In the two previous Bulletins the author adopted, without any
changes, the nomenclature of the 1910 edition of the check list of the
American Ornithologists’ Union. But, now that a new check list is
in preparation, it seems best to adopt the names that will probably
appear in the new check list, so far as they are now understood by
Tue AvurHor.
Vv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Order Tubinares
Family Diomedeidae
Phoebastria nigripes
Black-footed albatross
Habits es
Distribution ___-._____-__-
Phoebastria albatrus os
Short-tailed albatross.
Habits
Distribution
Phoebastria immutabilis
Laysan albatross
Habits
Distribution
Thalassogeron chrysostomus culminatus
Yellow-nosed albatross
Habits
Distribution
Thalassogeron chlororhynchus
Pink-footed albatross
Habits ae
Distribution yal
Phoebetria palpebrata auduboni
Audubon sooty albatross
Habits ee sheoweeee sol kN,
Distribution as
Family Hydrobatidae
Macronectes giganteus ___-
Giant fulmar
HIADItS 21s 2ses wes Dol rete cee bee o eeu Sue scewooce
Distribution
Fulmarus glacialis glacialis =
Fulmar
Habits
Distribution
Fulmarus glacialis glupischa
Pacific: fulMarie 262 aocs pe oeet eso see cen eee esses
Habits S
Distribution.._2.2-—-2--.4225.---2422 sais
Fulmarus rodgersi best
Rodgers fulmar Belo See eee nee
Habits a
Distribution Bera Fae a a eee
Priocella antarctica
Page.
OOOO na GQ aH ee eH
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Order Tubinares—Continued.
Family Hydrobatidae—Continued.
Slender-billed fulmar ~--_-------
Habits
Distribution ~
Daption capense
Pintado petrel
Habits
Distribution erent
Calonectris kuhlii borealis
Cory shearwater. .
Habits
Distribution
Ardenna carneipes _--____
Pale-footed shearwater__.--------
Habits
Distribution
Ardenna creatopus
Pink-footed shearwater__-_-_-
Habits
Distribution
-Ardenna gravis
Greater shearwater.
Habits
Distribution
Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Manx shearwater.
HADIMtS eet es a
Distribution
Puffinus Therminieri therminieri
Audubon shearwater.
Habits
Distribution ______
Puffinus assimilis godmani_-_
Atlantic allied shearwater.
Habits
Distribution __
Puffinus opisthomelas_
Black-vented- shearwater
Habits
Distribution
Puffinus auricularis
Townsend shearwater.
Habits
Distribution
Puffinus griseus _
Sooty shearwater.
TABLE OF
Order Tubinares—Continued.
Family Hydrobatidae—Continued.
Wedge-tailed shearwater
Habits
CONTENTS,
Distribution
Habits
Distribution
Priofinus cinereus.
Black-tailed shearwater
Habits é
Distribution __.._________
Pterodroma hasitata
Black-capped petrel
Habits
Distribution
Pterodroma cahow
Cahow
Habits
Pterodroma inexpectata
Peale petrel
Habits
Distribution
Bulweria bulweri__-_______-__
Bulwer petrel
Habits
Distribution
Halocyptena microsoma_
Least petrel
Habits
Distribution
Hydrobates pelagicus
Stormy petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma hornbyi—-~-----
Hornby petrel___------------
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma furcata
Forked-tail petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa ==
Leach petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma leucorhoa kaedingi-------____-------------------
Kaeding petrel
Habits
Distpibution.ueck ios. ol see ek ee ee
Oceanodroma leucorhoa beali____-----------------------------
[X
x TABLE OF CONTENTS,
Order Tubinares—Continued.
Family Hydrobatidae—Continued.
Beal petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma macrodactyla _-------
Guadalupe petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma castro
Hawaiian petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma melania
Black petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma homochroa
Ashy petrel __
Habits
Distribution
Oceanodroma monorhis socorroensis
Socorro petrel
Habits
Distribution
Oceanites oceanicus.
Wilson petrel a=
Habits
Distribution
Fregetta leucogastris
White-bellied petrel
Habits
Distribution
Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca
North Atlantic white-faced petrel
Habits
Distribution
Order Steganopodes
Family Phaethontidae
Leptophaethon lepturus catesbyi
Yellow-billed tropic-bird
Habits __
Distribution
Phaethon aethereus.
Red-billed tropic-bird
Habits
Distribution
Scaeophaethon rubricaudus
Red-tailed tropic-bird
Habits
Distribution
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
Order Steganopodes—Continued.
Family Sulidae__..--____._______
Sula dactylatra
Blue-faced booby. oe
Habits
Distribution ____._____
Sula nebouxii
Blue-footed booby.
Habits
Distribution
Sula leucogastris
Booby
Habits
Distribution
Sula brewsteri
Brewster booby
Habits
Distribution
Sula piscator
Red-footed booby
Habits
Distribution
Morus bassanus
Gannet eas
Habits
Distribution 2,
Family Anhingidae
Anhinga anhinga
Water-turkey
Habits =
Distribution
Family Phalacrocoracidae
Phalacrocorax carbo
Cormorant
Habits ___
Distribution
Phalacrocorax auritus auritus.
Double-crested cormorant
Habits
Distribution
Phalacrocorax auritus floridanus
Florida cormorant
Habits _- asec
Distribution as
Phalacrocorax auritus cincinatus____
White-crested cormorant
Habits
Distribution __-_--
Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus
Farallon cormorant
Habits
Distribution _—
Phalacrocorax vigua mexicanus
Xai
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Order Steganopodes—Continued.
Family Phalacrocoracidae—Continued.
Mexican cormorant ---------------------------------
Habits
DIStTIDUTION 22242 ead ee ae ere eee
Phalacrocorax penicillatus__.__._.____________.------------------
Brandt: Cormoranty- 222 i oe eek ee
Habits
Distribution See
Phalacrocorax pelagicus. resplendens__-_-_-- Se
Baird cormorant oe
Habits
Distribution
Phalacrocorax urile.
Red-faced cormorant
Habits
Distribution
Family Pelecanidae ______
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
American white pelican
Habits
Distribution
Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis
Brown pelican
Habits
Distribution eee:
Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
California brown pelican
Habits
Distribution
Family Fregatidae
Fregata magnificens rothschildi
Man-o’-war-bird
Explanation of plates
Index
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PEYRELS,
PELICANS, AND THEIR ALLIES, ORDER TUBI-
NARES AND ORDER STEGANOPODES. :
By ArrHur CLEVELAND Bent,
of Taunton, M assachusetts.
Order TUBINARES, Tube-nosed Swimmers.
Family DIOMEDEIDAE, Albatrosses.
PHOEBASTRIA NIGRIPES (Audubon).
BLACE-FOOTED ALBATROSS.
HABITS.
As we steamed out through Dixon Entrance we soon realized
that we were actually going to sea, as the good ship Tahoma rose
and fell on the long ocean swell. The numerous gulls which had
been following the ship became fewer and fewer, as the land faded
from view, and they were gradually replaced by the pretty little
fork-tailed petrels, so common on the north Pacific, and the graceful
fulmars which were circling about us. An occasional tufted -puffin
was seen, a pelagic species during most of the year, but most of
the gulls and other migrating waterfowl had been left behind before
we began to see the long saber-like wings of the black-footed alba-
trosses or “ goonies,” as they are called, skimming low over the
heaving billows of the ocean, pelagic wanderers from warmer climes,
gleaning a scanty living from the watery wastes. During our four
days’ trip over the Pacific Ocean to Unimak Pass they were our
constant companions. In stormy weather, of which we had plenty,
they were more numerous and active, sometimes as many as six
being seen about the ship at one time. They will always be asso-
ciated in my memory with the ocean storms, with the plunging of
the ship over mountainous seas and with the whirr of racing pro
pellers over the crests of mighty waves. Amid all the grandeur,
excitement, and danger of a storm at sea the albatross glides calmly
on, rising easily over the crests of the highest waves and gracefully
1
2 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
sailing down into the valleys between them, frequently lost to sight
but never troubled or confused, thoroughly at home in its native
element. What mariner would not respect,the bird that shows such
mastery of the sea in all its wildest moods? _ phe
Although the black-footed albatross is a bird of the. northern
hemisphere, living its life on the Pacific Ocean north of the equator,
it shares with the antarctic Tubinares the habit of breeding during
our winter months, resorting to the islands in the Hawaiian group
for this purpose early in November. Dr. T. W. Richards (1909)
says of its arrival on the Midway Islands, situated in latitude 28°
13’’ North and longitude 177° 21’ West:
In 1906 nigripes arrived the first week in November, immutabilis following
a few days later, ‘and by the 20th of the month both species had deposited
eggs. Dr. Campbell believes that the birds pair after arrival, but it would seem
that some, at least, may have mated previously. ;
Courtship—The courtship dance of the Laysan albatross has been
fully described by Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1904), and the same
curious performance is indulged in by the blaeck-footed species with
some variations. Doctor Fisher noted the following differences in
the ceremony:
I saw the black-footed albatrosses (D. nigripes) rather seldom engaged in
the dance, and indeed they impress one as more matter-of-fact creatures. The
only difference which was observed in the ceremony as carried out by the two
Species is that nigripes spreads its wings slightly (the metacarpus or “ hand ”
being folded closed) when it lifts its head to utter the nasal song.
Prof. Homer R. Dill (1912) says that it is similar,
.but much more elaborate, and they go through the figures slowly and grace-
‘fully. Instead of lifting one wing they raise both. They are very neighborly
with ‘the other species. We often saw them visiting, and on one to two occa-
sions they were trying to perform with them, but the rapid :pace set by the
white bird was rather too much for his more deliberate cousin, and the affair
ended disastrously.
According to Doctor Fisher (19042), Dr. Charles H. Gilbert, while
cruising about a hundred miles off San Diego, California, on the
steamer Albatross, saw six black-footed albatrosses pair off and
indulge in this peculiar dance. This was during the latter part of
March, when the adult birds should have been on their breeding
grounds, but these were apparently immature birds.
Nesting.—Doctor Fisher (1906) says of the breeding habits of this
‘species on Laysan Island:
The black-footed albatross is very much less abundant
white species. It colonizes the sandy beaches on the
sides, but is not found, except rarely, on the west side
on the sedge-covered slope near the beach, in the
cyanops. On one or two occasions I noted them in the
bilis.
on Laysan than the
north, east, and south
. It is likewise common
Same habitat with Sula
interior with D. immuta-
PL. 2
BULLETIN 121
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
“AOI “WV
636 AOVd 3aS NOlidiyosaq HOS
‘ssOU¥ULVETY GSL00J5-HOVIgG
*“puBjs] uvsseq
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 3
The nest is a mere hollow scratched in the bare sand, without even
a rim of sand raised around it.
Eggs.—Doctor Richards (1909) describes the eggs as follows:
Each pair of birds—and this applies to both species—rarely. lays more than
one egg in a season, if undisturbed; and if a second egg should be deposited
the first is thrown out, leaving but one to incubate. If, as was formerly the
case, the nests are systematically robbed, four eggs are usually supplied by each.
In nearly all published descriptions of eggs of the Diomedeidae they are re-
ferred to in terms somewhat as follows: “ White, sometimes speckled or
sprinkled on larger end with reddish brown ”™ (Ridgway), giving the impression
that they resemble, on a large scale, eggs of the stormy petrel, for example.
While this may be true of some species, it would be inappropriate for a great
many specimens of D. nigripes, though some are faintly speckled or even im-
maculate. In many instances, however, these eggs are boldly and handsomely
splashed with dark brownish red, in some forming a cap or wreath about one
end, usually the larger; in others, extending over nearly one-half the shell; in
fact there is as much color, relatively, as on an average egg of any of our
larger Buteos, though it is apt to be more constantly confined to one end.
Compared with eggs of immutabilis they average more color, but extremes easily
overlap and identity can not be determined from the eggs alone.
The measurements of 45 eggs, in various collections, average 108.8
by 70.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
120.7 by 69.8, 109.5 by 86, 98.1 by 68.4, and 109.3 by 56 med iachens
Young. —Doctor Richards (1909) says further:
Incubation lasts about six weeks, both birds taking turns on the nest so that
the egg is constantly covered. The young are fed, in the well-known manner,
by regurgitation from the throat of the parent, remaining about the islands
until the following June or July, so that the entire reproductive period occupies
about one-half the year.
The young are probably nearly six months old before they are able
to fly.
Plumages.—Immature birds, during the first year at least or per-
haps longer, are in uniformly dark sooty plumage, a faint suggestion
of the white face at the base of the bill and a few white feathers on
the upper tail-coverts probably indicate approaching maturity. The
dull white face and the pure white rump and under tail-coverts are-
characteristic of the fully adult plumage which is certainly not ac-
quired until the second year and probably not complete until much
later.
Food.—The food of this albatross consists of whatever edible refuse
it can pick up from the surface of the sea. It follows vessels persist-
ently for the purpose of picking up bits of garbage thrown overboard,
over which it often quarrels with its neighbor. From a slow-moving
sailing vessel it can easily be caught with a hook and line, baited with.
almost any kind of animal food; but we were unable to hook any
from our fast-moving revenue cutter, although the birds made re-
4 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
peated attempts to seize the bait. It is said by Baird, Brewer, and
Ridgway (1884) to feed largely on “a pelagic crab.” ;
Behavior —Doctor Fisher (1906) has described the flight of this
species so well that I can not do better than quote his remarks as
follows: ,
As is well known, albatrosses are past masters at soaring or sailing. If the
wind is favorable they are able to skim over the water for a long time without
once flapping their wings. D. nigripes is certainly no exception to the general
rule, and we had ample opportunity to witness their powers. The long slender
wings, with long humeral bones, are eminently fitted for this sort of existence,
and their construction renders flapping laborious, for in proportion to its size
the albatross is not a very muscular creature and: could not fly a great distance
if obliged to do so by wing beats. When a stiff breeze is blowing albatrosses
can sail only against the wind or with it, and are able to quarter a breeze, or go
directly across it only for a short distance and when under great momentum.
When we were steaming directly against the wind the albatrosses had no trouble
in following us, and they would fly all. around the ship without flapping their
wings except when the breeze was strong, and then they were obliged to give
a few vigorous beats when turning up into the wind: When, however, our course
lay at an angle to the wind, they followed us by sailing in a series of ellipses.
They would, in this case, sail directly against the wind, approaching us on the
starboard quarter, go over the stern a short distance to port, then wheel and
scud before the breeze perhaps 100 yards off the starboard quarter, when they
turned and approached us as before. Their speed was so superior to ours that
they were able to keep up without any trouble, and their frequent trips astern
and rapid overhauling again made our cumbersome gait all the more apparent.
Of course as they neared the turning point each time they had to quarter the
breeze a little and for a moment sail-directly across it.
The position’ in which the wings are held when sailing against or with the
wind is quite characteristic in either case. When coming against the breeze
the carpal segment and primaries are bent downward, as if to catch the wind,
but when the bird turns and goes with the breeze the. ends of the wings are
bent up. When sailing against the wind they often gradually rise, but they
are likewise perfectly capable of descending, and when going swiftly with
the wind they not infrequently, in fact usually, make a long swoop down-
ward and skim over the water, rising a little as they turn to come to wind-
ward. The position of the wings in the two cases seems to be constant.’ In
the first case they catch more wind, and the fact that the birds generally rise
a little shows that the wings act on the same principle as a kite, On the
other hand, when sailing with the breeze, the position is such as gives less
resistance to the wind. va
It was a constant source of delight to watch the graceful evolu-
tions of this albatross, as it followed our ship day after day, rising
and falling at will and sailing straight with the wind on rigid wings.
The large webbed feet were stretched out beyond. the tail, and,
with webs extended, served as a rudder in turning. When alight-
ing on the water the. feet were spread wide apart, the tail was spread
and depressed and the wings were held upwards as it dropped
gently down onto the crest of a wave; it deliberately folded its long
wings without wetting them. After alighting, it often drifted far
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 5
astern before rising again. This it could easily do in rough weather
by slowly unfolding its wings and launching into the air off the
crest of a wave, but in calm weather it was necessary for it to run
along the surface to gain a little headway. If the wind was blow-
ing strongly it could easily catch up with the ship without flapping
its wings. It sits very high on the water and swims slowly.
Professor Dill (1912) says that the notes uttered during the
nuptial dance are softer than those of the Laysan albatross and
end “with a sound like the stroke of a bell under water or deep within
the bird’s stomach.” They often give a whirring groan while.
quarreling over their food, and a similar note is sometimes heotd on
the wing, though they are ‘usually silent.
The black-footed albatross is usually sociable and gentle with its :
neighbors on its breeding grounds, where it is more or less intimately
associated with other albatrosses, boobies, shearwaters, and ‘terns.
It is on particularly-intimate terms with the Laysan albatross in-
dulging in the dance with it, but it has a bad habit of abusing its
neighbors’ young, and Doctor Fisher (1906) says that “the process '
sometimes finishes the victim, for young which appear to have been
misused are frequently seen lying around dead.” —
Winter—After the prolonged duties of reproduction are over the
birds scatter about for a few months of vacation. Breeding birds.
may be found on Laysan Island from November to August, but
undoubtedly some individuals are earlier breeders than’ others, and
I doubt if the breeding season for each pair of birds is extended
over any such long period as ten months; probably it is not much
over six months. Certainly, adults are seen at sea, hundreds of
miles from their breeding grounds, during at least six months of the
year, from May to October.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Central and western Pacific Ocean, north of the
Equator (Laysan, Gaspar Rico, Midway, Marshall, Volcano, and
Bonin Islands). Formerly on Marcus Island. Birosding grounds
protected in Hawaiian Islands reservation.
Range.—North Pacific Ocean, mainly north of the Tropic of
Cancer. ‘East to the coast of North America, from the Alaska Pen-
insula southward to Lower California (San Quentin Bay). South
nearly or quite to the Equator. West to Formosa Channel, Japan
(Yezzo), and the Kurile Islands. North to the Aleutian Islands and
southern Bering Sea (Bristol Bay, Alaska) in summer.
Egg dates—Bonin Islands: Eight records, September 28 to De-
cember 1. Midway Island: Ten records, November 18 to 21. Lay-
san Island: Six records, November 18 to December 29.
83949—22—_2
6 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
PHOEBASTRIA ALBATRUS (Pallas).
SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS.
HABITS.
This was one of the species that we expected to find in the vicinity
of the Aleutian Islands, but, although we spent the month of June,
1911, in cruising the whole length of the chain as far west as Attu
Island and were exploring in the neighborhood of the various islands
in Bering Sea all through July, we did not see, well enough to
identify it, a single individual, in spite of the fact that we kept a
sharp lookout for it and that other observers had found it common
there. Possibly some of the dark-colored albatrosses, which we saw
on both sides of the Aleutian Islands, and which we supposed were
black-footed albatrosses, may have been young birds of this species.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says that he
found them very common between the islands east of Unalaska. The birds
were very conspicuous from their white plumage and great size. During calm
days they were most numerous, and ten or fifteen were frequently seen at a
time. Unlike the black-footed albatross, these birds do not appear to follow
vessels, and, in fact, are so shy that as a rule they give a wide berth to any
species of sailing craft.
Yet he says again:. “The natives of Alexandroosk sometimes spear
them from their kyacks.”
Mr. H. W. Elliott (1875), in writing of the birds of the fur seal
islands, about 1875, says:
Twenty or thirty years ago, when whaling vessels were reaping their rich
harvests in Bering and the Arctic Seas, the albatross was often seen about the
islands, feeding upon the whale carrion which might drift on shore. But with
the decrease of the whale fishery the birds have almost disappeared. Only a
single individual was noted during my two years’ residence. This was taken
by Dr. Meany on the north shore of Saint George’s.
The decline of the whale-fishing industry since that time has prob-
ably still further reduced the abundance of this species in those
waters.
Mr. Lucien M. Turner (1886) says:
Among the Aleutian Islands they are quite common, but generally far out
at sea. They approach the land during dense fogs, and may then be found
sitting on a small rock jutting from the water. This species passes the winter
in this locality and may be found, during very severe weather, about the west-
ern end of Attu Island.
Dr. L. Stejneger (1885) found this species “ by no means a rare
visitor to the Commander Islands.” He differs from Mr. Turner,
however, in. saying:
They do not remain near the islands during the winter—at least I saw none—
but the first ones were observed as early as the middle of March. These were
old birds in the white plumage, and on April 14th not less than eight were seen
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 7
at one time near the village. During the summer, however, the black young
birds of the foregoing year are more numerous than the adults, of which a few
remain all summer, though without breeding, of course. In the middle of the
immense flocks of Lunda, Fratercula, and Fulmarus, which in quiet weather
rest on the surface of the sea, covering many acres, can always be seen one
or two of these comparatively gigantic dark birds, which, however, are the
first ones to take the wing at the approach of a boat or a bajdarka. This
species is remarkably shyer than D. nigripes.
Nesting. —According to Cassin (1858), Mr. Titian R. Peale found
the short-tailed albatross breeding on Wake Island in the Central
Pacific Ocean, about half-way between the Hawaiian Islands and the
Philippines. He says:
On the 20th of December, we found this bird breeding at Wake’s Island.
The single egg of each pair was laid on the ground, in a slight concavity, with-
out any lining material; both sexes take turns in the labor of incubation, and
neither the male nor the feniale abandoned the nest on our approach, but
walked around us in a very dignified manner, and made but few demonstrations
of defense with their bills when taken up in our arms. The egg is white, of an
oblong figure, with the ends nearly alike, and measures four and two-tenths
inches long, and two and six-tenths inches in diameter.
E'ggs.—Seebohm (1890) refers to five eggs, in the Pryer collection.
taken by Mr. Holst in the Bonin Islands which vary in length from
4.7 to 4.3, in breadth from 3.0 to 2.9. Twelve eggs,-from the same
source, in the British Museum are described by Godman (1907) as
“dull white, and-marked on the larger end with a profusion of red
spots and blotches, many of which are confluent and form a distinct
cap. Isolated spots and markings of various sizes are scattered
over the shell.” Mr. A. J. Campbell (1901) describes the eggs as
follows:
Lengthened oval or elliptically inclined in shape; texture of shell coarse and
strong; surface rough, with just a perceptible trace of gloss; colour, dirty or
yellowish-white, more or less ingrained or stained with earth, and with a
rusty-colored or rufous-brown cap of freckled or blotchy markings on the
larger end. In addition, some examples have, here and there over the rest
of the shell, dull purplish-brown spots.
The measurements of 43 eggs, in various collections, average 116.1
by 74.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 125
by 77, 120 by 79, and 92 by 64 millimeters.
Plumages.—lI can not find any descriptions of the downy young
and doubt if they have ever been collected. The sequence of plum-
ages to maturity seems to require at least three and possibly four
years. Cassin (1858) quotes Peale as giving the following account
of these changes:
The changes are regularly progressive. Until the second year the plumage
remains a dark.sooty-brown color; the bird has black feet and a dirty flesh-
colored bill (which becomes black when the skin is dried). In this state they
pair and raise young. After this stage cloudy white spots appear about the
8 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
base of the bill and over and under the eyes; their rumps begin to show a
conspicuous spot of white; the bill turns yellow, with a tinge of carmine, the
tip bluish; the legs are then flesh color; and finally the back, wings, and tail
become cinereous-brown; rump, head, and all the under parts. pure white; a
white margin shows along the back edge of the wing as the bird flies, and a
cloudy black spot generally remains in front of the eye. Thus, in some years,
the plumage of the body is changed from nearly black to a pure snow-like white.
In his Monograph of the Petrels Godman describes in detail the
various plumages of a series of specimens in the British Museum
which seem to agree with the above statement by Peale.
Food—tIn its feeding habits it does not differ materially from
other albatrosses. It occasionally follows vessels for the purpose
of picking up what scraps are thrown overboard, though it is shyer
than some species and not so constant in its following. It has been:
caught on a hook and line baited with pork. It evidently feeds
largely on squid, and is often attracted by whaling vessels to pick
up scraps of blubber and flesh. Where food is so scarce and widely
scattered as it is on the ocean, the hungry sea birds can not be too
particular about what they eat; but all the albatrosses seem to prefer
animal food. ay
_Behavior—The short-tailed albatross bears a superficial resem-
blance to the wandering albatross, but it is decidedly smaller and
certain details of its. color pattern are different. It is said to be
less active than some of the other species. In the. dark immature
plumage it is likely to be confounded with the black-footed albatross,
but it is larger and darker, lacks the white face and has a pink bill.
Capt. F. W. Hutton’s (1903) interesting theory regarding the flight
of albatrosses might as well be applied to this species as to any
other:
It was pointed out in 1889 by Mr. A. C. Baines that the birds usually rise
in a slanting direction against the wind, turn round in a rather large circle,
and make a rapid descent down the wind. ‘They subsequently take a longer
or shorter flight in various directions, almost touching the water. After that
comes another ascent in the same manner, followed by: another series of move-
ments, Now, as the velocity of the wind near the surface of the sea is dimin-
ished by the friction of the waves, when the bird ascends into the more ‘rapidly
moving upper current its vis inertiae makes the wind blow past it, and so its
stock of energy is increased. When it descends it will be moving faster than
the lower stratum of wind and will again develop new energy if its inertia
is sufficient to prevent its attaining the new velocity of the wind at once.
So that the bird must fly against the wind when ascending and with it when
descending. Thus the energy constantly lost by the friction of the air is
partially renewed by these maneuvers, This explains why the birds can sail
longer in a high wind than in a calm. It is because in a high wind and with
a high sea there is much greater difference between the velocities of the wind
near the surface and a short distance above it; and this again is an explana-
tion of why an albatross keeps so close to the surface of the’ sea,
é : only just
topping the waves and occasionally rising high in the air.
PL. 3
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island. W. XK. Fisher.
LAYSAN ALBATROSS.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 9
Cassin (1858) quoting Peale, said of its vocal powers: “ Usually
birds of this species are silent, but sometimes they quarrel over offal
thrown from the ship, then they bray in much the same tone as
an ass.”
Winter—At the close of the breeding season in the summer, old
and young birds start on their fall wanderings which cover nearly the
whole of the Pacific Ocean lying north of the Tropic of Cancer, from
Asia to North America. At certain seasons this is evidently a com-
mon species on the coast of California, for Mrs. Bailey (1902) says:
“At Monterey in stormy winter weather Mr. Loomis has seen some of
the birds in the bay. . The largest number he recorded from the region
were seen off Point Pinos, a dozen being counted in an hour.”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breading range——Western Pacific Ocean, north of the Equator
(Wake and Bonin Islands) and perhaps farther north.
Range—North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Hast to the coast of
North America from Northern Alaska (Norton Sound) southward
to southern Lower California (Magdalena Bay). Southern limits
not determined; records confused with other species. West to For-
mosa, China, and Japan seas, Kurile, and Commander Islands and
Okhotsk Sea. North throughout Bering: Sea to Bering Suraits, in
summer. me
Egg dates—Bonin Islands: Eighteen records, August 17 to De-
cember 3; nine records, October 20 to November 12.
PHOEBASTRIA IMMUTABILIS (Rothschild).
LAYSAN ALBATROSS.
HABITS.
As an introduction to the life history of this species it seems fitting
to give a brief description of the wonders of Laysan Island, in our
mid-ocean bird reservation, where the specimens were obtained from
which the Hon. Walter Rothschild (now Lord Rothschild) first de-
‘seribed the Laysan albatross. As I have never visited Laysan Island
or seen this albatross in life, I can not do better than to quote from
the published account of it by Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1903) to whom
we are indebted for most of our knowledge of the breeding | habits of
this species.
Reaching out toward Japan from the main Hawaiian group is a long chain
of volcanic rocks, atolls, sand bars, ‘and sunken reefs, all insignificant in size and
widely separated. The last islet is fully two thousand miles from Honolulu and
about halfway. to Yokohama. Beginning at the east.the more important mem-
bers of this chain are: Bird Island and Necker (tall volcanic rocks), French
10 BULLETIN i131, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Frigate Shoals, Gardner Rock, Laysan, Lisiansky, Midway, Cure, and Morell.
Laysan is eight hundred miles northwest-by-west from Honolulu, and is per-
haps best known as being the home of countless albatrosses. We sighted the
island early one morning in May, lying low on the horizon, with a great cloud
of sea birds hovering over it. On all sides the air was lively with terns, al-
batrosses, and boobies, and we began to gain some notion of what a pande-
monium the distant swarm was raising. We landed on the west side, where
there is a narrow passage through the breakers, which curl with beautiful hues
on the coral reef, and then sweep shoreward with flying foam.
Laysan is a slightly elevated atoll, rudely quadrilateral in contour, and
suggests a shallow-basin or platter. It ig three miles long by one and one-half
broad. In the center is a wholly enclosed lagoon, covering perhaps one hundred
acres, This is surrounded by a broad, level plain, that part nearest the very
saline waters of the lagoon being destitute of any vegetable life. From this
plain the land rises as a gentle sandy slope to a low divide or rim (about
twenty-five feet above the water) near the sea beach. Not a tree breaks the
monotonous expanse, but instead are low bushes (Chenopodium sandwicheum,
Santalum freycinetianum, Scaevola koenigi) and broad areas of high, tussocky
grass. On the narrow seaward slope the turf is short and wiry, and a broad
band between the bare shores of the lagoon and the beginning of the bush grass
is covered mostly with matted beds of succulent Portulaca lutea, and reddish-
flowered Sesuvium portulacastrum. Beautiful morning glories, yellow Tribulus
(reminding one of Potentilia), showy Capparis, and numerous other flowers add
a bit of color to the landscape.
Laysan is a bird paradise. Albatrosses (Diomedea immutabilis and P.
nigripes) by the thousands rear their young here each year, free from fear of
molestation or injury. More numerous even are the sooty terns (Sterna
fuliginosa), while the gray-back tern (S. lunata), white tern (Gygis alba kitt-
litzi), noio (Micranous hawaiiensis), and noddy (Anous stolidus) are all
abundant. Attractive and interesting birds are the boobies, of which two
species, Sula cyanops and Sula. piscator, are on the island in large numbers.
The droll frigate bird (Fregata aquila) is here in all the glory of his bright
red gular “ balloon,” and the splendid red-tailed tropic bird (Phaéthon rubricau-
dus) in satiny plumage of the palest rose pink, is a familiar member of the
community ; as he nervously flits by in the tropical sunshine his feathers glisten
with the lustre of burnished metal. Among the Procellariidae, the bonin petrels
(Aestrelata hypoleuca) may be mentioned as exceeding. even the Laysan alba-
tross in numbers, but as they live in deep burrows one would hardly think it.
Next come the wedge-tailed and Christmas Island shearwaters (Puffinua
cuneatus and P. nativitatis), which are abundant, and the rare sooty petrel
(Oceanodroma fuliginosa) nests in some numbers during the winter months.
At that time, in 1902, the glories of Laysan Island were in their
prime and the number of breeding sea birds was at its maximum.
Doctor Fisher agreed with Prof. C. C. Nutting that there were, at
least, a million albarosses breeding on the island, in addition to all
the hosts of other species. The nests were so close together that the
birds were almost touching each other and it was difficult to walk
without treading on eggs. But a great change took place during
the next ten years, for a party of Japanese feather hunters visited
the island and materially reduced its wonderful bird population.
I PL. 4
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
LAYSAN ALBATROSS.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 11
In comparing the conditions, noted by him in 1903 and in 1911, Mr.
William Alanson Bryan (1912) says:
The slaughter wrought by the plume hunters is everywhere apparent. One
of the work buildings formerly used by the guano company and later as a
storehouse by the poachers is still standing. With a side torn out and left
open to the weather by the men of the Thetis, it is still filled with thousands
of pairs of albatross wings. Though weatherbeaten and useless, they show
how they were cut from the birds whose half-bleached skeletons lie in thousands
of heaps scattered all over the island.
This wholesale killing has had an appalling effect on the colony. No one
can estimate the thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of birds that
have been wilfully sacrificed on Laysan to the whim of fashion and the lust
of gain. It is conservative to say that fully one-half the number of birds
of both species of albatross that were so abundant everywhere in 1903 have been
killed. The colonies that remain are in a sadly decimated condition. Often
a colony of a dozen or more birds will not have a single young. Over a large
part of the island, in some sections a hundred acres in a place, that 10 years
ago was thickly inhabited by albatrosses, not a single bird remains, while
heaps of the slain lie as mute testimony of the awful slaughter of these
beautiful, harmless, and without doubt beneficial inhabitants of the high seas.
Fortunately, serious as were the depredations of the poachers, their op-
erations were interrupted before any of the species had been completely ex-
terminated. So far as the birds that secure their food from the sea are con-
cerned, it is reasonable to suppose they will increase in number, and that
nature will in time restore the island to its former populous condition if no
further slaughter is permitted. Owing to the indiscriminate method of the
killing, usually only one or the other of mated pairs was sacrificed. The
unmated birds that survive are slow in selecting another mate. As but a
single egg is laid by the majority of these birds, it will possibly take 10
years for the sea birds of the colony to regain their former numerical strength.
In his report of the same expedition Prof. Homer R. Dill (1912)
estimates the number of Laysan albatrosses on the island in 1911 as
180,000 and the total bird population as over a million, which gives
some encouragement that the principal species ae on the island
are in no danger of extermination.
A similar tale of destruction is told by Mr. oe (1903) in his
account of the Marcus Island colony of Laysan albatrosses which
were killed and boiled down: to make fertilizer, which was shipped
to Japan; the long wing quills were saved and sold, as eagle feathers,
to the millinery trade.
Spring —The Laysan albatrosses begin to arrive on their breeding
grounds during the last week in October and in November the nesting
season is well under way. Doctor Fisher (1904) says:
The albatrosses live on Laysan nearly ten months of the year. During the
last days of October, before the winter storms set in, the first vanguard of
the mighty army appears, and for days they continue to flock in from all
points of the compass. Dr. H. Schauinsland, who witnessed their advent,
says that in exposed places the island becomes literally white with the count-
less throng, as if great snowflakes had suddenly descended upon the scene.
12 ‘BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
So vast is the number of birds that’ many are obliged to be content with
rather unsuitable nesting spots, while late comers must leave the overcrowded
area. Loving couples defend their rights against the tardy ones, and it is
several days before all have settled their respective claims.
Courtship—On their arrival and all through their breeding sea-
son these birds indulge in a very peculiar and interesting dance,
which the sailors refer to as a “cake walk.” Doctor Fisher (1904)
has fully described the performance, as follows:
This game or whatever one may wish to call it, very likely originated in
past time during the courting season, but it certainly has long since lost any
such significance. At first two birds approach one another, bowing pro-.
foundly and stepping heavily. They swagger about each other, nodding and
courtesying solemnly, then suddenly begin to fence a little, crossing bills and
whetting them together, sometimes witha whistling sound, meanwhile pecking
and dropping stiff little bows. All at once one lifts its closed wing and nibbles
at the feathers beneath, or rarely, if in a hurry, quickly turns its head. The
partner during this short performance, assumes a statuesque pose, and either
looks mechanically from side to side, or snaps its bill loudly a few times.
Then the first bird bows once, and pointing its head and beak straight upward,
rises on its toes, puffs out its breast, and utters a prolonged, nasal, Ah-h-h-h,
with a rapidly rising inflection, and with a distinctly “ anserine”’ and “ bovine”
‘quality, quite difficult to describe. While this “song” is being uttered the
companion loudly and rapidly snaps its bill. Often both birds raise their heads
in air: and either one or both favor the appreciative audience with that
ridiculous, and indescribable bovine groan. When they have finished they begin
bowing to each other again, rapidly and alternately, and presently repeat
the performance, the birds reversing their réle in the game or not. In the most
successful dances the movements are executed in perfect unison, and this fact
much enhances the extraordinary effect.
Nesting—Doctor Fisher (1906) says of the nesting colonies on
Laysan Island:
The Laysan albatross or gony is distributed all over the island, with the
single exception of the beaches, which on all sides except the west are colon-
ized by the black-footed albatross. The flat plain surrounding the lagoon is
their favorite habitat, and we found the young here in far the greatest num-
bers. | This great colony extended all the way around the lagoon, but certain
portions were more congested than others, The largest single colony of young
is on the south side of the lagoon, where the ground has been leveled off in
past years by phosphate-rock diggers. Here from a little eminence one can
look off and see many thousands of birds at a glance, but it would be hazardous
to guess how many there are on the whole island.
‘Dr, T. W. Richards (1909) describes the nest as follows:
Regarding the nesting habits, Dr. Campbell noted an ‘interesting point of
difference in the two species; both lay in slight hollows scratched in the
bare sand, but immutabilis usually heaps up this material in a ridge around
ithe “nest.” He says “the bird, sitting on the nest and reaching out as far
as possible, picks up sand in its bill and deposits same around the edge until it
is built up four or five inches. I noticed the difference in eontour of nests
of the two species, and as a white pair (Laysan) made a nest just beyond
my door I was enabled to discover how it was done. The building up of the
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 5
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island,
W.K. Fisher,
LAYSAN ALBATROSS.
For DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 13
sides results in making the nest higher and also provides a shallow ditch
all around it, which certainly makes it drier when there is rain.
Eggs.—Tir Laysan albatross lays but one egg which is laid about
the middle of November, Mr. Walter Rothschild (1893) has de-
scribed his series of eggs as follows: /
I have received a series of eight eggs of D. immutabilis, which vary very
much both in shape and coloration. The two extremes are as follows:
1. Very elongate; length, 111.5 mm.; width, 62.5 mm.; ground color, dirty
white, marked with numerous large and small blotches of a brownish-maroon
color, which are principally massed at the two ends, though there are a few
in the central zone.
2. Very thick and short; length, 100 mm.; width, 70 mm.; color, uniform
brownish buff without any markings whatever.
The majority of specimens before me are dirty white with irregular patches
and spots of brownish-maroon at the larger end.
The measurements of 39 eggs, in various collections, average 109.2
by 69.4 millimeters $ the eggs showing the four extremes measure 116
by 72, 109.6 by 75, and 99 by 62 millimeters.
Young Tieame Richards (1909) says:
Incubation lasts about six weeks, both birds taking turns on the nest so
that the egg is constantly covered. The young are fed, in the well-known
manner, by regurgitation from the throat of the parent, remaining about the
islands until the following June or July, so that the entire reproductive period
occupies about one-half of the year.
Doctor Fisher (1906) devotes considerable space to the behavior
of the young and I quote from his remarks, as follows:
The shallow, basin-shaped hollow in which the egg is deposited, is the
young albatross’s home and it usually does not stray far. But as the nest-
lings grow stronger so that they can walk a little, albeit very awkwardly,
they wander sometimes a rod from the home spot and engage in mild squabbles
with youthful neighbors. The same feeling of growing strength leads them
about this time to slowly fan their wings back and forth from time to time.
During a light shower I saw a considerable colony of young birds do this
together, after the manner of cormorants drying their wings. When the
breeze is rather brisk they usually all face it. Their spare time is taken up
with idly dozing in the hot sun, preening their feathers or examining their
surroundings. Several times I observed young birds collect dried grass and
similar material, which happened to be within reach, and carefully cover the
hollow in which they were sitting. Sometimes their spirit of inquiry leads
them into trouble. We found a young bird, still lively, buried to its neck
in a collapsed petrel burrow. It objected strenuously: to being’ disinterred,
but appeared little the worse for its adventure. f
These amusing creatures sit on their heels with the whole length of the
tarsus on the ground or tilted slightly in the air, as shown in ‘the illustration.
Their spare time is spent in gazing stupidly around, but if their reverie is at
all disturbed by one passing too near they fly into an apparent rage, lean
forward, and snap their beaks viciously, or sway their uncouth bodies from
side to side in a frantic attempt to maintain a balance. Sometimes they
make a rush, waddling along and darting their heads back and forth to the
14 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
musie of Clicking mandibles. But they only occasionally come to the point of
biting, and are always amenable to tact and persuasion.
Usually, after the first paroxysm of snapping is over, one can stroke them
with little danger of scratched hands. They maintain a small fire of ob-
jection, with impotent nips, or try to slide off. But sometimes a youngster is
more determined than the rest. It often happens that in an eager rush to
scare an intruder the young bird stumbles in a petrel’s hole and falls for-
ward with considerable force on its chin. In some way nature never meant
an albatross’s head to be lower than its stomach, or the concussion affects
it unpleasantly for usually it disgorges its breakfast very promptly and ener-
getically, but curiously I never saw them do this without first falling over.
After such a performance the young one looks dejected, for it is usually left
hungry, and hunger is its chief trouble.
After sunrise the albatrosses begin to feed the young. The old bird, coming
in from the sea, alights near her offspring, which immediately takes the initia-
tive by waddling up and pecking or biting gently at her beak. This petitioning
always takes place and perhaps acts as some sort of stimulus for in a few mo-
ments the mother stands up, and with head lowered and wings held loosely at
the side disgorges a mass of Squids and oil. Just as she opens her beak the young
inserts its own crosswise and skillfully catches every morsel, which it bolts with
evident relish. This operation I saw repeated, with short intermissions, ten
times. The last two or three ejections of this oily pabulum cost the albatross
considerable muscular effort and the last time nothing came up but a little oil,
and stomach juices presumably. The young bird is not at all modest in its de-
mands, but keeps asking for more. The old bird now pecks back in an annoyed
manner, and if the other still urges, she arises and walks off, usually to some
neighboring young one, which she viciously mauls about the neck, This exhibi-
tion usually takes place just before she feeds her young and likewise between
courses, aS it were. Why she does this I am at a loss to suggest, unless it ba
mere ill will. The old bird does not always confine this ill treatment to one
strange young bird, but takes in a circle of those whose parents are absent. The
young thus rudely treated sometimes bite back, but usually do not offer resist-
ance, uttering instead a plaintive little squeak. A small mortality is the result
of this practice. Dr. Gilbert observed that Diomedea nigripes is more savage
than the white species. He saw a black-footed albatross thus take in a circle
of about twenty young immutabilis and “ wool” them soundly. Finally, how-
ever, the ruffian arrived at a youngster whose parent, being unexpectedly near
by, set upon the persecutor, and in the scrimmage nigripes was put to rout.
Plumages.—Continuing he says of the development of plumage in
the young:
The young are hatched in February, according to Mr. Schlemmer. They then
are covered with a grayish-white down which is soon superseded by a plumage
of dark-brown down, assumed by a continued growth of the original covering
and a wearing off of the gray tips. As the young grow older the white feathers
come in on the breast and abdomen first, and the brown down is in direct com-
munication with the terminal barbs of these juvenal feathers, as is, of course
well known. The feathers of the back also come in about the same time. and
those of the wings, save the quills. At the time of our visit the young ‘were
about two-thirds grown, the white feathers of the breast and abdomen having
in most cases the appearance of the adult. but the rest ofthe body was covered
with long brown down, except on the head, where it was short, The beaks of
the young are dark dirty gray or brownish gray, while those of the adult are
light greenish.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 6
Laysan Island. W. XK. Fisher.
aoe ae
wot
he
“we.
Laysan Island. W.K. Fisher.
LAYSAN ALBATROSS.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329
Lire HisTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 15
The young of most albatrosses are dark colored in their first plu-
mages, but in this species the young assume a first plumage closely
resembling that of the adult, hence the specific name, immutabilis,
Food.—Doctor Fisher (1906) says of their food:
Near the forms or nests one not infrequently finds solid pellets—disgorged by
the young in‘all probability, and by old birds too—consisting entirely of squid
beaks and opaque lenses of the eyes. These lenses become very brittle and
amber-like under the action of stomach juices and show a concentric structure.
Candle nuts, the large seed of Aleurites molluccuna, were found by Mr. Snyder
in the interior of the island and were almost undoubtedly ejected by albatrosses.
As Is well known, albatrosses pick up all sorts of floating material, and candle
nuts are frequently seen on the ocean, having been swept seaward by mountain
streams.
Elsewhere (1904) he says:
In their hours of toil they hie themselves off to sea and scour the waves for
the elusive squid, which is a staple article of diet for the larger members of
the vast bird population, the gannets, perhaps, excepted. About sunrise the
main body of the white company begins to return, and for several hours they
straggle in, tired but full, and seek their sleepy children, who are soon very
‘much awake. Although the Laysan albatrosses undoubtedly do a small part of
their fishing during the day, I can not help but feel, from the nocturnal or
crepuscular habits of their food—certain cephalopods—and the prevalent feed-
ing hours, that the major portion is done in the very early morning, perhaps
from just preceding dawn till light. I noted particularly during the one day I
was on the steamer, while she was dredging in the vicinity of Laysan, that
very few Laysan gonies were seen at sea after about 9 a.m. That same day
we sighted the island about 5 a. m., and when I arrived on deck about 5.30
I distinctly remember seeing many of the white species (immutabilis) circling
about the vessel. Later in the morning immutabilis almost entirely disappeared,
but some nigripes remained with us all day. On the following morning we
landed and I had no further opportunity to observe.
As Prof. C. C. Nutting, one of the naturalists of the expedition, has said,
“the most conservative estimate of the necessary food supply yields almost
incredible results. Cutting Mr. Schlemmer’s estimate (of the total number of
albatrosses on the island) in two, there would be 1,000,000 birds, and allowing
only half a pound a day for éach, surely a minimum for these larger, rapidly
growing birds, they would consume no less than 250 tons daily.” From rather
extended observations on the feeding habits, I would place the quantity fed
each young bird every morning at nearer one or one and a half pounds
of squid (Ommastrephes oualaniensis Less., O. sloanei Gray, and Onychoteuthis
banksi Fér.). I believe Professor Nutting’s estimate of a million birds is not
too great. Thus, in one day the albatrosses alone would consume nearer 600
tons of squid.
Behavior.—The flight of the Laysan albatross is said to be inferior
to that of the black-footed albatross, but, as I have not seen it, I can
not say in what way it differs from it. Its vocal powers have been
already referred to in connection with the nuptial dance. Doctor
Fisher (1906) also refers to the notes of the young as follows:
It is worthy of record that the young often “sing” in a thin, high squeak,
which is kept up continuously for periods, and may be of service in guiding the
16 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
parent, though I could not distinguish the slightest individuality in tone. I do
not know whether they do this when the old birds are present, but remember
that very many were engaged in the cricket-like song when we visited a popu-
lous colony late one moonlight night. :
On their breeding gounds the albatrosses live quietly and har-
moniously with their neighbors, attending strictly to their own
affairs and paying no attention to the populous bird colonies about
them, and not minding even the presence of man among them.
Doctor Fisher (1906) says:
The old birds do not seem to mind the presence of man. One can walk among
them without disturbing their various occupations and amusements in the least.
Only when suddenly startled do they exhibit any tendency to snap their bills,
and then they are easily calmed. They back away from any proffered
familiarity with great rapidity, unless suddenly hindered by a tuft of grass,
which event surprises them immoderately. They will not allow themselves to
be handled, and make off at a great rate if one offers them this indignity.
They have a half-doubting inquisitiveness which leads them sometimes to walk
up to the visitor and examine anything conspicuous about his person. One bird
became greatly interested in the bright aluminum cap to my tripod and strolled
up and examined it with both eye and beak, appearing somewhat astonished
- when the cap tinkled.
Winter—During July and August the young albatrosses learn to
fly and to follow their parents out to sea in search of food, after
which both young and old birds begin to desert the breeding islands
and to wander over the Pacific Ocean for two or three months before
the beginning of another breeding season, hardly more than a short
vacation.
DISTRIBUTION, .
Breeding range.—Islands northwest of Hawaiian group, in mid-
Pacific Ocean. (Laysan, Midway, French Frigate, Necker, Bird, and
Lisiansky Islands.) Formerly in Marcus Island. Breeding grounds
protected in Hawaiian Islands reservation.
Range.—Central Pacific Ocean. East to the coast of Lower Cali-
fornia (between Guadalupe Island and coast of Lower California).
North to about 40° north. West to the Bonin Islands. Southern
limits not well defined.
Egg dates—WLaysan and Midway Islands: Twenty records, No-
vember 15 to December 29; ten records, November 19 to December 26.
THALASSOGERON CHRYSOSTOMUS CULMINATUS (Gould).
YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS,
HABITS.
This species has but slight claims to a place on the list of North
American birds, and it can not be regarded as anything but a rare
straggler off our coasts, Considerable confusion seems to exist among
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 17:
writers as to the status of the two species, Thalassogeron culminatus
and Y. chlororhynchus, which are evidently closely related, and the
identity of American specimens does not seem to be well established.
Godman (1907) says of 7’. culminatus: “The species is widely dis-
tributed in southern waters, especially in the Australasian seas,
whence it ranges throughout the Pacific to South America, extend-
ing north to the coast of Oregon; it is also found in the South Atlantic
and Indian Oceans;” and that “ 7’. chlororhynchus is an inhabitant
of the South Atlantic, the South Indian, and the Australian Oceans.”
Both species have been called yellow-nosed albatross, and many ob-
servers have probably not detected the slight differences on which
the species have been separated, so'that it becomes a difficult, if not
impossible, task to properly separate the references between the two
species, and I shall not attempt to do so.
Audubon (1840) referred to a specimen of yellow-nosed albatross,
said to have been taken by Doctor Townsend off the mouth of the
Columbia River; Audubon called this bird Diomedea chlororhynchos,
but Professor Baird afterwards identified it as “'halassogeron cul-
méinatus. Doctor Cooper saw a skull, which “ was taken by Dr. W. O.
Ayres from a dead specimen found on the outer beach near the Golden
Gate,” according to Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1884), and which
he identified as belonging to this species. In Nuttall’s Manual, by
Chamberlain (1891), the following statement occurs:
The claim of this species to recognition here is based upon the capture of
an immature bird near the mouth of river St. Lawrence in 1885. I examined
the skin, which is preserved in the Museum of Laval University, at Quebec,
and was told by the curator, Mr. C. E. Dionne, that he purchased it from
the fisherman who shot the bird. The claim is slight, but there is no reason
why it should be ignored.
Nesting.—Very little is known about the breeding habits of the
yellow-nosed albatross. Mr. Robert Hall (1900), in his notes on
the birds of Kerguelen Island, says:
Of the yellow-nosed albatross I saw no nests, but birds were observed near
* the entrance to the harbor of our last anchorage (Fuller’s). Suitable lofty
islets were near this coast, and the birds in adult plumage would probably
be breeding there or on the cliffs to the southward of Christmas Harbor.
This species makes an addition to the list of Kerguclen birds.
Mr. W. Otto Emerson (1886) has published the following notes
on an egg of this species which he obtained:
It was collected January 12, 1880, by Captain Thos. Lynch, at Diegos,
Kavnen’s Rocks, 8. by E., fifty-two miles from Cape Horn. The nest was
composed on the outside of tussocks of grass and mud, inside of fine grass
and feathers. The diameter outside at the top was twelve inches, and at
the base eighteen. Inside it was ten inches, and the depth inside was five
inches. It was situated on the top of the rocks, on a loanty plain. The
incubation was fresh. The following notes by J. W. Detmiller, M. D., were
18. BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
on the back of the data: “The nests are very nicely and solidly built, lasting
two or three seasons, even in that fearful climate. They are built very closely
together, and are probably often mistaken by one and another of the birds,
after the fashion of many sea birds. The nests are high, to enable the long-
winged creatures to rise easily to wing, which they can not do on a level.
The birds are very tame, allowing themselves to be handled while sitting.”
Eggs.—The egg now before me measures 4 6-8 by 2 6-8 inches [120.6 by 69.8
mm.], is of an oblong form, smaller at one end than at the other. Both ends
are quite blunt. The surface of the shell is in character like a-common hen’s
egg. The color inclines to a light creamy white, with a ring of seemingly
fine spattered burnt sienna specks or spots, like those made by drawing a
brush of color across a stick, as a painter does to get the effect of granite.
They form a ring around the larger end, being about two inches across from
one side of the ring to the other. The center of the ring runs together in the
fine markings, making the color almost solid, and fades away from the outer
edge of the egg, almost to needles points.
There are numerous eggs in various collections labeled yellow-
nosed albatross; but, as I have been unable to definitely determine
which are evlminatus and which are chlororhynchus, I shall not
attempt to describe or give the measurements of either species.
Plumages.—I can not find any description of the downy young or
immature plumages, but Gould (1865) says that young birds “may
be easily distinguished from the adults, especially while flying, by
the darker coloring of their wings, back, and tail, and by the culmen .
of the bill being Jess distinctly marked with yellow.”
Behavior —Mr. John Treadwell Nichols has contributed the fol-
lowing notes on the behavior of this species:
The yellow-nosed albatross is a common south temperate species coming about
ships at sea for the scraps from the galley. It can be easily caught with fish-
hook and salt pork. The tip of the hook catches under its upper mandible, and
if the line be held taut the bird may be hauled on deck along the surface of the
water, or through the air like a kite. Except rarely when it catches in the soft
parts of the mouth, the hook does not penetrate anything and if the line be
slackened drops out by itself; but as a rule the bird foolishly braces back, stick-,
ing its feet out in front of it, or setting its wings, and is readily drawn inboard.
On deck it is stupid, helpless, unable to rise, and after a few minutes seems to
become dizzy from the vessel’s motion. Its legs fail it so that it will often
squat instead of trying to stand, and with every appearance of seasickness it
regurgitates oily matter. Though generally silent, when being hauled aboard
I have heard it give a goose-like honking or grunting note. It rises from
the water with much awkward flapping, kicking, and splashing, especially in
light breezes, and when fairly launched sails on stiff, motionless wings,
occasionally giving them a few flaps, less frequently as the wind increases in
force. In moderate breezes the wings are held quite widely extended; in high
winds they are somewhat folded, exposing less surface. It sails straight away,
swinging into the air and then down close to the water, leaning to one side or
the other as it curves its course. Its flight is never high above the water, but
about the ship it rises somewhat higher than the smaller birds. Attracted by
food in the wake, it alights to seize it, but the wings are at such times often
held half raised over the back. Though adults are readily distinguishable,
young of this species and of the spectacled albatross, the other common small
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 19
albatross of the south, can be differentiated with difficulty in life. The offshore
habits of the two seem identical.
Winter.—Between breeding seasons this species, like others of its
tribe, is given to wandering though it rarely crosses the tropics into
the northern hemisphere. In addition to our North American rec-
ords there is another North Atlantic record mentioned in Godman’s —
Monograph (1907) as follows: —
Dr. Knud Andersen, of Darlmenats, says a specimen was obtained on the
ice in the North Atlantic in April, 1834, at Fiskumvand, Eker, Norway, about
59° 50’ N. Lat., and was sent by Professor W. Boeck to the Christiania Museum,
and determined by Professor Collett. It had previously been wrongly identi-
fied with 7. chlororhynchus.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—The records of 7. culminatus and T. chlororhyn-
chus are hopelessly confused, but apparently the former breeds in
the South Atlantic Ocean (probably South Georgia), in the South
Pacific Ocean (Campbell Island), in the South Indian Ocean (Ker-
guelen and the Crozet Islands) and on islands near Cape Horn
(Diego Rameres).
Range.—Southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian
Oceans, mainly between 30° and 60° South.
Casual records.—Has wandered northward in the Atlantic Ocean
to Quebec (mouth of Moisie River, August 20, 1885) and Norway
(Fiskumvand, Eker, April, 1834); and in the Pacific Ocean to
Panama, California, and Oregon.
Egg dates—Cape Horn: Four records, January 8 to February 8°
South Georgia Island, January 22. Campbell Island, October 10.
THALASSOGERON CHLORORHYNCHUS (Gmelin).
PINK-FOOTED ALBATROSS,
HABITS.
Dr. Leonard C. Sanford has recently added to his magnificent col-
lection of Zubinares a specimen of this species taken on August 1,
1913, off Machias Seal Island, Maine, near the entrance to the Bay
of Fundy. This record adds a new species to the North American .
list.
As stated in the life history of the preceding species, the two yel-
low-nosed albatrosses, Thalassogeron culminatus and T. chlororhyn-
chus, are so much alike that their status and distribution are hope-
lessly confused. It is almost impossible to separate the references
to these two species; therefore, my attempt to write a separate life
history and give a separate distribution for each has not been very
satisfactory and I have no confidence in the correctness of either;
20. BULLETIN, 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
however, they will have to stand until further investigation throws
more light on the subject.
Mr. G. E. Verrill (1895) has described the yellow-nosed albatross
which breeds on Gough Island, in the South Atlantic Ocean, as A
new species’ under the name 7'halassogeron eximius, which he says
most closely resembles 7’. chlororhynchus. Other authorities differ as-
to whether this bird is nearer to chlororhynchus or to culminatus.
Apparently it is very close to both and perhaps all three may eventu-
ally prove to be identical, as the slightly differentiated characters may
prove to be age, seasonal, or individual variations. There are also
several other species of 7halassogeron, which seem to have a more or
less doubtful status and which may eventually be lumped together,
when this group is better understood.
Nesting —Assuming that the Gough Island bird may be this
species, I quote what Mr. Verrill (1895) has to say about it:
“Concerning the “molly mokes” Mr. Comer has the following notes: “There
is but one kind, which are known as blueheads, on Gough Island. Back and
heads light blue, top of wings dark, white breasts, top of beak yellow, while
the lower part is black, feet white. On this island they lay separately, keeping
well apart and scattered about the island, among tussocks and brakes, more
like the albatross (D. erulans) but at South Georgia and most of the islands
they build close to each other in rookeries. At Gough Island they commence
laying the 20th of September. They lay but one egg. If robbed they do not
lay again, but leave the nest and do not return until another season. Nests
are built the same as the albatross (D. erulans), only smaller.” In his journal
at Gough Island, on September 7, Mr. Comer notes that “the molly mokes have
commenced to make their nests.” Again, on September 27, that he “ got a few
molly moke eggs,” and from then on he frequently speaks of taking their eggs. ,
E'ggs.—Of the eggs he says:
The shape of the 75 eggs is comparatively pretty uniform, as a rule more
elongate and nearer elliptical than the following species, most of them approach-
ing an elliptical ovoid. Several are nearly perfect ellipsoids. The texture and
surface of the shell is much like that of D. erulans, but finer and smoother
in proportion to their smaller size. The ground color is white, generally with a
very slight grayish or dusky and sometimes reddish tinge, and the whole egg
is covered with minute specks of a reddish brown, darker than in D. eculans;
in some they are even dark brown. These specks vary in number and are, for
the most part, in the small pits and depressions on the surface of the ghell..
About one-third of the eggs are otherwise unmarked, so that at a little dis- ,
‘tance they simply have a dusky appearance. In the other two-thirds the specks -
become larger and thicker toward the larger end, often forming a more or less
perfect zone about it, in other cases they run together and form a blotch which
is, in some, quite heavy and conspicuous. As in D. exulans, the color is very’
superficial and many have larger spots or small blotches, unevenly, distributed,
that scale off when very dry, and like the eggs of the large albatross, most of
them, when held to the light, show spots and blotches of color in the shell.
Three are quite different from the rest in markings, two being heavily streaked
over the whole egg with reddish brown, thickest at the large end. The other is
streaked, not quite so heavily, with pale lilac, which is not so superficia),
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 21
Until more satisfactorily indentified eggs are available, I shall not
attempt to give any measurements.
Behavior—Godman (1907) publishes the following scanty in-
formation about this species:
T. chlororhynchus is an inhabitant of the South Atlantic, the South Indian
and the Australian Oceans. Gould relates that the species came under his ob
servation for the first time on the 24th of July, 1838, in lat. 80° 38’ S., long
20° 43’ W., from which period till the ship reached New South Wales scarcely
a day passed without its being seen. Upon some occasions it appeared in con-
siderable numbers, many of the birds being apparently one or two years old,
and these were easily distinguished from the adults, especially when flying, by
their dark-colored wings, back, and tail, and by the culmen of the bill being
less distinctly marked with yellow.
Dr. E. A. Wilson, the naturalist on board the Discovery, says that the species
was first’ encountered in the South Indian Ocean on September 22, 1901, in lat.
_ 85° S., long. 14° W., and remained with the ship till the 30th of that month;
” it reappeared quite close to shore off False Bay on the coast of South Africa,
as well as in the 2 neighborhood of the Agulhas Sandbank, but eastward of this
in the southern ocean its place was taken by T. culminatus, which ‘had not
previously been observed. 7’. chlororhynchus appears to frequent different lo
calities varying with the season of the year.
Mr. Robert Hall mentions T. chlororhynchus as frequenting the entrance
of Christmas Harbor in Kerguelen Island, but he did not find it breeding.
Dr. Filhol says that the species breeds on Campbell Island, but there is cr
doubt whether he identified the bird accurately (Ibis, 1903, p. 266).
Nicol, however, believed, that at the time of the “ Valhalla’s” visit to Leroe
da Cunha, the ‘‘ Yellow-nosed albatross” was nesting on the top of the crater,
but the weather was too unfavorable to allow of his reaching its haunts.
Gould (1865) says of it:
The yellow-nosed albatross is plentiful off the Cape of Good Hope, and in
all the intermediate seas between that point and Tasmania; I also observed
it off Capes Howe and Northumberland on the southern coast of Australia, and
Gilbert states that he saw it flying about Rottnest Island on the western coast.
In its flight and general economy it greatly resembles the next species
(Diomedea melanophrys) with which it is often in company.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Not well defined, and confused with that of 7.
culminatus. Said to breed on Falkland Islands and probably on
other islands in the South Atlantic (Tristan da Cunha and Gough
Islands) and in the Indian Ocean.
Range.—South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans and Australian
seas, ranging farther north than culminatus. —
Casual record.—One taken near the Bay of Fundy, New Bruns-
wick (off Machias Seal Island, August 1, 1913) and one near Kongs-
berg, Norway (April, 1837).
Egg dates —Falkland Islands: Six records, October 8 to 23. Gough,
Island: Two records, September 1 to 3.
83969—22-—3
22 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL. MUSEUM.
PHOEBETRIA PALPEBRATA AUDUBONI Nichols and Murphy.
AUDUBON SOOTY ALBATROSS.
HABITS.
This is another species of ocean wanderer which has but a slight
claim to a place on our list. It is a common species of wide distri-
bution in southern and antarctic oceans; but its wanderings seldom
bring it to our coasts, where it is very rare and of doubtful occur-
rence at the present day. Audubon (1840) first introduced it to our
fauna and described it under the name of Diomedea fusca, from a
specimen procured by Doctor Townsend off the coast of Oregon; so
far as I know, no other specimen has ever been taken in American
waters.
Nesting—Sir Walter Buller (1888) says:
This species is more wary in its breeding habits than any other species of
albatross. It breeds both in the Auckland and Campbell Islands. But it usually
selects, as a nesting place, a ledge of rock high up on the face of the cliff, and
quite inaccessible either from above or below.
Not far from Tristan da Cunha, in the South Atlantic Ocean, lies
a beautiful and picturesque island, on the rocky cliffs of which the
sooty abatross finds a congenial breeding place. Mr. W. Eagle
Clarke (1905) has given us the following description of this ocean
gem:
Gough Island rises on every side abruptly from the ocean in sheer precipices
several hundred feet high. The general aspect of the island, ag seen from ship-
board, is very beautiful, with its green slopes and moss and lichen-covered
cliffs, over which numbers of rushing waterfalls shoot out into the sea with a
drop of several hundred feet. The only apparent landing place is on the
eastern side, where the party from the Scotia landed. Here a ravine runs down
from the interior to the coast and along it flows a small stream. Near the sea-
ward end of this ravine are a few acres of level ground covered with grass or,
in the moister parts with ferns and rankly growing celery and docks. Here, too,
is a narrow beach, perhaps a hundred yards long, strewn with many large
boulders and numerous fern rhizomes of considerable size. At the southwest
end of the island there appears to be a plateau of about half a Square mile in
extent at an elevation of some 300 feet, but everywhere else the island rises
into steep ridges separated by narrow valleys, which must render its explora-
tion a matter of extreme difficulty. On the lower ground and up to a height
of over 1,000 feet the island is thickly covered with tussock grass (Spartina
arundinacea) and bucking trees (Phylica nitida); the former spread pro-
fusely over the steeper slopes, and the latter gnarled and stunted, yet growing
vigorously even on the most exposed ridges. These trees appear hardly
to rise beyond twenty feet in height and generally bear a thick growth of
lichens on their stems. Under the waterfalls and along the sheltered banks of
the streams ferns and mosses grow in luxuriance,
aspect of the vegetation on the higher ground could
the very summit of the island seemed by its green appea
mosses and lichens,
More than the general
not be determined, but
rance to be clothed with
PL. 7
LETIN 1/21
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BUL
.C. Murphy.
South Georgia. R.C pay
Brooklyn Museum. R.C. Murphy.
Sooty ALBATROSS.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 329.
_ LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 23
He also says of the albatross that breeds there:
Mr. Comer describes the species breeding at Gough Island as having the
beak dark with “a yellow stripe on each side.” It is common, but does not
breed in “rookeries;” it places its nests separately on cliffs or projecting
rocks, where it is most d‘fficult to get at them. The bird commences to lay by
the middle of September, and while sitting, keeps up a continual cry similar
to that of a young goat.
Mr. Robert Hall (1900) found the sooty albatross breeding on
Kerguelen Island, in the South Indian Ocean, and gives the follow-
ing account of its nesting habits:
A trumpet-like screech and cat-like noise seem to be the vocabulary of this
bird, as it wends its curving flight along the face of the cliffs, in the lower parts
of which it places its nests. January 5th saw me investigating three nests on
Murray Island in Royal Sound. Two were within three feet of each other,
while the third was several hundred yards away, but all were placed under
the ledges of rocks some 300 feet high and facing the sea. The first nest con-
tained an egg which was undoubtedly addled, as I became aware when blowing
it, and so were the other persons in the cabin; yet upon this egg the bird still
sat. Two nests placed together contained, respectively, a young bird a few
days old, and an egg with an almost matured embryo. Th‘s egg I took, and
five days later I annexed the young of the other nest. All this time the egg-
nest was still being sat upon by the sooty albatross. The young one, when
left by its parent, stood up to assert its rights, and snapped its bill in the man-
ner of the adult, but feebly. A cormorant’s fresh egg, partly broken, was near,
so the little gallant lived well in the start of its career, and disgorged enough
food in a mass to give a meal to half a dozen ordinary birds. The general hue
of the nestling was slate-color; the bill slate-black; legs bluish; iris faint
hazel, and pupil blue. The ring of white had begun to show round the eye.
The nests were neat, saucer-like, and of fine fibrous loam, caked. The dimen-
sions were: Breadth 17 inches, diameter of cavity 12 inches, depth of cavity 3
inches, depth of structure about 4 inches.
Dr. J. H. Kidder (1875) spent four months, September to Janu-
ary, on this island, and I quote the following from his report:
October 24 two of the dusky albatrosses had made a nest upon a shelf formed
by a considerable tuft of cabbage and azorella, at the entrance of a small
cavity in the perpendicular face of a lofty rock, near the top of a hill some
two miles away. Here the birds could be both seen and heard. Their scream
is very loud, and not unlike one of the calls of a cat. At a distance, it has often
been mistaken for the hail of 2 man. The name “pee-arr” has been given
as descriptive of this call, which is, I believe, peculiar to the breeding season.
Another pair was seen same day circling around the same hill top. No eggs.
November 2, secured one egg and both birds. The nest is a conical mound,
seven or eight inches high, hollowed into a cup at the top, and lined rudely
with grass. The male was sitting when captured; the female standing on
another old nest, not far away, but higher up the face of the rock. There was
no evidence of an intention to rebuild the old nest. Both birds, but particularly
the male, showed fight when approached, clattering their large bills with an
odd noise, and biting viciously when they got a chance. The male is per-
ceptibly the larger bird of the two. The oviduct of the female was distended,
and no other egg seemed to be on its way from the ovary, making it probably
that she had just laid the single large egg found; but, of course, the evidence
oe
id
24. BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
is not absolute that these two birds had paired, although found so near to-
gether.
He also says of the egg:
Egg is single, broadly ovoidal, generally white, marked by a collection of
specks about the larger end, somewhat like the adventitious stains on the eggs
of D. erulans, but, aS well as we can judge, less superficial. The shell is.
compact in structure, rather thin for its size, and superficially smooth to the,
touch. Under the lens, it is seen to be marked by minute pits and linear de-
pressions, being thus decidedly different, both to the eye and to the touch,
from those of D. exulans. ra
Eggs.—An egg of the sooty albatross, obtained by Captain Ar-
muson in the Crozette Islands, has been described by Baird, Brewer,
and Ridgway (1884) as follows:
It measured 4.20 inches by 2.60 [106.68 mm. by 66.04 mm.] and resembled
genérally the egg of D. exulans, being chalky white, coarse to the touch, and
of squarely truncated form. It was also minutely pitted with reddish dots in
an indistinct band at the obtuse end.”
_ Sir Walter Buller (1888) describes the egg as follows:
An egg of this species examined by me is of a narrow elliptical form, measur-
ing 4.2 inches [106.68 mm.] in length by 2.7 [68.59 mm.] in breadth; of a dingy
brownish white, splashed, dotted, and marked all over its larger pole with dull
blackish brown. Another of the same length, but. somewhat narrower, is of a
clear, greyish, white, minutely and indistinctly spotted, and presenting a pretty
regular zone of sepia-brown near its larger end.
Young.—Sir Walter Buller (1888) has also described the downy
young as follows:
Covered with very long and thick down of a pale sooty color; on the forepart
and sides' of the head feather-like and several shades darker in tint. A band
of feather-like down: encircles the eyes, and extends forward to the base of
the bill; having very much the appearance of a pair of spectacles. Bill black,
legs brownish-grey, claws lighter.
‘ Behavior —Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes to me:
The wedge-tailed sooty albatross comes frequently about vessels and does
not differ markedly in habits from the yellow-nosed species. Its flight is
similar but more graceful. Its wings not held so stiffly, are occasionally moved
wtightly, a tremor which it would be difficult to call either a flap or an adjust-
ment to the wind. It sometimes sails for long periods and circuitous distances
on set wings, even when the wind is but moderate. I have sometimes seen it
fy higher than the other southern tubinares commonly do, higher than the
masts, passing directly over the ship. In my experience it is rather’ wary
of a baited hook. I have never seen it caught.
Gould (1865) says of the flight of the sooty albatross:
_The cuneated form of the tail, which is
with its slight and small legs and more delicate structure, clearly indicate
that {t is the most aerial species of the genus; and accordingly we find that
in its actions and mode of flight it differs very considerably from all thé
other species of albatross, its aerial evolutions being far more easy, its flight
mueh higher, and its stoops more rapid; it is moreover the only epedlus tea
passes directly over the ship, which it frequently does in blowing weath
often poising itself over the masthead, as if inquisitively viewing the arias
peculiar to this species, together
LIFE HISTORIES OF NoRTH AMHRICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 25
below ; at this moment it offers so inviting a mark for the gunner, that it
often forfeits its life.
The sooty albatross is known by the sailors as the “ cape hen” or
“blue bird”; it is also called “peearr” or “peeu” from its note.
It seetn to be universally recognized as distinct from other dark
colored albatrosses and all writers agree that it is in a class by
itself in appearance and flight. Dr. Edward A. Wilson (1907) has
thus characterized it: as
The sooty albatross is perhaps the most striking bird of all in the Southern
Oceans, as it is the most sinister in expression and the best adapted by its
dusky plumage, and its interested manner, to form the basis of sailors’ legends
and superstitions, hd
There is no bird in the south with which it is possible to confuse these birds.
The only other abundant large dark bird is Ossifraga, which, with its un-
gainly’ body and its enormous and pale yellow bill, in no way resembles the
dark-billed, close-feathered Phoebetria. The latter, moreover, has an easy
sailing flight, which is.perhaps more perfect than that of any other albatross,
and many of us considered it the most fascinating to watch of all the ocean
birds on this account. 7
Since the above was written Messrs. Nichols and Murphy (1914)
have: published a review of the genus Phoebetria, in which they have
shown that the American specimen of the sooty albatross belongs
to a new subspecies which they have named Phoebetria palpebrata
auduboni. As the earlier writers, from whom most. of the above
quotations were taken, did not distinguish the two subspecies of
P. fusca and the three subspecies of P. palpebrata, it is practically
impossible to separate the references; it therefore seems best to let
the life history stand as first written.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—For the subspecies which belongs on the North
‘American List, Phoebetria palpebrata auduboni, the breeding range
seems to be unknown. Other subspecies of palpebrata breed on
various islands in the South Atlantic (South Georgia), South
Pacific (near New Zealand), and South Indian Oceans (Bereveten
Island).
Range.—Southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian
Oceans, Weddell Sea, Australian and New Zealand seas. Ranges
of the subspecies of palpebrata and of fusca are much confused, but
the former ranges farther south. The latter is probably the breed-
ing bird about Australia and on Tristan da Cunha.
Casual record.—One taken off the coast of Oregon (Audubon’s
record).
Egg dates——South Georgia Island: Six records, October 8 and
10, December and January. Kerguelen Island: Three records, Octo-
ber 1 and December. Cape Horn: Three records, November.
26 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Family HYDROBATIDAE, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels,
MACRONECTES GIGANTEUS (Gmelin). .
GIANT FULMAR,
HABITS.
This great fulmar or overgrown petrel, as large as the smaller
albatrosses, is one of the best known birds of southern oceans and
antarctic seas, for which the sailors have a variety of names, such
as “Nellie,” “cape hen,” “Mother Carey’s goose,” “ bonebreaker,”
or “stinker.” Almost every writer on antarctic birds has added
something to our knowledge of this “ vulture of the seas” and almost
every southern navigator is more or less familiar with it.
Nesting —Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (1906) gives an interesting ac-
count of his experiences with this bird on its breeding grounds on
the South Orkney Islands; he says:
The giant petrel was present at the station all the year around, but was
very much less numerous during the winter months. There was a decided
falling off in May, but the lowest ebb was reached in June and continued
until September, when the summer birds of this species commenced: to arrive,
During the nesting season it was estimated that about 5,000 were on Laurie
I. alone, and when one remembers the savage nature and almost insatiable
appetite of these giants, it is easy to realize what a terrible scourge they
must have been to the penguins, upon which and their eggs and young it
was their one aim to gorge themselves to repletion.
They were to be seen everywhere in the summer time, but their rookeries
were confined to the north and east coasts. Three of these rookeries
were visited, two of which, namely, those on the Watson Peninsula, contained
two hundred nests each, while the third at Cape Geddes comprised only about
one hundred. One of the larger colonies was situated on bare rocky ground
from 300 to 400 feet above sea level, and the other on a moraine at an eleva-
tion of from 250 to 300 feet. The nests consisted of great piles of small an-
gular stones, and were about two feet in diameter. The third and smaller
rookery was on a low strip of ground between a cliff and the shore, and was
close to the sea; the nests were similar to the others. Although these con-
tained no eggs on November 3d, yet the birds allowed a close approach, one
of the parents sitting on the nest, the other usually standing close alongside.
The first eggs were laid on November 4th, but four only were found on that
date. On the 19th, however, eighty were obtained, all single specimens, ex-
cept in two instances where two were found, probably laid by as many females.
The birds had to be pushed off the nest ere the eggs could be taken, for very
few flew away of their own accord. They showed no fight when evicted; and
usually sat down a yard or two away; nor did they shoot oil from ‘their
nostrils, but they vomited contents of their stomachs, not as a mode of de-
fense, but to get rid of ballast in order to take wing. They resorted to the
same lightening process when chased. Unfortunately, the weather conditions
and those of the ice did not permit of these rookeries being again visited
so that the period of incubation could not be ascertained nor the capture of
young be effected.
8
PL.
BULLETIN (21
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
6Z€ ADVd 3aS NONdINOSaa YO4
‘YVAN LNVIE
“spursy PUBPTTET
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, Q7
Mr. G. E. Verrill (1895) says that, on Gough Island:
They lay separately, in open land or knolls. The nests are low, and built of
grass and moss. Commence laying the middle of September. They lay one egg,
which is usually quite rough; but, if robbed, will lay a second and a third time.
These birds leave their nests when you approach them, while the other birds
do not.
Eggs.—The eggs of the giant fulmar have been described by
various writers as ovoid-conical, ovoid, or elliptical in shape. The
shell is exceedingly coarse and granulated, rough and glossless, fre-
quently with limy nodules. The color is dull dirty white and often
much nest stained, owing to the filthy habits of the birds. Clarke
(1906) gives the average length of 80 eggs as 103.8 and the average
breadth as 65.7 millimeters.
The measurements of 35 eggs in various collections average 108
by 66.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 115
by 65, 108.5 by 70, 93.6 by 65, and 102 by 61.4 millimeters.
Young—Capt. F. W. Hutton (1865) says that:
The young are at first covered with a beautiful long, isnt Bray down; when
fledged they are dark brown, mottled with white. When a person approaches the
nest the old bird keeps a short distance away, while the young ones squirt a
horridly smelling oil out of their mouths to a distance of six or eight feet.
Mr. Robert Hall (1900) gives us a good description of a colony on
Kerguelen Island containing young; he writes:
Having ascended the short eastern summit, I noticed near the bottom of a
wind-sheltered slope a fine colony. To commence with, I surprised two just
below the crest, and they started running with wings outstretched but not
flapping, and continued, with short stoppages, several hundred yards to the
beach, keeping just ahead of me. Of the colony, some birds were sitting and
others standing, a few with expanded wings, and others essaying jumps on to
Azorella clumps 2 feet in height. Several pairs, with stretched necks, ap-
peared to be engaged in controversy, and occasionally a low squeaking noise
was uttered. On the first sight of me they moved toward the edge of the cliff;
but when I sat down within 100 yards of them they became more confiding, and
many gradually approached me, not flying, and without noise. Both young and
old seemed to be inquisitive, but a gunshot half a mile away would cause them
to look shy for a minute. After a rest, which they often took by sitting down,
they would fly over with a prolonged guttural croak. There were from 50 to 70
of them, and by appearances many young birds were already abroad at this
date (January 7th). As I drove them to the beach I stumbled upon quite a
strange sight; it was their rookery, and some twenty-one grey fledglings, as
large as full-grown geese, were nestling among the scattered tussocks of
Azorella. The nests were made by. tearing away the soft.stems of this plant
and then sitting upon them.
On approaching a bird, which was always a few yards apart from its fellows,
it would utter a low grunt, bite, and stand upon the defensive, ejecting a quan-
tity of oily matter that would ruin almost any suit of clothes, The adults pre-
ferred to run along the cliff top rather than fly, and I drove them like any other
fowls. They have no confidence in taking wing from the land, but do so at
28 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
once on reaching the water. This rookery faces the entrance to Royal Sound
and is about 200 feet above sea level. The birds possibly lay in September.
The nests, some 3 feet in diameter, are merely hollows among the broken stems
of Azorella and in the sand, and in the former the young are partially hidden
and sheltered. The rookery extended for some 200 yards.
I found several young birds which had just lost their grey down and, had
assumed a shining black plumage, a phase on which I know of no observations.
Ido not see why this coat. should be exchanged Jater on for what is a very poor
one in comparison. I also saw this black phase 800 miles east of Kerguelen,
on the return to home (February 22d). Near Accessible Bay, on February 8th,
I observed many young birds nearly ready to fly. In their stomachs I found
the ‘tongues of prions and penguins.
. Plumages.—The plumage changes of the giant petrel are not. very
well understood, but evidently the first plumage assumed by young
birds is the shining black plumage referred to above. Mr. Clarke
: (1906) noted that:
The color of, the birds ranged from very dark brown through all shades of
chocolate, and from gray through light gray and mottled white to white. Some
of these facts indicate interbreeding between the two forms and, perhaps, be-
tween their offspring and typically colored birds of others, Dr. Pirie thinks that
they interbreed, because he has no recollection of seeing two white birds together
on the nesting grounds.
He also stated that: “The proportion of birds in pure white plu-
mage in the rookeries was not more, perhaps less, than 2 per cent.”
Some writers seem to think that the dark colored birds are the young
‘birds and that, as they ‘grow older, they become ‘lighter gray, then
mottled with white, and finally pure white. Others suggest that there
may. be two.color phases and that the mottled birds are the results of
interbreeding. There is not much positive evidence in support of
either of these theories, and very little is known about any definite
sequence of molts to produce the various plumages.
eon: —The giant fulmar has been well named the “ vulture of the
sea,” as the following accounts of its gluttonous habits will show.
Dr. E. A, Wilson (1907), the antarctic explorer, writes:
Ossifraga feeds mainly upon carrion, though its character is not above sus-
picion in the matter of attacking living animals. In one case; at any rate, the
evidence of its having attacked man in the water is hardly open to doubt; I
quote Mr. Howard Saunders, who writes: “Mr. Arthur G. Guillemard states
that a sailor who was picked up had his arms badly lacerated in defending his
head from the attacks of an ‘albatross,’ which may well have been this giant
petrel.”
We constantly saw it feeding upon seals’ blubber, dead penguins, and any
other animal refuse that happened to lie in its way, but we onrselves never saw
any living animal attacked ; and although Mr. Eagle Clarke (1906) mentions
“abundant remains of recently killed young penguins” in their rookeries in the
South Orkneys, he says nothing in this case to prevent one from believing that
the birds merely picked up the remains of what the skuas had killed, or of birds
that had succumbed to climatic causes.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 9
South Georgia. R. C, Murphy.
es,
CL iy
Falkland Islands. R. H. Beck.
GIANT FULMAR.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 29
The habit that this bird has, in common with most of the petrels, of d's-
gorging semidigested food when disturbed or annoyed is véry commonly seen in
putting it to flight after feeding. It is interesting to notice how small an amount
of such ballast removed by vomiting seems to turn the scale, for it is quite in-
significant when compared with what the stomach actually contains; yet the
bird seems so utterly unable to run or to rise from the ice until relieved, that,
no matter how closely it is pressed, it will come to a dead stop in order to dis-
encumber itself by a number of voluntary efforts before making a serious effort
to rise.
The giant petrel lives on any carrion that it is able to discover, and it can
never be at a loss during the Antarctic summer for a plentiful supply of dead
seals and penguins. I know not whether in the Macquarie and Auckland Islands
and elsewhere it is also mainly a carrion feeder, but I can answer for this in
the Antarctic. One has but to kill a seal on the shore in summer and visit the
blubber refuse day by day to realize how quickly such food attracts the birds
“who are looking for it. None but the carrion feeders come to it; one sees no
albatross, no snow, antarctic, or wilson’s petrel, though all must often scent it;
but the giant petrel and the skuas come in constantly increasing numbers.
Dr. J. H. Kidder (1875) draws a realistic, though not an attractive,
picture of these gluttonous birds in the following words:
I found the adult birds in considerable numbers feeding on the carcass of
the sea elephant, December 14. With their huge whitish beaks, lighter-colored
heads (then covered with clotted blood), and disordered dun plumage, they re-
minded me strongly of vultures. Like vultures, also, they had so crammed
themselves that they were unable to rise from the ground, although it was
sufficiently rocky and irregular for them to do so with ease under ordinary
circumstances. They waddled and stumbled to the sea, swam away, and did
not rise into the air until half an hour or more of digestion, and perhaps of
vomiting, had made it possible. I shot two on this occasion; but one succeeded
in getting into the water with a broken wing. The individual secured vomited
copiously, as soon as wounded, an immense mass of undigested blood, fat, and
intestines. i :
Buller (1888) says of a captive bird:
Its capacity for swallowing was surprising, and it gorged its crop with fresh
meat until it could hold no more; then it stretched its neck on the ground and
worked it violently in its efforts to accommodate another piece. Curiously
enough, it would not touch fish of any kind. Although, by way of experiment,
starved for several days, it still obstinately declined the fish offered it. When,
however, its mate died and had been skinned, the survivor regaled itself freely
on the carcass till it became decomposed.
Behavior—Buller (1888) gives the best account of the flight of
this fulmar, which I quote in full:
Their power of wing is something marvelous. For hours together they keep
up their rapid sailing movement without ever resting or descending to the
water for a moment. It is very interesting to watch them in this tireless flight
and to observe how completely they have their wings under control. They
approach the steamer at a swift rate with a slow flapping movement of the
wings, and then make a wide circuit, keeping them perfectly rigid, but shifting
the balance of the body in such a way as to make alternately one wing and then
the other incline upwards or downwards, thus altering the plane. without the
30 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
slightest visible alular movement. The manner in which the bird steers itself
through the air, first ascending far above the masthead, then sweeping down-
wards, with the point of the wing at its lowest inclination just skimming but
never actually touching the water, even in a turbulent and broken sea, is really
wonderful, and would seem to indicate very perfect organs of vision aS a means
of measuring distance. Now and then it alters its mode of flight and sails or
glides over the surface of the sea with its wings formed into a bow shape, and
with an occasional flap to give it fresh impetus.
Like the albatross, it descends into the water in a very ungainly, straddling -
way, and, if in a hurry, with an awkward splash; keeps its wings uplifted till
the body is steady, then deliberately folds them up and settles down to dinner or
floats lazily on the surface, with upstretched neck and eyes ever on the alert,
When garbage or food of any kind is, thrown overboard, they all descend
together and congregate around it, uttering low guttural notes as if disputing
for its possession; but they never seem to quarrel or fight over it, and when
disposed of they generally break up into pairs and float about in friendly com-
pany till, actuated by some common impulse, they mount again in the air and
come sweeping up astern. On the wing the tail is usually spread and has a
broad cuneiform appearance.
It is capable, too, of very rapid movements. On one occasion I was
attentively watching six or seven of them, sailing about in circuits that ever
crossed but never clashed, and had turned to my notebook for a few seconds
to refer to something. On looking up again they had all disappeared as if
by magic; and then I descried them in the water more than a mile astern.
with their heads together, discussing some object that had been thrown over-
board and had excited their notice. They are untiring, too, in their pursuit,
for I have noticed that at sundown, when the albatrosses have drawn off from
the steamer and disappeared one by one, the giant petrel (or “ stink-pot,” as
the sailors sometimes call it) had remained, still crossing and recrossing the
wake of the ship in undiminished numbers and unaffected by the deepening
gloom.
As might be expected of such big, strong, ravenous birds, . the
giant fulmars are arrant bullies and are justly dreaded by the
other sea birds among which they live. They undoubtedly work
great havoc among the young penguins and other sea birds which
nest on or near their breeding grounds. Clarke (1906) writes:
The heavy toll ruthlessly demanded from the penguins was very manifest
on visiting their rookeries. Here abundant remains of recently killed young
penguins in the shape of clean-picked skins and bones were lying all around,
while the gorged feathered giants were either waddling about or sleeping off
the effects of their orgies on the neighboring snow-slopes.
‘Again he (1905) says:
The giant petrel breeds at Gough Island, where Mr. Comer says that it is
not numerous, and commences to lay at the middle of September. He tells
us that it enters the penguin “ rookeries” and carries off the young to eat and
also pulls birds (petrels) out of holes in the ground.
Buller (1888) “observed at a distance one of these giant petrels
pursue and capture a small bird (apparently Prion turtur), and
then, holding it by the wing, batter it against the water till it was
killed.” Darwin (1889) says that: :
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. BULLETIN 121 PL. 10
Falkland Islands. R. H. Beck.
South Georgia. R.C. Murphy.
GIANT FULMAR.
FOR OESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. $1
It was observed by some of the officers at Port St. Antonio chasing a diver,
which tried to escape by diving and flying, but was continually struck down
and at last killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian these great
petrels were seen killing and devouring young gulls.
Winter—Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (1907) says:
That at the close of the southern summer numbers of giant petrels (Ossi-
fraga gigantea) cross the Antarctic Circle and sojourn among the polar ice ere
they retreat northwards to pass the winter in more genial oceanic resorts. It
is possible, however, that some of these visitors to the far south are non-
breeding birds, and, if so, they may have spent the entire summer there. The
Tubinares are, as is well known, great wanderers, but these very remarkable
southern incursions are, perhaps, to be explained by the extraordinary abund-
_ ance of food to be found in the waters of the far south in the summer and
autumn, which allures some of the birds farther and farther toward the pole,
until the ice barrier which almost girdles the Antarctic Continent, arrests
further progress, since at its base the food supply entirely ceases.
i DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—South Atlantic Ocean (South Orkney, South
Shetland, South Georgia, Falkland, and Gough Islands); South
Pacific Ocean (Macquarie, Campbell, Graham, Antipodes, Chatham,
and Snares Islands) ; South Indian Ocean (Kerguelen and Crozet
Islands) ; and on the Antarctic continent.
Range.—Southern portions of Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
North in the Atlantic-Ocean to 31° South; and probably farther
north in the Pacific. South to the Antarctic continent or the edge
of the Antarctic ice, at least as far south as 78°.
Casual record.—Once taken off the coast of Oregon (Audubon’s
record).
Egg dates—South Georgia Island: Thirteen records, December 1
to January 13; seven records, December. Falkland Islands: Two
records, October 19 and November 8.
FULMARUS GLACIALIS GLACIALIS (Linnaeus).
FULMAR.
HABITS.
The fulmar is a distinctly pelagic species of arctic seas, where it
is ever associated with drifting icebergs and floating pack ice. Like
the albatross it spends much of its time on the wing and is particu-
larly active in rough and stormy weather. It is the constant com-
panion of the arctic whalers and is well known to the hardy ex-
plorers who risk their lives in dangerous northern seas, where it
follows the ships to gorge itself on. what scraps it can pick up, rests
to digest its unsavory food on some rugged block of ice and retires
to some lonely crag to rear its young. There is little that is attrac-
32 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
tive in its surroundings at any time, in the forbidding climate of
the rugged, frozen north, but there it seems to live and flourish, rising
successful and triumphant over adverse conditions.
Spring.—On the north coast of Labrador late in the spring, and
even early in the summer, fulmars are often seen and ‘are sometimes
quite abundant from the Straits of Belle Isle northward to Cape
Chidley. Mr. Lucien M. Turner, in his unpublished notes, writes:
When the fog lifted great streams of this species conld be seen moving
either southward or northward. Huge icebergs had. their tops fairly alive
with these birds, riding slowly to the southward, to which direction they ad-
vanced until far enough, and then returning to repeat the trip if opportunity
occurred.
These were probably migrating birds, for no breeding grounds
have yet been discovered on the Labrador coast, and Turner found
them very scarce after entering Hudson Straits. Audubon (1840)
mentions a migratory flight on the coast of Greenland, quoting the
remarks of Captain Sabine, as follows:
Whilst the ships were detained by the ice in Jacobs Bay, in latitude 71°
from the 24th of June to the 3d of July, fulmars were passing in a continued
stream to the northward, in numbers inferior only to the flight of the passenger
pigeon in America. ms : oo
Nesting—Probably the southernmost breeding colonies on tlie
western side of the Atlantic are those méntioned by Kumlien (1879),
as follows: :
I also procured a few that were ashy ; these I presumed ‘were young birds;
but in July, 1878, I found a few of these dark colored ones, darker than any I
ever saw in fall, breeding near Quickstep Harbor, in Cumberland, on some
small, rocky islands. When fresh these dark-colored birds have a bright olive-
green gloss, especially apparent: on the neck and back. The Dill is shorter,
stouter, and thicker, dusky brown instead of yellow. On Blue Mountain, Ovifak,
Greenland, these birds breed by myriads to the very summit of the mountain,
about 2,000 feet. Here I could see but few dark birds; even -the full-fledged
nestlings were white. : — re /
In Exeter Sound and to the northward along the’ west shores of Davis
Straits and Baffin’s Bay, the dark variety seems to predominate. Near Cape
Searle they are extraordinarily abundant, breeding by thousands on the Padlie
Island, and they are so tame about their nesting places that they can be killed
with a stick. The eggs, even after being blown, for many months still retain
the musky odor peculiar to the birds, Perfectly fresh eggs are quite good
eating but if a couple of days old the musky odor has so permeated them, even
the albumen, that they are a little too much for a civilized palate.
Nelson (1883) writes that:
It breeds abundantly on Bear Island (near Spitzbergen) on some of the
‘Sloping cliffs not difficult of access. One. case is mentioned where on May 26,
1876, the eggs were seen deposited directly upon the bare ice ‘which covered
the rocks at the time. In one place a bird was found frozen fast by one leg as
it sat upon the eggs, in August, 1596, as recorded by one of the old Dutch
expeditions which touched that coast. On the northern half of Nova Zemla,
PL. II
121
BULLETIN
NATIONAL MUSEUM
Ss.
U.
“STPM “HO
“PID
4S
O6E 30vd 348 NOlldiyoS3q0 YOY
"YVWINA
‘STP.M “H “0
“8PM “48
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 33:
Barents‘ found some fulmars nesting upon a:piece of ice covered with a little
earth. In both ef these cases the underpart of the egg during hatching could
not be warmed above the freezing point.
Macgillivray (1852) gives a very good account of the breeding
habits of this species at St. Kilda, quoting from the notes of his
son, who visited the locality in 1840; he writes:
St. Kilda has long been noted as the only breeding place in Britain of the
fulmar petrel, Proceliaria glacialig (An Fulmar, or Fulimar). This bird exists
there in almost incredible numbers, and to the natives it is by far the most
important of the productions of the island, It forms one of the principal means
of support to the inhabitants, who daily risk their lives in its pursuit. The
fulmar breeds on the face of the highest precipices, and only on such as are
furnished with small grassy shelves, every spot on which above a few inches
in extent is occupied with one or more of its nests. The nest is formed of
herbage, seldom bulky, generally a mere shallow excavation .in the turf, ‘lined
with dried grass and withered. tufts of the sea pink, in which the bird deposits
a single egg of a pure white color when clean, which is seldom the case, and
varying in size from 2 inches 7 lines to 3 inches 1 line in length, and 1 inch
11 lines to 2 inches in breadth. On the 30th of June, having partially descended
a nearly: perpendicular precipice 600 feet in height, the whole face of which
was covered with the nests of the fulmar, ‘I enjoyed an opportunity of observ.
ing the habits of this bird, which has fallen to the lot of few of those who have
described them, as if fram personal observation. ‘The nests had all been
robbed about a month before by the natives, who esteem the eggs of this species
above all others; those of the auk, guillemot, kittiwake, and puffin ranking
next, and the gannet, scart, and cormorant last of all. Many of the nests con-
tained each a young bird a day or two old at, furthest, thickly covered with
long white down. Such of the eggs as I examined im situ had a small aperture
at the broad end, at which the bill of the chick was visible, sometimes pro-
truding a little way. Several addled eggs also occurred. The young birds were
very clamorous on being handled and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with
which I sometimes observed the parent birds feeding them by disgorging it.
The fulmar is stated in most works on ornithology to possess the power of
ejecting oil with much force through its tubular nostrils, using this as a mode
of defense, but, although I surprised several upon the nest, I never observed
them attempt this. On being seized they instantly vomit a quantity of clear
amber-colored oil, which imparts to the whole bird, its nest and young, and
even the very rock which it frequents, a peculiar and very disagreeable odor.
A slightly different account of this breeding place is given by
Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1884), based on the observations of
Captain Elmes (written Elwes by Godman), as follows:
Soon after landing he started with some of the best cragsmen for the cliffs
at the north side of the island. On reaching the summit of Conachan, the high-
est point, he came suddenly on a precipice not less than 1,220 feet in height.
The whole of this immense face of rock was so crowded with birds that the
water was seen far below as if through a heavy snow storm, and the birds,
which were flying in front of the cliff, almost obscured the view. All the ledges
near the top were covered with short turf, full of holes, in which the fulmars
were sitting on their eggs, with their heads and part of their bodies exposed
outside. In some cases they were quite concealed, but generally the soil was
too thin for them to make more than a slight excavation. Thousands of
34 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
fulmars were flying backward and forward with a quiet, owl-like flight, and,
although the air was full of them, hardly one ever came over the top of the
cliff.
Eggs—The fulmar lays but one egg, which is elliptical ovate or
elliptical oval in shape. The shell is rather rough or granulated and
quite lustreless. The color is dull, dirty white, usually immacu-
late, but often much nest-stained and sometimes partially or
wholly covered with very fine dots or sprinklings of reddish brown.
These dots look more like particles of soil or dirt lodged in the
pitted surface than actual color markings. The surface of the egg
is often more or less covered with little nodules or small excrescences,
but in many cases it is quite smooth.
The measurements of 77 eggs, in various collections, average 74
by 51 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 81.5
by 50.5, 72.5 by 54.1, 69 by 49.1, and 74.1 by 43.2 millimeters.
Young—tThe period of incubation, which is performed by both
sexes, is said to be from 50 to 60 days. The young fulmar is care-
fully guarded by its parents and is fed on regurgitated food, con-
sisting of an amber-colored, oily fluid. The young bird is at first
covered with a thick coat of long, soft, white down, which is worn
until the bird is nearly fully grown. The first plumage, which is
fully acquired before the young bird leaves the nest, is similar to that
of the adult, in the white phase at least.
Plumages—Morris (1903) describes the immature plumage, pre-
sumably of the dark phase, as follows: — ~
The young in the second year have the tip of the bill yellowish, the remainder
greyish; iris, pale dusky; there is a dark spot before it. Head, crown, neck,
and nape, greyish brown, the edges: of the feather paler; chin, throat, and
breast, pale greyish brown, the edges of the feathers lighter coloured; back,
darker greyish brown, the edges of the feathers paler. Primaries, secondaries,
and tertiaries, greyish brown. Tail, greyish brown, the edges of the feathers
paler. Legs and toes, pale brownish or greyish yellow; webs, pale brown. .
Mr. W. Eagle Clarke gives some interesting notes (1912) on the
juvenile plumage of F'ulmarus g. glacialis from specimens obtained
at St. Kilda. He states that the upper parts of the juvenile are of a
decidedly paler gray than in the adult and more uniform ‘in tint,
while the head, neck and underparts of the juvenile are pure white
and silky in appearance, whereas in the adult these parts have a
yellowish hue. Mr. Clarke also mentions that in the adults some
feathers of the mantle and scapulars are edged with ashy brown, as
also are some of the wing coverts on their outer webs. A full descrip-
tion of the coloration of the bill and a few remarks on the pale and
dark forms are added.
Food.—Much has been written about the feeding habits of the ful-
mar, which are interesting though not attractive. The following
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 35
quotations will show that it is a greedy and voracious feeder on a
varied diet. The best account seems to have been given by Mac-
gillivray (1852) as follows:
From the various statements made by observers, it appears that the fulmar
feeds on fishes, cephalopodous mollusca, cirripedia,. most other kinds of animal
substance, especially such as are oily or fatty. The Rev. Mr. Scoresby, in his
“Arctic Regions,” states that it is the constant companion of the whalefisher,
joining his ship immediately on passing the Shetland Islands, and accom-
panying him to the highest accessible latitudes, keeping an eager watch for
anything thrown overboard. Fulmars are extremely greedy of the fat of the
whale. Though few should be seen when a whale is about being captured, yet,
as soon as the fleshing process commences, they rush in from all quarters and
frequently accumulate to many thousands in number. They then occupy the
greasy track of the ship; and, being audaciously greedy, fearlessly advance
within a few yards of the men employed in cutting up the whale. If, indeed, the
fragments of fat do not float sufficiently away, they approach so near the scene
of operations that they are knocked down with boat hooks in great numbers, and
sometimes taken up by the hand. The sea immediately about the ship’s stern is
sometimes so completely covered with them that a stone can scarcely be
thrown overboard without striking one of them. When anything is thus cast
among them those nearest the spot where it falls take the alarm, and these
exciting some fear in others more remote- sometimes put a thousand of them
in motion; but, as in rising into the air, they assist their wings for the first
few yards by striking the water with their feet, there is produced by such a num-
ber of them a loud and most singular splashing. It is highly amusing to
observe the voracity with which they seize the pieces of fat that fall in their
way; the size and quantity of the pieces they take at a meal; the curious
chuckling noise which, in their anxiety for dispatch, they always make; and
the jealousy with which they view and the boldness with which they attack
any of their species that are engaged in devouring the finest morsels. They
frequently glut themselves so completely that they are unable to fly; in which
case, when they are not relieved by a quantity being disgorged, they endeavor
to get on the nearest piece of ice, where they rest until the advancement of
digestion restores their wonted powers. Then, if opportunity admit, they return
with the same gust to the banquet as before; and though numbers of the species
may be killed, and allowed to float about among them, they appear unconscious
of danger to themselves. When carrion is scarce the fulmars follow the living
whale, and sometimes by their peculiar motions, when hovering at the surface
of the water, point out to the fisher the position of the animal of which he is
in pursuit. They can not make much impression on the dead whale until some
more powerful animal tears away the skin; the epidermis and rete mucosum
they entirely remove, but true skin is too tough for them to make way
through it.
Captain Collins (1899), writing of its habits on the Newfound-
land Banks, says:
The fulmar subsists chiefly on small fishes, and, doubtless, participates with
the hagdon in the pursuit of the squid;. but I have no recollection of noticing
in its stomach, as I have in that of the hag, the presence of pieces of squid
or the beaks of that animal. I have, however, frequently observed that the
contents of the stomachs of many of this species consisted almost entirely of
small fish, Like Pufinus, it is very fond of oily food, which it swallows with
36 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
astonishing greediness. It devours large quantities of codfish liver ina raven-
ous manner that would astound one unacquainted with its habits, and it cer-
tainly would tax their credulity to believe statements that might be made
bearing on this subject.
Behavior —The flight of the fulmar is a much more graceful per-
formance than one would expect from such a short, heavily built
bird and it is a pleasure to watch this miniature albatross, which
to my mind it closely resembles, as it circles about in the wake of
the ship, quartering the ground in search of what morsels it may
pick up, with frequent periods of rapid wing beats alternating with
longer periods of sailing on stiff pinions. Macgillivray (1852) says:
The fulmar flies with great buoyancy and considerable rapidity, and when
at sea is generally seen skimming along the surface of the. wave at a slight
elevation, though I never observed, one to alight or pick up anything from the
water. At its breeding places, the fulmar is always in motion, comparatively
few being to be seen upon the rocks, the great mass being engaged flying in
circles along the face of the precipice, and always in the.same direction, none
crossing, probably on account of the confusion this would cause among such
an immense multitude.
Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes to me, regarding the appear-
ance of this species in flight as follows: :
On the wing the fulmar is a stocky appearing bird, its dark-primaried, gull-
like plumage, relieved by an obscure pale spot: back of the tip of the wing,
suggesting the better marked, diagnostic, pale area in the wing of. Priocella.
They flap their wings a great deal, interspersing frequent short sails, and their
flight has the stiff character usually characteristic of the Tubinares, as op-
posed to the buoyant flight of the Longipennes. .
The fulmar is usually a silent bird, but, when feeding, Morris
(1903) says:
The noise that a large flock make is described as almost deafening, something
between the cackle of a hen and the quack of a duck,
Captain Collins (1899) refers to its note as “a sort of chuckling
sound somewhat resembling a low grunt.”
The St. Kildians consider the fulmars of great importance in the
economy of their lives, for both old and young birds, as well as the
eggs, are largely used for food. They regularly risk their lives
in going over the cliffs on long ropes and are quite expert in catch-
ing the old birds and gathering the eggs and young. Macgillivray
(1852) gives a good account of their methods and says:
Fulmar oil is among the most valuable productions of St. Kilda,, and is
procured of two kinds by different processes. The best is obtained from the
old bird by surprising it at night upon the rock, and tightly closing the bill
until the fowler hag secured the bird between his knees, with its head down-
wards. By opening the bill the fulmar is allowed to disgorge about a table-
spoonful, or rather more, of oil into the dried gullet and stomach of a solan
goose, used as a reservoir for that purpose, These, when filled, are secured
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 37
with a string, and hung on cords across the interior of the huts until required
for use. The oil thus procured and preserved, besides supplying their lamps,
is used by the inhabitants as a medicine, being sometimes of considerable
efficacy in chronic rheumatism, and acting as a cathartic; while, from its
nauseous taste and smell, it would doubtless prove an effectual emetic also
to any but a St. Kildian. In the beginning of August the natives descend
the rocks for the young fulmars, which are then nearly fledged; and by boiling
with water, in proper vessels, are made to furnish a large quantity of fat,
which is skimmed off, and preserved in casks in the solid form.
Winter—The principal winter resorts of the fulmar on the Ameri-
can side of the Atlantic Ocean are in the vicinity of the Grand Bank,
off Newfoundland, and Georges Bank, off Massachusetts, where it is
usually common and often abundant. It is known to the cod fisher-
men on the banks as the “noddy,” “marbleheader,” “oil bird,” or
“stinker.” Captain Collins (1899) says:
The fulmars are probably more abundant on the Grand Bank than on any
other of the fishing grounds commonly resorted to by American vessels, with
the exception, perhaps, of the halibut grounds in Davis Straits, or the Flemish
Cap to the eastward of Grand Bank, which are not visited by many fishing
schooners.
The marbleheader is quite as greedy as the hagdon, and quite as bold when
in pursuit of food ; but, unlike the latter, which is always quarrelsome and noisy,
the fulmar confines itself to a sort of chuckling sound, somewhat resembling a
low grunt. It will swallow a piece of cod liver with even as great vordcity as
the hag, but it rarely, if ever, seems to exercise the cunning or caution of the
latter in trying to avoid the hook, and, as a consequence, it is more easily cap-
tured. It is caught in the same manner as the hag, but owing to its compara-
tively small numbers on the fishing grounds, the fishermen do not depend upon
it so much as a source of bait supply as upon Pufinus major, since one would be
likely to catch twenty, or perhaps many more, of the latter to one noddy.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—North Atlantic and Arctic regions. East to
Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land. South to the British Isles, where
its range is extending to the mainland of Scotland (Sutherland and
Caithness) and Ireland (Mayo and Ulster) ; Iceland ; southern Green-
land (69° north); and eastern Baffin Land (Cumberland Sound).
West to Melville Island. North to Northern Greenland (about 76°
North on the west coast and about 81° north on the east coast).
Ranges north in summer to 85°.
Winter range.—North Atlantic Ocean. South on the American
side to the fishing banks off Massachusetts regularly and farther south
occasionally. South in the Atlantic Ocean at least to 43° north.
North to the limit of open water.
Spring migration—Karly dates of arrival: Davis Straits, April
19; northeastern Greenland, 79° north, middle of April; Jones Sound,
May 1; Wellington Channel, May 23; Spitzbergen, April 7; I'ranz
83969-—22—_4
he
38 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Josef Land, April 24. Leaves Georges Bank, Massachusetts, about
middle of March.
Fall migration —Early dates of arrival : Labrador, Cape Harrison,
July 19, and Ragged Islands, August 9. Late dates of departure:
Wellington Channel, September 2; Hudson Straits, September 15;
Cumberland Sound, middle of October; Franz Josef Land, October
28; Spitzbergen, October 6. Arrives on Georges Bank, Massachu-
setts, in October or earlier.
Casual records.—Massachusetts (Chatham, September 23, 1912),
Connecticut (Stony Creek, October 10, 1907). New Jersey (Ridge-
wood, December, 1891). Accidental in Madeira.
Egg dates.—St. Kilda Island: Twenty-eight. records, May 6 to
June 15; fourteen records, May 22 to June 5. Iceland: Nine records,
May 14 to July 1; five records, May 30 to June 15. Greenland: One
record, July 2.
FULMARUS GLACIALIS GLUPISCHA Stejneger.
PACIFIC FULMAR.
HABITS,
The relationships of the three fulmars found in the northern parts
of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are none too well understood,
and I very much doubt if their relationships are correctly designated
in our present classification of the three forms.
The Pacific fulmar, with its light and its dark phases, is now
regarded as a subspecies of the Atlantic fulmar, with its two similar
phases, and the Rodgers fulmar, with no dark phase, is recognized as
a distinct species. Hor reasons which I have briefly stated, under
that species, I doubt if the Rodgers fulmar will eventually prove to
be even subspecifically distinct from the Pacific. fulmar, as the
characters on which the former species is based can be accounted for
by age, seasonal or individual variations. This fact is beautifully
illustrated in the magnificent series of fulmars which Mr. Loomis
has accumulated in the collection of the California Academy: of
Sciences.
The Pacific fulmar may be correctly regarded as a subspecies of the
Atlantic bird, although one of the principal characters which sepa-
rates the two birds, the color of the bill, is very variable. Although
I have never seen the theory advanced, there are several good rea-
sons for regarding the dusky birds, of both oceans, as a distinet
species, rather than regarding them as dark phases. The color-
phase theory has always been a convenient method for disposing
of a problem which we could not otherwise solve, but I believe that
it should be used only when definitely proven. In this case we have
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 39
some good evidence to the contrary. Stejneger (1885) suggests
that:
There seems to be a decided difference in the geographical range of the two
phases in both oceans. It appears that the dark phase in both instances is a
particularly western bird, while the light-colored ones seem to have a more
eastern distribution.
If the dark form had occurred breeding in Iceland, where Faber found the
white one exceedingly numerous, he could scarcely have escaped mentioning
it. Nor does it seem to have been found in Saint Kilda by John Macgillivray,
and the form at present breeding on the Faer Islands seems also to be the
unmixed light phase. In the Pacific a similar distribution obtains, the dark
form being comparatively scarce on the American side, while it is by far the
predominating form on the Asiatic shore, at least as far south as Kamtschatka.
The dark phase has not been recorded from any of the breeding
places in Bering Sea, which is the basis for the belief that the so-
called Rodgers fulmar has no dark phase. If the dusky birds repre-
sent only a dark phase, it seems strange that they should have such
a different breeding range, which is not usually the case in well-
known color phases in other species. Furthermore, where the breed-
ing ranges of the two phases overlap, they do not intermingle and
have never been seen mated together. Stejneger (1885) says:
The dark phase was found by me on the Commander Islands in countless
numbers. In the colonies breeding on Bering Island not a single light bird
was to be seen, and the same was the case at the rookeries on the northern
part of Copper Island—for example, that close to the village. At Glinka, near
the southern extremity of the latter island, were found a few small white
colonies, but the percentage of the light-colored birds was quite trifling, as I
estimated it to be between 1 and 5 per cent.
In the light of what evidence we have, it seems to me more logical
to recognize a light and a dark species, each perhaps with Atlantic
and Pacific subspecies, and to eliminate rodgersi as not separable
from the light bird of the Pacific Ocean. —
Nesting—Very little has been published about the breeding habits
of the Pacific fulmar. It is supposed to breed on some of the
western Aleutian Islands, but although we cruised as far west as
Attu Island we did not even see any of the birds. We were unable
to visit Semichi Island where it is said to breed. Stejneger (1885)
found it breeding abundantly in the Commander Islands and has
given us the following account of it:
The fulmar is the first one of the nonresident water birds to arrive at the
rookeries in early spring, usually in March, the order of arrival being Fulmarus,
Uria arra, Lunda cirrhata, Fratercula corniculata. One specimen of the
white form was obtained on Bering Island, February 7, which would indicate
that the advance guard had already reached the islands by that time, or
else, what I am rather inclined to believe, that many of the birds pass the
winter on the open ocean not so very far from the shores they inhabit in
summer.
40 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
The “ glupisc! ” ig one of the commonest summer visitors to the islands, and
breeds in enormous numbers in suitable places, that is to say, in high and steep
rocky bluffs and promontories boldly rising out of the sea 300 to 800 feet
high, and J have spent hours under their rookeries listening to their whinnying
voice and watching their high and elegant flight in sailing out and, in and
around the cracked rocks like bees at an immense beehive. I have mentioned
above that nearly all the birds belonged to the dark phase, and that only
a very small percentage of white birds breed, apart from the dark ones, on
Copper Island.
Eggs:—I can not find anything distinctive in the eggs of this sub-
species, which are in every particular indistinguishable from those
of the Atlantic fulmar.
The measurements of 19 eggs, in. various collections, average 72.7
by 50 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 77.5
by 49.5,,72 by 52, 68 by 51.5, and 77.5 by 48 millimeters.
Plumages.—I have néver seen the downy young of this fulmar and
can not find any description of it in print, but probably it is similar
to that of the Atlantic subspecies. The sequence’ of plumages to
maturity and the seasonal molts are also probably the same.
Food.—Mr, A. W. Anthony (1895) gives a very good account
of the feeding habits of the fulmars on the California coast, which
I quote as follows:
Although mention has been made of their following fishing slcops, fish form
a very small part of their diet while on this coast. In fact, it is the exception,
I have never found small fish in the stomachs of those I have taken, nor
have I seen them catch fish for themselves, though I have no doubt regarding
their ability to do so should they fall in with a school of small herring or
anchovies, and from their associating with the flocks of shearwaters I infer
that they derive a part of their food from such schools of small fry when
they are common. There is, however, a large jelly fish (Medusa?) that is
usually abundant along this coast during the time of the fulmars’ sojourn,
and these are never disregarded by the ever hungry birds. I have often seen
a fulmar sitting on the water by the side of a jelly fish, part of whidh it
had eaten, so filled that it would scarcely move out of the way of the boat.
Specimens shot while these Afedusae are common TI have always found with
the stomach filled with these alone, and half a pint of the slimy mass will
often run from their mouths when lifted from the water by their feet.
1 think the fulmars enjoy a monopoly of this diet, for I have never seen
ether species eating it, nor sill gulls, nor any of the sea birds that I have
observed, pay any attention to a fulmar that is eating a Jelly fish though they all
claim their share if the food is of a kind that they care for.
The abundance of the fulmars off this coast would seem to have some rela-
tion to the abundance of the Medusae, since the winter of 1893-94 was noted
for the almost if not entire absence of fulmars as well as jelly fish until some
time in late February or March, when both jelly fish and fulmars appeared in
small numbers.
I have occasionally seen fulmars busily engaged in picking small crus-
tacea (?). from the kelp, but as a rule they prefer to obtain
water where they are much oftener seen than along the im
{Macroeystis pyrifera) and “bull kelp
their food in open
mense beds of kelp
(Nerecystis lutiena) that fringe the
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 4]
shores for miles along the southern coast. These kelp beds, however, acting
as barriers to drifting Medusae, often entangle a quantity of them, and for
the time being fulmars are common near shore. They will also follow the
shearwaters which at times drive schools of small fish into the kelp beds.
In diving for fish in competition with shearwaters they are badly handicapped;
their plumage being much less compact makes it not only more difficult for
them to get under the water but they can not dive so far nor swim so fast
below the surface as can the shearwaters,
Mr. C.-B. Linton (1908a) publishes the following short note on
the subject:
During February, 1908, I observed several Pacific fulmars (Fulmarus gla-
cialis glupischa), both light and dark phases, about the pleasure wharf at.
Long Beach, California. These birds were exceedingly tame, swimming about
within a few inches of the numerous fish lines and often making a dash for
the baited hooks as the fishermen cast them. Upon tossing a handful of fish
scraps overboard I was surprised to see the fulmars dive for the sinking pieces,
sometimes going two or three feet under water and bouncing almost clear of
the suface upon returning. They were also somewhat quarrelsome, fighting
fiercely over a fish, uttering a harsh rasping note the while.
Behavior—What has been said about the flight and behavior of
other fulmars would apply equally well to this subspecies. Cassin
(1858), in quoting from Doctor Pickering’s journal, says:
In alighting in the water, these birds take the same care in folding and
adjusting their wings, without wetting them, as the albatrosses. One was ob-
seryed to seize a Thalassidrome violently, and to hold it under water as if
for the purpose of drowning it, but whether the attempt succeeded or not was
not noticed. On the other hand, the small petrels do not appear to be afraid
of this species.
Mr. Anthony (1895) adds the following notes on the habits of
this fulmar off the California coast in winter:
There are often large schools of small fish on the surface, which attract large
numbers of sea birds, including the fulmars, and it is along this bank that
fulmars are to be found if anywhere near shore, They are hardly what one
would call gregarious, although several are often seen in company flying
along in a loose, straggling flock. More often they are seen in flocks of Puffinus
gavia, one or two in a flock of 50 shearwaters.
Unlike the shearwaters, however, they seldom pass a craft without turning
aside to at least make a circuit about it before flying on. If the vessel is a
fishing sloop sounding on the banks the chances are in favor of the shearwaters
being forgotten and allowed to disappear in the distance while the fulmar
settles lightly down on the water within a few yards of the fisherman. The
next fulmar that passes will, after having made the regulation circuit, join the
first until within a few minutes a flock of six or eight of these most graceful
and handsome petrels have collected, dancing about on the waves as light and
buoyant as corks. As the lines are hauled up after a successful sound, the
long string of often twenty to thirty golden-red fish are seen through the limpid
water while still several fathoms in depth, and great excitement prevails. Any
fulmars that have grown uneasy and have started out on the periodical circuit
of the craft immediately alight a few yards to the windward. Those that are
42 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
on the water and have drifted away hasten to the spot with wings outspread
and feet pattering along on the water.
It is more than likely that in hauling up the net one or more fish become de-
tached from the hooks; such fish, if loosened after having been raised twenty
fathoms, are sure to rise to the surface a few feet to the windward of the boat.
The pressure of the water being suddenly removed, the internal pressure be-
comes so greut that the fish is greatly distended and rises helpless to the surface.
With a hoarse croak and wings outspread the nearest fulmar pounces upon the
unfortunate cod, keeping all others at bay with threatening beak. A few hasty
snaps at the eyes or air bladder protruding from the mouth convinces him that
codfish are tough, and the first floater, if a large one, is abandoned for the
moment, for the second, should there be more than one, or for a snap at the bait
on the hooks,
Their excitement by this time has attracted the attention of several Western
and American herring gulls, which hover screaming over the sloop, too shy to
attempt to touch the fish while it is so near. Another ocean wanderer meantime
has arrived; a short-tailed albatross, Sweeping along, has noticed the commotion
among his lesser brethren, and with a groaning note settles down by the floating
fish, keeping all trespassers away by a loud clattering of mandibles; though not
infrequently a fulmar will dispute possession for some time with an albatross
before leaving a fish he has torn open, and I think a fulmar will usually rout
a Western gull entirely.
In attacking a fish under the above conditions the eyes and air bladder are
first eaten, after which the abdomen is torn open, if possible, and the entire
contents of the skin torn out piecemeal. I have, however, seen birds seated on
the water by the side of fish from which they had eaten the eyes, but were
unable to tear open the tough skin. ;
The bait on fish hooks left hanging over the sides of the boat is often taken
within a few feet of the fisherman, and birds are not infrequently hooked, much
to the disgust of both the fisherman and the bird. Their confidence in mankind
is at all times very great. I have several times seen them killed by Portuguese
fishermen who had but to drop a small piece of fish overboard and hit the bird
with a club when it swam up to get it.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—Coasts and islands of northeastern Asia. From
the Kurile and Commander Islands northward along the Kam-
chatka coast to East Cape, Siberia. The breeding range of rodgersi
might be added to this, as the two are probably the same species.
Winter range.—Northern portions of Pacific Ocean. South on the
American side to Lower California (San Geronimo Island), in the
Pacific Ocean to about 30° North and on the Asiatic side to Japan
(Yokohama). North to the Aleutian Islands and southern Bering
Sea, as far as open water extends.
‘Spring migration—Leaves southern California j il: Poi
Pinos, April 15; San Diego, April 26. eo Ean re
‘Fall migration—Karly dates of arrival: Alaska, Baranof Island,
September 6; British Columbia, Ilwaco, October 30 to November 10;
California, Monterey, October 13 (J uly and August records are for
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 12
St. Matthew Island, Alaska. A.C. Bent.
Semidi Island, Alaska. uae
Ropcers Futmar. Pieter
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 483
summer loiterers). Late dates of departure: Alaska, Point Barrow,
September 19; Herald Island, September 26.
Egg dates. _Kanitechatlon Four records, June 4 to 20. Semidi
Islands, Alaska: Two records, June 30 and J uly 1. Copper Island:
Two records, May 14.
FULMARUS RODGERSI Cassin.
RODGERS FULMAR,
HABITS.
A southwest gale in Bering Sea drove us to shelter under the lofty,
red granitic cliffs of Hall Island, the summer home of this boreal
fulmar. The sea was lashed to foam by the gale which cut off the
tops of the waves and sent them scudding along before it in a foamy
spray; off shore was a heavy bank of fog or dusky clouds, against
which was clearly outlined a beautiful aurora borealis, a complete
semicircle above the sea, a broad band of light showing all the colors
of the spectrum ; the sky above was clear blue; and over the frowning,
rocky cliffs of the island rolled heavy éleuds of fog, shrouding them
in misty haze and chilling us with the cold dampness of the snow-
drifts on the hills. The swift-winged murres and puffins, returning
to their nests, were flying high and made but slow progress against
the gale, but the fulmars gloried i in its fury and sailed at ease against
it under perfect control and with perfect mastery of its forces, The
fiercest storms at sea have no terrors for these birds; the treacherous
“-woolies,” terrific wind squalls, which sweep down without warning
over those forbidding cliffs, can not drive them from their homes.
There they sit upon their eggs and rear their young on narrow shelves
of rock, hundreds of feet perhaps, above the rough and stormy
Arctic sea.
Nesting—On July 9, 1911, we examined another large colony of
Rodgers fulmars at the north end of St. Matthew Island where
they were breeding in company with large numbers of Pallas murres
and a few California murres on the precipitous rocky cliffs which
towered for 200 or 300 feet above the sea. The murres were mostly
on the lower ledges but the fulmars were scattered all over the
higher ledges in inaccessible places on the perpendicular or over-
hanging cliffs. In a sheltered cove we found a landing place and
climbed up a steep slope in the valley of a little brook which had
cut its way under the snow banks to the sea. The hard snow banks
were preferable to the soft, muddy, and stony hillsides above, where
our toilsome ascent was gladdened by the sight of the pure white
Mackay snowflakes flitting about among the rocks and by the pro-
fusion of beautiful flowers in bloom on the grassy slopes. The sud-
44 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
den transition from snowdrifts to flowers is one of the charms of an
arctic summer. On the crest of the cliffs it was blowing so hard that
it seemed dangerous to venture too near the edge, but I crawled down
into a sheltered gully where I could watch the graceful fulmars sail-
ing in and out below me, to and from their nesting ledges, or see
them bedded in a large flock offshore. Besides the murres betow,
they had other neighbors; little groups of horned puffins, pigeon
guillemots and paroquet auklets were sitting on the ledges all about
me or flying to and from their nests in the crevices in the rocks
As the fulmars flew below me I could plainly see the mottled back,
supposed to be the character of rodgersi,; there were also many plain
light birds and a great variety of color patterns, which raised the
question in my mind whether the so-called characters of this species
represent anything more than individual variations in Fulmarus
glacialis glupischa.
The fulmars were sitting on their nests, or rather on their single
eggs, for they build no nests. The eggs were laid on the bare rock,
wherever suitable ledges or little shelves were available, but they
were widely scattered. Many incubating birds were in sight at
various points, but none of the eggs were accessible or even approach-
able. I had to be content with distant views. Once I saw what I
thought was a courtship performance; a bird, presumably a female,
was sitting on a ledge when a male flew up and alighted beside her;
with his beak wide open and his head thrown back until it pointed
straight upwards, he slowly waved his head from side to side utter-
ing a soft, guttural, croaking note; after this short ceremony the
pair sat quietly together on the ledge for some time.
For nearly all of our knowledge regarding the nesting habits of
the Rodgers fulmar we are indebted to Mr. Henry W. Elliott (1880) ;
the following extract from his notes has been often quoted :
This is the only representative of the Procellarinae I have seen on or about
the Pribylov Islands. It repairs to the cliffs, especially on the south and east
shores of St. George; comes very early in the season, and selects some rocky
shelf, Secure from all enemies save man, where, making no nest whatever,
but squatting on the rock itself, it lays a single, large, white, oblong-oval egg,
and immediately commences the duty and the labor of incubation. It is of
all the water-fowl the most devoted to its charge, for it will not be scared
from the egg by any demonstration that may be made in the way of throwing
rocks or yelling, and it will even die as it sits rather than take flight, a9
T have frequently witnessed. The fulmar lays about the 1st to the 5th at
June. The egg is very palatable, fully equal to that of our domestic duck;
indeed, it is somewhat like it. The natives prize them highly, and hence
they undertake at St. George to gather their eggs by a method and a sus-
pension supremely hazardous, as they lower themselves over cliffs five to seven
hundred feet above the water. The Sensation experienceg by myself, when
dangled over these precipices attached to a Slight thong of raw-hide with the
surf boiling and churning three or four hundred feet below, and loose rocks
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 45
rattling down from above, any one of which was sufficient to destroy life
should it have struck me, is not a sensation to be expressed adequately by
language; and, after having passed through the ordeal, I came to the surface
perfectly satisfied with what I had called the improvidence of the Aleuts.
They have quite sufficient excuse in my mind to be content with as few
fulmar eggs as possible. The lupus, laying so early as the 1st of June, is
the only rival that the cormorant has with reference to early incubation.
Eggs—tLike other fulmars this species lays but one egg, which is
said to be more elongated than those of other species and somewhat
rougher. I can not find any constant difference between the eggs
of this so-called species and those of the Pacific fulmar, though the
eggs of both seem to average smaller than those of the Atlantic
bird. :
The measurements of 16 eggs, supposed to be rodgersi, average
72.8 by 49 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
7'7.2 by 50, 75.2 by 61, 68 by 47.2, and 70.2 by 45 millimeters.
Pliinages—Mtr. Elliott ( 1880) says:
The chick comes out a perfect puffball of white down, and gains its first
plumage in about six weeks. It is dull, gray-black at first, but by the end of
the season it becomes like the parents in coloration, only much darker on the
back and scapularies.
This statement is somewhat at variance with my experience, for
specimens of young fulmars, collected by our expedition on St.
Matthew Island on September 15, 1911, show the molt from the
white natal down directly into a light-colored plumage resembling
the adult. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) mentions seeing young birds in
both light and dark stages of plumages in September and October,
but I am inclined to think that these represented light and dark
phases, in spite of the fact that this species is said to have no dark
phase. There is much yet to be learned about the molts and plum-
ages of the fulmars, and large series of birds have yet to be collected
and studied before these can be understood and before the validity
of this and other forms can be definitely established. I very much
doubt if Fulmarus rodgersi will finally prove to be, even subspecifi-
cally, distinct from Fulmarus glacialis.
Food.—The food of this and other fulmars consists. of whatever
fragments of animal food can be picked up on the surface of the sea;
it shows a decided preference for oily substances.
Doctor Nelson (1887) says:
They gather about a whale carcass and drink the large globules of oil which
cover the sea, sometimes for miles, about a decaying cetacean. In Plover Bay,
Siberia, on one occasion, we noticed the oil thus floating about in the morning,
and in the afternoon a fulmar was shot from which ran a considerable quantity
of putrid oil when the bird was taken up by the feet.
Wherever a walrus or other sea animal is killed the fulmars will
congregate and gather up blood, grease, and floating fragments of
46 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
soft flesh. They also follow ships to some extent to pick up bits of
offal thrown overboard. :
Behavior —My first view of a fulmar in flight was a pleasing sur-
prise, for I never imagined that so short and heavy a bird, as it
appears in a dry skin, could be so light and graceful on the wing.
Its long, slender, pointed wings, give it the appearance of a small
albatross, but its characteristic flight is shown in the frequent periods
of rapid wing strokes, almost as rapid-as those of a duck, with which
it rises or turns into the wind, followed by a long scaling flight
slightly downward on outstretched wings. Its short, thickset body
and its peculiar flight are quite distinctive. Fulmars rest lightly on .
the water, swimming easily and buoyantly; they can ordinarily rise
readily from the surface, but in calm weather they experience some
difficulty. They are great wanderers, of restless habits, and are
seldom seen near land except in the vicinity of their breeding
grounds.
Fulmars are usually silent; the only sounds I ever heard from
them were the soft, gutteral croaking love notes, on their breeding
grounds. Mr. Elliott (1880) says:
I have never heard it utter a sound, save a low, droning croak when dis-
gorging food for its young.
Winter.—During the southward movement in the early fall the ful-
mars often gather in large numbers, associating with the shearwaters
and other ocean birds, in localities where whales are abundant, par-
ticularly in the passes among the Aleutian Islands, after which they
scatter for the winter over the broad expanse of the north Pacific
Ocean.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—The breeding range of this supposed species
includes the islands in northern Bering Sea (the Pribilof, St.
Matthew, Hall, and St. Lawrence Islands) and in the Arctic Ocean
(Wrangel and Herald Islands). In the author’s opinion this is
part of the range of the Pacific fulmar, from which this species
should not be separated. The winter ranges and migrations of the
two seem to be identical. Breeding grounds protected in Bering
Sea and Pribilof reservations.
Egg dates.—Pribilof Islands: Two records, May 28 and J 28
Saint Matthew Island: One record, July 9. ee) ~—
PRIOCELLA ANTARCTICA (Stephens).
SLENDER-BILLED FULMAR,
HABITS,
This fulmar was described by Audubon (1840) from a
taken by Doctor Townsend, “within a day’s sail from t Specimen.
he mouth
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 47
of the Columbia River. Its habits are very similar to those of
Procellaria capensis, keeping constantly around the vessel, and fre-
quently alighting in her wake for the purpose of feeding. They
are easily taken with a hook baited with pork, and at times, par-
ticularly during a gale, they are so tame as almost to allow them-
selves to be taken with the hand. The stomachs of most of those
that I captured were found to contain a species of sepia and grease.”
Audubon referred to it as “common,” but no other living specimens
have ever been recorded from our coasts and subsequent develop-
ments have shown that it is an antarctic species and that Doctor
Townsend’s specimens were rare stragglers from southern oceans,
The silvery-gray fulmar or “cape dove,” as it has been called,
is now well known as a species of wide distribution in Antarctic seas,
where it replaces to a certain extent our common fulmar of the north
Atlantic Ocean. Godman (1907) gives a long list of localities where
it has been seen or taken and then says:
It will be seen from the above list of localities that the species is found in
the neighbourhood of the Antarctic pack ice from August to March, and I
am of Dr. Wilson’s opinion that it is a migratory bird, as it has been observed
in the southern seas during the summer months, December, January, and
February, while its farthest northern records occur during the southern winter,
when it retires to the open sea. It will therefore be noticed that P. glacialoides
does not habitually frequent the ice, but keeps almost entirely to the open
ocean.
Nesting.—Our knowledge of its breeding habits is exceedingly
fragmentary and quite unsatisfactory. Perhaps its principal breed-
ing grounds have never been found. Dr. E. A. Wilson (1907) says:
Kerguelen Island is supposed to be a breeding place. Nothing appears to
be known of its breeding habits; the Scottish expedition were unable to find
it nesting, though they strongly suspected that it bred on the north side of
Laurie Island; nor were we in the Discovery any more successful. I can only -
suggest the Balleny Islands as a possible nesting place, but if the bird breeds
upon Kerguelen Islands it is much more likely that the more northern sub-
Antarctic islands will prove eventually to harbour them.
Gould (1841) writes:
I am informed that it arrives in Georgia in September for the purpose of
breeding, and that it lays its eggs in holes in the precipices overhanging the
sea. On the approach of winter it is said to retire from that island.
More recent explorations in Antarctic lands by Sir Douglas Mawson
(1914) and by various members of his party have discovered what
are probably the main breeding grounds of this species. Their ac-
counts are decidedly fragmentary, but they demonstrate beyond
doubt that the “silver-grey petrel,” or “southern fulmar,” as they
call it, breeds at extreme southern latitudes, on the very edge of the
Antarctic ice and snow. At Penguin Point, on Adelie Land, they
found these birds nesting in hundreds on December 31, 1912. Here
48 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the coast, even in summer, is almost concealed in perpetual ice and
snow; only occasional outcroppings of rocky ledges protrude
through the heavy banks of snow or glaciers on the land; and only
here and there the summits of rocky islets appear above the sea
ice. The larger islands off this coast, which are surrounded by
water in summer, furnish suitable breeding grounds for large colo-
nies of this and other species, such as Antarctic petrels, Wilson
petrels, pintado petrels, McCormick skuas, and various penguins,
One of the most populous colonies was on Haswell Island, where,
during the first three days in December, “ the silver-grey or southern
fulmar petrels were present in large numbers, especially about the
steep northeastern side of the island. Though they were mated,
laying had scarcely commenced, as we found only two eggs. They
made small grottoes in the snowdrifts, and many pairs were seen
billing and cooing in such shelters.” #
Stillwell Island, a large, high, rocky island, a few miles off the
coast of Adelie Land, was visited on December 30, 1918. During
the previous summer, two of the eastern sledging parties had for
the first time observed the breeding habits of these birds among
isolated rocks outcropping on the edge of the coast. But here
there was a stronghold of hundreds of petrels, sitting on their eggs
in niches among the boulders or ensconced in bowers excavated be-
neath the snow, which lay deep over some parts of the island.
Food.—Godman (1907) says:
It feeds on dead animal matter, when it can be procured, and Dr. Townsend
found in the stomach of a bird that he examined some oil and the remains of
a cuttle fish.
Behavior—Regarding its flight and behavior, Gould (1841)
observes :
It is a taine, sociable, and silent bird, and often settles on the water. When
thus ‘resting it might from a distance be mistaken, owing to the general color
of its plumage, for a gull.
Godman (1907) says:
It is said to fly higher above the water and to rest more frequently than the
smaller species.
And Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes me as follows:
The cape dove, or slender-billed fulmar, is much rarer on the South Seas
than the cape pigeon, with which it is practically identical in flight and habits,
being equally fearless, eager for scraps, and easily caught with hook and line.
A light mark near the end of its wing, conspicuous in flight, suggest the
stronger, not dissimilarly placed white mark of the more boldly colored cape
pigeon.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Reported as breeding on Louis Philippe Land
(Cape Roquemaurel) and known to breed abundantly on Adelie
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 49
Land and on islands near it (Stillwell and Haswell Islands).
Breeding records for islands off the coasts of Chile and Patagonia
are probably erroneous.
Range.—Southern oceans and Antarctic seas, mainly between 30°
and 70° south, and circumpolar. Ranging north in the Atlantic
Ocean to Saint Helena Island and in the Pacific Ocean as far north
as Peru (Mazorca Island). South in Weddell Sea to 71° 22’ South;
also to the edge of the pack ice on the Antarctic lands.
Casual records.—Accidental off the west coast of Mexico (Mazat-
lan) and off the coast of Oregon (Audubon’s record).
_ Egg dates——Adelie Land: December 1 to 31.
DAPTION CAPENSE (Linnacus).
PINTADO PETREL,
HABITS.
The pintado petrel or cape pigeon, as it is called by the sailors, is
a familiar bird to everyone who has navigated the southern oceans,
where it is one of the most widely distributed and most abundant
species of all the Zudinares. Both of its names are appropriate,
pintado because of the striking color pattern with which it is painted
and pigeon because of its resemblance in appearance and behavior to
our familiar domestic fowl. Sir Walter Buller (1888) gives us the
following vivid picture. of this bird on the wing:
I do not know any more pretty sight than to watch the cape pigeons on the
wing. They move about with such absolute command of wing, presenting to
the observer alternately their snow-white breast and then their prettily marked
upper surface, the whole set off by their sooty black head and neck, that they
look like large painted moths hovering in the air. The eye never tires of fol-
lowing them and noting their ever-varying evolutions, all performed with the
utmost ease and gracefulness. Unlike the albatrosses and other sea birds which
exhibit a considerable amount of individual variation, one is struck with the
wonderful uniformity in the plumage of these birds. All have the same
freckled and spotted back and rump, and the same broad splash of white on the
upper surface of each wing. There is no transition plumage from the young
to the adult states, and no difference observable between the sexes.
Nesting. —Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (1906) seems to have given us the
best account of the breeding habits of this species, as follows:
Although the cape petrel or “cape pigeon” is one of the most familiar birds
to voyagers in the southern oceans, and one, too, that has been known since the
days of Dampier (that is to say, since the closing years of the 17th century),
‘yet the eggs remained entirely unknown until December 2, 1903, when Dr.
‘Pirie took ‘the first specimens at the South Orkneys.
‘The three nests from which eggs were then obtained were placed on open
exposed ledges of cliffs on the west side of Uruguay Cove, Laurie I., at heights
of from twenty to a hundred feet above sea level. The nests were composed of
a few small angular fragments of rock and a little earth,.and contained single
50 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
eggs which were quite fresh. When approached, the sitting birds ejected an
evil-smelling reddish fluid composed of the semidigested yemains of crustaceans
of the genus Euphausia. It was extremely disagreeable to the collector to re
ceive it in his face when peering over a ledge, and the odor of it was found
to cling to clothes for a very long time. The birds can squirt this fluid with
great precision for a distance of six or eight feet. They did not leave their
nests readily, and even allowed themselves to be captured while sitting. The
pure white eggs seemed very large for the size of the bird.
On December 3 three more eggs were obtained. There were six nests on the
ledge where they were found, but three of them were empty. On the following
day about two dozen eggs were taken on the cliffs under Mount Ramsay, and
on the 5th some fifty eggs were found on the cliffs on the east side of Uruguay
Cover. The birds seemed to be of a sociable nature, for several were frequently
found nesting near to each other on the same ledge, but isolated nests were not
uncommon.
The work of collecting the eggs of this species proved to be such an unpleasant
business, owing to its nasty methods of defense already alluded to, that a long
ski pole was used. With this the birds were pushed off their nests and the eggs
secured without the captor being defiled. When thus removed they took short
flights and then alighted near the nest. Both birds were often found sitting
side by side (one on the nest and the maté close alongside) and cooing and
clucking to each other, though not to the same extent as during the month
previous, when courtship was in full swing. :
On December 12th more eggs were procured from the locality in which they
were obtained on the 5th, and the nests robbed on that day, though still empty,
were covered by sitting birds. On January 18th, 1904, a fresh egg marked on
December 2d was found chipped, so that the period of incubation was not less
than forty-two days. On January 18th a chick five days old was taken for a skin,
and young b‘rds were still in down on February 5th, after which date the state
of the ice did not permit of further observations being made ere the expedi-
tion left for the far south.
It was noted that before laying its eggs this petrel sits close on the nest for
about a month, and it was also observed that it entirely d'sappeared from its
nesting haunts for some ten days before the first eggs were laid.
The eggs vary from oval to elongate-ovate in form. Taking two extreme
forms, I find their dimensions to work out as follows: Oval type, 56.5x43 mm.;
elongate-ovate type, 67.2x43.8 mm. The average of a large number of specimens
is 62.35x43.11 mm. The length varies from 56.5 to 67.2 mm. and in breadth from
46.5 to 40.5 mm.
The numerous nests found were placed either on ledges of cliffs, or, though
these were few, in hollows in the earth and among small stones on steep scree-
slopes, and all were quite open. These are noteworthy facts, for the nests (con-
taining young) found previous to the discoveries of the Scottish expedition were
obtained in burrows and grottoes on the Island of Kerguelen. There is little
doubt that the cape petrel breeds at South Georgia, and Mr. Mossman tells me
that he saw it in numbers off Deception I., one of the South Shetlands, in the
height of the nesting season.
About 20,000 resort to Laurie I. for nesting purposes, and: they are found in
hundreds all round the coast. In Uruguay Cove alone there were over one
hundred accessible nests, and many others were out of reach. They also nest on
Saddle I., where both young and old were obtained on February 4th, 1908, and
are doubtless abundant throughout the other islands of the Archipelago, which
may be regarded as a metropolis of the species, :
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 51
Mr. Robert Hall (1900), who found the pintado petrel breeding on
Kerguelen Island, says:
At Accessible Bay (Betsy Cove) on February 7th I observed four nests, each
one with one young partially covered with down. The nests were in the cavities
of a rough cliff and were s'mply hollows, without any attempt to place weeds in
them. I saw adults sitting in a sheltered nook, without egg or young; and one
of these birds was placing little stones, one by one, around it with the bill, as
if to make the nesting place comfortable. The instinct of the bird evidently is
to collect something to make a nest, but it is almost lost, and the few stones in
all the nests were of no use, so far as I could see. These cavities or grottoes
(approximately 6x3x3 feet) were about 50 feet above the sea level, and by
stooping I could get inside them, except in one case. A little climb brought me
to an old bird, which clucked and made its trill; and I surprised another on its
nest, but it did not fly, though it vigorously defended its young, and jumped back-
ward and forward. I kept a respectful distance from the young one, as ‘it
had an unknown supply of oily matter. In each of these nests was a young
bird, partially in down, about as large as the parents, and in the day time
each of them was attended by one parent. The young may be described thus :—
Length 12.75 inches; down, generally grayish above, grayish white below; bill
black.
Plumages.—Mr. Clarke (1906) adds the following notes on the
development of the plumage:
The chick in down, five days old, taken on January 18th, 1904, is slate-grey
above, and paler and sooty on the under surface.
A young bird obtained at Saddle I. on February 4th, 1908, has the head and
body clad in down, with feathers developing on the wings and scapulars,
The down on the upper surface is sooty (darker on the head and cheeks)
and paler and greyish on the under parts. The wing-quills, the largest of
which are 2 inches in length, are black, some of them with the inner webs
white towards the base. The feathers of the scapulars are black and: white.
There are no signs of tail feathers. Wing 8 inches.
The mature birds from the South Orkneys and the Weddell Sea present
two types of plumage. The first of these, which perhaps represents old birds
in weathered dress, were captured towards the end of summer (in February) ;
and in them the dark portions of the plumage are blackish with a brown
cast, the head alone being black; the feathers of the mantle have whitish
bases; and the marginal and lesser coverts show less white than in the next
form. In the second type the dark portion of the plumage is slate-black, and
the bases of the feathers of the mantle are dusky. Specimens in this phase
were obtained early in the autumn (late in March), and are either in new
or first plumage. A male captured on the nesting ledges on December 3rd,
1903, is intermediate in plumage between these two forms.
Food.—Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes to me that:
This species is preeminent among the southern birds for the eagerness with
which it picks up scraps from the galley, and its readiness to take a hook
baited with the standard salt pork. After being on deck a few minutes it
regurgitates a rank oil. Like its relatives it usually comes about a ship most
fearlessly in heavy weather. As the wind moderates, I have seen a little
flock of them lose their appetite, settle on the water and busy themselves
preening their feathers, only rising from time to time to catch up with the
ship. Some bathed more or less after the manner of land birds.
52 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Though generally silent ‘when offshore, when squabbling for food the Cape
Pigeon at times gives a grating chatter. It occasionally will plunge almost
or quite under water after some tit-bit, but usually sits on or flutters eagerly
along the surface when feeding.
Dr. E. A. Wilson (1907) says:
No other petrel is so common in the Southern Oceans, and probably no other
is so easily taken by thread entanglements. It feeds upon minute crustaceans,
most of which appear to be coloured with the bright orange pigment that is
so marked a feature in those animals. They are freely ejected in a mucoid
orange-coloured mess when the bird is caught and handled, and the same
objectionable habit is. said to be indulged in when the birds are disturbed
upon their nests, six or even eight feet being given as the distance to which
it can be ejected, and with great precision,
Mr. Hall (1900) says of its feeding habits:
The cape pigeon is a fearless bird. In Greenland Harbor I observed them
in flocks of from 20 to 30, and at Accessible Bay: found their nests. When
the seal-skins were being towed by the small boat, a flock of 17 would sit on
the water around the floating skins and vigorously peck at their edges to get
as much fat as possible, using all their energy in the work, and “ clucking”
rapidly and tremulously. ;
Behavior —Referring to the behavior of the pintado petrel, Gould
(1865) says:
This martin among the petrels is extremely tame, passing immediately under
the stern and settling down close to the sides of the ship, if fat of any kind or
other oily substance be thrown overboard. Swims lightly, but rarely exercises
its natatorial powers except to procure food, in pursuit of which it occasionally
dives for a moment or two. Nothing can be more graceful than its motions
while on the wing, with the neck shortened, and the legs entirely hidden among
the feathers of the under tail coverts.
Earlier he wrote (1841) :
Their flight is not rapid, but elegant; and as these prettily mottled birds skim
the surface of the water in graceful curves, constantly following the vessel as
she drives onward in her course, they afford a spectacle which is beheld by
everyone with interest. Although often Spending the whole day on the wing,
yet, on a fine moonlight night, I have repeatedly seen these birds following the
wake of a vessel, with their usual graceful evolutions.
Mr. J. T. Nichols hag sent me the following notes on this petrel:
The strongly marked, usually omnipresent cape pigeon is the most conspicuous
and best known pelagic bird of the southern temperate oceans. A Sailing ship
in these regions is commonly attended by about half a dozen of them, crossing
her wake, hanging above and to one side of her high stern deck, circling about
her. One swings out until almost lost to view in the ocean distances, to come
circling back about the ship again. :
Rounding -the Horn in a merchant sailin
were seen daily almost without exception
westerly winds was entered from the north
hind going north in the Pacific, I have seen
the same individuals of this or other species
g ship on one occasion when they
from the time when the region of
in the Atlantic until it was left be-
nothing to lead me to suppose that
stayed with the ship for many days
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 53
in succession. My observations rather foster the belief that the personnel is
constantly changing. The number of birds varies from day to day, and on sev-
eral occasions when birds with some peculiar mark, which would not be readily
duplicated, have been noted, they have not been seen again. Furthermore, I
have so frequently had intelligent persons (obviously in error, or quite un-
justified in their convictions) point out sea birds as having followed a ship for
long periods, that I have become very sceptical of such assertions.
The cape pigeon has something the build of the domestic bird, the name of
which it bears, being stockier than the shearwaters. Its flight is more truly
sailing than that of any northern bird known to me, and typical of the southern
sailing Tubinares. It flaps its wings much less frequently than the shearwaters,
though at times with a good breeze these also scud over and among the waves
for considerable periods on stiff, motionless wings. In the high winds which
predominate on the seas it inhabits, one may watch an individual cape pigeon
in the air for a long time without seeing a flap of the wings. In more moderate
breezes it not infrequently gives them a few flaps. Like other sailing petrels,
it often leans to one side as it goes, usually turning toward the down wing.
Relating to what Mr. Nichols says about certain individual birds
following a ship, Captain Hutton (1865) was “informed by Lieuten-
ant Weld, R. N., that a cape pigeon, with a piece of red ribbon round
its neck, once followed the ship he was in for 1,500 miles.”
Mr. Robert C. Murphy (1914) made the following observations on
this species:
They ran like albatrosses—that is, foot after foot—along the surface when
launching into flight. They followed a trailing bait by setting their wings as
gliders, keeping the breast just an inch or so above the sea, and propelling
themselves with rapid, alternating strokes of their feet. In this manner they
sometimes covered long distances without an apparent beat of the wings.
The birds rarely, if ever, flew ‘directly before the wind, but either took it
“on the quarter” or else headed into it, raised the body axis, and allowed
themselves to be carried backward like a kite. The last method was regu-
larly adopted by Petrella capensis, flocks of these birds covering considerable
distances tail foremost.
Godman (1907) refers to the notes of this species as follows:
The cape pigeon, unlike most of its allies, utters a distinct cry, strong and
raucous—cac-cac, cac-cac, cac—increasing in rapidity, but during the period
of courtship the birds coo and cluck, and continue, Dr. Pirie says, their love-
note, though to a less degree, throughout the period of incubation. They make
a great noise when attacking a dead seal, the fat of wuich they are very fond.
Winter._At the close of the breeding season in May these. petrels
migrate northward or move away from their breeding places, to
which they do not return again until about the first of October. In
the meantime they wander widely over the southern oceans, but
seldom venture as far north as the Equator. What few specimens
have been taken in Europe and-North America were either rare
stragglers from southern seas or were perhaps brought north by
sailors as pets and released.
83969—22—5
54 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—Antarctic seas. Breeds in the South Orkney,
South Shetland, South Georgia, and Kerguelen Islands; also on
islands of Adelie Land; probably also on Snares and Antipodes
Islands and on Victoria Land. :
Range.—Widely extended throughout southern oceans around the
world. North in the Atlantic Ocean to the Tropic of Capricorn
(Sao Paulo, Brazil) ; in the Pacific Ocean to about 5° South (Payta,
Peru), and occasionally farther north (16° North, Acapulco) ; and
in the Indian Ocean to the vicinity of Ceylon. South in Antarctic
seas to about 76° South.
Casual records.—Accidental in Maine (Harpswell, Casco Bay,
September, 1876), off the California coast (opposite Monterey), in
Great Britain (Dublin, October 30, 1881, Bournemouth, 1894, and
Cardigan, Wales, October, 1879), and in France (Bercy). There are
some other European records.
Egg dates—South Orkney Islands: Three records, December 4
and 5; one record each, April 12 and May 12. South Shetland
Islands: One record, December 14. Adelie Land: One record, De-
cember 2.
CALONECTRIS KUHLII BOREALIS Cory.
CORY SHEARWATER,
HABITS.
The Chatham bars, dangerous, shifting sand shoals, guard the
entrance to a broad and placid bay at the elbow of Cape Cod which
is separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of beach many miles
long, known as Nauset Beach and made famous by Thoreau. Ex-
posed to the unbroken swell of the Atlantic Ocean these bars are
nearly always white with combing breakers and during easterly
storms are seething masses of foam and flying spray, beautiful to
look upon, but much dreaded ‘by sailors, as they have proved to be
the graveyard of many a good ship. Only during the smoothest
weather do the fishermen dare to venture out across the bars to their
fishing grounds offshore. Many a time have I joined them on their
trips in their staunch catboats, picking our way safely among the
bars, leaving the gulls and terns behind us as the land faded in the
distance. When safely over the bars we could feel the gentle ground
swell of the ocean and begin to look for the gliding forms of the
shearwaters, the slender winged ocean wanderers. We were seldom
disappointed, for this is a famous summer resort for Tubinares and
the birthplace of the, so called, species Puffinus borealis. Here on
October 11, 1880, Mr. Charles B. Cory (1881) obtained the type speci-
men from which he described the species,
PL. 13
121
BULLETIN
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
“UBmLIouUsg “VY ‘d
O6S 30vVd 338 NOldINOsSad 4O3
"HaLVMYVSHS AYOD
“spueys] Aveuep ‘usueuuBg *y “Cd “spurysy Arvurg
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 55
Although the Cory shearwater has stood, unchallenged as a distinct
species, for all these years, it is now generally recognized as a sub-
species of the Mediterranean shearwater, Calonectris kuhlii. There
are now three recognized subspecies of this species, C. kuhli kuhlid in
the Mediterranean, C. kuhliit edwardsi breeding in the Cape Verde
Islands and C. kuhlii flavirostris, or C. kuhlii borealis, as it should be
called, breeding in the Canary Islands and the Azores and migrating
to the North American coast. As the latter is the bird which belongs
on the American list, I shall quote freely from what has been pub-
lished about its habits.
Nesting.—Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant (1905) gives the following ac-
count of the breeding habits of this species in the Azores, under the
name, Pufiinus kuhlii flavirostris (Gould) :
This shearwater is very common throughout the seas of the Azores, and dur-
ing our journeys between the different islands we steamed through large flocks
either resting on the water, or skimming over the waves, in their characteristic
manner. The greatest number were to be seen about the central group of islands,
especially round Graciosa, San Jorge, Pico, and Fayal. We saw none in the
neighborhood of Corvo, and though we sent men in the middle of April to several]
places on Flores where these shearwaters were known to breed, we were un:
able to procure specimens. Toward the end of May, during our stay at San
Roque, on the north coast of Pico, numbers of “ cagarros” had arrived at their
breeding-places in the rocks below the village and flew over our house at night
uttering their weird ery.
When we visited Santa Maria early in March we procured a few specimens
eaptured in the holes in the rocks on Villa Islet, but at that season only a small
number were to be found in their breeding haunts. On our return, however, te
that island on June 1st we found a large colony had arrived, and nearly all thr
nesting holes contained a bird sitting on its single white egg, which was either
fresh or only slightly incubated. On the Cabras or Goat Islets, off the south of
Terceira, which we visited on May 30th, about a dozen birds were found sitting,
but many nesting places were still empty, and the fishermen who accompanied
us said that a little later the “ cagarros ” swarm on these rocks. Another large
breeding station is on the small island of Praya, off Graciosa, but owing to the
impossibility of landing in a heavy sea we were unable to visit the spot in per-
son, though we subsequently secured a number of birds caught by some fishermen
sent for the purpose.
Mr. David A. Bannerman (1914) has given us a very full and
interesting account of the distribution and habits of this shearwater
in the Canary Islands, from which I quote, as follows:
A little to the east of Mount Amarilla, just above high watermark, lies
a mass of huge boulders piled up one upon another, over the top of which loose
sand has drifted, the whole being closely overgrown with a scrubby plant.
Small gaps are left between the boulders, and through one of these we managed
to squeeze; once inside, our electric torches revealed low caves, into which
we had to crawl on hands and knees, and from which a network of subter-
ranean passages led in all directions. In these dark recesses, abounding in
nooks and crannies, the large shearwaters were sitting. The glare of the
torches dazzled their eyes as they shuffled into crevices and behind loose rocks
56 BULLETIN 121, UNITED. STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
in their vain endeavor. to escape from the brilliant light. No nest of any
description was attempted by the birds in these caves.
Another colony had chosen a very different. situation on the plain east of
Mount Amarilla, about a quarter of a mile from the sea. Here the birds were
nesting in burrows in the earth, which was so hard that it abselutely resisted
our attempts to dig out the occupants with a sharp-pointed spade. I imagine
the shearwaters had excavated these burrows themselves, as there are no
rabbits on Graciosa whose holes they could make use of. I only found one
other small colony on Graciosa, where the birds nested in burrows which like
wise were too difficult to excavate. ;
Not content with nesting round the coasts, these birds had resorted in num-
bers to two of the volcanoes. A few nests were found amongst the lumps
of loose lava on the summit of Montana Bermeja (550 feet), but a consider-
ably larger colony was discovered on the eastern slopes of the big central vol-
cano (Montana de las Agujas). Here, at an altitude of 300 to 600 feet the
face of the crater was honeycombed with caves, in almost all of which birds
were nesting. As this was the most interesting of all the various sites chosen,
I will give a short description of my visit on June the 1st. Two fisher lads
acted as guides, and after a weary climb up 600 feet of loose crumbling lava,
we gained the entrance to the largest cave, which measured 6 by 3 feet. At
one end of this outer cave a narrow tunnel ran into the heart of the mountain,
through which, by lying full length, it was just possible to squeeze; after
being pulled in front and pushed behind for some fifteen yards, I at last found
myself in another small cave, with yet another tunnel leading out of it at
right angles to the last. This second tunnel’ was a little wider, but twisted
and turned in the most bewildering manner, gradually opening out into a
good-sized cavern which must have been quite twenty yards from the entrance.
All the large holes and crevices in the walls of this cave had been utilized by
the shearwaters. A very large number must resort to this particular spot.
At this distance from the fresh air an indescribable smell of petrel greeted
our nostrils. The floors of both caves and passages, which were composed of
erushed lava, were thickly strewn with the feathers of the birds, and I was
unlucky in finding all the occupants out at sea. They had not yet commenced
to lay, at any rate in this cave, but we had obtained a fair number of eggs
from other parts of the island.
Eggs.—The eggs of the Cory shearwater vary considerably in size
and shape but are indistinguishable from those of the closely related
Mediterranean birds. The shape varies from ovate or even pointed
ovate to elliptical ovate. The color is pure white. The shell is
smooth, though slightly pitted, and without luster.
The measurements of 70 eggs, from the Canaries and the Desertas,
collected for me by Rev. F C. R. Jourdain, average 75.30 by 50.3
millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 83 by 48,
79 by 55, 66 by 47, and 73.5 by 45 millimeters
Behavior.—Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) writes of the habits of this
species on the Salvages:
Our arrival on Great Salvage apparently caused great excitement among
the bird inhabitants, our tent being a special object of wonder, the pardelas, or
Mediterranean shearwaters, being especially bold and noisy in their greeting.
The high voleani¢ rocks surrounding the south bay are full of miniature caves,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 57
in most of which a pair of the pardelas had their home, and toward sunset
the whole population turned out, wheeling and screaming around our encamp-
ment and offering the most tempting rocketing shots as they swept over the
high rocks above us.
‘The male, in a harsh guttural voice, cried “ia-gow-a-gow-a-gow,” and the
female chimes in “ia-ia-ia,” and it may be imagined that with thousands of these
miscreants circling close round our tent during the entire night, tired as we were,
sleep was almost impossible on the first evening of our stay. During: the whole
a our visit we used every night to be mobbed by these noisy birds. The
“march past,” as we called it, generally commenced about six and continued
with unabated zest till we turned in about 10.30 and heard no more. In
spite of the tempting shots they offered, we killed very few of these birds,
only such as we required for specimens; but our men were not so sparing,
for they used every day to catch numbers for food (they skinned and boiled
them!) and took back sackfuls to Las Palmas, where, when salted, they are
much esteemed by the Spanish fishermen, = !
The pardela breeds late, and though during the daytime we found most of
the birds in pairs in their rocky nesting chambers, we never procured a. single
egg. Enormous numbers of the young are collected by the Portuguese fisher-
men every autumn, being valued for their oil and downy feathers. The oil is
of poor quality, and, as we were informed, is chiefly used for dressing coal
sacks. The happy couples greatly’ resent being disturbed in their nesting
cavities, and unless extracted without hesitation retaliate by biting with great
vigor, their curved bills, with their sharp, cutting edges, being apt to leave
an ugly wound on those unskilled in the mode of handling them.
Though the majority pass the day in the holes in the rocks, many also rest
at sea and may be seen in flocks floating quietly on the surface at most
hours of the day. On our return journey the Pedro ran right over one of
these shearwaters ‘sleeping peacefully with its head under its wing, but beyond
a rough awakening it flew off apparently none the worse. On several occasions,
when sitting in our camp by lantern light, skinning the, birds collected during
the day, we were startled by one of these great shearwaters dashing into our
midst like some great white moth dazzled by the light. Fortunately none of
them ever struck us or we might have had the worst of the encounter. These
birds are evidently the cormorants alluded ‘to by Mr. Knight in his “ Cruise of
the Alerte” (p. 85). He writes: “The cormorants dwelt with their families
in fine stone houses which they had constructed with great ingenuity. Some
of the stones were large and heavy. It would be interesting to observe how
the birds set to work to move them and how they put the roof on. I have
been told that they rake up a mound of stones with their powerful wings in
such a way that by removing some of those underneath they leave the roof
above them.” This is, of course, obviously impossible, some of the stones
being of great weight. The fact is that. these little stone huts are put up
all over the top of the island by the Portuguese fishermen for the birds to
nest in, so that the young may be the more easily obtained when they visit the
place in autumn, This is commonly done also in the Canaries,
When pulled out of their stone houses during the daytime these birds
present a very ludicrous spectacle as they stalk slowly off with a bewildered
air, not unmixed with reproach. After a time they get on the wing and make
off, their eyes having, I suppose, got accustomed to the light; but if taken
from their nesting chambers and thrown up into the air they drop to the
ground like stones, without making any attempt to save themselves ‘with their
wings. Bulwer’s petrel acts in exactly the same way.
58 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Food.—Audubon’s (1840) description and plate both evidently
refer to this species, under the name Puffinus cinereus, in which he
evidently was more nearly correct than some later writers in
identifying this with the Mediterranean species. He says of its
food: “In the stomach of those which I opened I found fishes, por-
tions of crabs, seaweeds, and oily substances.” All of the shear-
waters are, to a certain extent, scavengers of the seas and probably
feed on whatever scraps of animal food they can pick up. They
follow the whales and schools of large predaceous fishes to pick up
bits of their food left on the surface and frequent the vicinity of
fishing vessels to gorge themselves on the offal thrown overboard
while cleaning fish. They are particularly fond of cod livers and
other oily portions, with which they can be readily tolled up to the
boat or caught on baited hooks.
Behavior.—tThe flight of this species is much like that of the other
large’ shearwaters, swift, strong, and graceful. It glides along
smoothly on its long, stiff, pointed wings, rising easily over the crests
of the waves and coasting down into the valleys between them. It
usually flies very close to the surface, even in the roughest weather,
and I have often admired the skill and confidence with which it rises
and skims over the tops of the largest waves in which it seems as if it
must be engulfed. Audubon (1840) says that “like the small petrels,
it frequently uses its feet to support itself on the surface without
actually alighting.” I have never seen it do this. It swims lightly
and rapidly and frequently dives beneath the surface in pursuit of
its food. In calm weather it experiences a little difficulty in rising
from the surface, but in rough weather it glides off the top, of a
wave with the utmost ease. It is easily distinguished, on the wing,
from the greater shearwater by its larger size, its lighter color, its
big yellow bill, and by the lack of any distinctly dark cap so con-
spicuous in the other.
Its behavior toward other species is not above suspicion. Mr.
B. H. Dutcher (1889), who saw some of these shearwater near Little
Gull Island, New York, stated that they “seemed always to keep: in
company with the jaegers, and to be engaged in the same occupation,
that of robbing the terns.” Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) adds the fol-
lowing evidence of misconduct:
It has already been remarked that we were inclined to suspect the pardelas
of stealing the young of the yellow-footed herring gull, but it must be admitted
that there was no direct evidence against them, beyond the fact that they
quartered the ground every evening, apparently in search of food, in the imme
diate neighborhood of the gulls’ nests, and were armed with strong hooked
bills, which looked capable of making short work of downy young, and caused
their owners to be regarded as suspicious characters, ;
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 59
Mr. William C. Tait (1887) says:
The shearwaters are very useful to the Portuguese fishermen, as they indi-
cate by their presence the neighborhood of the sardine shoals, and also ‘con-
tribute to the general stewpot. They are caught by trailing after the boat,
along the surface of the sea, a line baited with a sardine. It is usual to skin
these birds before adding them to the pot, and the fishermen say they are fat,
and consider them a great delicacy. P. major is said to be better eating than
P. kuhli, as it is fatter and tenderer. They generally keep well out to sea, and
approach nearer the coast during rainy weather with southerly winds.
Fall.—The sojourn of this shearwater on our coasts is what we
might expect of a species which breeds in the northern hemisphere
and helps to indicate that our birds are identical with those of the
Azores and the Canary Islands. I can not find that there are any
spring or early summer records, as there are for both the greater
and the sooty shearwaters. They seem to arrive on our coasts early
in August and spend the next three months with us, mainly between
Cape Cod and Long Island Sound. Most of them disappear about
the end of October. While here they associate freely with the other
two species, named above, but are never so abundant. They usually
stay well offshore, but on one occasion, September 5, 1909, I saw
several and shot two, in company with a large flock of sooty shear-
waters, well inside the harbor at Chatham, Massachusetts.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—The American subspecies, borealis, breeds in the
Azores, Madeira, Salvage, and Canary Islands. Other subspecies of
Calonectris kuhlii breed in the Mediterranean Sea and the Cape
Verde Islands.
Range.—Atlantic Ocean. South to at least 36° south. . West to the
coast of Brazil (off Bahia) and North America (from Newfoundland
to North Carolina).
Migrations.—Arrives on its breeding grounds late in February or
early in March and leaves them late in October or early in November.
Dates of occurrence on American coast: Massachusetts, Cape Cod,
August 2 to November 1; Rhode Island, August 15 to October 26;
New York, Long Island, August 6 to November 29; North Carolina,
September 3 to December.
Casual records.—Accidental in England (Sussex, March 14, 1914).
Egg dates—Azores, Canary, and Madeira Islands. Sixty-six rec-
ords, May 28 to June 23.
Since the above was written Mr. Robert Cushman Murphy (1922)
has shown that the Mediterranean shearwater, Calonectris kukli
kuhlii, should be added to our list, as he has examined a number of
60 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
specimens of this form taken off our coasts. Probably the Mediter-
ranean form is much commoner here than is generally supposed, as
all the specimens examined were labeled “ Cory’s shearwater” and
were mistaken for that form.
ARDENNA CARNEIPES (Gould).
PALE-FOOTED SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
This large dusky shearwater resembles the sooty shearwater and
might easily be mistaken for it in life, but it is distinguished from it
by having a light-colored bill and fiesh-colored feet and by the absence
of any whitish or ashy gray on the under wing coverts. Owing to
its resemblance to the commoner species it may have been often over-
looked and perhaps has visited our Pacific coast much oftener ‘than
is supposed. It has only recently been added to our list. Mr. Rollo
H. Beck (1910) has reported the capture of 10 specimens of this
shearwater, taken at various seasons of the year in the vicinity of
Point Pinos, California. :
The following quotations from Godman (1907) will give a fair
idea of what we know of its life history:
Mr. A. J. Campbell gives the habitat as the “seas of Western Australia, and
probably other parts of the southern coasts, including Tasmania.” Mr. Ernest
Saunders procured specimens on Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island.
Dr, E, P. Ramsay, who has written an account of P. carneipes, says that it
represents P. tenuirostris on the coasts of New South Wales and South Aus-
tralia, where it is as numerous as that species in certain places. He further
states that these shearwaters frequent the Solitary Islands in great numbers
during the breeding season, which extends from September till December.
_ Sir Walter Buller relates that P. carneipes breeds in large colonies on some
of the small islands, and is comparatively common off the coast of New Zea-
land—Captain Fairchild procured two living birds for him, which he found
nesting on White Island in the beginning of November. After the breeding
season in Australia P. carneipes passes north to the seas of Japan, but has not
yet been found in the intervening area, nor is it known to nest in its northern
habitat. Mr. Seebohm, who records its occurrence in Japanese waters, observes
that it is probably a nonbreeding summer visitor in the North. Pacific, and sup-
posing this to be correct, we may regard P. carneipes as a petrel which, like
Oceanites oceanica, breeds in the southern hemisphere during our winter, and
visits the northern hemisphere during our summer, but in. the latter instance
without breeding.
Nesting —The nesting habits resemble those of other species of the
genus. Doctor Ramsay, in acknowledging the recepit by the Australian
Museum of a fine series of birds and eggs from the Solitary Islands,
gives the following notes, derived from his correspondence: The birds
arrived early in September, and at once. began excavatinig their nest-
ing holes, which consisted of short burrows about 6 inches in diam-
eter and from 12 to 20 inches in length. The eggs were laid at night,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 61
but in no instance was more than one obtained in a burrow. Although
both sexes assisted in the incubation, out of five specimens taken from
the burrows four proved to be females. The birds arrived in count-
less thousands in the evening, and most of them—the males probably,
or those not engaged in hatching—returned to sea at daybreak,
Eggs—There are four eggs of the pale-footed shearwater in Col.
John E. Thayer’s collection, taken by Mr. Thomas Carter on Break-
sea Island, West Australia, on November 23,1910, and October 16,
1911. There were “many hundred ” nests in the colony, according to
the data given, each nest containing a single egg in a burrow. These
eggs are elliptical ovate or elongate ovate in shape; they are pure
white, smooth in texture, and somewhat glossy, rather different from
the eggs of other shearwaters that I have seen. These four eggs meas-
ure 67 by 38, 66 by 39, 61 by 38, and 60 by 38 millimeters.
Winter. —The following qustation from Prof. Leverett M. Loomis
(1918) tells us about all we know of the pale- footed shearwater as a
North American bird.
So far as I am aware, this Southern Hemisphere shearwater has been re-
ported for the eastern side of the Pacific only from the vicinity of Point Pinos,
California, where Mr. R. H. Beck has secured during his various expeditions
ten specimens for the Academy and four for the University of California. Mr.
Beck’s notes concerning them are as follows:
During my eleven months’ stay in 1907 I saw nine flesh-footed shearwaters.
They were then perhaps more plentiful than in other seasons, though the close
watch I kept on shearwaters that year and the abundance of sooty shearwaters
partly account-for so many being seen. On February 27, while I was out
six miles northwest of the buoy amongst a large flock of fishing birds, I
noticed a flesh-footed shearwater flying past. A long shot caused him to circle
off and drop, but in the choppy sea I would have lost him had not a Cooper’s
shearwater circled about and showed me the dead bird’s position. On April 29,
about six miles northwest of the buoy, I scared up a small bunch of sooty
shearwaters, and a flesh-footed swung up and was shot. June 25 was foggy, with
shearwaters abundant from Moss Beach to Seal Rocks. A mile or so off
Seal Rocks a flesh-footed shearwater, two hundred ‘yards away, was seen flying
along toward Point Pinos. A dead sooty shearwater thrown into the air called
him over and he was secured. He flew with slower wing beats and was more
deliberate in flight than the sooty shearwater. On July 22, while I was trying
to get early southbound Sabine’s gulls that were resting in company with sooty
shearwaters some distance off Point Cypress, a flesh-footed shearwater flew up.
A hasty shot, with but one barrel loaded, sent him off wounded, but I could
not find him on the rippling water. August 27 I was out about four miles
northwest of Point Pinos amongst thousands of sooty shearwaters. As one of
the constantly passing throng flew by me, I noticed the light-colored bill and
shot the bird, securing thus another flesh-footed shearwater. September 2, while
in the same vicinity, one of the shearwaters that flew over my head from behind,
had a light-colored bill. Hastily dropping the oars and grabbing my gun, 1
shot the bird, and, as anticipated, it proved to be a flesh-footed shearwater.
October 28 I was out about six miles nortbeast of the buoy and noticed a flesh-
footed flying south with a single sooty shearwater. A long shot at seventy-five
yards distance failed to stop him. November 4 I got out about eight miles
62 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
north of Point Pinos and in a large flock of about twenty thousand sooty shear-
waters secured two flesh-footed that flew up to me. No others were seen,
though possibly present in other portions of the scattered flock. Two Buller's
shearwaters were taken here and also a slender-billed shearwater and several
Cooper’s shearwaters. ;
Judging from the manner of their occurrence, it seems evident that the flesh-
footed shearwaters frequenting the ocean in the vicinity of Point Pinos, Cali-
fornia, are regular but not common visitors from the antipodes, and that they
followed in their exodus and return migrations the American coast route of the
sooty shearwaters.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Australian and New Zealand seas. Known to
breed on Breaksea, North, White, and Solitary Islands, and perhaps
others in that region:
Fange.—Migrates northward in the Pacific Ocean, between breed-
ing seasons, to Japan (Hakodate) and California (off Monterey),
probably regularly but sparingly. California dates fall in February
and April and in every month from June to November.
Egg dates—Breaksea Island: Three records, September 11, Octo-
ber 16, and November 23.
ARDENNA CREATOPUS (Coues).
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
This large shearwater is referred to by Godman (1907) as “the
Pacific representative of Puffinus kuhli,” to which it bears a certain
amount of superficial resemblance. It is distinguished from that
species, however, “ by the black tip to the bill and the general sooty
color of the axillaries and under tail coverts. The species was
first described by the late Dr. Elliott Coues from a specimen pro-
cured by Dr. Cooper on San Nicholas Island, off California.”
Nesting.—Nothing was known about the nesting habits of this
species until Mr. Rollo H. Beck, of the Brewster-Sanford expedition
to South America, found them breeding on islands in the Juan Fer-
nandez group, off the coast of Chile. He has kindly sent me the
following notes:
On December 12, 1913, I started out from the settlement on Masatierra Island,
of the Juan Fernandez group (which lies about 400 miles to the westward of
Valparaiso, Chile), to find the nests of the pink-footed shearwater. About four
miles from the village many holes were found, but nearly all were too deep
and long to be opened without pick or shovel. One hole 6 feet long was opened
and a pair of birds was found at the end. Burrows were found from near
shore up into the ferns at 1,500 feet elevation. On the 15th I went again to
the colony with a man to dig for me. One burrow was followed for 10 feet
It then branched for the third time and went too deep to follow. Nearly all
the burrows were 6 feet or more tn length; sometimes a little grass was found
| PL. 14
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [2
Goat Island, Chile.
R. H. Beck.
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 63
in the nest, but usually only bare earth in the enlarged end of the burrow.
Three eggs only were taken, although a number of holes were opened. On the
31st of January we tried the colony again and found a few birds on eggs
nearly ready to hatch. In two holes examined cold eggs were found contain-
ing young birds alive, though barely able to move. One young bird 8 days
old was found in another burrow. Several single adult birds of both, sexes
were taken from holes and these on dissection showed small sexual organs.
Some holes that showed fresh soil about them were opened, but no birds were
found in them, On February 7th several rotten and a couple of fresh eggs
were found where they had been scratched out of holes, and many holes showed
signs of digging.
On the 19th of January, 1914, I visited Santa Clara Island 10 miles off
Masatierra and found colonies of birds nesting in the soft ground on top of
the island. Some of the burrows here were just below the grass roots and
easily opened while others ran deep down. Nearly all the nests were nicely
lined with foxtail straws and an occasional burrow also had a lining. Most
of the eggs were well advanced in incubation and in one nest I found a bird
setting on two eggs. One of these proved however to be rotten and was prob-
ably a last year’s egg. The pink-footed shearwater when disturbed on its egg
becomes decidedly pugnacious picking wildly at any object and frequently at
a single blow will break its egg before it can be removed from the nest. The
birds about the island in the daytime spend most of their time sitting on the
water in flocks differing in this respect from their neighbors, the neglected
petrels which nest along the cliffs, and spend their daylight hours in swinging
singly about over the ocean. ;
Eggs.—The eggs of the pink-footed shearwater vary greatly in
size and shape. They are usually “ elongate ovate,” sometimes nearly
“ cylindrical ovate,” and occasionally “ovate.” The shell is smooth,
finely grained, and without lustre. The color is white, which is
often more or less stained, sometimes with a pinkish tinge. The
measurements of 11 eggs, collected by Mr. Beck, average 71.7 by
46.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 79
by 47, 76.2 by 48.8, and 53.5 by 42.2 millimeters.
Eggs in American collections, supposed to be of this species, col-
lected on Breaksea Island, western Australia, are probably eggs of.
Ardenna carneipes, which has also been called the pink-footed shear-
water. The eggs described above, collected by Mr. Beck, are, I
believe, the only eggs of Ardenna creatopus in existence.
Young.—There are three specimens of the downy young of the
pink-footed shearwater in the Brewster-Sanford collection, which
are probably the only specimens in existence. They were also col-
lected: by Mr. Beck, on Masatierra Island, on January 31, 1914.
They are thickly covered with long fluffy down, which varies on the
upper parts, from “drab” to “cinnamon drab,” the exact color de-
pending on how the light strikes it; the color fades off to “ drab-
gray ” on the sides, to “ pale drab-gray ” on the throat and to pure
white on the chin, breast, and belly. There are no specimens show-
ing the subsequent changes into the adult plumage.
64 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Plumages.—Mr. ‘Leverett M. Loomis (1900) says regarding plu-
mages:
Several specimens (apparently adult) have the white of the under parts
immaculate anterior to the lower abdomen. Others (apparently immature)
have the white more or less variegated with gray, the chin and throat being
densely mottled, sparsely mottled, or faintly streaked, and the breast and
abdomen, in extreme examples, transversely marked. The majority of forty-
seven specimens have whitish mixed with the dark of the lower tail-coverts.
Behavior.—We saw a few pink-footed shearwaters, one of which
was shot, while cruising off the coast of southern California, be-
tween Santa Cruz Island and Santa Barbara, on June 4, 5, and 6,
1914. They were associated with large numbers of sooty shearwaters,
circling about over the roughest parts of the channel, and, as they
did not appear to be migrating, were probably summer sojourners.
In general appearance and behavior they closely resembled our
familiar Cory shearwater of the Atlantic coast.
Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1884) publish a brief account of
the habits of this species, based on Doctor Cooper’s observations, as
follows:
They are generally seen in flocks several miles off the shore, flying like
the albatross, by rapid flappings, alternating with sailings. They congregate
quickly around shoals of fish, and dive to a short distance beneath the water
in pursuit of them. They often rest on the water, swimming. very lightly,
but not rapidly, and appear to be the most active when the wind roughens
the surface of the water, enabling them to scoop up small fish from the
agitated tops of the waves. Dr, Cooper further states that he found this
species most abundant and most approachable about San Nicholas Island,
where the water is shoal and small fish are numerous. The birds were molting
about the first of July.
Mr. Rollo H. Beck (1910) says of the occurrence of this species
near Point Pinos, California:
These shearwaters are common sojourners in this vicinity after their breed-
ing season in the South Temperate Zone. Eight individuals seen February
27, 1907, probably belonged to the vanguard of that year. Before the end
of November the majority take their departure, only stragglers remaining.
Mr, Leverett M. Loomis (1895), who has made exhaustive studies
of the Z'ubinares in the vicinity of Monterey, California, says that:
The flight of these shearwaters when migrating is not as direct as that of
the black-vented and dark-bodied. They circle frequently and cross their
track, much as swallows are wont to do when migrating singly or in small
companies.
Again he says (1900) :
Previous to May 27 comparatively few pink-footed shearwaters were ob-
served. In June they became quite abundant. Males greatly. outnumbered
the females, which was also the case in the autumn of 1896. Individuals fre-
quently came close to the boat, seemingly. prompted by curiosity.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 65
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—Known to breed only on Juan Fernandez and
Santa Clara Islands, off the coast of Chile.
Range.—Eastern portions of Pacific Ocean. North to southern
Alaska (Forrester Island) and south to southern Chile (San Carlos).
Migrations—Not well marked. Seems to be present on California
coast nearly every month in the year, but main northward flight
seems to be in summer and fall. _
Egg dates-——Juan Fernandez Islands: Four records, December 12
and 15 and January 19 and 31.
ARDENNA GRAVIS (O'Reilly).
GREATER SHEARWATER,
HABITS,
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend.
To the bird student who rarely ventures from the beaches or shel-
tered bays out onto the unprotected ocean a glimpse of a shearwater—
the hag, hagdon, or hagdown of sailors—is most unusual. In
easterly storms, however, these birds may sometimes be seen close to
our Atlantic shore and I have seen them fly within a stone’s throw of
Ipswich beach. Under ordinary conditions, however, they are not
often found less than 5 miles from land. Graceful birds they are
and well do they deserve their name, for on nimble wing they are ever
on the alert to cut or shear the water in their search for food.
The largest number I ever saw was on a July day on the Labrador
coast between Battle and Spear Harbors. The wind was strong on
shore, bringing in wisps and clouds of fog from the numerous ice-
bergs which beset the coast. At first our steamer disturbed from the
water groups of fifty to a hundred shearwaters, but, as we pushed
north, larger and larger flocks arose and flew outside until we had
seen at least ten thousand of these splendid birds. The great flock
extended for several miles along the rugged coast and with the ex-
ception of three sooty shearwaters all were the greater species.
Nesting—As there are no authentic records of the breeding of
this abundant bird in the northern hemisphere, as specimens taken
here in the summer show no evidence of breeding, and as it has been
found in southern seas, there is reason to believe that, like the Wil-
son petrel, it breeds in the Antarctic summer, our winter, and comes
north during our summer, the antipodal winter. As yet, however,
its breeding place has not been found. .
[AurHor’s notr.—Since Doctor Townsend wrote this life history,
Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain has sent me the following notes, which con-
66 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
tain practically all that is known at present of the breeding habits
and eggs of this species.
Nothing was definitely known of the breeding of this species till 1908, al-
though erroneous reports of nesting have been received from time to time. At
one time it was believed to breed somewhere in the north Atlantic, owing to the
fact that large numbers may be seen there in summer. In collections eggs of
Puffinus Ikuhlii from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic isles have done duty
for it. The supposed eggs in Herr Nehrkorn’s collection are said to have come
from Greenland, but their origin is stated to be doubtful, and Reinhardt’s State-
ment that it breeds there is now generally discredited. Hewitson figured an egg
attributed to this species from the Desertas near Madeira, but this is now
known to be that of P. kwhlii borealis Cory (fortunatus Bannerman). Grad-
ually the idea gained ground that the true breeding haunts must be looked for
in the south Atlantic. Here another source of confusion arose, for eggs of
Puffinus griseus, the “ great” shearwater of the Chatham Islands and the New
Zealand seas, were in Several cases sold as those of this species. In 1906 the
S. ¥. Vathalla lay to for four days off Tristan d’Acunha in January, but owing
to rough weather landing proved impracticable. Numbers of P. gravis were
seen in pairs, and when about 140 miles east of the island large numbers
were again observed. It was evident that they must be breeding somewhere in
the vicinity, but no further investigation took place till Mr. P. C. Keytel visited
the group in 1908. On that occasion he made an expedition to Inaccessible
Island, and obtained at least four or five eggs of this species, together with
skins, and on his return presented two of the eggs as well as skins to the South
African Museum. Another egg was given by Dr. L. Péringuey to Dr. P. L.
Sclater, who on his return from the cape to England, presented it to the Brit-
ish Museum. A fourth egg was purchased by me from Mr. Keytel and is in my
own collection. Unfortunately I have been unable up to the present to obtain
any notes from Mr. Keytel on the nesting habits and haunts of these birds.
Fggs.—The measurements of these four eggs are as follows:
1, 81 by 49.1 mm. British Museum. Presented by Dr. P. L. Sclater.
2. 79.5 by 50 mm. South African Museum, Cape Town. .
3. 78.5 by 51 mm. Presented by Mr. P. C. Keytel.
4. 71.6 by 44.3 mm. Rev. F.C. R. Jourdain’s collection.
All the eggs are white with no traces of markings, though Slightly stained by.
the soil. The shape is a pointed oval, and they are entirely devoid of gloss.
The surface is tolerably smooth, but under the microscope appears quite differ-
ent in texture to that of P. kuhlii, being covered closely with minute granula-
tions instead of a few scattered deep pittings. The shell of No. 4 is extremely
thick and heavy, but this may be partly due to the fact that it is a somewhat
undersized egg.
Mr. Jourdain has recently discovered another egg of this species
in the collection of Mr. J. G. Gordon in Scotland. It came from Tris-
tan da Cunha, was taken on May 29, 1917, and measures 70.30 by 46.9
millimeters. ]
On the American side it ranges north along the Labrador Coast
and off the southern part of Greenland. Captain Collins (1884),
records that it arrived at latitude 43° 10’, longitude 62° 23’, on
May 26, 1879, that it was most abundant near Le Have Bank to
and including the Grand Bank, and that it departs for the south
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 67
about the middle or last of October, and occasionally later. He
says that for a few days after the arrival of the shearwaters in the
spring, the birds do not seem to be on the lookout for food, but pass
the time in resting in large flocks on the water, and that the same
is their custom for a few days before their departure in the fall.
Food.—Off Chatham on Cape Cod or off the end of Cape Ann one
may study the feeding habits of these birds to good advantage from
a fishing boat, where fish cleaning is going on and the entrails and
heads thrown overboard. One may go provided with fish livers
and other choice titbits and from a clear sky attract these birds.
From all sides they come skimming over the waves, alight softly
on the water, and with head and breast held high and wings curved
up and partly spread, they advance by rapid foot strokes to their
feast. Greedily they seize the food with head and necks stretched
along the surface of the water and they pay but little heed to the
men in the boat.
As petrels and shearwaters suddenly appear even in a thick fog
whenever oily fish gurry is thrown on the water, sailors believe that
the birds are attracted by scent. But the organs of‘smell are very
imperfectly developed in this family and it therefore seems much
more likely that in their wide wanderings some birds chance upon
the food, and that the cries of the fortunate ones soon attract others.
Indeed fishermen sometimes immitate their cries in order to attract
them. The following graphic account of the greater shearwaters
on the fishing banks is contributed by Mr. Walter H. Rich:
The discovery of a morsel of food adrift means that every hag within reach
will come charging down at full speed and plump headforemost into the midst
of a plunging, striking mass of birds upon the water. Presently one will get
a good hold upon the prize and strive to bear it away. Instantly he is mobbed,
and a mix-up as desperate as any college football game can show is in progress
at once. Here and there a bird slips quietly out of the mass and hurriedly
gulps down the bit he has managed to secure, gasps a couple of times, sounds
his squealing war cry, and runs upon the water with rapidly moving feet,
his half-opened wings fanning the surface, his body held almost erect upon
his tail, and plunges again head long into the mélée. Here and there the
curving fin or the waving fluke of the big blue shark shows above the water
where he sculls lazily through the seas, rolling clumsily to snap at floating
fish or waste and missing as often as he wins, for the hags take desperate
chances :with him, scuttling clear only at the last instant. Perhaps they are
not always fortunate, for birds minus a foot or otherwise maimed are not
lacking in the flocks. I saw one whose upper mandible was missing from the
nostrils out. The bird seemed in pretty good condition, too, for food was
plentiful and easily secured.
The meal finished they rest upon the water, if the weather is fine, bathing
and dipping like sparrows in a puddle, with much shaking of wings, wagging
of tails, and dipping of heads and beaks, rising on their tails to splash, dive, and
splutter. This over, they settle down upon the sea to drift at ease, only rising
to fly lazily to a position slightly in advance of the steamer, thus paralleling
68 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
her course and making sure that they are properly placed at the next signal for
hauling the net.
Besides refuse matter, shearwaters feed upon all sorts of surface
swimming life, such as small fish and squids. I have found as many
as 24 of the horny beaks of squids in the stomach of one shearwater.
Mr. Rich adds:
Apart from that furnished by the fishing industry, the food of the hag con-
sists of surface-swimming young fish of various species, a large amount of
squid, and the “sand eels,” the later, no doubt, furnishing a considerable
portion in the menu. At the turn of the tide when the water is slack there ig
great activity among the hags, the birds flying about constantly at a considerable
height—for them—sometimes fifty yards in the air, apparently searching for
these fish, the lancelets, which are said to school at the surface in vast numbers
at this time, I have seen vast schools of these “sand eels” with thousands of
hags, 2n occasional shark, and even whales pursuing them.
Behavior.—The flight of the greater shearwater is extremely grace-
ful and very characteristic. With long sharply pointed, slightly
decurved wings they scale along close to the waves, sailing into the
teeth of the wind by skillfully taking advantage of the air currents
deflected upward from the surges. Now they turn on their side
with one wing just grazing the water, the other high in the air.
Again they take a few quick wing strokes and launch themselves
just above a breaker, but so close that one expects to see them over-
whelmed in the foam. One can not help noticing the shape of their
bodies, cylindrical and tapering posteriorly, a cigar shape well
adapted for rapid passage through the air without “dragging.”
Owing to the great length of their wings shearwaters need a strong
wind to rise from the surface of the water, and even then they
often make the surface foam as they climb up the waves paddling
vigorously with alternate feet.. In perfect calms the advent of a
swift-moving steamer in the midst of a flock becomes for these birds
a matter of serious concern. They flap along the surface heavily,
using both feet and wings, and as they struggle they “lighten ship”
by vomiting up the contents of their crops and stomachs. Some,
unable to rise above the water, endeavor to hide themselves below
the surface by vigorous action of both wings and feet, but in this,
as in the case of the proverbial ostrich in the sand, they are only
partially successful. Like petrels the shearwaters occasionally skip
along the surface of the water on their feet, using their wings to
alance and support them.
The greater shearwater is on occasions an active diver, and is able
to swim well under water. It dives from the surface of the water on
which it first alights. Captain Collins (1884) says: “It is a common
occurrence for a number of these birds to chase a boat for half an
hour or more at a time, diving like a flash, every few minutes, after
LITE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 69
the bubbles made by the oars, which these winged rangers seem to
imagine some kind of food beneath the surface of the water. They
will also persistently follow a dory from which a trawl is being set,
and diving in the wake of the boat, after the sinking gear, make daw.
perate endeavors to tear the bait from the hooks.” He states in a
note that his brother in hauling trawls had found shearwaters caught
by the hooks in their endeavors to steal the bait.
Audubon (1840) tells us that:
Two that had been caught with hooks, walked as well as ducks, and made no
pretence of sitting on their rumps, as some writers have said they do. On being
approached, they opened their bills, raised their feathers, and squirted an oily
substance through their nostrils, which they continued to do when held in the
hand, at the same time scratching with their sharp claws and bills. They refused
all sorts of food; and as they were unpleasant as pets, they were set at liberty.
To my great surprise, instead of flying directly off, as I expected, they launched
toward the water, dived several yards obliquely, and on coming to the surface
splashed and. washed themselves for several minutes before they took-to wing,
when they flew away with their usual ease and grace.
The vocal performances of the greater shearwater are limited to
harsh cries and screams which they emit when eager for food.
Whether they have a nuptial song or not is unknown.
The eagerness of these birds for food is so great that they seem to
be devoid of all fear of man and recklessly approach close to the boat
from which the food supply comes. At ‘such times they fight with
other birds of their own or different species with great vigor. This
pugnacity has led in times past.to a cruel sport by fishermen which is
thus described by Captain Collins (1884) :
Perhaps a dozen or more hags may be caught, and having iss put in a hogs-
head, tub, or in a “ gurry pan,” on the.deck of the vessel, the fishermen bring
about an internecine war by stirring them up with a stick. At such times the
birds evidently imagine that their comrades are avowed enemies, and, pitching
into their nearest neighbors, a general fight and terrible commotion ensues,
while the feathers fly in all directions, much to the amusement of the men. The
fishermen also sometimes tie two hags by the legs, using a string about one foot
in length, which enables the birds to swim, but keeps them in unpleasant, con-
tact, the consequence being that they fight until one or both succumb.
Although shearwaters are exceptionally adapted to breast the
storm, even they at times succumb. In the cyclone of August 26 to
27, 1894, which visited the southern coasts of the United States,
Wayne (1894) found at Long Island, South Carolina, “countless
numbers of Puffinus major dead upon the beach.”
Prior to 1875 sea birds notably the greater and sooty shearwaters,
were extensively used for bait on the Grand Banks, and the fishermen
who used them were called “shack fishermen.” Since that date the
birds have been used less or not at all, for it has been more profitable
to use other sources of supply. The methods used by shack fishermen
83969-—22——_6
70 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
have been described by Capt. J. W. Collins (1884). He says that two
men in a dory provide themselves with lines five or six fathoms long,
and mackerel hooks baited with large pieces of cod liver which float
on the surface of the water.
Should there be a large number of hags, and more especially if they have been
without food for a short time, they display an almost indescribable voracity.
In their eagerness to obtain the large pieces of liver, which they swallow at
a gulp, as they fight among themselves, they do not seem to care whether a
hook is concealed within the bait or not. At such times the birds may be
easily caught, and are rapidly pulled in by the fishermen, who usually derive
much gratification from the sport, not only from the excitement which it affords,
but also on account of the prospective profits which may result in obtaining
a good supply of birds for bait. When a victim has been hooked, and is being
pulled toward the boat, it struggles most energetically to make its escape by
vainly endeavoring to rise in the air, or by spreading out its feet to hold
itself back as much as possible as it is dragged unceremoniously over the water,
“while its vociferous companions follow after it, attempting to snatch away the
piece of liver with which it has been decoyed. At times a bird may succeed in
disengaging the hook from its beak, but usually the barbed point is well
fastened and the hag is landed in the boat. A fisherman then places it under
his left arm to prevent its struggles and grasping the head of the unfortunate
bird with his right hand he crushes-its skull with his teeth. Or he may try
to deprive his victim of life by wringing its neck, striking it on the head with
a “gob stick,” etc. This may continue until one hundred or perhaps two hun-
dred birds are captured, but usually not so many.
A comparatively short time passes before some of the birds become gorged
with the pieces of liver which they have obtained, and then they exhibit the
greatest cunning in eluding capture. They seem to be fully conscious of the
fact that within the liver there is concealed something which for their own
good they should avoid. With wonderful instinct that almost approaches
reason, they cautiously approach and take hold of the bait with the tips of
their bills, and, by flapping their wings, endeavor to tear it to pieces. In this
maneuver the birds are often successful, and as a reward for their enterprise
they secure a good lunch, which they hasten to devour as the disappointed and
disgruntled fisherman rebaits his hook with the hope of decoying some less
wary individuals.
Captain Collins says the shearwaters were formerly important items
in the bill of fare of a Grand Bank fisherman, and that the men were
sometimes very fond of this food. I have eaten both the greater and
sooty shearwater and have found them not unpalatable, in fact rather
good. In preparing sea birds much of the extreme fishy taste can
be avoided by first removing the skin and underlying fat and replac-
ing it by a thin covering of crumbs and small pieces of pork or
lard. The birds should be roasted only slightly so that “the blood
follows the knife.”
The cylindrical tapering body, the long-curved and pointed wings
and graceful flight make the recognition of the shearwater an easy
one. The black bill, white breast and belly, the prayish-brown back,
and dark head, the white patch at the base of the tail, and the dark
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 71
bars on the sides and flanks are all points to be noted in the recogni-
tion of the greater shearwater.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range—Known to breed only on Inaccessible Island in
the Tristan da Cunha group in the middle of the South Atlantic
Ocean. .
fange.—The entire Atlantic Ocean, from northern Europe (Heli-
goland) to southern Africa (Cape of Good Hope) on the eastern
side; and from the Arctic Circle in Greenland to southern South
America (Tierra del Fuego) on the western side.
Spring migration—EKarly dates of arrival: Atlantic Ocean, 43°
10’ north, May 26; Bermuda, June 2; Rhode Island, off Seaconnet
Point, June 2; Massachusetts, Cape Cod, May 26; Nova Scotia, June
19; southern Greenland, Cape Farewell, June q.
Fall migration —lats dates of departane’ Greenland, Cape Fare-
-well, September; Nova Scotia, Sable Island, Septaniber 3; New
York, Long Island, October 2; Massachusetts, November (latest
Decentber 31).
PUFFINUS PUFFINUS PUFFINUS (Briinnich).
MANX SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend.
‘The Manx shearwater, so called because it formerly bred in great
numbers on the Isle of Man, is mainly a bird of the British Islands.
As it is the familiar shearwater of Great Britain and bears a general
resemblance to the greater shearwater, it is probable that some of
the early records of this bird for America should be referred to the
latter species. Audubon (1840) says, “I have procured this species
to the westward of the banks of Newfoundland, or between their
soundings and the American coast.” Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway
(1884) say:
Mr. Boardman informs me that a single individual of this species has from
time to time been met with at sea off the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia, but
he regards such an occurrence as something extremely uncommon and as purely
accidental. This bird is also mentioned as being only an accidental and very
rare visitor on the coast of Long Island.
Putnam (1856) included it in the avifauna of Essex County, Massa-
chusetts, from a skull in the Essex Institute, of a bird said to have
been killed in Salem Harbor, August 13, 1855. The skull has since
disappeared and there is no other record or remembrance of it, Reid
72 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
(1884) has this to say of the Manx shearwater in, his Birds of Ber-
muda:
A specimen in Mr. Bartram’s collection was captured while sitting on its
solitary egg in a rocky hole on a small island in Castle Harbor, in April, 1864,
The egg was unfortunately broken. There is no record of the birds’ breeding
on any other occasion, nor of any’ other specimen being obtained.
The Manx shearwater is generally said to be of accidental occur-
rence in Greenland, usually on the authority of Professor Reinhardt
(1824). Captain Collins, who has had many opportunities to study
the petrels and shearwaters on the Grand Banks and other Ameri-
can fishing grounds, has never seen it. Saunders (1889) says: “I
saw two examples outside the Straits of Belle Isle on August 13-14,
ee : ae ee F :
1884, looking very black as compared with the great shearwater.”
Nesting—The Manx shearwater breeds in colonies on high cliffs,
turfy slopes, and rocky islands. A single smooth white egg of fine
texture is laid at the end of a burrow or in a crevice or under a
fragment of rock, either on the bare rock or soil, or in a nest, loosely
constructed of dry grass or leaves. Turle (1891) says of its nesting
habits on the Skellig Rocks:
There are plenty of shearwaters on the Little Skellig, but their great breed-
ing grounds are on Puffin Island, between the Little Skellig and the mainland.
This island ought to be called Shearwater Island rather than Puffin Island,
I was astonished at the enormous number we found nesting; they seem com-
pletely to have taken possession of the island, and far predominate over the
puffins; indeed, the whole of both sides of the island was inhabited by them.
They lay only one egg, some considerable distance down their burrows; sev-
eral which I dug out were four feet from the entrance. They make no nest,
but lay their egg on the bare ground. In every case where I took an egg
the old bird allowed itself to be lifted off the egg upon which it was sitting.
These birds are never seen'at their breeding grounds in the day time.
£-ggs.—The measurements of 45 eggs, made by Rev. F. C. R. Jour-
dain, average 60.64. by 42.58 millimeters; the largest eggs measure
66.5 by 42 and 63.7 by 45.1; the smallest eggs measure 56 by 42.5
and 58.5 by 39 millimeters.
Plumages.—The nestlings are covered with sooty-brown down
with the exception of a white stripe along the center of the belly.
The adult is about 15 inches long, a little larger than the Audubon
shearwater, which it resembles in general coloration, and about 3
inches shorter than the greater shearwater. The bill is blackish-
brown, the legs and feet yellowish flesh color. The plumage of the
upper parts is sooty-black, of the lower parts, white. It would be
well to bear these field marks in mind for a critical examination of
the large flocks of shearwaters seen on the Labrador coast, for ex-
ample, together with the judicious use of the. gun, which might
serve to give this species a more secure standing than it now holds
in the American avifauna.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 73
Food.—The Manx shearwater has feeding habits similar to those
of other shearwaters. It is practically never seen by day about its
breeding grounds, but appears as soon as the sun goes down. Its
food consists of small fish, crustacea, squids, and surface-floating
offal. When caught it emits a greenish oily fluid’ which leaves .a
yellow stain. Wright (1864) says that at the island of Filfola
near Malta “both young and old feed on Inula crithmoides, one of
the few plants that grow on that desolate rock.” This habit, he
says, accounts for the green color of, the ejected fluid.
Behavior—tThe flight is rapid and skimming, and the birds not
infrequently settle on the water and dive freely; they remain under
water but a short time. According to Saunders (1889) its “note is
a cuck-cuck-oo, generally repeated three times.” From its gutteral
notes it obtains several local names. Thus in the Scilly Islands it
is known as crew and cockathodon, and skidden; in Wales it is
called cuckle. Yarrell (1871) speaks of “the gutteral melodies they
pour forth as the spade approaches the end in which the egg is
deposited. I once caught a pair in one burrow who were crooning
a duet of this kind before we commenced operations: I presume
they were in the honeymoon, as there was no egg.”
Bewick (1847) quotes Willughby to the effect that at the Isle of
Man the young of this species “become extremely fat, and are taken
and salted down for keeping, and that the Romish Church permitted
them to be eaten in Lent. * * * They usually sell them for
about ninepence the dozen, a very cheap rate.” It hardly seems
necessary to invoke the agency of rats as a cause of the extermina-
tion of this bird in the Isle of Man.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—On Iceland and the Faroe. Islands; on the
coasts of Wales and Ireland; on the Shetland, Orkney, and Scilly
Islands; on the Inner and Outer Hebrides; and on the Azores,
Salvages, and Madeira Islands. Formerly on the Isle of Man. The
bird found breeding in Bermuda has been described as a distinct:
subspecies,
Range.—Northeastern Atlantic Cees: chiefly in the eat of
Great Britain. North to the coast of Norway and south to the
Canary Islands. Westward rarely to Greenland and North Amer-
ica and perhaps regularly to South America.
Migrations.—Arrives on its breeding grounds in February and
March; and leaves them in October and November.
Casual records.—Has been taken in Greenland (Umanak, 1972),
Brazil (Iguape, September 21, 1901), and Argentina (Mar del
Plata, October 4 to 9, 1914, 4 taken), The latter may be a regular
14 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
winter resort. One found dead on Long Island, New York (Fire
Island Beach, August 30, 1917).
Egg dates—British Isles: Thirty-four records, March 14 to June
23; seventeen records, May 17 to June 1. Iceland: Three records,
June 6, 10, and 15.
PUFFINUS LHERMINIERI LHERMINIERI Lesson.
AUDUBON SHEARWATER.
HABITS,
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend.
Audubon in The Birds of America begins his account of this
species by the following sentence:
On the 26th of June, 1826, while becalmed on the. Gulf of Mexico, off the
western shores of Florida, I observed that the birds of this species, of which
some had been seen daily since we left the mouth of the Mississippi, had be-
come very numerous. The mate of the vessel killed four at one shot, and, at
my request, brought them on board. From one of them I drew the figure
which has been engraved, The notes made at the time are now before me and
afford me the means of presenting you with a short account of the habits of
this bird.
The great Audubon not only procured specimens, but he sketched
them in the flesh, and recorded his notes on the spot, and with such
care and detail that in many cases one can find nowhere else such
a complete description of habits. Audubon considered this bird to
be P. obscurus. Godman (1907), the latest authority on this group
of birds, says that the Audubon shearwater “so much resembles
P. obscurus that some of the American specimens are scarcely to
be distinguished from it, and I separate the two with great hesita-
tion.”
Nesting.—The Audubon shearwater arrives on the breeding grounds
early in the season. Bryant (1861) found that incubation had already
begun in the Bahamas by March 24, Lowe (1911) found it with eggs
at the Bermudas on May 12, and reports that Colonel Feilden ob-
tained eggs of this bird in Barbados in March. Bonhote (1903)
found in the Bahamas that the young were in most cases just hatched
at the beginning of May, although several fresh eggs were procured.
At the present day the bird is known in the Bahamas as the “ pimlico”
or “ pemblyco.”
Social in its disposition, this bird breeds in communities in holes,
or crevices of the rocks, but seldom more than a foot from the surface.
The single egg is laid on the rock or int a loosely constructed nest of
twigs or dried grass. The egg is white, fragile, and not highly
polished. The measurements of 39 eggs, in various collections, aver-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. t5
Bahama Islands. F. M. Chapman.
Bahama Islands. F. M. Chapman
AUDUBON SHEARWATER.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 75
age 52.5 by 36.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 57.3 by 40.8, 49.2 by 35.2, and 50 by 34 millimeters. |
Young.—Incubation is carried on by both parents, and before the
egg is laid both occupy the hole together. Bonhote (1903) says “ the
parent apparently does not brood the young, but merely sits beside .
it during the first day or two of its existence, after which it is left
alone during the daytime.”
Plumages.—The downy young is of a dusky gray color, whitish
on the abdomen. The adult is only 12 inches in length while the
greater shearwater is 20 inches. The upper parts including the wings
and tail are a dark, sooty, brownish black; the under parts white;
the sides of the breast grayish white. The bill is black. Godman
(1907) gives the following critical analysis of the differences between
this form and P. obscurus:
The measurement of these two forms afford no characters for specific separa-
tion though P. auduboni would appear to have a slightly larger tarsus than
P. obscurus, I find that the chief difference between the eastern and western
birds lie in the browner color of P. auduboni, which is never so black as
P. obscurus. The patch above the thighs is brown in the former bird, not black,
and the band round the edge of the wing below is browner, and less distinct
than P. obseurus.
Behawior.—About the breeding ground, the birds are seen and
heard only at night, when they appear to be very active. The day-
time is spent by those who are not on the eggs at a distance on the
sea generally out of sight of land, where they rest on the water in
large flocks. At times they are very shy, but in the Martinique Chan-
nel the birds are said to be so bold as to attempt to rob the fishermen
of their fish in the canoes. Audubon (1840) says they skim low over
the water near bunches of gulf weeds.
Flap their wings six or seven times in succession and then sail for three
or four seconds with great ease, having their tail much spread and their long
wings extended at right angles with the body. On approaching a mass of weeds,
they raise their wings obliquely, drop their legs and feet, run as it were on the
water, and at length alight in the sea, where they swim with as much ease us
ducks, and dive freely, at times passing several feet under the surface in’
pursuit of fishes, which, on perceiving their enemy, swim off but are frequently
seized with great agility. Four or five, sometimes fifteen or twenty, of these birds
will thus alight, and, during their stay about the weeds, dive, flutter, and swim
with all the gaiety of a flock of ducks, newly alighted ina pond. * * * At
times, as if by way of resting themselves, they alighted, swam lightly, and
dipped their bills frequently in the water, in the manner of mergansers.
At the breeding grounds, according to Bryant (1861), “all night
long their mournful cries can be heard.” Bonhote (1903) says that
he never saw the birds outside their holes, “nor could I distinguish
their cries at night from those of the sooties.” Wells says, in his
76 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
notes sent to Mr. George N. Lawrence (1889), that they have a
“ peculiar cry resembling a cat howl.” He also says (1902) : “ They
make a most unearthly noise when leaving and returning to their
nest, hence the name given them by the fishermen [diablotin], which
literally means ‘little devil.’”. Feilden (1889) says: “The young
shearwaters uttered a plaintive, liquid-sounding note, something like
whitter, whitter, whit, whit, wit.” Reid (1884) speaks of a young
bird that “had become remarkably tame, following me about the
house and garden, waddling along awkwardly enough on his tarsi,
and uttering a musical ‘chirrup’ the while.”
Even this bird of the ocean is not proof against storms, for Wayne
(1894) found a specimen ‘of the Audubon shearwater washed up
dead on the coast of South Carolina after the great cyclone of
August 26-27, 1894, that destroyed countless numbers of the greater.
shearwater.
_ Reference has already been made to the use by the early colonists
of this species as food. The recent history of this use is thus de-
scribed by Wells (1902) : “ When the young arrive at a certain stage
they become simply a ball of fat inclosed in down; it is then that the
fishermen take them in large numbers, and, after salting and drying
them, they are taken to the different markets in Grenada, where they
are readily bought and appear to be relished by certain people.”
Feilden (1889) quotes a letter from Rev. G. Duncan Gittens, who
says “the birds, if very young, are a mass of gluten, and although
very strong-tasted, when properly purified by lime juice and salt
are by some considered a delicacy.”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-——Bermuda, Santo Domingo, the Lesser Antilles
(St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, Carriacou, Grenada, etc.), and
the Bahama Islands (Andros and the Ragged Islands, Green, Wash-
erwoman, and Ship Channel Keys, etc.). A subspecies breeds in the
.Cape Verde Islands.
Range.—The warmer portions of the western North Atlantic
Ocean. West, more or less regularly, to Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico,
= the coast of Florida. North to about 37° north, off Chesapeake
ay. :
Casual records—South Carolina (Sullivan Island, August 10,
1911), North Carolina (Beaufort, July 28, 1910), Virginia (Cobb
Island, September 1, 1893), and New York (Bellport, Long Island
August 1, 1897).
Egg dates—Bahama Islands:, Thirty-five records, April 4 to 20;
eighteen records, April 12 to 14. . , 7
?
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 77
PUFFINUS ASSIMILIS GODMANI Allen.
ATLANTIC ALLIED SHEARWATER,
HABITS,
The above name represents our present knowledge of this group
of small shearwaters, about which there has been much misunder-
standing and confusion. A specimen was taken on Sable Island,
Nova Scotia, on September 1, 1896, and sent to Dr. Jonathan
Dwight, who identified it as this species, which at that time was
known to inhabit Australian and New Zealand seas and the Atlan-
tic Ocean; as far north as the Madeira Islands. Since that time,
however, European writers have recognized the birds of the’ North
Atlantic as at least subspecifically distinct. Godman (1907) called
it Puffinus bailloni, evidently considering it a distinct species, and
gave quite a full account of its status. A still later account by Dr.
i. Hartert * goes into the matter still further, using the name Puffinus
assimilis godmant. Rather than discuss the matter here, I would
refer the reader to these two publications. In compiling the life
history it seems best to add to what has been published about
the Maderian bird, which, of course, is ‘the one that belongs in the
American list, anyihing published aboat the bird of the southern
hemisphere which will make the life history more complete. It is
scanty enough at best.
Nesting—Mr. David A. Bannerman (1914), under the name
Puffinus assimilis baroli, says of its breeding habits in the Canary
Islands:
The little dusky shearwater, concerning which so much discussion has
recently taken place, was found breeding on Montana Clara. I had certainly
not expected to meet with this usually very early breeder in any of the islands
so late as June the 7th. The fact that I actually took eggs as well as the young
in all stages, shows that there is great variation in the time of breeding of this
species in the different islands of the group. It will be recollected that if the
fishermen are to be believed, and’ I have often proved their statements to be
correct, P. a. baroli had already bred and left the island of Graciosa by the
27th of May. Mr. Meade-Waldo took the young of this species in Teneriffe on
April the 26th, and an adult on March the 16th with the bare hatching spot on
its breast.
Shortly before our arrival a party from Haria had speciatly made the aes
ney to Montana Clara to collect “tahoces,” as P. a. baroli are locally called.
Whether these individuals had succeeded in making a good haul I did not
learn, but the only breeding-station which existed contained a very small num-
ber of birds. To reach this colony it was necessary first to ascend the moun-
tain and having crossed the plateau, which lies at the summit, to descend the
almost perpendicular inner wall of the crater of the floor beneath. In this
basin, one side of which lies open to the sea, Hie little dusky shearwaters were
1 British Birds, vol. 8, 1915, pp. 282-283.
78 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
breeding under the huge rocks which had fallen from above. It being impossi-
ble to reach this spot after dark, I was unable to obtain, as I had hoped, a
series of adult birds, although several had practically attained mature plumage
and could only be distinguished by one or two downy filaments still adhering
to the feathers on the flanks. Only two eggs were obtained and a few nestlings
in down.
Under the name of Puffinus assimilis, Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896)
gives the following account of the breeding habits of the Madeiran
bird:
Gould’s little shearwater, so far as we ascertained, was the only other bird
of the genus that visits Great Salvage. At Porto Santo we had already found
it breeding plentifully on the Lime Island, and satisfied ourselves that it is this
species—and not P. obscurus—that occurs there. The young birds do not show
the white inner webs to the quills clearly, and hence Mr. Salvin and I were both
led to believe that the specimens brought back in 1890 were the young of P.
obscurus. I recently examined more than a dozen of old birds in Padre
Schmitz’s collection at Madeira, which had been obtained at Porto Santo, and
these were, without exception, typical P. assimilis, At Great Salvage we pro-
cured downy young in various stages, and one late egg, almost fresh; this is
large for the size of the bird, and the shell is pure white and perfectly oval in
shape, the two poles being equally rounded. We never saw much of these
birds. During the daytime there were generally some to be seen at sea, often
in company with the Mediterranean shearwater, and one night an old female
flew into our camp attracted by the powerful lantern. Every night our men
used to sally forth in pairs to search for this and other species of petrels in
their nesting cavities on the sides of the cliffs—bad enough walking, even in
daylight, but no harm came of it. One man carried the lamp (a tin coffee pot
it looked like, filled with kerosene oil, and with a coarse cotton wick protruding
from the spout), which gave out a brilliant light, while his companion searched
the numerous miniature caves and crevices till he had filled his own and the
lamp bearer’s shirts with birds of various kinds. In this way we got Several
nice adults of this species, which were never to be found with their young during
the day. The note of these birds we never ascertained, and when seen on the
wing they were always perfectly silent so far as we noticed. ,
Eggs.—The single egg of this species is nearly oval in shape, pure
white in color, smooth, and without luster. The measurements of
43 eggs, in various collections, mainly furnished by Rev. F. C. R.
Jourdain, average 50 by 35 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure 54.2 by 35.5, 50.5 by 37.5, 45 by 34, and 51-by
32.5 millimeters. :
Plumages.—Buller (1888) describes the nestling as “covered with
very thick slate-colored down on the upper and white on the under
surface” and says: “A fledgling which I received from Sunday
Island (one of the Kermadecs) is a very pretty object. The plumage
is as in the adult, except that the longer wing-coverts and inner
secondaries are minutely tipped with white; but the long, fluffy
dark-grey down still adheres to the sides of the body, and as the bird
squats it looks as if reposing in a luxurious nest of down, which pro-
jects an inch or more from the body, and has a charming effect.”
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 79
Behavior—The same writer describes the flight of the allied shear-
water, in which it seems to differ from the larger species of Pufinus,
as follows:
They congregate in flocks, often of considerable size, and fly in a compact
body, generally in a zigzag course, with a very rapid movement of the wings
and not far above the water. Their flight is peculiar, too, in this respect, that
they appear all to turn at the same moment, like a company of soldiers, showing
first the dark plumage of the upper surface and then the white underparts as
they simultaneously dip toward the water.
Their habits are sociable, and flocks may often be seen in the daytime dis-
porting themselves in the sea, making short flight just above the surface, and
then flopping into the water, splashing and chasing one another in their playful
gambols, and when tired of their fun rising in a body and rapidly disappearing
from view.
They seem to scatter at night, for as darkness approached I have noticed
numerous single examples, as if the flocks of the daytime were dispersing over
the surface of the ocean in quest of their food. They fly low but swiftly, and
utter a note resembling the native name by which the bird is called, but some-
what prolonged, paka-ha-a--paka-ha-a,
Occasionally, perhaps once in several years, they appear in prodigious flocks
and seem, to cover the sea for miles around; but they soon scatter again over
“ocean’s boundless bosom,” and are then not more plentiful than the other
petrels.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—The form which belongs on the American list,
Puffinus assimilis godmani, breeds in the Azores, the Canary Islands,
and the Madeira group. Represented by other allied forms in other
parts of the world. Much confusion exists as to the relationships,
nomenclature, and distribution of Puffinus assimilis, Puffinus obscu-
rus, and their subspecies.
Range.—North Atlantic Ocean, mainly on the eastern side. Prob-
ably south to the Equator.
Casual records.—Accidental off Nova Scotia (Sable Island, Sep-
tember 1, 1896). Six records for Great Britain, most if not all of
which are for this subspecies.
Egg dates.—Madeira and Canary Islands: Nineteen records, Jan-
uary 2 to July 2; 10 records, February 2 to 22.
PUFFINUS OPISTHOMELAS Coues.
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
Although this is one of the most abundant of the shearwaters on
the Pacific coast, it is only within recent years that we have learned
very much about its habits. Prof. Leverett M. Loomis has given us,
in his various papers, much information regarding its migratory
flights along the California coast, but we are indebted to Mr. A. W.
Anthony for practically all we know of its life history.
80 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Spring.—The migration is difficult to trace or define, owing to the
wandering habits of this species, which seems to drift up and down
the coast in search of a food supply. A general northward or south-
ward movement is further obscured by the habit, common to this
and other shearwaters, of flying in large circles or long loops. Mr,
Anthony (1896) noted that during February and March “98 per
cent of the black-vented shearwaters observed off San Diego were
flying northward, and the reproductive organs of those taken late
in February indicated that the nesting season was very near at hand,
They would have bred within two or three weeks, I think.” These
birds were doubtless moving toward their breeding grounds at that
time, where they probably arrive and begin preparations for nest-
ing before the end of March.
Nesting.—Mr. Anthony (18960) first found the black-vented shear-
water breeding on Guadalupe Island, “ which lies about 220 miles
south of San Diego and about 65 miles from the nearest mainland,
Punta Baja, on the peninsula.” He visited the island on May 15,
1892, and writes:
The island ig entirely of volcanic matter, huge cliffs of lava rising often 3,000
feet from the sea. These are honeycombed by thousands of holes and minia-
ture caves, offering unexcelled nesting sites for Cassin’s auklet, Xantus’s mur-
relet, and other burrowing specieg, including the black-vented shearwater.
The cliffs about the North Head are all inaccessible, rising directly from
the water, from a few hundred to nearly or quite three thousand feet, so
that nothing could be learned of their nesting at that point. Three days
later, however, we dropped anchor in Wheeler’s Bay, at the southern end of
the island, where the land is somewhat lower, and here a colony was found
near the water. The burrows were in every instance either under a huge
block of lava or in a crevice, where they were as much out of our reach as
they were in the cliffs. A few of the burrows might have been opened, pos-
sibly, had we been provided with crowbars and suitable tools for wedging
apart the blocks of lava, but after several ineffectual attempts with the tools
nature provided we gave up and set a few steel traps at the mouths of some
of the burrows in order to establish beyond dispute the identity of the species.
Again he writes (1900) of other breeding grounds farther south:
On the San Benito Islands, lying between Guadaloupe and Cerros Islands,
I have also found a few P. opisthomelas nesting. So far as I have been able
to discover, there are no burrows on these islands, all the nests being in small
caves, which are nearly filled with deposits of guano left by untold genera-
tions of Pufinus. The caves are all small and the nests inaccessible, but I
think that each cave was inhabited by several pairs of birds, judging by the
outcry and warning hisses that greeted my approach to the entrance.
About thirty-five miles south of San Benito Islands lies Natividad Island,
a lower and more sandy island than those previously mentioned—a condition
which seems to suit the requirements of. the black-vented shearwaterg to a
nicety, for here are found thousands, of them, nesting the full length of the
island, some three miles in extent. With the exception of a few rocky slopes
and ridges, the entire island may be said to be one almost continuous colony.
This island I first visited in August, 1896. The size of the burrows at once
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 81
attracted my attention, and a closer examination revealed the unmistakable
tracks of a Puginus. Though the footprints were abundant and fresh, prov-
ing that the burrows were still visited at night, all of those examined were
unoccupied. I again called at Natividad April 10, 1897, and found the breed-
ing season at its height, each burrow containing either a pair of shearwaters
or one shearwater and a fresh egg. In no case, I think, did I find an egg in
a burrow with two birds. The burrows were usually about ten feet in
length, seldom if ever straight, but with one or two sudden turns to the right
or left, the nest sometimes being but two feet from the entrance, though at
the end of a ten-foot burrow. Few of the nests were over eighteen inches
below the surface, the burrows being for the most part nearly lorizontal, and
the loose nature of the soil made walking anything but a pleasure, as one
constantly broke through into tunnels the exact location of which it was
impossible to determine.
The tracks in the fresh soil about the entrance to the burrows showed ‘the
imprint of the tarsus for its full length, showing that the birds rest their
weight on the tarsus as much as on the toes.
There was little attempt at nest-building, the eggs for the most part being
laid in a depression in the sand at the end of the burrow. In a few cases a
number of small twigs and sticks had been placed in the hollow, forming a
very crude nest. Before the egg is deposited the burrow is occupied by both
birds, and I have found them on the nest at least a month before any eggs
were laid. Just how early they take to the burrows I am unable to say, not
having visited the nesting colony earlier than the first week in March, when
all the burrows were occupied.
Eggs.—The single egg of the black-vented shearwater is not very
different from the eggs of other species of the genus Pufinus. In
shape it is elliptical ovate or elliptical oval. The shell is somewhat
pitted but fairly smooth and not glossy. The color is pure dead
white. The measurements of 38 eggs, in various collections, average
60.9 by 41.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
69 by 40, 60.5 by 43.5, 56.6 by 41.4, and 62.8 by 38.6 millimeters.
Plumages——The young bird remains in the nesting burrow until
it is fully fledged, which is not until it is fully grown also. It is
covered for the first few weeks with long soft down, varying in
color from “light drab” to “pale smoke gray” below. The first
plumage begins to appear late in June or early in July. Mr. An-
thony (1900) says of this plumage:
On July 1, I found the burrows on Natividad occupied entirely by young
birds that were nearly or quite as large as the adults, but still clothed in down,
through which were growing a few feathers. They were sooty black above
and lighter below. When brought to the light they gave vent to their feelings
in the characteristic notes of the adults.
The first plumage of the young bird is apparently similar to that
of the adult and probably the seasonal changes do not produce any
distinctive plumages. Mr. Leverett. M. Loomis (1900), however,
says:
In certain black-vented shearwaters (apparently immature birds) the white
of the lower parts is also invaded by gray, the jJugulum and throat being mot-
82 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
tled, and in some cases the chin and fore breast. An extreme specimen is
sparsely spotted on the abdomen and posterior portion of the breast. Some
specimens display considerable white on the lower tail coverts.”
Mr, Anthony (18960) says that:
A complete molt of all the feathers occurs in July and August in this species
and a more or less complete molt of the feathers of the head and body takes
place in January and February.
Food.—The principal food of the black-vented shearwater seems
to be small fish. Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes me that he has
“found a mass of partially digested, fine-boned fish in their stom-
achs.” Mr. Anthony (18966) writes:
The presence of this species along the coast of Southern and Lower Cali-
fornia seems to be governed very largely by the food supply. They are common
at any time, less so during the breeding season, when many are in the burrows
during the day, and vastly more abundant in late July, August, and September,
when they follow the large schools of herring and other small fish that come
inshore at that season.
They are often seen in flocks of several thousands where fish are plenty.
On one occasion I met with a flock on the coast of Lower California that I
estimated contained not less than 50,000 shearwaters. Many were so gorged
with herring that they could not rise from the. water, but flapped along the
surface in advance of the steamer until nearly overtaken, when they would dive.
They would usually come up near enough to the vessel to be, if anything, more
frightened than before, but could not take wing until they had disgorged a
quantity of half-digested fish, after which they flew off with apparent ease.
On January 23 I was drifting in a skiff off Point Loma, watching the black-
vented shearwaters, which were flying south along the western edge of an
extensive bed of kelp. A garbage scow had sailed out through the kelp an
hour before, leaving a broad oily “slick” a hundred yards in width, extending
2 or 3 miles westward, at right angles to the course taken by the shearwaters,
which were passing in small flocks of four or five to a dozen every ten or
fifteen minutes. Each flock turned sharply about when at a distance of a
hundred yards from the oily water, and keeping at about that distance and
to the windward, hurried on toward the west. Not one bird did I see cross
contaminated water. I could detect no odor from the oil nor could the birds,
had any existed, for they were flying down the wind.
I have never seen black-vented shearwaters pay any attention to bait or refuse
thrown from the ship’s galley, though dark-bodied,. pink-footed, and slender-
billed shearwaters will light to pick up floating garbage.
Though all of our shearwaters prefer to keep rather well offshore, they will
at times follow schools of small fish into shoal water. I once saw a flock of
one or two hundred black-vented shearwaters feeding in the surf at Cape
Coinett. Hovering over the advancing breaker, they followed it to the beach,
returning to meet the next, plunging repeatedly into its foamy crest for some
species of small fish. They evidently did not feel at home so near land, for
after a few minutes fishing they hurried out to sea again.
Behavior—In the same paper Mr. Anthony makes the following
observations on the flight of this species:
It is only during very calm weather that this species is seen resting on the
water. At such times they collect in very compact flocks, covering the water
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 83
till there is but little room left within the circle that they almost invariably
form, The first gentle breeze will start them on their journey again, and 1
have learned to have confidence in a breeze that starts them flying, for as far
as my observations go, they only rise if the wind is to be continuous, and will
pay no attention to a gentle puff that will die out in a few minutes.
None of our Pacific.coast sea birds adhere so closely to established fly lines
as do the three species of Pufinus ; even when flying fifty miles or more from
land the first flock that passes will, with almost absolute certainty, mark the
line which the next will follow, even though they be an hour behind. And I
have long since discovered that in order to secure specimens of these shy
species the boat must be placed in their fly lines. A flock will, on encountering
a skiff directly in their path, either divide and pass on either side or all
swerve slightly to one side, immediately resuming their line of travel in either
case. At times, however, they are easMy turned from their course.
The flight of the black-vented shearwater is more erratic, with more
constant flapping, than that of other species. Mr. A. B. Howell
writes me that he has seen them “progress by a series of ellipses
when feeding, one side of which is within a foot of the water and
the other eight or ten feet above.”
Mr. Anthony (18965) describes the notes of this species, as he
heard them about Guadalupe Island, as follows:
It would be impossible to describe accurately these notes. They were a
series of gasping, wheezy cries, resembling somewhat the escape of steam
through a partly clogged pipe, uttered in a slightly varied key and repeated
from four or five to ten times. During calm weather in January, February, and
March flocks of a dozen to several hundred of these shearwaters often collect
on the water well offshore, and at such times I have heard the same notes from
two or more birds as they chased each other, half running, half flying, over the
water. From the notes that came from the cliffs, I thought that the birds were
chasing one another, and a little later many of them came down to the water
and were occasionally seen as they flashed by within the circle cast by our
anchor light. After an hour or so the outcry somewhat subsided, and I think
most of the birds went offshore to feed, returning before daylight, for during
nearly two weeks spent in cruising about the island only one flock of shear-
waters was seen in the daytime.
.
Winter.—At the close of the breeding season these shearwaters
wander from their breeding grounds northward, and perhaps south-
ward as well. They are frequently seen along the California coast in
the fall and winter, as far north as the Columbia River. These wan-
derings could, perhaps, hardly be considered a migration, as they are
in the opposite direction to that usually taken by birds that breed in
the Northern Hemisphere; but many of them certainly spend their
season of leisure far north of their breeding grounds, to which they
return during the latter part of winter or early spring.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Islands off the west coast of Lower California,
Mexico (San Benito, Natividad, and Guadalupe Islands),
84 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Range.—Abundant off the California coast except during the
breeding season. Ranging northward more rarely to Washington
and British Columbia (off Albert Head, October 24, 1891).
Migrations—The main flight northward occurs in August and
September and the return flight in February, March and April.
Egg dates—Natividad Island: Twenty records, April 10.
PUFFINUS AURICULARIS C. H. Townsend.
TOWNSEND SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
This small shearwater, which resembles the black-vented shear-
water in general appearance, was’ discovered and described by Mr.
Charles H. Townsend (1890), who found it to be “a common spe-
cies about the islands of the Revillagigedo group,” during the visit
of the United States Bureau of Fisheries’ steamer Albatross to that
remote region in 1888 and 1889. These islands lie way off in the
Pacific Ocean, several hundred miles southwest of Cape San Lucas.
To Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898) belongs the honor of. having added
this species to the North American list, as he found it “ fairly com-
mon April 23, and again in early June” about Cape San Lucas,
which brings it within the limits of our check list.
We are also indebted to Mr. Anthony (1898a) for practically
all we know about the life history of this obscure species. He found
it breeding abundantly on San Benedicte Island (also spelled Bene-
dicto or Benedictu), in the Revillagigedo group. He says of. this
island :.
The islands are all volcanic in origin and, in general, extremely rough and
broken. On San Benedicte is found a heavy growth of coarse grass, wherever
there is sufficient soil. But little other vegetation is found on the island. This
grass, growing to the height of a man’s head, made travel extremely disagree-
able, as the barbed seeds penetrated our clothing by thousands and caused us
much more trouble than the cactus thickets which we encountered on Clarion
later. San Benedicte is a small island about three miles in length with an
uverage width of half a mile.
Nesting.—Of the breeding habits of the Townsend shearwater, Mr.
Anthony (1900) writes:
On San Benedicto Island I found a few nesting the last week in May. At
this date most of the young were but a few days old, covered with sooty down
above, and paler-grayish below. With the smaller young I often found one of
the parents, but they were as frequently alone. The burrows were all con-
fined to the higher parts of the island about 500 feet above the sea, where they
were dug among the bunches of thick, tangled grass, and were well scattered,
a dozen or so being a large colony. The burrows were not so deep or long
as were those of P. opisthomelas of Natividad, averaging about 5 feet in length.
On Clarion Island this species was again found in a similar location, all of the
burrows being confined to a thick growth of grass, on the high parts of the
island.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 16
Clarion Island, Mexico. R. H. Beck.
TOWNSEND SHEARWATER.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 330
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND'PELICANS. 85
The Clarion colonies were more extensive, each suitable patch of grass being
well populated. Few birds were seen at sea during the daytime and at night,
those that visited the nest must have been much more silent than is the black-
vented shearwater, in the vicinity of its colonies, for I do not remember hearing
any notes that I could attribute to P. auricularis though one or two of those
that were dragged from their nests gave vent to their displeasure in notes
similar to those of P. opisthomelas.
F'ggs—Of the eggs, Mr. Anthony (1898a) says:
A single egg was found addled, and is now in the U. S. National Museum.
It is pure white like the eggs of the other species of the genus that I have seen.
The egg referred to above was collected on San Benedicto Island,
on April 30, 1897, and is, so far as I know, the only egg in existence.
It is ovate in shape, slightly elongated, and is pure white in color.
The shell is smooth and only slightly glossy. It measures 57.3 by
40.4 millimeters. . 7
Young.—I have examined a specimen of the. downy young, taken
on San Benedicto Island on May 1, 1897, now in the collection of the
Carnegie Museum (No. 21943); it is covered with long, soft, silky
down on the upper parts, varying in color from “light drab” to “ecru
drab,” and with shorter, white down on the belly.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—Known to breed only on the Revillagigedo
Islands (Clarion and San Benedicto Islands) off the west coast of
Mexico.
Range—Does not wander far from its breeding grounds. North
to Cape San Lucas and south to Clipperton Island.
Egg dates—San Benedicto Island: One record, April 30.
PUFFINUS GRISEUS (Gmelin).
SOOTY SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
The ocean wanderers from Antarctic seas that spend their winters
during our summer months off our coasts are better known to fisher-
men than to ornithologists, who have long remained in ignorance of
the habits of the living birds. Their breeding habits have been a
mystery and for many years they were supposed to breed far north
and to be found off our coasts only in winter. Mr. Leverett M. Loomis,
who has made extensive studies of the migrating water birds off the
coast of California, has made some valuable additions to our know]-
edge of these birds and their movements. The results of his observa-
tions as applied to the sooty shearwater are summed up in the follow-
ing well-chosen words of Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey (1902) :
The shearwaters taken at Monterey in May were in worn, molting plumage,
common with birds just after the breeding season; while their sexual organs
83969—22——7
86 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
showed none of the functional development of birds about to breed. ‘The mi-
gratory movements of these birds increased from May until September, when
there was an abrupt decrease in their numbers, only stragglers being seen after-
wards. Not only were the September and October birds in fresh plumage,
but those secured had their sexual.organs enlarged as in birds in the flush of
the breeding season. As the shearwaters are known to breed from October to
March on oceanic islands in the south temperate zone, the case seems to be
a simple one.
The southward movement of this species, which is really its spring
migration, begins in September and the bulk of the flight is over
before the end of that month, though it is still to be found here in
diminishing numbers during October and November on both our
Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Mr. Loomis (1900) says: “'These shear-
‘waters in transitu, were exceedingly abundant on the 23d and 24th
of September. Afterwards the species rapidly declined in the scale
of abundance, in October and November only stragglers appearing.”
Nesting.—Mr. F. Ducane Godman (1907) gives the following ac-
count of the nesting habits of this species:
It breeds in great numbers on some of the small islands off the coast of New
Zealand, the nesting places being much harried by the natives, who esteem these
shearwaters as an article of food. The burrows on the Chatham Islands are
usually formed in peaty soil, running horizontally: for three or four feet and
then turning. The nest, a rude structure composed of sticks and dead leaves,
is placed at the end of the hole. A single egg is laid, both sexes assisting in
the work of incubation, and when the parents return to roost on shore in count-
less thousands, the noise they make is deafening. If removed from their bur-
rows they flutter about on the ground for some time in a confused way, but
eventually make for the sea.
Sir Walter Buller (1888) says of its breeding habits:
On the Island of Karewa and on the Rurima Rocks large numbers annually
breed, sharing their burrows with the tuatara lizard, and submitting, season
after season, to have their nests plundered by the Maoris, who systematically
visit the breeding ground when the young birds are sufficiently plump and fat
for the calabash.
Eggs.—He also describes an egg as follows: “ An egg, supposed to
belong to this species, is ovoide elliptical in form, measuring ‘3.1
inches in length by 1.95 in breadth; it is white, with a smooth sur-
face, but much discolored by soiling.” Mr. A. J. Campbell (1901)
describes the single egg as “round oval in shape, texture of shell
somewhat coarse, surface minutely pitted and slightly glossy, colour,
pure white, but frequently more or less stained with dirt.”
The measurements of 34 eggs, collected from various SOUrCeS,
average 74 by 48 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 81.7 by 49.2, 79 by 58.4, 58.5 by 42.5, and 60.5 by 42
millimeters.
Young.—Sir Walter Buller (1888) in referring to the young says:
Mr. Marchant informs me that he found this species breeding in burrows
near the summit of the Island of Kapita about the end of February. The
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. I7
Wollaston Island, Chile. R. H. Beck.
Wollaston Island, Chile. R. H. Beck.
Sooty SHEARWATER.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 87
excavations were in peaty ground over which a fire had passed, destroying
all surface vegetation. The young at this time were half-grown, covered with
light grey down, and extremely fat. On being held up by the feet, oily matter
ran freely from their throats. The old birds, on being taker hold of, fought
fiercely with their bills.
There are some nesting grounds of this species on Whale Island on the Bay
of Plenty. “I visited these breeding places about the middle of January and
found the nestlings still occupying their deep burrows, but they were well
grown, with black quills and tail feathers sprouting vigorously through their
thick downy mantle of slate grey.
Probably, as is the case with nearly all of this genus, the young
bird passes from the downy stage directly into a plumage resembling
the adult. Apparently there is only one complete annual molt long
after the close of the breeding season or during our summer.
Food.—Capt. J. W. Collins (1884) says in regard to their food:
From my observations I am of the opinion that the hag subsists chiefly on
squid, which, of course, it catches at or near the surface of the water. I have
opened many hundreds of them and have never, to my recollection, failed to
find in their stomachs either portions of the squid, or, at least, squid’s bills.
It may be interesting also to mention the fact that in the fall of 1875, when
the giant Cephalopods, or “big squid,” were found on the eastern part of the
Grand Bank between the parallels 44° and 45° north latitude, and the meri-
dians of 49° 30’ and 50° 30’ west longitude, flocks of hagdons were invariably
found feeding on the dead “ devil fish’ which were floating on the water. In
nearly all cases these “ big squid ” were found in a mutilated condition, usually
with their tentacles eaten off almost to their heads, and the fishermen soon
learned to detect their presence by the large flocks of birds collected about
them. The small species of fish which frequent the waters of the eastern
fishing banks, such as the lant, capelin, etc., also furnish Pufinus with a por-
tion of its food. But birds of this species, as well as most all others found at
sea, are excessively fond of oily food, and especially the livers of the Gadidae,
cod, hake, etc., and this extreme fondness for codfish livers, which they swal-
low with great avidity, renders their capture possible by the fishermen with
hook and line.
Behavior—The flight of the sooty shearwater is swift, graceful,
and strong; like other species of Puffinus, it can sail for long: dis-
tances on its long, stiff wings without even a tremor, except to ad-
just them slightly to the wind, rising at will over the crests of the
waves or gliding down into the valleys between them and turning
as the albatrosses do by lowering the wing on the inner side of the
curve and raising the wing on the outer side, both being held in a
straight line, the angle of incline depending on the sharpness of the
curve. It frequently flaps its wings, however, when occasion re-
quires it and uses them freely in its squabbles for food. It some-
times experiences a little difficulty in rising from the water in calm
weather, but ordinarily it does so very readily. It swims lightly
and swiftly on the surface and dives below it occasionally in pur-
suit of food, using its wings freely under water. It has frequently
been caught on the trawl hooks of the ‘cod fishermen.
88 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
‘While with us this shearwater is usually silent except when’ squab-
bling for food, but on its breeding grounds it is evidently quite noisy.
Sir, Walter Buller (1888) says;, “ These birds are at. all times more
nocturnal than diurnal, and when hovering overhead at night:utter
a frequent call ‘note,’ like tee-tee-tee, from which:the Maori name ‘is
derived.” ‘Mr. Walter H. Rich writes to me that when on Georges
Bank he “did not hear the nasal, squealing battle cry from a black
hag,” and the only sound chick he “could with. certainty trace to
this species was a low, gutteral ‘wok-wok-wok’ when much excited.”
~’ Although usually’ to be found. only far offshore, shearwaters are
occasionally driven i in near the land i in age yen apnea’
morning of the 3d, many in going down the const passed. within a
few hundred yards of the Monterey Wharf, illustrating the deflect-
ing influence of low fogs upon movements.” Only once have I known
them to come inside the harbor. at Chatham, Massachusetts, which
the fishermen said they. had never known them, to do. On Septem-
ber 5, 1909, the weather was very thick and stormy outside, and
there was a strong flood tide, on which a large flock of’ shearwaters
had apparently drifted in over the bars. We were anchored, fish-
ing, near the entrance of the harbor as they drifted past us, sitting
on the water in.a large. scattered flock and. facing the strong. north-
east wind. I counted about 275 of them; there were about a dozen
of the Cory shearwaters, and all the went were sooty shearwaters.
When disturbed by a passing boat they all rose and flew past us out
toward the bars, only to drift in again with the tide and repeat the
operation.
Winter.—On their peti to northern waters these shearwaters may
be looked for in May and they become very abundant at times during
the summer, but in order to find them one must look well. offshore
asa rule. I have frequently seen them in large numbers about. 10
miles out at sea, off Chatham, Massachusetts, near the elbow of Cape
Cod. Here we used to go out. with the fishing fleet to the cod banks, .
when the sea was smooth enough to allow them to navigate among
the dangerous sand bars that guarded the entrance to.the harbor.
It seemed as if we were really at sea when the boat began to rise and
fall on the long ocean swell, gliding down into the valleys and over
the crests of mountainous seas; here the little Wilson petrels flitted
past us, pattering over the waves, and these real pelagic wanderers,
the shearwaters, were first seen elidune along close to the water on
long pointed rigid wings, like miniature albatrosses., There. were
three species—the greater, the sooty, and the Cory shearwaters; the
first species far outnumbered all the others.and the last. was mielt
the rarest of the three. The dark bodied and still darker. winged
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 89
sooty shearwater could be easily recognized at any distance. We ex-
perienced no difficulty in tolling them up to the boat, where we could
study them at close range, by throwing overboard the oily livers of
what fish we had caught or any other greasy offal. It was remarkable
to see how quickly they would gather; even when none were in sight
for miles around us, they seemed to scent the presence of food and
would come from far and wide to gorge themselves on the feast we
had provided. Even in foggy weather they seemed to have some
means of locating us and would suddenly appear, as if by intuition,
when they could hardly have been guided by sight. They must have
some means of communicating with each other or indicating by their
movements where food is to be found. When a morsel of food is
discovered the bird plunges awkwardly down onto the water, striking
on its breast with a great splash and gulping down the savory morsel
with eager haste.
Occasionally it plunges beneath the surface to catch a sinking bit
of flesh and often great squabbles take place between several birds,
struggling to secure the same pieces and making the water fly in
their greedy eagerness. It is not difficult to get them near: enough to
photograph them and it is not necessary to shoot any for specimens
for they can be easily caught on baited hooks. They are’ hard to
kill, however, as they are very tenacious of life. They eject from
their mouths and nostrils, when caught, a great profusion of bad
smelling oily fluid, which ‘soils the plumage and is very difficult to
remove.
The sooty shearwater is known to the fishermen as the “black
hagdon,” “hag,” or “haglet.” On the fishing grounds about the
Grand Bank off Newfoundland the shearwaters are very abundant
and were formerly caught, with hook and line, in enormous num-
bers to use for bait. According to Capt. J. W. Collins, the sooty
shearwater is much less abundant on the fishing banks than the
greater shearwater, which: outnumbers it about 100 to 1. Capt.
Collins (1884) published, in the tenth annual report of the United
States Fish Commissioner, an exhaustive and very interesting: ac-
count of the habits of the shearwaters and fulmar, part of which was
reprinted in The Osprey and is well worth reading. He gives a full
account of the method of catching codfish, known as “shack-fishing,”
in which the “hagdons” were largely used as bait prior to 1875,
and says that since that time “it has generally been found more
profitable to depend on other sources for a bait supply;” he also
describes the methods used in catching the shearwaters and pre-
paring them for bait. Referring to ie social habits of these birds
he says:
When the birds reach ‘Tele destination in the spring, for a few days after
their arrival, they do not seem to make any special effort for the purpose of
90 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
securing food, but pass most of their time sitting in large numbers on the
water, and at this period it is somewhat difficult to catch them on hook and
line. Occasionally a flock will make a short flight and again settle down, but
there appears to be a strong inclination, at that time, to huddle together and
keep up the organization which has probably existed during their migration
from distant regions, The same thing in regard to going in flocks is noticeable
in the fall when they collect for their autumnal migration from the fishing-
banks.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Islands in New Zealand seas. On New Zealand
(Otaya, Kaimanawa Ranges, and near Wellington), on Norfolk,
Stewarts, Kapiti, Snares, St. Stephens, Auckland, and Chatham
Islands, and probably many others. Also breeds on islands near
Cape Horn.
Range.—Widely distributed over both great oceans. North in the
Atlantic Ocean in summer, to Labrador, southern Greenland, the
Faroe and the Orkney Islands; and in the Pacific Ocean to the Ku-
rile and Aleutian Islands. South in the southern oceans, probably
to about 60° south.
Spring migration.—Appears on the Atlantic coast of North Amer-
ica in May; North Carolina, Fort Macon, May 21; New Jersey, Sea
Isle City, May 25; Rhode Island, off Seaconnet Point, June 2; Mas-
sachusetts, Pigeon Cove, May 29; southern Greenland, off Cape Fare-
well, June 22. On the Pacific coast the main flight arrives off Cali-
fornia in May, but the species has been recorded in every month in
the year.
Fall migration—Disappears from the north Atlantic in Septem-
ber and October; most of the British records are in these two months.
Main flight leaves the California coast at about the same time.
Casual records.—A straggler was taken in Rhode Island (off
Point Judith, March 28, 1902).
Egg dates—tIslands near New Zealand: Nineteen records, No-
vember 16 to April 28; ten records, November 19 to 26. Cape Horn:
Two records, December 23 and January 1.
PUFFINUS TENUIROSTRIS (Temminck).
SLENDER-BILLED SHEARWATER,
HABITS,
Among the vast flocks of dark. colored shearwaters which we saw
as we passed through Unimak Pass and entered Bering Sea, on June
4, 1911, we were confident that this species was represented. Un-
fortunately, we were unable to collect any specimens for identifica-
tion and we shall therefore never know whether these immense
gatherings of sea birds were made up of sooty or slender-billed
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 91
shearwaters or both. Mr. Rollo H. Beck and I thought we recog-
nized both species, as they flapped away almost under our bow, but
I have since decided that any such identification would be worth-
less, as it is difficult to distinguish the two species even in the hand.
Whatever the species may have been, its numbers were beyond esti-
mate, the smooth surface of the sea was covered with them for miles
and miles, a vast multitude, far greater than I had ever seen, or
ever conceived, and as we passed through this great sea of birds
they merely parted under our bow sufficiently to let us pass. After
seeing such a spectacle, I can more easily believe the accounts I
have read of the astonishing abundance of the “mutton bird,” as
this shearwater is called, on its breeding grounds about New Zea-
land, Australia, and Tasmania.
The following remarkable statement by Flinders, quoted by A. J.
Campbell (1901), seems almost incredible :
A large flock of gannets Was observed at daylight, and they were followed
by such a number of sooty petrels as we had never seen equaled. There was a
stream of from 50 to 80 yards in depth and 300 yards or more in breadth. The
birds were not scattered, but were flying as compactly as a free movement of
their wings seemed to allow, and during a full hour and a half this stream of
petrels continued to pass without interruption, at a rate little inferior to the
swiftness of the pigeon. On the lowest computation, I think the number could
not have been less than a hundred millions. Taking the stream to have been
fifty yards deep by three hundred in width, and that it moved at the rate of
thirty miles an hour, and allowing nine cubic yards of space to each bird, the
numbers would amount to 151,500,000; the burrows required to lodge this
quantity would be 75,750,000; and allowing a square yard to each burrow, they
would cover something more than 184 geographical square miles of ground.
Nesting.—Of the several accounts that have been published I have
selected the following, by the Rt. Rev. H. H. Montgomery, D. D.,;
bishop of Tasmania (1898), which describes most fully and graphi-
cally the nesting habits of the slender-billed shearwater in the neigh-
borhood of Bass Strait, Australia:
For many years, as episcopal duties have called me to the Furneaux Islands
in Bass Strait, I have given attention to the habits of what is locally called
the “mutton-bird.” This petrel is now adequately protected by an act of the
Tasmanian Parliament; and although some 400,000 young birds are salted
down for consumption in a good year, chiefly by half-castes, yet there is no
chance of the extinction of this species under present conditions. The day
May come, indeed, when the population of these islands shall have increased
so much that fresh legislation may have to be initiated, but that day has not
yet arrived. There are also numerous islands near the Victorian coast, at
present absolutely unvisited,” swarming with these birds. The absence of
boat harbors, and as well as of fresh water and wood, protect these summer
visitors from depredators. The following facts may be taken as accurate;
there is certainly no difference of opinion about them among the people who
have spent their lives in these islands: The mutton-bird (Pufinus tenuirostris)
appears with the greatest regularity about September 17th in these waters,
92 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
having come apparently from the direction.of the South Pole; for, after in-
quiry of the captains of ships, I can discover no one who has met with them
between May and. September, although their numbers at other times can, be
computed only by millions. The obvious difficulty is that the season when they
disappear is midwinter. It is also noteworthy that the whole period from
September 17th till the beginning of May is taken up with the rearing of their
young. When they appear in September they are believed to have paired al-
ready, and they commence at once to scratch out their holes, the process last-
ing, with intervals, for six weeks, One bird is seen to be at work at a time,
and always in the night. In the daytime they depart seaward. Indeed, so
persistent is their desertion of the breeding-places by day that it would be
quite possible for unobservant persons ‘to live on these islands and to be un-
aware that the petrels. breed there at all, except-perhaps at the season when
the young birds take to the water. It is almost true to say that I never saw a
petrel in the daytime near their rookeries during the. eight years that I have
been visiting them. The universal belief is that these birds dare ‘not alight on
the ground in daylight because of the gulls and crows, for the length of their
wings make them unable to fiy off flat ground. The petrels depart about No-
vember ist, and are only seen occasionally till November 20th, when they re-
turn in tens of thousands to lay their eggs, one for each pair, and they are laid
almost on the same night in each locality. Islands differ, some being earlier
than others, but I have heard of no egg being taken before November 18th.
If the egg is taken, there is good reason to believe that no other is laid; but
the birds, being very gregarious, return to sleep on the rookery, although they
may have no young to tend. The Government permits consumption of the
eggs on the island, but none are to be exported. As a matter of fact, the eggs
are not fit to take after they have been laid three days. During the period of
incubation the parents take it in turns to sit, exchanging positions after about
a week. The young birds appear about January 15th, and for a fortnight or
so they are in danger of snakes, which swarm on some islands, such as Chap-
pell Island and Babel, and are entirely absent from others, such as Little Dog
Island. The eggs, however, are safe, for the old birds can easily defend them-
selves when sitting. “ Birders” say that birds and snakes are not found in the
same hole; but if a man seizes a snake in place of a bird he must pull it out,
for to relax his grip is to court danger. _There are always signs if there is a
bird in a hole, for the parents carefully clean out the passage before they. de-
part for the day and stuff the entrance with dry rookery grass. In March the
feathers of the young begin to grow; before this they are fat, downy creatures,
By act of Parliament “birding” commences in Tasmanian lands on March
20th and continues till the survivitig birds fly away about the beginning of May.
When the young petrels are fully feathered the parent birds desert them al-
together and depart seaward, the result being that the new generation is driven
from the holes by hunger, and, without assistance from the old ones, they have
to find their way to the water and to learn to fly and feed, All their traveling
is done by, night, for fear of their enemies (the large gulls); but even so, a
great many are killed upon the water or upon the shore when too weak or in-
experienced to escape. Still, in spite of the efforts of man and of winged bi-
peds, the sea is black with young birds in May, and fully one-third of the young
petrels survive.
Let us now imagine ourselves standing on a rookery in the evening awaiting
the arrival of the old birds as the sun approaches the horizon. The islands
where the petrels breed are as a rule devoid of trees. They are sandy knolls
covered with long grass, and seem useless, except to feed a few sheep, Chappell
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 93
Island has an area of 1,200 acres, Little Dog Island about 120 acres. These are
fair. specimens of the rookeries, and I have calculated that 40,000 holes per acre
is not an exaggerated estimate. All day long the young birds are absolutely
silent. The uninitiated might imagine that nothing edible existed underfoot,
and that they stood upon a deserted rabbit-warren. Gazing out to sea on all
sides, the watcher will not yet detect a single petrel; not till the sun has set and
the darkness is increasing is there any sign of the wonderful rush of birds,
which, to a naturalist, is so fascinating a sight. The following figures, noted
in the month of February, may be of interest: 6.36 p. m., not a petrel in sight;
6.40, the first bird visible out at sea; 6.48, the sun disappeared ; 6.48, sunset from
the top of the lighthouse (Goose Island) and the light flashed out; 6.53, the
first petrel flew rapidly over the island without settling; 6.56, the numbers so
great that I ceased counting; 6.58, the numbers become bewildering; 7.06, the
numbers at their maximum—tens of thousands whirling, wheeling, flashing up
from all sides, are whistling like bullets past one’s head, till it seemed almost
dangerous to stand up; 7.30, nearly all the birds had arrived. Then, and not
till then, do the noises commence. The flight inward of the parent birds is con-
ducted in absolute silence. Nothing, indeed, can be more weird than this rush
of dumb creatures, so perfect in flight, but uttering no sound. As soon ag the
majority have arrived the ground emits the most extraordinary sounds—gur-
glings, groaning, and hoarse laughter. It must be confessed that there is no
music in the note. On Chappell Island some 300,000 young birds would at this
moment be receiving oil into their throats, poured into them by the parents, who
thus give them the one meal the fledglings receive in the 24 hours. _
I now proceed to give the results of a whole night spent on a large rookery
on Big Dog Island, under a full moon, a roaring westerly gale blowing over
the island. It was March 1, 1896. With watch and pocketbook I lay among
the birds or walked silently about noting what I now set down: Up to 10
p. m. the underground noises continue, then silence falls on the rookery. The
young birds are digesting; the parents are resting; but the latter are not by
any means all in the holes for some of them come out almost immediately
and walk about among the long grass, and many of them sleep in the open
air. I stepped silently about among them as they crouched on the ground;
in no case did they put their heads under their wings, as many birds do,
Often one of them walked up to my foot, and the slightest movement on my
part sent him scurrying away like a rabbit quite unable to fly off the ground.
The moon was so bright that the rookery was almost as light as day. All
night long a few score of birds flitted noiselessly over the rookery, just skim-
ming the tops of the low bushes and passing within a foot of my face as I lay
concealed. Hour after hour this graceful quadrille proceeded almost with-
out sound of wings and as from creatures absolutely incapable of speech.
At about 2.30 a. m. the rookery awoke. Noises came from all sides; a larger
number of birds flashed silently over the ground. I walked toward a sandy
ridge some thirty yards from the shore. Scores of birds walked up to the
edge, then they raised their wings right over their backs till they nearly met
at full stretch. They stood thus quivering in the wind for a few seconds, and
then launched themselves into the air and were at once in flight. Close by a
bird underground was sending a fountain of sand into the air as he cleaned
out the hole preparatory to departure. At 3.15 a. m. the rookery was fully
awake ; hundreds of birds were leaving. I passed on and laid myself down
within eight paces of a large rock with sloping sides and watched the birds
as they clambered up it, and, extending their wings in the manner I have
described, launched themselves into the air. In every case, they faced the
94 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
wind to perform this operation. At times, indeed, they were so numerous that
they were jostling each other, but in perfect harmony. At 4.43 I counted
a score on the rock together, and they were all silent; at the approach of
daylight, 4.53, quite a rush of birds anxious to depart; 5.05, a few still left;
5.15, the last bird flew away from the rock I was observing. All around
hardly a petrel was visible; just a few were wheeling in mid-air. At 5.19
the last of these birds disappeared and the rookery seemed to be absolutely
devoid of life. At 5.23, just four minutes after the last petrel had flown
away, I heard the wailing of a Pacific gull, and its forms was visible in the
distance. In a few minutes more a squadron of twenty of these creatures,
accompanied by as many crows, came sailing over my head, croaking and
calling, and quartering the ground to see whether any belated bird could be
discovered. At 5.41 the sun rose. I advance my theory, which is borne out
by the experience of all the half-castes and white men who have spent their
lives in these regions, that the sooty petrels come to feed their young only
and in complete silence, and leave again before the other birds are awake,
because only by this means are they safe from enemies in whose presence
they are helpless when on the land. In the air, of course, they fear no
such foes.
Buller (1888) makes the following statements regarding the nest-
ing habits of Puffinus tenuirostris in New Zealand:
This species of petrel is very abundant on.our coasts, and retires inland,
sometimes to a distance of fifty miles, to breed. It nests in underground
burrows, forming often large colonies, and resorting to the same breeding
place year after year.
It is very plentiful in the Hauraki Gulf, and is diurnal in its habits. It
associates on the water in large communities, has a vigorous flight; and utters
a peculiar cry represented by the syllables na-kwa-kwa, from which it takes
its native name. It breeds on all the islands in the gulf, not, however, in
colonies, but each pair selecting its own locality and excavating a burrow,
sometimes five feet in extent, with a rounded chamber at the farther end where
a single egg is deposited about the end of September. A specimen in my son’s
collection, from Lord Howe’s Island, is of a rather elliptical or slightly pyriform
shape, measures 2.75 inches in length by 1.6 in breadth, and is perfectly
white.
Young.—Mr. A. J. Campbell (1904) describes the early life history
of the young bird as follows:
After the pure white egg is deposited by the female, she goes to sea for a
week to recruit and grow fat and saucy, while her lord takes his domestic
turn and sits steadfastly on the egg. He goes out the following week, and they
proceed, turn after turn about, for eight weeks, till the precious chick is
hatched. The young are fed in the burrows for about three months, till about
the middle of April. Just fancy what a strange existence for the happy, or
unhappy, chick to be reared in a sandy burrow for three long months, and to be
alone every day from dawn till dark. The young are curious-looking objects,
clothed in long, dark down, with black bill and eyes and feet to match. Ata
certain stage a young bird will weigh about 3} pounds, and be heavier than
either of its parents, who at this stage desert it and proceed to sea for good.
The youngsters will then thrive on their own fatty nature for a week or SO;
quills and feathers sprout, and the birds becoming hungry, and, having learnt
to stretch their own wings, proceed to follow their parents, Quitting Bass
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 95
Strait, all will disperse for the winter over the milder waters of the Pacific,
some of the birds wandering even up to Japanese waters before returning in
crowds to Phillip Island again the following nesting season. How marvelous,
without a chart or compass, to roam the western Pacific from north to south,
and without calendar to return to land again almost to a day to lay.
E'ggs——Mr. Campbell (1901) describes the egg as follows:
“Clutch, one; inclined to oval shape, occasionally more elliptical;
texture of shell somewhat coarse; surface minutely pitted, slight
trace of gloss on some examples; color, pure white.”
The measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 71 by
47 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 77.2
by 40.5, 73 by 51.5, 63.5 by 44, and 65.2 by 41 millimeters. The
period of incubation is said to be 56 days.
Food—Capt. William Walter (1902), of the steamship Westralia,
gives us the following account of its food habits:
When coming out of Otago Harbor on Sunday, the 26th of November, some
of these petrels, in immense numbers, were settled on the water and feeding on
what is locally known as “ whale feed ’—small shrimplike creatures about an
inch long, and which at times are so numerous as to color the water for acres
brick-red. It was almost calm, and as we drew up to the birds a passage was
opened up through them as we passed. It was amusing to watch their efforts
to escape—many of them were so filled as to be unable to fly, and attempted
to-escape by diving and paddling frantically away from the vessel.” It was
noticed that many, in their efforts to escape, ejected the reddish substance
they had been feeding upon. They appeared to extend several miles north and
south of Otago Heads.
The birds which we saw in Unimak Pass were probably feeding on
similar food, for we were told that their presence in large numbers
was always dependent on the abundance of whales. Small whales
were certainly plentiful at that time and the birds were probably
feeding on the refuse left by the whales or were chasing the same
kind of small marine animals.
Behavior.—Mx. R. H. Davies (1843) describes the following method
of capturing these birds for their feathers in their breeding grounds
in Tasmania:
The birds can not rise from the ground, but must first go into the water, in
effecting which they have made a great many tracks to the beach similar to
those of a kangaroo; these are stopped before morning, with the exception of
one leading over a shelving bank, at the bottom of which is dug a pit in the
sand. The birds finding all avenues closed but this follow each other in such
number that as they fall into the pit they are immediately smothered by those
succeeding them. It takes the feathers of forty birds to weight one pound;
consequently sixteen hundred of these birds must be sacrificed to make a feather
bed of forty pounds weight. The feathers, as Tasmanian travelers well can tell,
have a strong, disagreeable scent.
Mr. Davies says further:
The young birds leave the rookeries about the latter end of April or form one
scattered flock in Bass’s Straits. I have actually sailed through them from
96 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Flinders Island to the heads of the Tamar, a distance of eighty miles. They
shortly afterwards separate into dense flocks, and finally leave the coast. The
old birds are very oily, but the young are literally one mass of fat, which has a
tallowy appearance, and hence I presume the name of “ mutton bird.” To this
I may add that the young birds are very good when fresh, and the old birds
after being skinned and preserved in brine are excellent eating.
Winter.—After the breeding season is over, in April, the slender-
billed shearwaters apparently. migrate into the Northern Hemisphere
in the north Pacific Ocean. The northward. migration route seems
to be mainly on the Asiatic side, probably to the vicinity of the
Commander and Aleutian Islands; Doctor Stejneger (1885) suggested
that a few of these shearwaters might breed in that region, but it
now seems to be well established that the species is merely a summer
sojourner in northern seas between its breeding seasons in Australian
waters. Mr. Leverett M. Loomis tells me that this species is seen on
the California coast only late in the fall on the return migration to
its breeding grounds. The large numbers seen off Monterey. between
the 14th and 20th of December, in 1895, by Mr. Joseph .Mailliard
were probably belated migrants. ees.
The large series of slender-billed shearwaters in the collection of
the California Academy of Sciences is conclusive evidence of the
abundance of this species on the coast during the southward migration
in the fall.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Southern Australian and New Zealand seas.
Mainly in Bass Straits and vicinity (Flinders, Phillip, Big Dog,
Kings, and Green Islands, etc.). Also on Lord Howe Island and
on New Zealand (Kaimanawa Ranges).
Range.—Migrates northward throughout the north Pacific Ocean
to the Okhotsk and Bering Seas and eastward, mainly on the return
migration, to the coast of North America.
Migrations—Northward in the western Pacific Ocean and south-
ward in the eastern. Dates: Commander Islands, ‘Copper Island,
May 29, and Bering Island, August 22; Aleutian Islands, Unimak
Pass, July 29, and Unalaska, August 31; Alaska, Ugashik, September
15; British Columbia, Victoria, October 24; Washington, August to
November ; California, Point Pinos, October 13 to January 30. Main
flight passes California in November and December.
Casual records—Northernmost record is one taken in northern
Alaska (Kotzebue Sound, July 4, 1899). Latest winter record is for
British Columbia (one taken February 23, 1904).
Egg dates Islands in Australian and New Zealand seas: Twenty-
three records, November 11 to March 3; twelve records, December
1 to 17.
PL. 18
121
BULLETIN
NATIONAL MUSEUM
s.
U.
“AuoqIUY “MV
Ee BOVd 3aS NOdIND6aa BOY
YSLVMYVSHS GaTIVi-a90aM
“OoTXOW ‘PUBIS]T OJIPIUDG uUBg
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 97
THYELLODROMA PACIFICA (Gmelin).
WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
This species seems to range entirely across the Pacific Ocean from
Volcano Island, south of Japan, to the islands off the west coast
of Mexico, including the Marshall Islands, from which it was de-
scribed by Salvin, and the Hawaiian Islands. Mr. A. W. Anthony
(1898) was the first to record it as a North American bird, finding
it about Cape San Lucas associated with the Townsend Sicarwaters
in “ April 23 and again in early June,”
Nesting —Mr. Anthony (1900) found the wedge-tailed shearwater
breeding abundantly on San Benedicto island, concerning | ‘whieh
he writes:
About Cape St. Lucas, and between that point and the Revillagigedo Islands,
the wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus cuneatus) is found in abundance
in May and June. It probably may occur at other seasons, but as I have not
visited the region of the Cape during other seasons I can give no assurance
of its doing so. This species is of exceptional interest, as it belongs to a
group of shearwaters new to the North American fauna, and of which little is
known. I was so fortunate as to discover a large colony nesting . on San
Benedicto Island, from which was obtained a fine series of skins with all of
‘the intergrades between the white-bellied phase of cuneatus and the dusky form
described by L. Stejneger from the Sandwich Islands as knudseni.
On first landing on San Benedicto, the 1st of May, I heard a low murmuring
noise which seemed to come from the opposite side of the island. Thinking . it
might come from a rookery of seals, I started out to investigate, but ‘soon
found that I was getting no nearer the source of the noise, which possessed
a ventriloquial power difficult to locate. I soon, however, found myself sur-
rounded by large burrows which fairly honeycombed the entire south end of
the island, which was so completely undermined that one constantly broke
through into burrows, frequently sinking to the hips in ground that had every
appearance of being solid.
From many of the holes came moans and sobs:in soft, low tones, inexpres-
sively sad and weird—the love notes of Pufinus cuneatus.
A number of the burrows were opened, and from each were taken two birds,
which fought and bit most savagely on being dragged to the light. By far the
greater number were in dark plumage, but many showed lighter underparts,
and in some cases a perfectly typical “ cuneatus,” with pure white under-
parts, was found in the same burrow with a dark “ knudseni.”
At this date the burrows were about four to five feet in length, most of them
running in a nearly horizontal direction along the sides of the steep narrow
ravines that everywhere cut this end of the island.
The soil is chiefly of fine pumice, in some places soft and easily excavated,
but in others so hard as to require the use of a pick in opening the burrows.
In most of the excavations was a rude attempt at nest building, consisting of
a few sprigs of green grass and other vegetation which grew about the colony,
and on this meager platform were both birds, but no eggs. Nor did the con-
dition of the birds indicate that the actual nesting season was at hand.
98 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Thinking I would find eggs, I returned to San Benedicto from Socorro Island
two weeks later, but was disappointed. Many of the burrows were empty,
and all had been extended two feet or more in length, and the nest of green
plants moved back to the end. As before, when birds were found there were
usually two.
The two following weeks were spent at Clarion, between two and three hun-
dred miles west of San Benedicto. At Clarion P. cuneatus was rare and only
seen at sea. Neither here nor at Socorro were there any signs of nesting
colonies. San Benedicto was reached again May 31, and though dozens of
burrows were opened, scarcely any birds were found. The tunnels had now a
length of from eight to ten feet, having been extended another two feet or
more, and as before, the nesting material moved to the end. The few birds
found were generally in the shorter burrows, which were perhaps incomplete.
Only one egg was found with the parent, a white-bellied bird.
Toward evening a greater percentage of birds began to appear from sen-
ward, but at no time before dark did the numbers congregated about the island
equal those seen a month earlier.
From the data obtained I would place the nesting season of P. cuneatus at
least three months later than that of either opisthomelas or auricularis, which
both deposit their eggs at about the same time, in early March.
Maj. G. Ralph Meyer writes to me that:
This bird breeds quite abundantly on Rabbitt Island, a small volcanic island
off the east shore of Oaltu (in the Hawaiian Islands). They occupy deserted
rabbit burrows, going in a short distance. Im each case I could see the old
bird sitting on the egg. I captured one of the old birds and finally killed it.
It was very vicious and its sharp bill and claws drew blood from my hands in
several places. The birds would not leave the nests even after I had taken
the eggs and tried to drive them out. The only bird in sight was the one on
the egg in each case. It is probable that only one bird remains in the vicinity
of the nest at a time.
Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) gives a very good account of the
burrowing habits of the wedge-tailed shearwater on Laysan Island,
from which I quote as follows:
The uau kane is an abundant bird on Laysan, and far and away the form
most familiar to persons cruising in Hawaiian waters. Although so common
on Laysan, Mr. Schlemmer estimates that in point of numbers it is second tu
Aestrelata hypoleuca. The greater number are congregated in a zone perhaps
50 yards wide around the lagoon, some distance seaward from the bare flood
plain mentioned in the narrative. It is surprising how consistently they keep
to this locality, as they are rare elsewhere on the island. This area is shared
with albatrosses, rails, and in places with Sterna lunata, and overlaps the wide
Aestrelata colonies. The burrows are among tall bushy grass as well as inthe
open among matted juncus and succulent portulaca.
While we were on the island the birds sat in pairs all day near the entrance
to their homes, or if the sun grew too warm retired a short way into the tun-
rel, where they kept up an almost constant cooing.
Not infrequently one will observe the shearwaters cleaning out old burrows
or in the act of lengthening them. I saw but one tunnel newly started, so that
the number of yearly visitants seems to keep fairly constant. In digging, the
birds scratch with bill and feet, and with the same implements shove the loose
sand and soil under their bodies, when they kick it in little jets far out behind.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN
121 PL. 19
Laysan Island.
W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island.
WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331.
C. T. Albrecht.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 99
As they remove the sand they lie first on one side and work a foot and then
shift to the other. One is sometimes startled, while standing quietly, among
the bushes, by being suddenly beset with little showers of sand, which on closer
inspection are found to originate with some shearwater toiling into the earth.
In their search for nesting sites they do not hesitate to wedge themselves into
all sorts of places, apparently without thought of escape, but we never found
any birds actually trapped. The burrows enter the ground at a slant and then
become horizontal, They are at least 3 feet long and often very much deeper.
Rarely -they are only about 2 feet, and these are new, while the longer ones
are the older, having been dug out by successive tenants from year to year.
The birds had not vet begun to lay, and do not till early in June, according
to the testimony of Mr. Schlemmer.
Eggs—tThe single egg of the wedge-tailed shearwater is elongate
ovate in shape and pure white in color; the shell is smooth, but not
glossy. The measurements of 25 eggs, in various collections, average
63 by 41.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
68.5 by 43.5, 66 by 44.5, 58.4 by 41.5, and 59.4 by 38.5 millimeters.
Plumages.—Major Meyer describes the downy young as “ covered
with a soft whitish down.” Professor Loomis (1918) quotes Mr.
W. A- Bryan as calling it “a smoky lilac-gray over the back and
top of the head, and very light pearl gray on the under parts,
darkest on the abdomen.”
I doubt if any specimens of this species in later immature plum-
ages have ever been collected. There are, apparently, two widely
different color phases of this species, with a puzzling series of inter-
grades, which have led to some confusion in nomenclature. The
dark phase, which is wholly dark sooty brown, has been described
as a distinct species, Puffinus knudseni,; it also closely resembles
another so-called species, Puffinus chlororhynchus, but there does
not seem to be any well established evidence of intergradation with
the latter. Mr. Godman (1907) has given a very clear statement of
the relationship and status of the two species, and I would refer
the reader to what he has to say about both cuneatus and chloro-
rhynchus. Mr. Anthony says that, about San Benedicto Island,
“both phases were seen, the sooty plumage outnumbering the light-
bellied form about two to one. In a series of about 75 specimens all
manner of intergrades can be found, from those with pure white
lower parts, including under wing-coverts, to those having gray and
sooty brown plumage. In the upper surface there is very little
variation.”
Food.—Doctor Fisher (1906) states that the “stomachs of these
birds contained the hard parts of small cephalopods (squid, se
and the like).” This is all we know about its food.
Behavior —Referring to the flight of the wedge-tailed aicwniatey
Mr. Anthony (1900), writes:
About sunset the birds from the island began to seek the water, meeting a
similar tide moving in from the sea. They mostly centered about the south
100 BULLETIN 121; UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
end of the island, which soon presented the appearance of a vast beehive.
Thousands upon thousands of shearwaters were circling about with easy flight,
much more airy and graceful than that of shearwaters with which I am
familiar; especially was the difference accentuated when an occasional auri-
cularig with typical shearwater flight, skimmed through the throng. The
greater part of those birds which came from the higher parts of the island
descended at an angle of about 45°, with wings set until near the water, wheao
they sailed off over the waves until lost to view, while others descending in a
spiral course joined their fellows in circling about the water at the foot of
the cliffs. There was little, if any, outcry, though the sobbing notes were often
heard from the birds on shore. One bird—doubtless an albino—had a pure
white head and dusky body, strongly suggestive of a Heermann’s gull. It
circled several times about our skiff, which was an object of great interest to
the busy throng. ‘
Doctor Fisher (1906) says:
A comparatively few at this season fly abroad during the day, but after dark °
they begin to move about more, and one moonlight night we found them very
active and owl-like in their flight, At sea they are expert fliers, sailing with
immovable wings rapidly and readily close over the waves, as well against as
with the wind, and they can go across the breeze much more easily than can
the albatross. :
Regarding their vocal powers the same writer observes:
Their note varies. When undisturbed they utter a dove-like khoo-whd,
which changes to a loud khoo-6w as they grow excited, and finally at the
height of their enthusiasm one hears only a yow-6w or 00-6w, quite like the
nocturnal serenade of cats. It seems to be a courting song, but is decidedly
unmusical.
Mr. Homer R. Dill (1912) says, of the behavior of this species
on Laysan Island:
It does not fly about much during the day, but sits in the mouth of its bur-
row and dozes in the sun. At times a dozen or more of these birds congregate,
apparently for the purpose of quarreling. Their cat-like squalls will soon make
the listener wish to move out of hearing. The young were Nearly fledged.
Apparently these birds were not: killed to any extent by the poachers and they
number about 100,000.
Dr, E. W. Nelson (1899) noted this species near the Tres Marias
Islands in April and May; he writes:
During our trip to and from the islands we saw 100 or 200 wedge-tailed
shearwaters. They were usually seen singly skimming along over the sea, at
an elevation of a few yards, making widely. sweeping circuits and pausing
occasionally to pick up bits of food. When about midway between Isabel Island
and the Tres Marias we encountered several schools of small porpoises of
150 or more individuals, which traveled in close array, frequently gamboling
about and playfully leaping high in the air. A swarm of sooty terns followed
the porpoises, and twice when they passed near us I saw considerable numbers
of these shearwaters. among the terns. Judging from the numbers, they must
be rather common in these waters, but none were seen near the islands. .
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 101
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—Warmer portions of Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In the western Indian Ocean (Seychelle and Mascarene Islands) ;
in Australian seas (Lord Howe, Norfolk, Kermadec and Surprise
Islands, etc.) ; in the North Pacific Ocean (Bonin, Volcano, Marshall,
Marcus, Laysan, and Hawaiian Islands) ; and off the west coast of
Mexico, in the Revillagigedo Islands (San Benedicto Island). ‘Some
of these have been split into subspecies of doubtful standing. Breed-
ing grounds protected in Hawaiian Islands reservation. -
Fange.—Does not extend far beyond the vicinity of the breed-
ing range, but includes a wide belt across the Central Pacific and
Indian Oceans from Central America to Asia, Australia, and Africa.
Egg dates—Islands in Australian seas: Six records, November
20 to December 12. Bonin Islands: Five records, June 8 to August.
San Benedicto Island: Two. records, May 31 and July 26. Ha-
waiian Islands: One record, July 15.
THYELLODROMA BULLERI (Salvin).
NEW ZEALAND SHEARWATER.
HABITS, if
This little known species is one of the rarest of the shearwaters.
In 1907 Godman (1907) wrote that. only “six examples are now
known, viz., the type in the British Museum, two in the Rothschild
Museum, one in the Buller Collection (now in the Carnegie Museum
at Pittsburgh, U.S. A.), one in the Colonial Museum at Wellington,
and one recorded by Mr. L. M. Loomis (1900). =.
Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898) saw a bird off the coast of Lower
California, which he thought might be this species, but he did not
secure it. To Mr. Leverett M. Loomis (1900) belongs the honor
of definitely adding this species to the North American list. by ac-
tually taking a specimen; he describes the event as follows:
On the 6th of November, about six miles west of Point Pinos, two white-
breasted shearwaters dashed up to the boat—one a pink-footed, the other a
slender bird without conspicuous mottling on the sides of the head. The first
glance revealed that the bird was a stranger. It was only a few yards away
and I had to wait a moment for it to pass astern and get within proper range. A
successful shot brought it down in perfect condition for a specimen. Dis-
section proved that it was a female, perhaps a young one, for the ova were
indistinct as in a bird that had never bred.
Upon consulting the literature it was found that the specimen agreed with
the descriptions of Buller’s shearwater, and was the fourth one known to
science. The bird had been secured in a region far remote from the supposed
habitat of the species, the types and third specimen having come from New
Zealand seas. It may confidently be expected that persistent observation off
Monterey will add to the list of pelagic wanderers from austral regions,
83969—22—_8
102 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Since the above statements were made Mr. Rollo H. Beck has
taken 15 specimens of this rare bird off Point Pinos, Mr. Loomis
(1918) quotes from his notes, as follows: :
1907. In February I returned to Point Pinos to spend a year endeavoring
to replace in some degree the academry’s water bird collection destroyed in
the great fire of 1906, giving especial attention to the Tubinares. Not till
September 2 did I see a Bullers’ shearwater. On that day I went out on
Monterey Bay three or more miles to the northeast of Point Pinos and found
a large number of black-vented and sooty shearwaters fishing. The weather
was propitious, there being only a light breeze. As I rowed along from one
flock to another, a flesh-footed shearwater flew over my head from behind and
was shot. A few minutes afterward, as I proceeded leisurely, being then about
four miles north of Point Pinos, I saw a lone Buller’s shearwater fishing with
a few Spanish mackerel. As the fish went down the shearwater lit one hun-
dred and fifty yards away from the boat. I rowed with all my might but the
bird arose out of range. As it circled, seventy yards distant, I fired, but merely
caused it to settle for a few nroments, only a single shot probably hitting it.
As the bird shook its wings and rose I fired both barrels and stopped it again.
When I came up within long range it started off once more, but this time I
secured it.
On November 4 I went out seven or eight miles north of Point Pinos and
finally reached the gathering of shearwaters I was looking for. There were
about twenty thousand sooty, two hundred or more black-vented, and about
thirty Cooper’s shearwaters. They were scattered about over considerable
water, and as I approached one of the larger bunches I saw two Buller’s
shearwaters fly around it and enter the bay. Farther on I discovered one on
the water apart from a flock of sooty shearwaters, and I secured it. Another
was seen sitting in the midst of a flock of sooty shearwaters. Another still was
sitting close to two of these shearwaters. It decoyed to a dead bird thrown
into the air, but unfortunately was missed with my first barrel and escaped,
my other barrel being out of commission. Later in the day I secured a second
specimen of Buller’s shearwater from the concourse of shearwaters. I also
obtained from it two flesh-footed and a slender-billed, the only ones noted.
On November 8 about four miles north of Point Pinos a single Buller’s shear-
water, in worn plumage, was seen flying about in search of food, but too far
away to be secured. /
1909. I spent the last four months of 1909 in collecting on the bay and ocean
adjacent to Point Pinos. On October 9 I got out about four miies northeast
of Point Pinos and found a few sooty and Cooper’s shearwaters in bunches
on the water. The first flock of these shearwaters I neared rose out of gun-
shot range, and with them a Buller’s shearwater. They all flew north and
appeared to settle in the far distance. I rowed in their direction and presently
a Cooper’s shearwater flew past me, and shortly after a Buller’s, which I shot.
An hour later I approached a flock of shearwaters on the water, but they rose
when 100 yards distant and flew to the northward. With them were two
Buller’s shearwaters. As the weather was not settled and as I was alone as
usual in a rowboat I followed no farther.
On the 13th of October when I was out about four miles north of Point
Pinos a Buller’s shearwater came along, going south. It swung up 20 yards
astern of the boat, and I shot it. October 15 there was a low fog all day, and
part of the time a drizzle. I went out about five miles northeast of Point
Pinos and found a few Cooper’s shearwaters fishing about, and working out
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 103
to sea. One Buller’s shearwater was seen flying with a couple of Cooper’s
shearwaters, a few hundred yards outside the boat. Presently another Buller’s
came along and I winged it. Another one appeared and started after the
wounded bird, which was swimming rapidly away. I tossed up a dead Bona-
parte’s gull and then a Western gull and the flying bird swung back toward
me and I shot it. Later, two other Buller’s shearwaters came my way and
were secured. The flight of all these birds, in the light wind, was simildr to
the albatross flight, there being no flapping of wings as in Cooper’s shearwater,
except when rising over the crest of a wave. Three of the four specimens
taken had the generative organs slightly enlarged.
Eggs.—I have been able to locate only one egg of this rare shear-
water. It is in the collection of Col. John E. Thayer and was col-
lected by William Bartlett on Mokohinu Island, New Zealand, on
October 20, 1900, It is ovate in shape, dull, dirty ‘white j in color, ‘and
the shell is smooth but not glossy. It measures 45.5 by 32 milli-
meters.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—New Zealand seas. The only recorded breed-
ing place is on Mokohinu Island, New Zealand.
Range.—Extends across the South Pacific Ocean to the coast of
Chile (Valparaiso) and north in the North Pacific Ocean to the
coast of California (Point Pinos).
Migrations—Dates: Chile, Valparaiso, February 24 to March 9;
California, Point Pinos, September 2 to November 4.
Egg dates—Mokohinu Island: One record, October 20.
PRIOFINUS CINEREUS (Gmelin).
BLACE-TAILED SHEARWATER.
HABITS.
This large grey shearwater is a bird of the southern oceans and
owes its place on our list to one accidental record many years ago
on the coast of California. Mr. George N. Lawrence (1853) added
this species to the North American Fauna, when he recorded a speci-
en, “from the collection of N. Pike, Esq., killed off the coast of
California near Monterey.” So far as I know, no further specimens
have ever been taken or recorded in North America.
Dr. Edward A. Wilson (1907), naturalist of the National Antarctic
Expedition, relates his experience with this species as follows:
Priofinus cinereus, the great grey shearwater, is a very characteristic bird
of the southern oceans, considerably larger than the cape pigeon, grey or bluish
grey all over the upper parts, and white beneath; it may be seen occasionally
in the ship’s wake without drawing the attention of the casual observer. But
one morning he will go on deck to find the ship followed by the bird, perhaps
in hundreds. Very hungry or very greedy, they then afford much amusement
104 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
as they drop suddenly beneath the surface of the water. with their’ wings
spread to seize some scrap of food: They unhesitatingly go completely under
and reappear again with their wings still spread. We were visited by such a
flock on November 1, 1901, in the Southern Indian Ocean. Having first: seen
it on September 25, 1901, we had never had more. than two or three with us
until this flock arrived. Many of them were evidently. molting, as several of
the smaller primaries were missing on either side. This exposed the paler part
of the primaries still present, and gave the appearance of a white patch and
a piece cut out from the center of the wing. They may -be caught and landed
with stout thread entanglements, but: ordinary thread should not be used, as
it is apt to entangle the bird and break, leaving it disabled in the. water. This
large flock remained with us for about ‘a week, when it began to dwindle, and
on November 12, on our turn’ ng to go south,’ the birds left us altogether.
' Nesting —Capt. F. W. Hutton (1865) gives us the following brief
account ‘of’ its breeding habits:
It is very’ ‘common at sea from May to August; “yn jeans to Kerguelen's
Land and other places in September or October, to breed. Each pair burrows
horizontally into wet, peaty earth from 2 to 18 feet. At the end of the hole
they form a large chamber, and construct in the center of it a nest similar, ex-
cept in size, to that of the albatross (D: exulans), in the hollowed top of which
the female lays one white egg. “They seldom leave their burrows in the
daytime, and when one ‘happens to do so it is at once hunted ‘by a ‘‘Nelly,"
although no such. jealousy exists at sea. From this habit, of flying only by
night it is called “Nighthawk” by the sealers. ; j '
Mr. Harris's _ party, when wrecked on Kerguelen’s Land, “used to dig ‘these
birds out of their burrows, and eat ‘them; and in’ order to save useless digging,
for their spades were only made ‘from the staves of old casks, they would hold
one to the mouth. of:a hole, and.make it cry out, when, if another was inside,
it would answer.
If the black-tailed shearwater breeds regularly on Kerguelen
Island, it seems strange that it was not noted by Doctor Kidder (1875)
during his protracted visit on this island in 1874 and 1875.
Eggs.—Mr. A. J. Campbell (1901) describes the single egg as:
Roundish or: broad oval in shape; texture of shell close but’ somewhat coarse;
surface very slightly glossy; color, pure white when first laid, but soon be-
comes, soiled with brownish earthy stains. :
_ The eggs above described were collected on Macquarie. Island the latter
part’ of November, 1896, by Mr. Joseph Burton, per favor of Mr. Joseph
Hatch; ‘the lessee of the island. The eggs were ‘accompanied ' by a skin of
the bird.. Macquarie Island is an exceedingly rough and rugged place, ‘almost
devoid of vegetation,. situated .860 miles southeast by south from Hobart.
It,is about 20 miles long by about.7 miles broad, its greatest height being. 1,300
feet above, sea level,
During an interesting ' conversation with Mr. ‘Hanae after his return from
Macquarie Island, where he remained 33 years; he informed me that brown
petrels generally appear in numbers after the middle or towards the end of
August (he noted .one bird as early as the 12th of that month), and depart
about the end of May. Fresh eggs may be collected the end of November or
beginning of December, but, strange to say, in March and’ April (1900) some
fresh eggs were observed: in the burrows.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 105
The burrows are in great numbers on the hillsides from sea level up to
about 400 or 500 feet, and extend on an average four or five feet in the soft
soil the nesting chamber being sparingly lined with portions of tussock grass.
The burrow apparently: always extends a little beyond the nesting chamber,
because, if a sitting bird were disturbed, it usually. got out of reach by moving
further in. If a burrow be in use, a | te blades of tussock grass ‘will be
noticed: in the entrance.
The birds generally go to sea at daylight, which, on account of the latitude,’
occurs there about 2 o’clock in midsummer, returning about dusk.-(10 p. m.);
but, just before laying season, usually two birds (presumably a mated pair)
were found in the burrows ‘during the day.
The call of the brown petrél, when flying, is a single whistlelike ‘ay! In
the burrows they coo like prions, only of course, louder.
The measurements of 7 eggs, furnished by Mr. Campbell, average
70.6 by 50.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
71.5 by 51.4, 71.1 by 51. '8, 69.1 by 51.2'and 69.2 by 49.8 millimeters.
Behavior. __Darwin (1889) relating his experience with this ‘shear-’
water on the cruise of the Beagle, writes: —
I do not think I ever saw so many birds of any sort. togettier, as I once , saw,
of these petrels behind the island of Chiloe.! Hundreds of thousands ‘flew in’
an irregular line for several hours in one direction. ‘When ‘part of the flock
settled on the water, the surface was blackened; and a cackling noise proceeded:
from them as of human beings talking in the distance. . At this time the water
was in parts colored by clouds of small crustacea. * * * At Port Famine,
every morning and evening, a long band of these birds continued to fly with
extreme rapidity up and down the central parts of the channel, close to the
surface of the water. Their flight was direct and vigorous, and they seldom
glided with extended wings in graceful ‘curves, like’ ‘most other members ‘of
this family. Occasionally they settled for a short time on the water; and they
thus remained at rest during nearly the whole of the middie of the day. When
flying backwards and forwards at a distance from the shore, they evidently
were fishing, but it was rare to see them seize any pr ey. , They were very wary,
and seldom approached within gun shot ‘of a boat or of a ship, a disposition
strikingly different from that of most of the other species. The stomach of
one, killed near Port Famine, contained seven prawn-like crabs, and a small
fish. In another, killed off of the Plata, there was the beak:of a small cuttlefish. '
I observed that these birds, when only slightly winged, were incapable of
diving.
Captain Hutton (1865) says of its diving habits:
This bird is by far the best diver of all the sea-going petrels. It seems even
fond of it, and often remains under water for several minutes, when it: comes’
up again shaking the water off its feathers like a dog. Sometimes I have seen
it, as it flies past, poise itself for a moment in the air (and hence perhaps its
name) at a height of about twenty or twenty- -five feet above the sea, and, shut-
ting its wings, take a header into the water. It dives with its wings open, and
uses them under water much ‘in the same manner as when flying.
Captain Hutton (1865) observes that “ . its cry is something like
the bleating of a lamb.” He writes that «“ the young bird has been
?
106 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
figured and described by Dr. Andrew Smith in his Illustrations of
South African Zoology.”
Mr. Robert C. Murphy noted and collected this species on his cruise
to the island of South Georgia; his notes state that on November 14,
1912, in latitude 42° 24’ south and longitude 42° 28’ west, many
black-tailed shearwaters followed the ship “all day long, flying low
over the water, gliding a good part of the time. When they beat
their wings it was with a more rapid motion than the other petrels;
the flight was, indeed, somewhat ducklike. Toward night we passed
great bands of Priofinus sitting on the water.”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Known to breed only on Kerguelen Island, in
the southern Indian Ocean, and on Macquarie Island, south of New
Zealand.
Range.—Southern oceans. North in the South Atlantic Ocean to
about 25° South; in the South Pacific Ocean, perhaps regularly, to
Peru; and in the Indian Ocean to about 35° south.
Casual records—Accidental on the coast of California (off Monte-
rey).
PTERODROMA HASITATA (Kuhl).
BLACK-CAPPED PETREL.
HABITS.
In the latest edition of our check list this species is entered as
“probably now extinct.” This statement was probably premature,
but doubtless it was somewhat warranted by the increasing rarity
of the species, which is perhaps on the verge of extinction. It is a
bird of the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and once bred
abundantly on several islands of the West Indies. Mr. George N,
Lawrence (1878) referred to this species under the local vernacular
name of “diablotin,” not knowing at that time just what species. it
was. Quoting from Mr. Frederick A. Ober’s notes, who was col-
lecting birds for the Smithsonian on the island of Dominica, he says:
Twenty years ago it was abundant. Said to have come in from the sea in
October and November and to burrow in the tops of the highest mountains for a
nest. In those months it incubated, It goes and comes, doubtless, mostly, if not
altogether, at night. If the burrows made by it could be found when the birds
are incubating, probably they could be unearthed in the daytime, and thus be
secured,
Mr. Lawrence (1891) published another note on the subject from
Doctor Colardeau, whom he had requested to look for the species on
Guadeloupe. Doctor Colardeau writes:
I do not believe the diablotin is extinct in our island; only we have no more
the old sportsmen who used to go after them out of pure frolic, with plenty of
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 107
dogs and black servants, when I was a child some fifty years ago. The diablotin
is not pure black; that I feel certain from distinct recollection, and you may
consider the specimens sent by the old Dr. L’Herminier as correct, as he was
one of those old sportsmen I have just spoken of, who, in company with my
great uncles, grandfather, and other relatives and friends, used to go after
them amongst the rocks and mountains surrounding the Soufriére. A few
years ago, even as low as Camp Jacob, there was a diablotin caught by a dog
in a hole in the bank of a mountain stream. The master of the dog was satis-
fied to eat the bird, and I only knew of it when it was too late. The bird was
black above and white below, crooked beak, and webbed feet.
The name “diablotin” has also been applied to Audubon’s shear-
water, but in this case he probably referred to the black-capped
petrel, for Mr. Lawrence (1891) finally concluded that, “from the
description given by Doctor Colardeau of the specimen obtained in
Guadeloupe lately, it was probably Aestrelata haesitata, which species
Prof. Alfred Newton determined the specimens sent by L’Herminier
to Lafresnaye to be.”
Godman (1907) gives the following fragments of the life history
of this little-known species: .
Ae. haesitata is described as a very rare bird, nocturnal in its habits, and fre-
quenting rabbit-like burrows, in which the eggs are laid. The old birds, when
leaving the nest at night, utter a mournful cry as they go out to sea. The
flesh was much prized as an article of food, and, the native hunters have
been known to return with a dozen or more birds hung round ‘their necks.
In 1696 Pere Labat landed in Guadeloupe, and shortly after his arrival he
accompanied four black hunters to the breeding-places of the “ diablotin,”
which he also mentions as occurring in Dominica. The “diable” arrived in
the month of September in Guadeloupe, where the birds occupied their bur-
rows in pairs till the end of November, when they all disappeared and were
not seen again until about the middle of January. Only a single male or
female remained in the holes till the month of March, when the female was
found with “two” nestlings, covered with a thick yellow down and resem-
bling little balls of fat. The young birds are able to fly at the end of May,
when they disappear, and are not seen again till September, at which season
they return with great regularity.
In 1791 Mr. Thomas Atwood wrote a history of the island of Dominica and
compared the “ diablotin ” to an owl from its nocturnal habits and its owl-like
ery. Mr. F. A. Ober, an enthusiastic American naturalist, made a special
expedition to the highlands of that island to search for the nesting places, but
was unsuccessful. The next attempt was made by Colonel Feilden himself,
with Admiral Markham and other friends, and accompanied by some Negroes
who had actually taken the birds in former years. They ascended the Morne
au Diable in Dominica, but, though the burrows under the roots of trees still
remained, no traces of the bird could be found.
M. Jean Baptiste Labat (1722) gives the most detailed account
of these birds; he says:
We were at that time [March 14, 1696] in the season for hunting certain
birds which are called “devils,” or “little devils” [diablotins]. I do not
know if they are met vith elsewhere than in Guadeloupe and Dominica,
108 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
whither they come at certain seasons of the year to mate, to lay their eggs,
and to raise their young. ,
This bird is almost the size of a “poule 4 fleur”; that is what in the
islands we call the young chickens which have not yet laid but which are ir
condition to lay very soon. Its plumage is black; its wings long and strong;
its legs rather short; its feet like those of'ducks, but furnished with strong
and long claws; its beak is'a good inch and a half long, pointed and ex-
tremely hard and strong; it has large eyes on a level with its crown which
serve it admirably well at night, but which are so useless in the daytime
that it can not endure the light nor distinguish objects, so that when it is
surprised outside of its retreat it hurls itself against everything it meets and
finally falls to earth.
These birds ‘live on fish which they go to sea ak night to catch. After their
fishing is finished they return to the mountain where they withdraw into
burrows like rabbits, and they:do not leave these burrows to return to the
sea until night has come again, They cry on the wing as if they called or
replied to each other. They begin to appear toward the end of. the month of
September. They are then found in pairs in each burrow, They live in this
way until the end of November, after which they disappear and not a single
_one is seen or heard until the middle or thereabouts of the month of January,
when they again appear. At this time there is never found more than one,
male or female, in-each burrow until the month of March, when the mother is
found with her two young, When the little diablotins are taken at this. time
they are ‘covered with down, thick and yellow like the down of goslings ; ’ they
are like balls of fat; they are called “ couttous.” ‘They | are ready to fly at
the end of May; at this tifne they leave and are neither seen nor heard again
until the month of September. All that i haye just said regarding the
diablotins’ visits to and residence in Guadeloupe and ‘Dominica recurs regu-
larly and without ever having. failed during all the years. , The flesh of this
bird is blackish and tastes a little of fish; otherwise it is good and very
nutritious. The “couttous” are regarded as being more delicate, and this
is true; but they are too fat, so that they give off grease as if they were full
of oil. : '— :
The manner of cooking them when they are fully grown is to boil them in
water with salt and fine herbs until they are half done, when they are taken
out and allowed to drain; this partial cooking removes the fat and takes away
the flavor of fish. The process is finished by making them into a stew, a
“ragout,” or otherwise, with orange peel and leaves of “ bois d’ Inde.”
The little diablotins, or “ couttous,” are better roasted on a spit, or on a
gridiron, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and the seeds of “ bois d’ Inde” mixed
together.
It may be said that ties birds are. a manna which God sends every year for
the negroes and for the lowly inhabitants, who do not live on anything else
during the season. ;
The difficulty of hunting these birds preserves the species, which would have
been entirely exterminated years ago, according to the bad custom of the
French, did they not retire to localities which are not accessible to everyone.
In’ spite of the dangers and inconveniences ‘inseparable from hunting them,
my curiosity led me to accompany four of our negroes who left one Sunday
afternoon and who did not have to return until the next evening; for that
length of time was necessary to reach the locality, to seek the game, and to
Ged ow torte mga ha whe ane was Riba te Laney ae
ame was Albert de Launay. We walked
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 109
along the bed of our river until we found a place less steep than elsewhere
where we ascended, one after the other, helping each other, or rather mounting
on the shoulders of those who remained below, whom we then drew up to us
with lianas, as well as our dogs. I thought that after passing this difficult
place our troubles would be over, but these bad spots occurred each time it was
necessary to pass streams or rivers, which happened seven or ‘eight times
before we arrived at the top of the birds’ mountain, which is at the side of the:
Soufriére. It was almost 6 o’clock when we arrived at the place where our
hunters had planned to make their cabin. We set ourselves to work on our
lodging, some cutting poles, others gathering ferns, while the two hunters went
to look for some birds for supper. I had taken the precaution of bringing with
me my cloak, a good bottle of Madeira, and some bread, with some brandy and
farina for our negroes. Our cabin was very soon built; we covered it with
“ cachibou ” leaves which we had cut on the road as we knew well that we would
not find them in the place where we were going. We made a good litter of ferns
to sleep upon, and built a large fire to cook the game which the hunters had
gone to get for supper as well as to warm us during the night, which is: always
very cold in these elevated places.
Our two hunters were successful ; they returned fairly soon with fifteen or
sixteen diablotins. Each set to work plucking them. As for me I made the
spits upon which to roast them. After they were plucked and singed they’
were opened along. the back ; the entrails, together with the feet, the heads, and
the bases of the wings, served for supper for the: dogs. The body is spitted
diagonally—that ,is to say, the spit is passed from one thigh to the opposite
shoulder. It is then planted in the ground before the fire and turned from
time to time to cook the meat on both Sides, and when it is ‘almost cooked,
salt is thrown upon it; a “cachibou” or“ balisier ” leaf serves as a plate. It
must be confessed that a diablotin eaten from the spit is a delicious morsel. I
thought that I would be satisfied with one diablotin, but because either the
cold air of the mountain or the fatigue of the journey had increased my appe-
tite, or because the diablotins of this region are more delicate and more easy
of digestion than others, it was necessary to do as my companions did and to
eat a second. The night was fine and without rain, ‘and we slept well, although
the diablotins kept up a great noise in ‘leaving their homes to go out to sea
and in returning to them.
The next day at daybreak we started out to hunt them. TEach hunter is
armed with ‘a long pole an inch thick and seven or eight feet long, rather
supple, and with a hook at the end. The dogs which we had brought along
searched for and ferreted out all the burrows. When they perceived that there
was a diablotin in a burrow (for this mountain is perforated like a warren)
they yelped and began to scratch; but the hunter takes care to prevent them
from spoiling the entrances, for then the diabloting would not reenter them
another year. The pole is thrust immediately into the burrow until it reaches
the bird, which when it feels it seizes it with its beak and holds it fast and
allows itself to be drawn outside rather than let go. When it reaches the
mouth of the burrow the light blinds it, it is dazzled, and wishes to retreat
into its burrow; but the hunter closes this with his foot. Then the bird turns
on its back to defend itself with its beak and claws. It is then seized by the
head, its neck is wrung, and the hunter attaches it.to a cord or liana which
he wears about his body after the fashion of a belt. .It sometimes happens that
the bird does not wish to bite the pole; then the latter is poked about in the
burrow from side to side until it becomes caught in the bend of the wing which,
being very large, the bird can not extend sufficiently to free itself, and it is thus
110 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
drawn out from its home. The chase is ordinarily continued all the morning,
which can not be done without traveling far from the cabin and ascending and
descending very difficult places. I sent the negroes to the distant localities
and kept the creole with me to hunt in the neighborhood of the hut. He knew
the business perfectly well, and he had a very good dog. After two or three
hours of hunting I returned with my negro to rest and to cook some birds for
dinner. I began finally to hunt alone. We reassembled at midday. The four
negroes had 188 diablotins, Albert had 48, and 117. Each of us ate two, and
we left carrying the rest of our game.
On Sunday, April 8, 1696, M. Labat started out to make an ascent of the
Soufriére. That night, at a camp much farther on than the previous one, half
the party erected a hut, while the other half hunted diablotins, for supper and
for food on the following day. :
Those who read these memoirs will doubtless be surprised that we should eat
birds in Lent; but the missionaries who are in these islands, and who in many
matters exercise the power of bishops, after serious deliberation and a consulta-
tion of medical men, have declared that lizards and diablotins are vegetable
food, and that consequently they may be eaten at all times.
I am including the above account at the suggestion of certain
friends of mine in Washington in spite of some doubt in my mind as
to whether it refers to this species or not. Inasmuch as Pere Labat
describes the “diablotin” as black, his account may refer to
Pterodroma caribbea, the Jamaican petrel. But, as both species may
have formerly bred on these islands, as Pere Labat’s observations
have always been associated with Pterodroma hasitata and as it is an
interesting account historically, it seems best to include it.
The Reverend Father Jean Baptiste du Tertre (1654) says:
The “ devil” is a nocturnal bird, so named by the inhabitants of the Indies on
account of its ugliness. It is so rare that I have never been able to see a single
one except at night and on the wing. All that I have been able to learn of it
from hunters is that its form closely approaches that of a duck; that it has a
hideous voice and mixed white and black plumage; that it lives on the highest
mountains; that it breeds like the rabbit in burrows which it makes in the
ground in which it lays its eggs, incubates them, and raises its young; I have
not been able to learn with what food it nourishes them. When it appears in
the daytime it rushes forth so unexpectedly that it frightens those who see it.
It never comes down from the mountain except by night, and on the wing it
gives forth a very lugubrious and hideous cry. Its flesh is so delicate that no
hunter ever returns from the mountain who does not ardently desire to have a
dozen of these “ devils” hanging from his neck.
The latest information we have, on the disappearance of this
species, is contained in the following quotation from Mr, G. K, Noble
(1916) : .
One of the chief reasons of my visit to Guadeloupe was to obtain information
about the black-capped petrels, A few days after landing I had the good for-
tune to meet Monsieur C. Thionville, president of the Club des Montagnards,
The name diablotin was associated in his mind with the past history and early
colonization of the French in Guadeloupe. He immediately began to make in-
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 111
quiries about Basse Terre but without much success. Finally we made a trip
together high up into the hills of Matouba to visit an old Negro called Pére
Lownisky living on the slopes of the Soufriére. This old man in his early
youth had often hunted Diablotins and had joined several of the large parties
which had camped on the Nez Cassé to dig out the diablotins from their bur-
rows. Since Pere Lownisky had spent his entire life in Matouba he knew all
the old breeding grounds of the black-capped petrels. He told us that the dia-
blotins formerly bred on the north and northeast slope of the Nez Cassé. The
birds arrived in late September and the period of incubation for the colony as
a whole extended through November and December. The young birds remained
in the nest until March. He asserted positively, however, that no diablotins
had been heard or seen since the great earthquake of 1847. The old Negro
remembered that earthquake for during it the whole side of Nez Cassé, on
which the petrels bred, had eollapsed and fallen into the valley. Pere Lownisky
ended his exposition by dramatically raising his withered hand, exclaiming
again in his “créole” French that the diablotins had not been heard of for
nearly seventy years, “ Jamais! Jamais!”
Undoubtedly the volcanic disturbances in these islands have done
much toward reducing the numbers of these petrels and the intro-
duction of the mongoose has carried the work of destruction still
further. Perhaps it is doomed to extinction within a few years, but
I doubt if this has yet been accomplished. Mr. John T. Nichols
(1918) reported seeing a specimen in the vicinity of the West Indies
as recently as January 25, 1913; I quote from his notes, as follows:
On January 25, 31° 48’ North 75° 58’ West (250 miles east of Savannah),
on blue water, alternating sunny and showery with a little lightning, the
steamer butting into a brisk southwesterly breeze, a sharp lookout was kepi
for Pufinidae, as they had been seen near this latitude the year before. Once
or twice thin vanishing vertical shadows against the myriad horizontal wave
shadows of the distance led me to believe there were some of these birds about,
and as I stood by the port side, forward, looking toward the bow, a black-
capped petrel (Aestrelata hasitata) darted away to the eastward above the
waves, and I had a splendid view of its long, narrow, stiff wings, blackish cap
and back, black tail, white side of neck, underparts, lining of wings and upper
tail coverts. First one, then the other wing uppermost, it was shooting across
the wind with almost unbelievable speed and soon out of sight among the dis-
tant seas. An Audubon’s shearwater, which appeared in the trough of a sea
near the vessel almost immediately, was noticeably smaller than the first bird.
Two or three other birds, obviously Pufinidae, were seen later in the day, but
these were the only ones which came within fair binocular range. The flight
and appearance of the black-capped petrel were very much like those of the
greater shearwater. The distinguishing large amount of white over the tail
was conspicuous.
The black-capped petrel has a well established claim to a place
on the North American list, for it has repeatedly been taken, as a
straggler, on our continent. and often well inland, at various times
during the summer, fall, and winter months. Dr. J. A. Allen (1904)
has tabulated ten such records which are substantiated by eleven
specimens.
112 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Bred igtmenly in the Lesser Antilles (Guade-
loupe and Dominica).
-Range—Warmer parts of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Casual records.—Ten. records for. eastern North America. South
to Florida (Indian River, winter, 1846). West to Kentucky (Au-
gusta, October 4, 1898,) a Ohio (Cincinnati, October 5, 1898).
North to Ontario (Toronto, October 30, 1893,) and New Hampshire
(Pittsfield, August 30, 1893). Other records are for intermediate
localities. Accidental in England (Norfolk, March or April, 1850).
ue
PTERODROMA CAHOW (Nichols and Mowbray).
CAHOW.
HABITS,
The earlier writers on Bermuda birds had much to say about a’
mysterious bird, now supposed to be extinct, which was very abundant’
ay one time and very wel known by the earliest inhabitants as the
“cahow,” “cowhow,” or “cowkoe.” Much confusion has existed as
to what bird these names were applied. For example Capt. Savile G.
Reid (1884) writes, under the name Puffinus- obscurus:
Since Mr. Hurdis, in 1849, identified the ‘“‘cahow” or “ cowhow ” of the his-
torians of Bermuda with this interesting species, very few observations have
been made on the few pairs still frequenting the islands. That the poor
“eahow” has almost ceased to breed there is a melancholy fact. Formerly it
was plentiful, and even within the last fifteen years, Mr. Bartram informs me,
there were many nests in the isolated rocks, both on the north and south shores.
On the north side the bird was formerly called “pemblyco” or “ pimlico,”
probably from its call note, while on the southern shores the name “ cahow”
or “ cowhow ”’ was applied to it. I found two nests in 1874, each containing a
single young bird, one of which I: kept alive for about six weeks, intending to
send. him to the Zoological Society’s Gardens in London; but before I got an’
opportunity of doing so the unfortunate bird died. An egg of this species, kindly
presented to me by Mr. Bartram, is, of course, pure white; it has a considerable
polish and is about the size of a bantam’s, but less elongated in form. Mr.
Bartram was good enough also to present me with two skins of the adult bird.’
He tells.me that the statement made by the old historians of Bermuda as to
the capture of the “cahow” at night is no exaggeration, for on visiting an
island one night where there were several pairs breeding he quickly caught
half a dozen of them, the stupid things settling on his body as he: lay on the
ground and allowing themselves to be taken in his hand. I know of only;one
instance of a “ cahow ” being seen on the wing in ‘the daytime in Bermudian
waters; this was in August, 1874, when one was shot crossing Castle Harbor
by Lieutenant Hopegood, 97th Regiment, but I believe they are occasionally
observed by fishermen on the south side.
With reference to local names “ cahow” or “ cowhow,” and “ pemblyco ” or
sch ‘ pimlico,” Mr. Bartram writes to me on the 19th July, 1878: “About twelve
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 113
mouths ago I came across an old book called A Complete System of Geography,
printed under the name of Herman Moll, etc., September 21, 1747, and the
greater part of it professedly taken from a much older wérk called Britannick
in America. After describing Bermuda and its animal, insect, and vegetable
productions, it gives the following account of the birds that were found on the
islands at that time (say, between 200 and 300 ‘years ago): : “There was a great
variety of fowl, both wild and tame, such as hawks of all’ sorts, ‘storks, herons,
bitterns, ospreys, cormorants, baldcoots, moor-hens, swans, teal, snipes, ducks,
widgeons, sparrows, woodpeckers, and a vast multitude and variety of the
smaller kinds, besides owls, bats, and other nocturnal birds. Here was likewise
formerly a kind of waterfowl, peculiar to those islands, which used to come to
land and hatch its young in holes and burrows of the rocks, like rabbits. They
were in great plenty, and were called cowkoes. They were easily caught, and
good to eat, the size of a sea-mew. Our English made such havoc among them
they are become scarce. Here is likewise found the tropic bird and the
“pemlico.” The last is seldom seen in the i and, when it is, it is looked
upon as the unwelcome harbinger of a storm.” :
Now, my belief is that the cowkoes of old are lost and gone long ago, and
that the cahow of the present day is neither more nor less than the old ‘and
ancient pemlico. For, in the first place, the cahow of this day is not nearly so
big as the sea-mew; secondly, the pemlico has never been lost sight of by the
Bermudians, the name having been handed. down from father to son from the
earliest times to the present day; and, thirdly, the habits of the old pemlico
and the cahow of to-day correspond to a T—that is, they are seldom seen
flying in the daytime, only at night.
Mr. Bartram goes on to say that on making inquiries of the people of
Tucker’s Town, St. David’s,:and Bailey’s Bay, they knew nothing of the
cahow, but all could tell him of the pemlico.. From the above interesting
account and from strong evidence adduced by Mr. Bartram, I am inclined
(with all due deference to Mr. Hurdis) to share his opinion as to the proper
local name for P. obscurus being pemblyco or pemlico, and further to believe
that the cowkoes or cahows of old were of a larger species, probably manx
shearwaters (P. anglorum). This, after all, is pure conjecture and of doubt-
ful interest to any but Bermudians themselves; still I venture to mention the
facts in the hope that some more conclusive historical evidence may be forth-
coming.
On the strength of evidence recently brought to jight it now
seems to be well established that the name “ pimlico” or “ pemblyco”
was applied to a shearwater, probably Pufinus pufinus. bermudae,
Nichols and, Mowbray, a local race of manx shearwater, and that
the name “cahow” or “cowhow” was applied to a petrel, probably
Pterodroma cahow (Nichols and Mowbray).
Mr. Thomas S. Bradlee (1906) published the following note:
On February 22, 1906, Mr. Louis L. Mowbray took a Peale’s petrel (Aes-
trelata gularis) in a hole of the rock overlooking the sea and washed by the
spray. The bird was taken after a southwest gale. Peale’s petrel is not
included in the A. O. U. Check-List, but I am sure of the identification of
the bird, and am glad to be able to put on record the first instance of Peale’s
petrel being taken in the Northern Hemisphere. The bird is now in the col-
lection of the Bermuda Natural History Society.
114 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
It was afterwards discovered by Messrs. John T. Nichols and
Louis L. Mowbray (1916) that this bird is not Peale’s petrel, but a
new and undescribed species to which they gave the name Aestrelata
cahow. In their description they state that the “upper surfaces.”
are “dark sooty, darkest on the primaries, grayish on the back and
nape;” and that the “forehead, lores, and underparts” are “ white.”
They also say:
The name “ cahow ” was used by early settlers in Bermuda for an Aestrelata
abundant at Cooper’s Island, a mile at the most from where the type was
taken and presumably of the same species. Numerous partially fossil bones
(including skulls) which, after comparison, we believe to belong to the form
here described, have been found by Mr. Mowbray in various caves in the
eastern end of the Bermudas, some about a half mile from where the bird
was taken.
A few months later Dr. R. W. Shufeldt (1916) appears in print
with the description of a new species under the name Aestrelata
vociferans, which is apparently the same bird. His description is
based on the study of a large collection of bones, collected by Mr.
Edward McGall and Mr. Louis L. Mowbray in the bird caves of the
Bermudas. In this interesting paper he gives us some information
about the former abundance and the habits of the “cahow.” He
says: ety
These Bermudan caves are very recent in their formation; they certainly
are not, at the very limit, more than five centuries old, and maybe a century
or so less. My particular interest centered about the unraveling of the his-
tory of the famous bird long known by the name of “cahow” and by several
other names, which are not necessary to enumerate here. At one time the
“cahow ” was extremely abundant on these Bermuda Islands, and bred there
in untold millions at the time of the early settlers, some three centuries ago.
It was a nocturnal species, possessing discordant notes; and so fearless of
Jaan were these birds that they would alight on the head, shoulders, and arms
of any person visiting their breeding grounds. This unusual fearlessness
resulted in the final extermination of the species; for the first inhabitants of
the islands, and those that followed them in a comparatively short period,
utterly destroyed the birds for food, notwithstanding their enormous num-
bers. All this has now become a matter of history, and one of the most
extensive contributors to it is Prof. Addison EB. Verrill, of the present faculty
of Yale University. There are a great many writers on the subject, and most
of them firmly believe that the cahow was a shearwater of the genus Pufinus ;
in other words, that it was a bird still to be found on the Atlantic Coast, and
known as Audubon’s shearwater (P. therminieri). Others, however, doubted
this, and believed the bird to be an extinct petrel; and there were other opin-
ions in regard to the matter, all of which have been fully set forth in my
memoir on the subject, which will presently be published by the American
Museum of Natural History.
In one of the three stalactites collected by Mr. Mowbray in Crystal Cave
he discovered three feathers embedded about an eighth of an inch in the
calcite, one of which was brown and the other two white, With respect to
these Mr. Mowbray wrote me on the 10th of February, 1916: “The finding
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 115
of these feathers, agreeing in color with the description of the early writers
that the cahou was russet and white, and the skull differing from those of
the shearwater, convinced me that the find was a good one and without question
the long-looked for cahou.”
When my above-mentioned work on the cahow appears there will be found
in it a full discussion of these “russet feathers” and of the hazy idea the
early writers had of that color. Then, too, the fossil bird bones from Bermuda
turned over to me for description go to prove that the extinct cahow was a petrel
and not a shearwater at all.
Doctor Shufeldt has also very kindly sent me the original manu-
script of his exhaustive memoir, as yet unpublished, entitled: “Com-
parative Study of Some Subfossil Remains of Birds from Bermuda,
including the Cahow,” which he read long ago at a regular meeting
of the New York Zoological Society. This excellent paper is far too
technical and goes into the matter too much in detail to warrant
quoting from it extensively, but the following short quotations will
cover the most important points in his conclusions regarding the
status of the species. He says:
It has long been a question among ornithologists as to whether the famous
“cahow” was a shearwater (Pufinus obscurus?) or a petrel (Zstrelata).
In so far as my observation carries me, there is at least one character in the
skeleton by means of which we can with certainty distinguish from each
other these two different kinds of birds. This character is seen in the form
of the cnemial process of the tibiotarsus. In the genus Puginus—and possibly
in some of its near allies—the cnemial process of the tibiotarsus is conspic-
uously elongate, as we see it in the grebes and loons, while in the petrels it
is notably shorter, with rounded superior margin. Judging from this character
alone there is no question but that the “cahow” of the Bermuda Islands was
an Aistrelata and not a Pufinus. This fact is sustained by other osteological
as well as external characters found in the representatives of the two genera
in question. For example, both the horny sheaths to the mandible, as well
as those parts in the dried skulls when deprived of the sheaths, are positively
diagnostic with respect to these two groups of tubinarine birds.
Prof. Addison E, Verrill (1902) has given us the following inter-
esting account of the early history of the cahow:
The most interesting as well as most important native bird, when the islands
were first settled, was called the cahow, from its note. It bred in almost incredi-
ble numbers on some of the smaller islands near St. Georges and Castle Harbor,
especially on Coopers Island. It was nocturnal in its habits and was readily
called by making loud vocal sounds, and then easily captured by hand, at night.
Its flesh was described as of good flavor and its eggs were highly prized
as food. As it came to land and pred in the early part of the winter, when no
other birds or eggs were available, it was quickly exterminated for food by
the reckless colonists.
It laid a single large white egg, described as like a hen’s egg in size, color,
and flavor. The nest, according to the earliest writers, was a burrow in the
sand like a coney’s, and not in crevices of the rocks, like that of the shear-
waters, with which many writers have tried to identify it. Governor Butler,
in his “ Historye of the Bermudaes,” alone stated that its eggs and young were
found in crevices of the ledges, but he evidently did not have the advantage
U
116 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
of personal experience, for at that time ale bird: was probably extinct or very
nearly so. vet
‘The time of laying its eggs is a very remarkable point, in which it differed
from all other birds of northern latitudes. The early contemporary writers
all agree that it laid its egg “in December or January ” or “in the coldest and
darkest months of the year.” The shearwaters, even in the West Indies, lay
their eggs in spring—March and April—and their eggs are so musky that they
are not edible; certainly no one would compare them to a hen’s egg. Their
flesh also has so strong a flavor of bad fish oil and musk that no one would eat
it unless on the verge of starvation, though the newly hatched young ‘are
sometimes eaten by sailors for lack of anything better. :
The bird itself was variously described as ‘of the size of a pigeon, green
plover, or sea mew; its bill was hookdd and strong, and it could bite viciously;
its back was “russet: brown’ and there: were russet and: white quill feathers
in its wings; its belly was white. It arrived in October and remained until
the first of J une.
There is no known living bird that agrees with it in these ‘several characters,
Most certainly it. could not have been a’shearwater, as Hurdis and others have
supposed, nor any known member of the petrel family, all of which have such
a disagreeable flavor that neither their flesh nor eggs are used as food unless
in cases of starvation.
‘ The following graphic account of the bird and its habits was written by Mr.
W. Strachy, one of the party wrecked with Sir George Somers in the Sea
Venture, July, 1609:
“A kind of webbe-footed Fowle there is, of the bigness of an English greene
Plover, or Sea-Meawe, which all the Summer we saw not, and in the darkest
nights of ‘November ‘and December (for in the night | they onely feed) they
would come forth, but not flye’ farre from home, and hovering in the ayre, and
over the Sea, made a strange’ hollow and harsh howling. They call it of the
ery which it maketh, a cohow. Their colour is inclining ‘to russet, with white
bellies, as are likewise the long feathers of their wings, russet and white, these
gather themselves together and breed in those lands. which are high, and so
farre alone into the Sea that the Wilde Hoggés cannot swimme over them, and
there in the ground they have their Burrowes, like Conyes in a Warren, and
so brought in the loose Mould, though not so deepe ; which Birds with a light
bough in a darke night (as in our Lowbelling) wee caught, I have beene at
the taking of three hundred in an houre, and wee might have laden our Boates.
Our men found a prettie way to'.take them, which was by. standing on the
Rockes or Sands by the Sea-side, and hollowing, laughing, and making the
strangest outcry that possibly they could; with' ‘the noyse whereof the Birds
would come ‘flocking to that place, and settle upon ‘the very armes and head
of him that so cried, and still creepe'neerer and neerer, answering the noyse
themselves; by which our men would weigh them witb their hand, and which
weighed heaviest they took for the best and let the others alone, and so our
men would take twentie dozen in two ‘hours of the chiefest of’ them; and they
were a good and well relished Fowle, fat and full aS a partridge. In January
wee had great store of their Egges, which are as great as an Hennes Egge.
and so fashioned and white shelled and have no difference in yolke nor ‘crite
from an Hennes Egee. There are thousands of these Birds, and two or three
Islands full of their Burrows, whether at any time (in two houres warning}
we could send our Cockboat and bring home as many as would serve the whole
Company: which Birds for their Blindnesse (for they see weakly in the day)
and for their cry and whooting, wee called the Sea Owle; they will bite cruelly
with their crooked Bills,”
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 117
The “cahow” is generally supposed to be extinct, but if the birds
described by Messrs. Nichols and Mowbray and by Doctor Shufeldt
are really one and the same bird, as they seem to be, the capture of
a living bird so recently as 1906 raises the question as to whether
there may not be a few specimens still living.
PTERODROMA INEXPECTATA (Forster).
PEALE PETREL.
HABITS.
The above name should replace on our check list the names of
the two supposed species known as Aestrelata scalaris Brewster,
scaled petrel, and Aestrelata fisheri Ridgway, Fisher petrel, for
both of these are represented by unique types only and are un-
doubtedly only age, seasonal, or individual variants of Pterodroma
gularis (Peale), Peale petrel. Mr. Leverett M. Loomis (1918) evi-
dently agrees with me, for he says, referring to P. inexpectata which
he regards as the same bird as P. gularis:
Besides the type of Procellaria gularis, I have examined the type of
Gstrelata fisheri Ridgway (No. 89431 U. S. Nat. Mus.) and that of Zstrelata
scalaris Brewster (No. 5224 Coll. W. Brewster). The type of Gstrelata
fisherit is a worn, faded, and rather weak-billed example of Pterodroma in-
expectata. The white-headed aspect is caused chiefly by wear and accidental
loss of feathers, exposing the white bases. The feathers of the upper parts
of the body are much worn, accounting for the absence of the whitish margins
characteristic of the fresh plumage of Pterodroma inexpectata. The weak
appearance of the bill is largely due to mutilation, the basal portion of the
unguis having been torn off and the nasal tubes flattened. The color above is
darker than in No. 1134 and lighter than in No. 1139 of the Expedition col-
lection. The markings of the pileum and nape and the extension of the white
of the rectrices, greater wing-coverts, and secondaries break down through an
intermediate New Zealand specimen (No. 24345 Carnegie Mus.). The type of
4istrelata scalaris is merely a bird in fresher plumage than the other types.
The supposed differences in the nasal tubes do not exceed the normal varia-
tion occurring in Pterodroma inezpectata.
The only known specimen of Pterodroma scalaris is the type, in
the collection of Mr. William Brewster (1886) from which he de-
scribed the species in 1886. Mr. Brewster (1881) published the
following account of the capture of the specimen which he obtained
from Mr. E. H. Woodman, for whom the bird was mounted:
The bird had been sent him by a client, Mr. Nathan F. Smith, who conducts
a large farm at Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York. One of the
laborers while ploughing an old cornfield, noticed it running in a freshly-turned
furrow ‘and despatched it with a stick. It was apparently exhausted, for it
made no attempt to escape. This was early in April, 1880, probably not far
from the fifth of the month, as I find its reception recorded on Mr. Knowlton’s
books as April 10. A letter afterwards received from Mr. Smith confirms all
of these facts, but adds nothing of interest, save that the farm comprises what
83969—22——9
118 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
are known as flats, lying along the Genesee River, about forty miles south of
Lake Ontario.
At the time Mr. Brewster obtained this specimen he recorded it
as a specimen of Peale petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata, after com-
paring it with Peale’s type of that species in the United States Na-
tional Museum collection. It was not until five years aferwards,
when he had again compared it with the type of inewpectata, as well
as with the type of fisheri, that he came to the conclusion that the
three species were distinct and described his bird under the name,
scaled petrel, Aestrelata scalaris.
Pterodroma fisheri, Fisher petrel, is supposed to be a bird of the
Pacific Ocean. There are only two specimens in existence, the type
in the United States National Museum, collected by Mr. William J.
Fisher at Kodiak Island, Alaska, on June 11, 1882, and a mounted
specimen in the University of Washington collection in Seattle,
taken at Sitka, Alaska. The latter specimen, which I examined
on my return from Alaska in 1911, is, as I remember it, the same
as the bird we collected in the Aleutian Islands that summer. As
it appears in my published note (1918) on the subject, Dr. H. C.
Oberholser agrees with me in referring this and the specimen col-
lected by Dr. Alexander Wetmore on the Alaska Peninsular, August
6, 1911, to Pterodroma inexpectata (-gularis). This leaves only the
unique type to represent Pterodroma fisheri, which I believe will
prove to have no standing.
Nesting —Although the Peale petrel seems to be a fairly common
species in the North Pacific Ocean in summer, very little seems to be
known about its ranges and nesting habits. Mr. S. Percy Seymour
found a breeding colony of these petrels on Preservation Inlet, New
Zealand, which he evidently visited several times for he collected a
series of the birds, as well as their eggs and young, which have found
their way into American collections through the late Manly Hardy
and his family. I have recently examined 18 of these birds, now in
the Thayer Museum, and should judge from copies of correspondence,
shown to me by Colonel Thayer, that Mr. Brewster pronounced
them, while still in the Hardy collection, as identical with his type of
Pterodroma scalaris; and that since then Doctor Oberholser has com-
pared them with Peale’s type of Pterodroma gularis and pronounced
them identical with that species. These are significant facts and,
when taken in connection with the fact that Godman (1907) evidently
regarded Mr. Seymour’s birds as gularis, tend to prove that the two
species are identical. There is considerable individual variation in
this series of birds of which Mr. Brewster’s type of scalaris represents
ene extreme and Peale’s type of gularis another.
E'ggs.—There are also in the Thayer collection three eggs, col-
lected by Mr. Seymour, on Preservation Inlet, on December 12, ‘1899,
20
PL.
121
BULLETIN
NATIONAL MUSEUM
U.S.
“uUBULIDUUtY *
“Waulad YyaMing
“spueysy A1eueg
HE 30vd 3a6 NOlidiv¥osaq HOS
“queg "O°V
“VWaulad 31vad
‘umMesnyy IVT
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 119
and January 7,1900. The parent birds were collected with the single
eggs in each case. The nests are described as made of “small sticks,
ferns, etc., in a burrow.” The eggs are oval or elliptical oval in shape;
the surface of the shell is smooth but lustreless and the color is dirty
white.
The measurements of eight eggs, in various collections, average
60.4 by 43.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
63 by 45.5, 56 by 43, and 57.5 by 41.5 millimeters.
Young.—tThe nestling is described by Godman (1907) as “ covered
with sooty-grey down, not perceptibly whiter below.” The Park
Museum, in Providence, Rhode Island, kindly loaned me for study a
mounted specimen of the downy young of this species which came to
them in the Hardy collection. It was collected on Preservation Inlet,
presumably by the same Mr. Seymour, on March 14, 1898. It is prac-
tically fully grown and seems to be much bulkier than the adult; the
wing-coverts are fully feathered with “slate colored” feathers and
the scapulars show large tracts of “plumbeous” feathers; the face
and cheeks are feathered and mottled with black and white; and
under the down on the breast and belly many white feathers, broadly
tipped with “ plumbeous,” may be seen; otherwise the entire body,
including the crown of the head, is covered with long, soft, fluffy
down, “ecru-drab” or “ drab-gray ” in color, which is fairly uniform
and only slightly paler below. This specimen would seem to indicate
that the first plumage assumed by the young bird is similar to that of
the adult, as is the case with most of the petrels, but Buller (1888)
says:
The bird of the first year differs from the adult in being generally darker in
plumage. The whole of the upper surface, the sides of the breast, the sides
of the body, flanks and abdomen, dark slaty-grey, the feathers very minutely
margined with paler. Chin pure white; lores, lower side of face, fore-neck,
breast, and under tail-coverts white, varied with slaty-grey, in freckled wavy
lines on the breast. AIl the medium wing-coverts are stained with brown; the
inner webs of all the quills pure white, as also are the larger under wing-
coverts,
The above statement that the feathers are “ very minutely margined
with paler” is further evidence that Mr. Brewster's scalaris is merely
an immature specimen of inexpectata.
Behavior—Very little is known about the habits of inexpectata,
but Godman (1907) gives us the following scanty facts in regard
to it:
Peale says this fulmar was found among icebergs buffeting the storms and
fogs of the Antarctic regions. He saw but few examples, and only obtained
a single specimen, on March 21st, while the ship Peacock was enveloped in a
fog, in lat. 68° S., long. 95° W. It occurs in the New Zealand seas, and
Buller mentions many places whence he hadi received specimens; among these
are the Spencer Mountains in the Province of Canterbury. Mr. Percy Seymour
120 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
discovered a nesting colony at Preservation Inlet, and, according to Buller, the
species has also been found on the Auckland Islands.
During our cruise across the north Pacific Ocean, when 200 miles
or more from the nearest land and long before we reached the
vicinity of the Aleutian chain, we frequently.saw day after day a
number of large light colored petrels, which we were firmly con-
vinced were of this species, for which we had been cautioned to be
on the lookout. They did not, as a rule, come very near the ship,
but, on June 2 and 3, 1911, in rough and stormy weather, they
were fairly common and several times came within gunshot range,
near enough for us to identify them as Pterodroma. Mr. Béck and
I tried to persuade the captain to lower a boat and let us try to
collect some, but perhaps he was wise in refusing to do so for the
sea was too rough for a small boat; we might have shot some from
the ship but we could not have secured them. I should not have
felt so confident of the correctness of our identification, except for
an incident which followed. 'We subsequently .saw a few specimens
of apparently the same species in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands,
and on June 17, 1911, Mr. Rollo H. Beck and I settled to our own
satisfaction the identity of the Pterodroma we had been seeing. We
were out near the entrance to Kiska Harbor in a small boat collecting
auklets; the sea was smooth but there was a dense fog and birds of
various kinds were very tame; I saw a large bird, dimly outlined in
the fog, flying by Mr. Beck’s end of the boat and told him to shoot it;
we were both surprised on picking it up to see that it was evidently
a Peale petrel. If I had realized what it was I might have kept.
still and shot it myself, in which case it would now be in the
United States National Museum collection or my own, instead of
Dr. Leonard C. Sanford’s, where it is at present.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—New Zealand seas. Known to breed only .at
Preservation Inlet, New Zealand.
Range.—Widely extended over the Pacific Ocean, from the Ant-
arctic regions to the Aleutian Islands (Kiska Island) and Alaska
(Kodiak Island and Sitka).
ae record.—Accidental in New York (Mount Morris, April,
1880).
Egg dates.—Preservation Inlet: Five records, December 24 to
January 7.
BULWERIA BULWERI (Jardine and Selby).
BULWER PETREL.
HABITS.
This large dusky petrel enjoys a wide distribution in both hemi-
spheres, for it ranges over the north temperate zones of the Atlantic
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND. PELICANS. 121
and Pacific Oceans with breeding stations in both oceans. It was
originally described in 1828 from a specimen taken near Madeira
and sent to Sir W. Jardine by Doctor Bulwer, for whom it was
named. Our claim to it as a North American bird is based on its
supposed accidental occurrence in Greenland; Mr. Howard Saun-
ders (1889) says: “An example in the Leiden Museum is said to
have come from Greenland, but Reinhardt informed Mr. P. E.
Freke that he thought it might be from one of the Moravian settle-
ments in Labrador.”
Nesting —Godman (1907) says:
Bulwer’s fulmar breeds, according to Doctor Heineken, in the Madeira and
Canary groups of islands; the birds arrive in March and begin to lay early
in June. The young are hatched in July, and after September but few are
seen till the following spring. These birds are purely nocturnal in habits and
although very rarely found in flocks like shearwaters, remain almost con-
stantly at sea, except during the breeding season; they may then be found in
considerable numbers on the Desertas, whence many eggs, now in the British
Museum, were procured by Padre Schmitz.
He had previously written elsewhere (1872) :
I found Bulwer petrel breeding in considerable numbers on the small De-
serta. It appears so nocturnal in its habits that I never once saw it flying
about in the daytime, though there were plenty of another, smaller species.
The nests I found were for the most part low down at the foot of the cliffs
under the fallen rocks, where the birds were easily caught with the hand
while sitting on their eggs.
Mr. David A. Bannerman (1914) writes of the nesting habits of
this petrel on Montafia Clara Island in the Canaries:
This was the only small island on which we found Bulwer’s petrel breeding.
Here, however, they were quite common, although their numbers seemed
scant in comparison with those of the large shearwaters. By far the most
attractive in appearance of all the petrels, these somber-colored little birds
were breeding all round the island under the large boulders which hud fallen
from the cliffs. They were most common in the actual neighborhood of my
camp, where many of their nesting sites were under rocks only just beyond the
reach of the waves. Holes were sometimes utilized, and we found two close
together about 40 feet up the side of the cliff, each containing a bird. We
dug these holes out and found the birds sitting about 2 feet from the entrance.
In no case was there any attempt at a nest. the single egg being deposited on
the bare stone. At the time of my visit all the birds had laid. In one case a
fisherman brought in two eggs, which he assured me he had found in the
same “nest” lying side by side, doubtless the product of two females. All
. the eggs were freshly laid, and I gathered from the fishermen that the birds
had not long come to land.
Bulwer’s petrel is almost entirely nocturnal in its habits, and we never saw
any flying in the neighborhood of the island during the day. If pulled out of
their holes these birds seemed very dazed, but invariably attempted to escape
by crawling under stones. In one case, however, a bird which we had placed
on a rock in the brilliant sunlight waddled to the edge and immediately flew
out to sea.
122 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
The Bulwer petrel breeds abundantly on several of the islands in
the Hawaiian group. Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) writes:
We found the Bulwer petrel breeding on Necker Island in considerable num-
bers. Here the birds nest in rather deep, bubblelike holes in the rocks, as far
from the light as possible. We found the first bird by discovering a white egg
under a loose, flat rock back in a cavity. When the stone was lifted the petrel
was under the far side. The favorite site, however, is a hole about 2 feet deep,
with a narrow entrance, and wider cavity at the rear. These are probably
bubbles in the lava. The nest, scarcely worthy of the name, consists of a few
old tern feathers gathered rudely around the egg, as if merely to hold it in
place. Sometimes there is no trace of a nest, and again I found a few wing
bones of a tern, as though these had been used in place of sticks. We found
many nests, each with one egg, or occasionally the birds had not yet begun to
lay. Once we found a set of two eggs. They are a glossless pure white and
differ much in shape, no two in the collection of nine being alike. Ovate is the
most prevalent type, more or less acute, varying to elliptical ovate and short
ovate. One egg is nearly elliptical. An ovate specimen measures 44 by 30
millimeters, another 41 by 31. An almost elliptical egg is 45 by 30.
Eggs.—Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain has sent me the measurements of 66
eggs from Madeira and the Desertas, which average 42.95 by 31.21
millimeters; the largest eggs measure 47 by 30 and 42 by 38, and
the smallest eggs measure 39.6 by 30.4 and 44.6 by 29.6 millimeters.
Young.—Yarrell (1871) says: “The nestling is said to be covered
with a sooty-brown down.” Probably, as in other closely allied
petrels, the first plumage assumed is similar to that of the adult.
Food.—Doctor Fisher (1906) says that birds which flew aboard
near Bird Island “had been feeding on fish eggs and ctenophores or
comb jelly.”
Behavior—Seebohm (1891) writing of its habits in the Volcano
Islands, says:
Mr. Holst found it very common on Sulphur Island and sends three examples,
in each of which the pale bar across the wing formed by the grey margins of
the greater wing-coverts is very conspicuous, which bar is said to be absent in
Bulweria macgillivrayi from the Fiji Islands. These petrels flew about at night
like bats in the twilight in great numbers, being extremely bold, sometimes
touching the gun with the tips of their wings, but the rapidity of their flight
made it very difficult to shoot them. Mr. Holst succeeded in dropping one of
them and afterwards secured several more in the daytime, when they were
found hidden away in pairs among the bushes and rocks all over the island, but
he was unable to find any eggs.
Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) writes: “The call of this bird is very
fine and was frequently heard at night, a pleasant contrast to the:
harsh voices of the great shearwaters. It consists of four higher
notes and a lower, more prolonged note, the whole repeated several
(usually three) times and uttered in a loud, cheerful strain.” Doctor
Fisher (1906) observes: “The Bulwer petrel is quite gentle, and
when first disturbed utters a penetrating but low moan, something
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 128
like who who, dovelike in quality, but decidedly different from
oo-ow of the uau kane (Puffinus cuneatus).”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Islands in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. In
the Azores, Salvages, Madeira, and Canary Islands. Also on various
islands in the North Pacific Ocean. On the Bonin and Volcano
Islands, on Laysan, Necker, and Bird Islands, and on other islands
in the Hawaiian group. Apparently the Pacific birds are not sub-
specifically distinct from the Atlantic birds. Breeding grounds pro-
tected in the Hawaiian Islands reservation.
Range.—Fastern portion of the North Atlantic Ocean and central
-and western portions of the Pacific Ocean from J apan and China to
the Marquesas Islands.
Casual records.—Accidental in Greenland and in England (York-
shire and Sussex, 5 records.)
Egg dates—Canary and Madeira Islands: Fourteen records, Jan-
uary 7 to July 10; seven records, June 11 to 21. Necker Island: One
record, May 31.
HALOCYPTENA MICROSOMA Coues.
LEAST PETREL,
HABITS.
The life history of the least petrel, the smallest of the family, long
remained unknown. The type specimen, taken by Mr. Xantus, in
May, 1861, near San José del Cabo, Lower California, remained
unique until March, 1888, when Mr. Charles H. Townsend (1890)
captured a second specimen, which “ flew on board the Albatross i in
Panama Bay.”
Nesting.—For all that we know regarding its habits we are in-
debted to Mr. A. W. Anthony (18986) who discovered the breeding
grounds of this rare species. He writes: .
In, early June I have found the least petrel migrating along the coast of
Lower California in company with the Socorro and black petrels, and in late
July have found them nesting on the small rocky San Benito Island, fifty miles
off the coast of the peninsula. So far I have never found the least petrel
nesting in burrows. They have always been taken from the crevices in rocky
ledges or among the loose stones. The pearly white egg is laid on the bare
rock. Usually several are found within a few feet if desirable crevices are
numerous.
Regarding the islands and his interesting discovery Mr. Anthony
(1896a) writes:
The San Benito Islands are small, rocky reefs only, with little vegetation,
and being so far off shore are but little resorted to by gulls, cormorants, and
similar species.
124 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
The second day on the island Mr. James M. Gaylord, the botanist of our
party, reported finding a “half-grown petrel incubating an egg” on another
part of the island. Scarcely daring to hope, but suspecting that it might be the
almost mythical least petrel, he was instructed to bring it back with him when
he returned from that quarter next day. As we had surmised, the specimen
proved to be Halocyptena microsoma, which we subsequently found breeding
in several parts of the island. All eggs of this species were taken either
from under loose slabs of rock or crevices in the broken ledges, the former
location seeming to be preferred. None were found in burrows, although
several were opened in the colonies of this species. They all contained either
0. melania or O. socorroensis,
Hggs taken from July '24 to 27 were in most cases fresh or but slightly
incubated, though many were well advanced in incubation.
Downy young, and even incubated eggs were found on our return to the
island September 8.
Again he (1900a) says:
In a rock wall about seven, feet long and less than two feet high, I once
found twenty-eight of these little petrels, but I have never found them in other
islands of the coast,
E'ggs.—The egg of the least petrel is well described by Mr. Anthony
(1896a), as follows:
In shape the eggs of the least petrel were more inclined to be elliptical than
either of the other species described, but were often elongate-ovate, short or
even in some cases rounded ovate, as in the species of Oceanodroma.
They were pure white, with rosy flush before being blown, but dead white
afterward. In many, if not in the majority of our specimens, a ring, of very
minute black specks encircled one or both ends. These specks came off upon
the slightest touch, leaving slight stains or marks such as might be made by
brushing away a spot of lampblack which had accidentally fallen on the shell.
Ten eggs of this species averaged in measurement 29.4 by 19.3 millimeters.
The measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 23.4
by 19.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
28.2 by 22, 23 by 18.5, and 25.2 by 18 millimeters.
Young—Mr. Anthony (1898) says, of the downy young:
‘Young were taken as late as September 7 or 8 that were but a few days old.
They were like the young of the three species of Oceanodroma I have mentioned,
except for size. All are covered with sooty or slaty black down, through which
the feathers appear when the bird is nearly or quite fully grown.
Behavior—The same writer (1900a) gives an interesting account
of the peculiar notes of the least petrel, which I quote in full, as
follows:
As soon as the rocky ground at the base of the hills is reached, a strange note
is heard, which seems to come from the loose rocks fallen from a small ledge
above, and resembles the “ whirring” of a rapidly revolving cog wheel. For
about ten seconds the whizzing continues, when suddenly a note is dropped—
there is a quick gasp, as for breath—and instantly the wheels begin to revolve
again, having given one the impression that there is a broken cog in the buried
machine. I have no idea how long the strange note might be continued. I have
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 125
waited until my patience was exhausted, and always the same “cog” was
slipped, at exactly the same interval, and the bird was as fresh as ever when
I left it with its unfinished song. Another note of this species which is occa-
sionally heard from the same rock pile and which gives one a clew to the
author, is exactly like the cry of the two petrels above mentioned, but is higher
pitched and more hastily uttered, giving one the idea of a smaller bird, as
indeed it is, the least petrel (Halocyptena microsoma).
The least petrel should be easily recognized in flight by its small
size, its wedge-shaped tail, and its uniformly dark color, without any
white areas. :
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Known to breed only on San Benito Island off
the Pacific coast of Lower California.
Range.—Pacific coast of middle America, from Lower California
to Ecuador.
Egg dates.—San Benito Island: Twenty-four records, July 2 to 27;
twelve records, July 25 to 27.
HYDROBATES PELAGICUS (Linnaeus).
STORMY PETREL.
HABITS,
The storm petrel or least petrel, as it was formerly called, is prob-
ably the original “ Mother Carey’s chicken” of the sailors. It is one
of the smallest of the petrels and wanders over the north Atlantic
Ocean chiefly on the eastern side. On the American coast it is said
to occur on the Newfoundland banks and off the coast of Nova Scotia.
It has been said to breed on Sable Island and at various places along
the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, but such reports need
confirmation, as there is not a single authentic American breeding
record. It is abundant on the eastern Atlantic where it has long
been familiarly known to sailors as a harbinger of storms, a mere
superstition, of course. Much has been written about it, from which
I shall quote.
Nesting.— Audubon (1840) and several Jater writers have quoted
freely from Hewitson’s observations, in his British Oology, from
which I have selected the following passage:
Before leaving Shetland I again visited the island of Oxna, and though so
late as the 30th of June, they were only just beginning to lay their eggs. In
Foula they breed in the holes in the cliff, at a great height above the sea; but
here under stones which form the beach, at a depth of three or four feet, or
more, according to that of the stones; as they go down to the earth, beneath
them, on which to lay their eggs. In walking over the surface, I could hear
them, very distinctly, singing in a sort of warbling chatter, a good deal like
swallows when fluttering above our chimneys, but harsher; and in this way,
by listening attentively, was guided to their retreat, and, after throwing out
126 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
stones as large as I could lift on all sides of me, seldom failed in capturing two
or three seated on their nests, either under the lowest stone or between two of
them. The nests, though of much the same materials as the ground on which
they were placed, seem to have been made with care; they were of small bits
of stalks of plants, and pieces of hard, dry earth. Like the rest of the genus,
the stormy petrel lays invariably one egg only. During the daytime they
remain within their holes; and though the fishermen are constantly passing
over their heads (the beach under which they breed being appropriated for
the drying of fish), they are then seldom heard; but toward night become ex-
tremely querulous; and when most other birds are gone to rest, issue forth in
great numbers, spreading themselves far over the surface of the sea.
Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (19052) gives a good account of the nesting
habits of this species, as follows:
The storm petrel is very numerous during the summer, when they fly noisily
about the islands during the nighttime. They breed on Hilean Mhor, and proba-
bly on the other islands, in abundance. Many chicks, some of them quite re-
cently hatched, were found during our visit in September, and we saw young
ones in every stage from a few hours’ old (tiny balls of pretty lavender-grey
down) to birds full grown and fully feathered, except that they had a bunch of
down still present on the lower part of the abdomen. The old birds are entirely
absent during the daytime, leaving even the small chicks to take care of them-
selves, and do not return until darkness sets in, when they tend their young
and depart again early in the morning, probably to spend the day far out at sea
in search of food. We opened out a number of their nesting holes at all hours
of the day, but the old birds were-always absent, except in one instance, where
the young had only recently emerged from the egg. Occasionally they visited
the lantern. They nest in the remains of the old building, in holes in turf, and
under stones among grass. The nest is a mere mat composed of dry roots, grass,
etc. I received a young one in full down, which had been taken on the 3rd
October ; probably the first egg of this pair had been taken or destroyed.
The fact that eggs have been taken at various dates between May
and October has suggested the possibility that two or more broods
may be raised in a season, but probably such is not the case.
#ggs.—Godman (1907) describes the egg as follows: “The egg is
white, with a sprinkling of minute reddish-brown dots, frequently
forming a distinct zone round the larger end.”
The measurements of 44 eggs, in various collections, average 27.6
by 21.8; the largest eggs measure 30 by 22 and 28.5 by 22.5; the
smallest eggs measure 26.2 by 21 and 29.5 by 20.5 millimeters.
Rev. H. A. Macpherson (1898) says:
The task of incubation is shared by both sexes, but it is usual to find only one
bird upon the egg. Probably the bird which is incubating is fed at night by its
mate, which has passed the day at sea. The egg of the storm petrel is believed
to be incubated for about thirty-five days, Mr. William Evans ascertained that
eggs of this species when placed in an incubator chipped on the thirty-third day,
while a chick hatched out upon the thirty-fifth day.
Young—The same writer gives the following interesting account
of the behavior and development of the young bird in confinement:
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 127
The late Mr. H. D. Graham once took two storm petrels about a fortnight old,
covered with a profusion of down, on the 8th of September. They were at
first fed with very small bits of fish, which they took reluctantly, but soon
developed a great partiality for cod-liver oil, and “would suck a stick dipped
in oil very willingly, clattering their bills and shaking their heads with evi-
dent satisfaction. I should conclude from this that the petrels feed their young
with the oil which they have the power of ejecting from their bills.” These
nestlings became fledged about the middle of September—when about three
weeks old--supposing that they were two weeks old when obtained, and be-
came much dissatisfied with confinement, though they still retained a great
deal of down upon their bodies. ‘“ Night and day their long, powerful wings
were in incessant motion in their attempts to escape from the box. As soon
as the lid is opened they raise themselves up until they can hook their bills on
to the edge; and then, assisted by their wings, and scrambling with their claws,
they hoist themselves up. When upon the top of the box, they would be satis-
fied for a little while, shake themselves, and dress their feathers. ‘The instinc-
tive love of motion, however, would soon return, and they go off on a voyage
of discovery. They walk with great caution, keeping their heads down, and
using their bills as walking sticks, hooking hold of any inequality to assist them-
selves along, and keeping themselves up, for they have a constant tendency to
topple over on their faces; they also are of great service to feel their way, for
their sight seemed very imperfect, and their eyes were generally closed. [This
we might have anticipated, from the fact that this petrel passes the first few
weeks of its existence in more or less complete darkness]. When informed
by the bill that they are arrived at the edge of the table, the closed eyes open,
and an anxious survey is taken of the depth below, and after considerable
preparation and thought, the hazardous leap is taken, and a short flight per-
formed in safety to the floor. These little birds seemed to have an irresistible
instinct which led them to attempt to surmount every obstacle which fell in
their way. When walking on the table every book and desk must be climbed
by means of the hooked bill, with the assistance of claws and pinions.
Plumages—Godman (1907) says that the young bird is “at first
covered with long down of a sooty ash color, making the bird look
like a long-haired mouse, as no bill or wings are visible. When
the down is shed, the plumage of the young bird is exactly similar
to that of the adult, with the exception that the greater wing
coverts have a distinct, if narrow, margin of white. The scapulars
and black tips of the upper tail coverts also have nearly obsolete
white fringes.” Morris (1903) describes the young bird somewhat
differently; he writes:
The young bird is not quite so dark as its parents the first year. The breast
has less white near the tail; the margins of the wing coverts are rusty brown.
The tertiaries have little or no white on their edges.
Food.—Of the storm petrel’s food Macgillivray (1852) writes:
The food of this species is said by authors to consist of oily and fatty sub-
stances, small crustacea and mollusca, fishes, animal matter of any kind,
garbage thrown from ships, and even seaweeds. It frequently appears in
the wake of vessels, especially before or during stormy weather, but also when
it is calm; and then picks up portions of animal and vegetable substances,
even fragments of biscuits, that are thrown to it. But, generally, its stomach
128 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. .
and gullet are found to contain oily matter, which, on being seized, it vomits,
like the other species of this family.
Godman (1907) has “seen them in great numbers feeding on the
carcass of a dead whale.”
Behavior.—Macgillivray (1852) gives the best account of the flight,
saying:
In the open ocean they are met with by day as well as by night; but
when breeding they are seen in the neighborhood of their haunts; that is, to
the distance of twenty or more miles around, chiefly in the dusk and dawn, and
during the day remain concealed in their holes. Stormy weather does not
prevent their coming abroad, nor are they less active during calms. When
the waves are high and the wind fierce, it is pleasant, even amidst the noise
of the storm and the heavings of the vessel, to watch the little creatures as
they advance against the gale, at the height of scarcely a foot above the
surface of the water, which they follow in all its undulations, mounting to the
top of the wave, there quivering in the blast, and making good their way by
repeated strokes of their long, narrow wings; then sliding down the slope,
resting a moment in the shelter of the advancing mass of water, gliding up
its side, and again meeting on the summit the force of the rude wind that
curls the wave and scatters abroad its foam bells. I have seen them thus ad-
vancing, apparently with little labor, and in such cases less effort, I think, must
be required than when they have to encounter a gale before it has blown long
enough to raise the waves, which afford it partial shelter. Their manner of
flying is similar to that of the smaller gulls; that is, they glide lightly along
with expanded wings, sailing or gliding at intervals and then plying their
feathery oars.. It is only when picking up their food that, with upraised
wings, they. hover over the spot, and pat the water with their feet; although
many persons have described this as their ordinary mode of progression. In
calm weather, when the sea is smooth, they hover, skim, and wheel around much
in the manner of swallows, though with less velocity. They have, in fact, a
striking resemblance to these birds and certainly merit the name of sea
swallows, at least, as much as the terns.
Morris (1908) describes their vocal performance as follows:
When engaged with their nests they utter a very peculiar purring or buzzing
sound, broken every now and then by a “click”; also toward evening a fre-
quent shrill whistling noise. Meyer likens the note to the word “ kekereck-ee.”
The voices of these birds may be heard, especially toward evening, under the
stones, at a depth of three or four feet or more, where they breed on the
beach, “distinctly singing a sort of warbling chatter.”
In thick and stormy weather these and other petrels are often
driven in near the coast or into harbors where they become ex-
hausted and are easily caught; many are sometimes killed in this
way by the fury of the elements; during severe gales and hurricanes
large numbers are driven inland and picked up dead or in dying
condition. Morris (1903) says that “these birds are made use of by
the inhabitants of the Faroe and other islands to serve for lamps, a
wick of cotton or other material being drawn through the body,
and when lighted it continues to burn till the oil in it is consumed.”
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 129
Winter—During the latter part of the summer those which have
finished breeding wander westward and northward over the At-
lantic Ocean even to American shores. They are most frequently
seen, from the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia northward, during
the month of August. As casual observers are likely to mistake
them for the two commoner species, Leach and Wilson petrels, I
suspect that they are often overlooked and may be much commoner
than is generally supposed. The stormy petrel can be distinguished
from the Leach by its smaller size, square tail, and white flank
patches, and from the Wilson by its much shorter legs, which on the
latter project beyond the tail in flight; the white in the under side
of the wing is also conspicuous in the stormy petrel.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Mainly on islands in the northeastern Atlantic
Ocean. North to Iceland and northern Norway (Lofoten Islands).
On many islands around Great Britain (Shetland, Faroe, Orkney
Islands, etc.). East in the Mediterranean Sea to Malta, etc. South
to the Madeira Islands.
Range—Extends across the North Atlantic Ocean: to southern
Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. Migrates
southward along the Atlantic coast of Africa and around the cape
to Zanzibar on the east coast.
Casual records——Accidental in Ungava (Koksoak River, July
and October 9, 1882), Quebec (Godbout, May 18, 1885, and October
6, 1889), Nova Scotia (Sable Island, November 4, 1901). Accidental
in the interior of Europe.
Egg dates—British Isles: Thirty-four records, May 18 to July
24; seventeen records, June 6 to July 1.
OCEANODROMA HORNBYI (Gray).
HORNBY PETREL,
HABITS.
For over 60 years the only known specimen of this rare and well
marked species remained unique in the British Museum. It was
procured by Admiral Hornby when he was in command of the
Pacific Station with headquarters on Vancouver Island, and is said
to have been obtained in the seas off the northwestern coast of
America. It was described by Mr. George Robert Gray in 1853, and,
during all these intervening years, not another specimen ever came
to light. It has been placed in the hypothetical list in our check
list because there seems to be some doubt as to the locality where it
was actually taken, the original label having been lost. I am includ- .
ing it in this work because it seems to me that the indications are
130 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL. MUSEUM.
that the type specimen was taken off our coast, that it has been seen
there since, and that it may be taken again within our limits.
Dr. Edward W. Nelson (1887) was quite sure that he saw speci-
mens of this petrel while crossing the North Pacific Ocean: he says:
While on my way to and from the Aleutian Islands a petrel conspicuous by
its white collar and under surface was seen repeatedly, and although none
were secured, yet it was identified by its peculiar pattern of coloration. These
birds were seen both in May and in October while crossing a part of the Pacific
some 500 miles broad bordering the Aleutian chain.
I can not accept the suggestion, contained in Mr. Henry W. Hen-
shaw’s explanatory footnote, that the birds referred to were
Pterodroma fisheri, for I am familiar with the latter species in life
and I can not see how such a mistake could have occurred. Ptero-
drome is much larger than Oceanodroma and its behavior in flight
is quite different. I know from personal experience in the rough
and stormy seas of the North Pacific Ocean that observations are
much interrupted in bad weather and that collecting is often impos-
sible at such times, when unfortunately, the Tubinares are most
abundant. Therefore, it is not to be wondered at that this and other
rare species have so long escaped the collectors. Persistent and sys-
tematic work in that region might yield some very valuable and in-
teresting results.
One of the most interesting results of the Brewster and Sanford ex-
pedition to South America was the rediscovery of this rare species,
60 years after the type was described.
Mr. Robert Cushman Murphy (1922) has published the following
notes on these and other specimens of this rare petrel :
In 1887 (fide Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 36, 1907) E. W. Nelson reported
that he had seen numbers of Hornby’s petrels, “both in May and October, while
crossing a part of the Pacific, some 500 miles broad, bordering the Aleutian
chain.” Doubts were subsequently cast upon the identification, however, by
Henshaw.
In 1895 the National Museum of Chile, at Santiago, obtained two immature
specimens, including a nearly full-grown bird with only a few traces of grayish-
white down still clinging to its belly. These came from an inland region east
of Taltal. They were not recognized as Oceanodroma hornbyi, and were
described anew by R. A. Philippi as “ Procellaria (Oceanites) collaris” (Ver-
handlungen des deutschen wissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Santiago de Chile, vol.
8, Pt. 1, pp. 11-18, plate). Philippi’s account states:
“Das Exemplar von Sturmschwalbe, dessen Beschreibung ich hiermit gebe,
ist dadurch besonders merkwurdig, dass es inmitten des Landes, ostlich von
Taltal, in Gesellschaft eines ganz jungen Vogelchens, welches noch mit dem
vollen Flaum bekleidet ist, tolt gefunden wurde. Unser Museum verdankt es
H. Dr. Darapsky.
“Der vogel hat ganz die Grosse und Gestalt der ubrigen Sturmschwalben, von
denen er sehr leicht durch folgende Diagnose unterschieden werden kann.”
The Latin diagnosis which follows, the recorded measurements, and the full -
page monochrome plate made from a crayon drawing leave no room for doubt
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 131
that the specimen described was Oceanodroma hornbyi, notwithstanding minor
discrepancies in the amount of white pictured on the face and throat. The
figure was drawn from a poorly mounted bird, which doubtless accounts for
slight distortions of the color areas. Both of the specimens have been seen by
Dr. Frank M. Chapman during visits to Santiago.
During the Brewster-Sanford South American expedition of the American
Museum of Natural History, Mr. Rollo H. Beck collected 56 specimens of
Oceanodroma hornbyt in the offshore waters of the Peruvian coast and proved
that the species is a common bird in this region. Mr. Beck’s specimens were
all taken during June, 1913, between the approximate latitudes of Ancon (11° 47’
8.) and Cerro Azul (13° 4’ S.) in waters from 15 to about 200 miles from the
shore. He first noted the species in the vicinity of Hormigas de Afuera Islets,
38 sea miles west of Callao, on June 4. On June 6, when about 200 miles off-
shore, he obtained the first specimens, along with numerous examples of Oceano-
droma markhami and other petrels. Thereafter he saw O. hornbyi frequently,
chiefly beyond 25 miles from shore, often feeding and coming to his bait in
groups of a score or so. His notes of June 25, on which date he collected 30
miles off Cerro Azul, contain the observation that in early morning, while the
sun was still low, the white breasts of Hornby’s petrels shone like silver as the
birds darted back and forth among other species. After June 27 he changed
his field of operations to the islands and inshore waters of the Pisco Bay
region, and thenceforth saw the species no more.
All of Beck’s specimens, the majority of which still remain in the Brewster-
Sanford collection, are birds which had resting sex organs. Most of the indi-
viduals were completing or had recently completed the molt and renewal of the
flight feathers. ,
In the same month of a later year, June, 1916, Dr. Frank M. Chapman also
observed Hornby’s petrel along the Peruvian coast. He has kindly supplied
Me with the following extract from his notes of June 23, 1916: :
“Leave Pisco at 7.15, make the Boqueron in the face of a stiff breeze. At
8 a. m. we were about ten miles offshore, and the ocean.swarmed with petrels;
a large, black Pufinus, and a smaller one, in countless numbers were active,
except one flock of several hundred resting on the water. Many gannets were
diving from a height of from fifty to sixty feet. A few yellow-nosed albatrosses
were seen—splendid, sweeping creatures. There were several white-rumped
petrels and dozens of O. hornbyi; the latter the most erratic flier I have ever
seen—like a bat, swift, and nighthawk in one. They were skimming here,
flitting there, then suddenly swung off with the wind a hundred yards or more
so quickly one nearly lost sight of them.” ,
To these field notes Doctor Chapman has added the following comment, re-
lating to the apparent absence of the species during the perior of the year
which doubtless includes its breeding season:
“ December 4-7, 1918, while en route from Callao to Mollendo, I sailed over
this same area, but although on the lookout for them I did not see a single
Hornby’s petrel.”
With regard to the breeding locality of O. hornbyi, we have only the in-
formation published by Philippi. This author’s second paper relating to the
species (Anales del Museo Nacional de Chile, vol. 15, sect. 1, pp. 90-92, pl. 42,
1902) is in part a reprint in Spanish of the German description cited above,
with the addition of ‘a colored plate. He states somewhat more fully that the
mounted specimen in the Santiago Museum was obtained on the tableland
east of Taltal, at a considerable altitude, in company with a dead chick of the
same species, and that he therefore believes this region to be the petrel’s
182 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
breeding ground. The supposition surely seems to be supported by circum-
stantial evidence, and it would be altogether plausible were it not that main-
land breeding sites are almost unknown among the Tubinares. If the petrels
do actually nest in the Chilean mountains, their individual burrows are prob-
ably scattered over wide areas, for thickly populated colonies would soon be
discovered and decimated by predaceous mammals.
Nothing further is known about the distribution or habits of this
rare species, but I hope to see the Hornby petre] eventually restored
_to the American list on positive evidence. Nothing whatever seems
to be known about its life history.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range —Unknown.
Range.—Known only from the “ northwest coast of America” and
from the coasts of Peru and Chile, as indicated above.
OCEANODROMA FURCATA (Gmelin).
FORKED-TAILED PETREL.
HABITS.
Among the 7'ubinares of the north Pacific Ocean this beautiful
little petrel is one of the most widely distributed and most uni-
versally common species. On our cruise from Dixon Entrance to
Unimak Pass some of these graceful little birds were almost con-
stantly in sight, circling about the ship and flitting lightly over
the waves in search of some tiny morsels of food. We also saw
them frequently about the Aleutian Islands, as far west as Attu
Island.
Nesting.—They were undoubtedly breeding on many, if not all, of
the islands in the Aleutian chain, though we actually found only one
small breeding colony. During that eventful afternoon on Tanaga
Island, June 25, 1911, we wamdered inland over a broad and marshy
alluvial plain and up the valley of a little brook into the hills. We
collected during that half day over 40 specimens of our new sub-
species of ptarmigan, found and photographed several of their nests
and spent some time hunting for nests of Aleutian sandpipers, and
Northern phalaropes, both of which were breeding there quite com-
monly. Consequently we had but little time to devote to the forked-
tailed petrels, desirable as they were; but, as we came to some steep
grassy hills, Mr. Rollo H. Beck wandered off and discovered a small
colony of this species. The hills were about a mile back from the
bay and the nests were in typical petrel burrows in the soft soil of
the steep grassy slopes near the base of the hill. Several burrows
were dug out, but only one fresh egg was found, on which the
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 133
incubating bird was caught. Apparently they were just beginning
to breed, but further search was impossible for lack of time.
Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885) found a small colony of forked-
tailed petrels breeding on Copper Island, in the Commander group,
on July 12, 1883, where “the eggs, a single one in each nest, were
deposited in deep holes in the steep basaltic rocks, 3 feet or more
deep, and it was only with great difficulty that a few could be se-
cured.” This was apparently a departure from the usual custom
of the species, for it usually closely resembles the Leach petrel in
its nesting habits and is often intimately associated with it. Dr.
Joseph Grinnell and Mr. Joseph Mailliard found these two species
breeding abundantly together on St. Lazaria Island, a long narrow
rock lying in the mouth of Sitka Bay, Baranoff Island, Alaska. They
estimated that the Leach petrels outnumbered the forked-tailed by
about four to one. Doctor Grinnell (1897) in describing the island,
says: :
It is irregularly shaped, approximately a quarter of a mile in length, by
three hundred yards in width at its widest portion. It has the general outline
of a huge rock with steep sides, but in the main it is crowned by a heavy
growth of large firs and hemlocks. There i8 a rank growth of tall grass on
those parts where there are few trees or none at all, and among the trees there
are scattered clumps of salmonberry bushes, while the porous sod is carpeted
by deer’s feet and other low plants. :
This island is the one in the vicinity of Sitka chosen by thousands of sea-
birds for a breeding ground. The exposed, broken precipitous: sides of the
island are the resorts of violet green cormorants, pigeon guillemots and Cali-
fornia murres, while the glaucous-winged gulls and tufted puffins ‘select the
grassy banks and promontories above the cliffs. But the petrels, to be con-
sidered in the present paper, seem to prefer the dark. forest, although their
burrows are abundant wherever there is enough soil to hold them.
Mr. Mailliard (1898) describes their nesting habits as follows:
The burrows seemed to run in any and every direction except directly down-
wards. The area that I worked in was covered with bunch grass and low
salmonberry bushes, the roots of the latter being greatly in the way. The peat
was so loose and wet that it was difficult to clearly define the burrows, but it
seemed certain that they frequently intersected when on the same level, and also
that there were tiers of them on different planes and running diverse ways.
I could, however, form no idea of the length of any particular one. Their
depth varied from four to 18 inches from the surface of the ground. The diam-
eter of the burrows was from about 24 to 34 inches, but frequently they were
hollowed out in the interior to a greater size. The nests were merely small
hollows in slightly enlarged portions of the galleries, with sometimes a little
dry grass on the bottom, and were placed at irregular distances apart—fre-
quently an O. furcata within a foot of a nest of O. leucorhoa, and then again
perhaps several of one species in a succession at varying intervals. It was diff-
cult to discern much removed material at the entrances to the burrows, the
same ones being in all probability used year after year, the excavated earth
having in the course of time become assimilated with the surrounding surface.
It seemed as if one could dig down and strike burrows anywhere, and, in fact,
83969—22——_10
134 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
I gave up looking for the entrances proper, and simply dug up the peat in any
spot that seemed likely to be free from roots. Unless violently disturbed, each
bird would be found sitting upon its egg, or perhaps it would back away a few
inches,
Doctor Grinnell (1897) says:
Most of the burrows each contained an egg, in which case one bird, either
male or female, was sitting. In case there was a young one, neither parent
bird was present. When there were neither egg nor young in the hole, both
old birds were at home together.
The southernmost colony that I have seen described is on the
Three Arch Rocks, off the coast of Oregon, of which Mr. W. L.
Finley (1905) has written a very interesting account. Here he
found this species breeding with Kaeding or Beal petrels, tufted
puffins, western gulls, Brandt, Baird, and Farallon cormorants, Cali-
fornia murres, and pigeon guillemots.
Eggs.—The single egg of the forked-tailed petrel is much like that
of the Leach petrel, but somewhat larger. The surface is smooth
but without gloss, and the color is dull white. There are usually
plenty of minute dark specks, purple or purplish black in color,
forming a cloud or a wreath about the larger end. Sometimes these
specks are quite large and conspicuous, but more often very faint or
indistinct. Some eggs show a few faint lilac spots.
The measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 33.9
by 25.7 millimeters; the largest eggs measure 3'7.5 by 28.5 and 35.4
by 27.5, and the smallest eggs measure 32 by 24.5 and 34 by 23.5
millimeters.
Both sexes incubate, relieving each other at night and morning.
Plumages.—The downy young when first hatched is covered with
long, soft, thick down, foreshadowing the color of the parent, except
on the chin and throat, which are naked. The color varies from
“deep mouse gray” or “light mouse gray” above to “pale mouse
gray below.” The young bird is nearly fully grown before the
plumage appears. Of the development of the plumage Mr. George
Willett (1912) writes:
The first feathers to appear are those of the wings and tail, closely followed
by those on the back of the head and throat. Then comes the beautiful gray
covering of the back and upper tail-coverts, and shortly afterward the mature
feathers replace the down on the chest. The last down to disappear is that on
the lower abdomen. When this leaves the young is very similar in plumage to
the adult bird. The tail, however, is not so deeply forked, the white patch on
the throat is streaked with gray, the forehead is dark gray instead of brownish,
and the general coloration of the back, wings, and tail is darker than in the
adult,
Food.—The food of the forked-tailed petrel consists of soft, oily
substances with perhaps a few minute particles of animal food
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 135
which it picks up off the surface of the water. Turner (1886)
says: “The Eskimo name of this bird is O Ku ik, and means oil
eater. They assert that this bird skims the water for traces of oil
which may have flowed from a wounded seal or whale, and that
large flocks of them will follow the floating carcass of a seal for that
purpose.” Apparently oil is the principal food of this and other
petrels for when caught or killed large quantities of oily juices
flow from the mouths and nostrils, soiling the plumages beyond re-
pair. The young are fed by squirting this fluid into their mouths.
Behavior—The forked-tailed petrel in flight is not easily mis-
taken for anything else, as the soft, blended, pearl gray colors of
its plumage are conspicuous and distinctive. The flight of this
petrel, like others of its genus, is light, rapid, and erratic, flitting
hither and thither close to the surface of the waves, often with its
feet extended as if walking on the water. The following account,
evidently taken from Doctor Pickering’s journal, written off the
coast of Oregon in April, 1840, is given by Baird, Brewer, and
Ridgway (1884) :
Generally, they reminded him of Wilson’s petrel, but their wings seemed
longer and their movements appeared to be more rapid; in fact, they appeared
to resemble the larger Proceliaridae. Occasionally this bird sailed in its flight,
but during the greater part of the time it moved by very rapidly flexing its
wings in the same manner as Wilson’s petrel. It proved to be not difficult to
capture, and several specimens were taken with hook and line. The birds
would dive a foot or two after the bait, and made use of their wings in and
under the water, from which they evidently had not the difficulty in rising
which is observable in the albatross. Their power of swimming seemed rather
feeble, yet they alighted in the water without any apparent hesitation. The
dead body of one of their companions having been thrown overboard, the other
birds clustered about it with as much avidity as around any other food. This
bird uttered a faint cry when it was taken on board.
Mr. Richard C. McGregor (1906) while anchored in Akutan
Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, on August 19, 1901, witnessed a
peculiar performance of this species in a dense fog at night, which
he described in his notes as, follows:
At about 9.30 a petrel was brought down (to my room) by the quarter-
master; in a short time three more and then an auklet were produced by
Davie (Q. M.). Going on deck I found O. furcata flying about the masthead
light—there were probably five or six in sight. In a short time I had a dozen
laid out. There was a moderate fog at first and as this thickened the birds
increased in numbers. Fully a dozen were in sight like so many moths. They
struck the rigging, bridge, and wheelhouse and fluttered to the deck in a dazed
condition. The fox (a young animal caught by the men and kept on deck)
soon had a dozen or more in and about his box, and the cats were running
them over the deck. On all sides of the ship their cries were heard. ‘They
flew into the chart room, the fireroom, and down the ventilator to the main
deck. Even from my room in the lower wardroom their cries are plainly
audible.
136 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Doctor Grinnell (1897) who was forced to spend a night on St.
Lazaria Island, had an unusually good opportunity to study the
midnight flight of the forked-tailed petrel on its breeding grounds,
which he graphically describes as follows:
After the sun set and the long summer twilight began to make the woods 4
little gloomy, the petrels became more active. Their curious calls came from
every, direction in the ground, though as. yet not a bird was to be seen. Pres-
ently a little stir in the grass called attention to a petrel which clumsily
scrambled from his hole, and after the usual fumbling put himself in flight
and betook himself speedily out to sea. Soon others appeared and others and
others. The crows, their enemies, had by this time gone to roost, and as the
gloom grew deeper the petrels became more numerous. Those which had been
out to sea all day began to arrive among the trees, and were even more awk-
ward than those leaving. They flew against branches and bushes and into my
face, but all ultimately seemed to know where their respective homes were.
The chorus of their cries was curious and depressing to one’s spirits, and the
chilly air was constantly being fanned into my face by their noiseless wings.
The light-colored ghostly forms of the forktails were much more readily dis-
cernible than the dark Leach’s.
The ground was alive with struggling petrels, and I picked up as many as I
chose. As the twilight of evening slowly merged into dawn the height of
their activity was reached. I walked from end to end of the wooded part of
the island, and everywhere the petrels were equally numerous.
As I began to feel cold and likewise hungry, the novelty of these strange
experiences naturally wore off. After considerable searching for dry fuel I
started a smoldering little blaze, which lighted up the dusky surroundings,
together with the flitting forms of the birds, thus disclosing a very impres-
sive scene. But presently several of the petrels were attracted by the light
and flew pell-mell into the fire, extinguishing the feeble flames in short order.
After several similarly frustrated attempts, though partly on account of the
damp wood, I gave it up.
As soon as the dawn became perceptibly brighter the petrels became quieter
and fewer. Part went out to sea; others returned to their nests. By sunrise,
at 2.30 a. m., not a petrel was to be seen nor a note heard where two hours
before had been such a tumult of nocturnal forms and voices. The crows set
up their saucy cawing and the western winter wrens and sooty song spar-
rows announced their’ presence with their clear musical trill.
The vocal performances of this species have been referred to
above. They consist of a variety of soft twittering notes, given in
flight while flitting about their breeding grounds, or faint squeaking
notes when disturbed in their burrows or when handled. . But, being
nocturnal in its activity and being so intimately associated with
other species, it is not easy to distinguish its note with certainty.
In its association with other species it is gentle and harmless itself,
but it has many enemies. In the Aleutian Islands it falls an easy
prey to prowling foxes, which dig out its nesting burrows, killing
and eating both old and young; it has been practically exterminated
on the islands where foxes are abundant. The mink and other pred-
atory animals destroy large numbers. On St. Lazaria Island, Doc-
tor Grinnell found evidence that crows were also destructive in dig-
PL. 21
12
BULLETIN
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
A.C. Bent,
cho Bay, Maine.
Jeri
Bent.
A.C,
Maine.
Jericho Bay,
LEACH PETREL.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 137
ging out the burrows and eating the eggs. Probably gulls do their
share also, as the burrows are often very shallow and in soft soil.
Winter—This petrel seems to be a hardy species, wandering
northward during the fall months throughout Bering Sea, along
the coasts of Alaska and Siberia, and occasionally up some of the
rivers. Nelson (1887) says: “The Eskimo find them after the sea is
covered with ice. At such times they are usually near an air hole,
and in several cases were captured alive, being too weak from star-
vation to escape.” The main winter home of the species, however, is
the north Pacific Ocean, where it is widely distributed, between the
North American and Asiatic coasts.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range——Northern and eastern portions of the Pacific
Ocean. From the Kurile and Commander Islands (Copper Island)
all along the Aleutian chain (Attu, Agattu, Tanaga, and Atka
Islands, etc.), on islands off the coast of southern Alaska (Sanak,
St. Lazaria, and Forrester Islands, etc.), off the coast of Washing-
ton (Clallam County) and as far south as northern California
(Whaler Island, Del Norte County, and off Trinidad, Humboldt
County). Breeding grounds protected in Alaska, Washington, and
Oregon reservations.
Fange.—North Pacific Ocean, south along the coast to southern
California (Orange County). North throughout Bering Sea, along
both coasts, and through Bering Straits into Kotzebue Sound.
Casual. records.—Accidental in the interior of Alaska. ae
River, November).
Egg dates—Southern Alaska: Sixteen records, June 10 to July 15;
eight records, June 17 to 30. Washington and Oregon: Three rec-
ords, June 1, 9, and 17. Aleutian Islands: Two records, June 25
and 30.
OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA LEUCORHOA (Vieillot).
LEACH PETREL,
HABITS.
The most widely distributed and the best-known ‘species of the
genus Oceanodroma on American coasts is the Leach petrel. It is
the only species known to breed on our Atlantic coast, in spite of
numerous reports to the contrary. It is distinctly a bird of northern
oceans, and its breeding grounds extend from the Aleutian Islands
nearly to the Pacific coast of the United States and from the coast
of Maine northward to Greenland on the Atlantic side. We ought to
know something about its life history, but our knowledge of even
this common bird is not complete.
138 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Spring.—Concerning its arrival on its breeding grounds Mr.
Arthur H. Norton (1881) has written the following:
In the early part of June, or even the latter part of May, these little birds
come into the islands off the rugged coast of Maine. Some time is spent in in-
vestigating the accommodations, and as the time advances they enter one of the
last year’s tunnels or begin to excavate a new one. Both birds enter this sub-
terranean tube and there work with a will, never coming forth to play in the
sunshine or join in the terns’ hurrying flight. So if we walk above their heads,
we see them not; and knowing nothing about their habits we never suspect their
presence. If we would learn of their ways, we must break into their burrows or
await the coming of night.
On our breaking into their burrows they appear bewildered and seek darkness
rather than flight ; they utter no note of solicitude nor show signs of displeasure
at this rude housebreaking, and can be taken in hand as easily as a pet chicken.
They move with a staggering walk, or crawl, and get under the nearest object
that affords protection from the light. When tossed into the air they take wing
and fly far out over the ocean, never pausing to look back after the fate of their
one egg.
As night comes on and the heat of day is succeeded by the cool of evening,
we will hear, just after the tern’s voice is hushed, a nasal squeak, in several
syllables, delivered very rapidly and in a jerky way. It is the petrel on shore
to spend the night in frolic or to propagate his race. Like his customs, his
voice is peculiar, and musical in a way. On shore the petrel’s voice is the
only sound that accompanies the ocean’s ceaseless roar through the solitude
of night. @
As morning approaches his notes become less frequent, and cease as the
terns rise, and fill the air with their short cries.
Nesting.—In my various wanderings on the coasts of Maine and
eastern Canada I have seen a number of breeding colonies of Leach
petrels, but I shall not attempt to describe them all in detail. In
the vicinity of Penobscot Bay, Maine, there are several large colo-
nies on some of the outlying islands, but the inner islands are seldom
visited for breeding purposes by this pelagic species, which makes
its home on the open sea and loves to be within easy reach of the
ocean swell. A picturesque and well-known breeding resort in this
vicinity is on Spoon Island, which consists of two well-rounded
hills connected by a low flat area of marsh and beach; its peculiar
outline is easily discernible, far off to seaward, as the coastwise
steamer passes around the south end of Deer Isle, though it stands in
the outermost row of islands. The larger hill, presumably the bowl
of the spoon, is perhaps a hundred feet high, rounded and bare of
vegetation, except for its grassy slopes, over which are scattered
many loose rocks and boulders or outcropings of its rocky founda-
tions. But on this rocky hill sufficient soft loamy soil, full of vege-
table mold, has accumulated to offer just the conditions wanted by
the petrels for their burrows. On my first visit to Spoon Island
on June 19, 1899, the burrows were numerous, indicating a renee
U. S. NATIONAL MU3EUM 121
Matinicus Rock, Ma’ H. K. Job.
LEACH PETREL.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331].
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 1389
colony of birds; we dug out some 30 burrows, 18 of which contained
a single egg each, which were fresh, or nearly so, covered by an
incubating bird. We failed to find a mated pair of birds in any
of the nests, which is usually the case before the egg is laid, from
which we inferred that the courtship period had passed and that all
the eggs had been laid. I noticed that the entrances to many of
the burrows were partially overgrown with vegetation, indicating
that they had been occupied for successive seasons; undoubtedly
such is the case; they are probably repaired, enlarged, or extended
a little each year. The burrows varied in length from a little over
1 foot to 3 feet or more; the entrance, which was large enough to
admit my hand, sometimes ran straight downward for a few inches,
but was more often slanting inward from the side of some little
eminence or on sloping ground; the passageway, which was often
quite tortuous, usually ran along horizontally only a few inches be-
low the surface, just beneath the roots of the grass. I could easily
open the burrows by running my arm in and tearing up the sod.
Sometimes the passages intersected or branched in several direc-
tions. At the end of the burrow was an enlarged chamber contain-
ing the nest, which was loosely made of dry grasses, bits of sticks,
and weed stems, mixed with pieces of bark and sods. Sometimes
the egg was laid on the bare, soft soil without any attempt at nest
building. The nest cavity was so much larger than the nest that
the bird, when exposed to view, could crawl away almost out of sight
under the overhanging soil. The birds are always very stupid un-
der such circumstances; they make no attempt to escape, but try to
avoid the light by hiding under any shelter available; if thrown
into the air, however, they fly straight out to sea with a wavy and
uncertain flight.
My second visit to this island was made on July 12, 1915, and I was
disappointed to find the petrel colony very much reduced in size;
there were certainly not over 50 pairs nesting here; this may be
accounted for by the fact that some fishermen had been camping on
the island and keeping a dog there, which means death to petrels.
I had hoped to find some specimens of downy young petrels, but I
was too early; there were plenty of heavily incubated eggs, but I
did not find any young. I did not, of course, want to dig out all
of the burrows and perhaps break up the colony.
On Seal Island, Nova Scotia, in July, 1914, I saw a large and
populous colony scattered over the heavily wooded portion of the
island. In a large burnt area their burrows were scattered thickly
among the stumps and on the edges of the spruce forest along the
shores, where there was plenty of soft soil, the ground was fairly
140 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
honeycombed with their burrows among the roots of the trees. This
seemed rather unusual to me, as all the other colonies that I had seen
were in open, treeless situations.
On St. Lazaria Island, near Sitka, Alaska the Leach petrel breeds
abundantly in company with a much smaller number of forked-tailed
petrels. The bird breeding in southern Alaska has been recognized
by several experienced naturalists as a distinct species under the
name of Oceanodroma beali, but the characters ascribed to it hardly
seem to warrant its separation as a species and perhaps not even asa
subspecies. Mr. George Willett. (1912) estimated that there were
about 20,000 pairs of this species nesting in this reservation in 1912.
He says:
It is by far the most abundant breeding bird on the reservation. Every-
where on the island where the soil is deep enough are found the burrows of
this bird. The burrows and nests are similar to those of the last species but
are found in thousands on the flat top of the island among the timber and
brush, where furcata does not seem to occur. Also they evidently nest con-
siderably later than furcata, as no very large young were seen and a few fresh
eggs were noted as late as August-15.
Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1897) thus describes the nesting of the Leach
petrel on this island:
The entrance to the burrows are semicircular ,and usually open out under
some clump of grass or a bunch of leaves, so that it is partly hidden. From
the entrance the burrow runs at an easy slant for a few inches and then parallel
with the surface of the ground, from two to five inches below. The total length
of the burrow varies greatly, being from one to three feet. It is seldom
straight .but usually very crooked. The birds in digging evidently follow the
direction of least resistance. The débris is scratched out into a slight mound
in front of the entrance. The cavity at the end of the burrow is about three
inches in height by five inches broad, and contains on the saucer-shaped floor a
slight lining of dry grass blades.
A still more populous colony exists in the Forrester Island reser-
vation in the same region. I quote from Prof. Harold Heath’s s (1915)
report in regard to it, as follows:
It is difficult to estimate the number of these birds nesting on South Island,
The Indians sometimes call the place “the basket ” since it is so full of holes,
but when asked regarding the number of holes or birds their guesses ranged
from ten thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand. In a rough way the
island’ was measured into a number of plots and in each of these the number of
nests was estimated. The result totalled not far from Seventy-five thousand,
or one hundred and fifty thousand birds, and this is certainly a conservative
estimate.
Almost as soon as a landing was made small openings were noticed in the
moss covering the rocks, and while these appeared surprisingly similar to those
made by ‘mice, a minute’s work was all that was necessary to disclose their
true character. Others were half hidden in the grass and among the under-
brush, and from the central valley to the summits of both hills the soil was
riddied with holes. In various places from four to seven were counted in a
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 141
space a yard square, and one must tread cautiously indeed to escape breaking
through the burrows at every step.
The burrow leads inward from the entrance for varying ‘distances, two feet
being about the average length. In extreme cases tunnels have been opened
having a length of fully s’x feet, and from two to five birds occupy this in
common, each nest being placed in one of the lateral offshoots from the main
trunk. Such extensive residences have evidently been vacated by Cassin auk-
léts, as one young bird of this species was found in a burrow with five petrels.
The nest is a flat, thin pad composed of fragments of grass, bits of moss, and
small twigs of spruce or salmon berry.
Eggs.—The Leach petrel lays a single egg and raises only one young
bird each season. The egg is much like that of others of the same
genus, varying considerably in shape and size. The shape is elliptical
ovate, elliptical oval, or nearly-oval. The texture of the shell is
smooth, but not glossy. The color is pure white, dull white, or dirty
cream white and it is often much nest-stained. Many eggs are spot-
less, but many others are “finely sprinkled or more or less conspicu-
ously wreathed with small and usually faint spots or fine scrawls
of reddish, purplish, or lilac about the larger end.
The measurements of 55 eggs, in the United States National Mu-
seum collection, average 32.5 by 24 millimeters; the eggs showing
the four extremes measure 35 by 23, 33 by 26, 30.5 by 23, and 33
by 22 millimeters.
The period of incubation has been variously estimated at all the
way from two weeks to a month, but, as the stormy petrel egg has
been demonstrated to require 35 days to hatch in an incubator, it is
probable that the time required for the Leach petrel to incubate is not
far from five weeks. Both sexes incubate, relieving each other dur-
ing the night; the sexes of specimens taken on the nests show that
this duty is shared about equally by both. It has been stated by sev-
eral observers that one of the pair feeds its mate on the nest, but I
think this hardly likely; it seems more reasonable to suppose that
the bird which incubates during the day is relieved early in the even-
ing and returns again to relieve its mate in the morning after having
been feeding during the night. It is a weird experience to spend a
night in a petrel colony during the breeding season, Night is their
season of activity, birds are coming and going all the time, dark flit-
ting, ghostlike forms, hardly discernible in the darkness, uttering
their loud and peculiar cries, as they call to or greet their mates.
They are awkward at first on leaving their burrows, stumbling about
in the grass in their efforts to get on the wing, as they must find some
little eminence from which to launch into the air. It is a wonder that
the incoming birds can find their mates or their burrows in the dark-
ness and the confusion of thousands of fluttering birds.
Young.—The young bird when first hatched is brooded by one of
its parents for three or four days, after which it is left alone in the
142 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
nest during the day and fed at night on the semidigested oily food
which its parent regurgitates. Mr. Norton (1881) says of it:
This little creature is worthy of more than a passing notice. The observer
is instantly impressed with the fact that this mass of down shields a living
form. It does not sprawl like the helpless young of the passeres, but is nearly
as helpless; by an effort it can stand, and raise its head to gaze at objects, but
locomotion is beyond its feeble strength except in a very limited degree. It
lays at full length with its feet placed by its side and the tip of the bill resting
on the ground, usually asleep or in restful inactivity, while its rapid breathing
testifies that it is not dead. If aroused, it raises its head with an air expressive
of wonder, very often giving vent to its voice in a few low queaks. All of its
movements are accomplished with the impulsiveness of childhood. It is pleas-
ingly fearless, gazing at its captor, or making feeble efforts to secure a com-
fortable position in the hand, and when this is accomplished, pleased with the
warmth, it will settle down for a nap.
Plumages—The young bird is rather slow in developing and re-
mains in the nest a long time, often well into September, or until it is
fully fledged and ready to fly. When first hatched it is covered with
long, soft, thick down varying from “hair brown” at the base to
“smoke gray” at the tips. It becomes very fat and often exceeds
the adult in bulk.. The plumage appears first on the wings, tail and
back, and then on the breast; the last of the down finally disappears
on the lower belly. Doctor Grinnell (1897) says:
The feathers grow from the same follicles as the down, and in continuation
with the latter. As the juvenile grows larger, the down wears off from the ends
of the feathers and thus gradually disappears so that finally hardly a trace is
left. This wearing away of the down is first noticeable on the wings, back,
and breast, and is due to the bird’s movements in the narrow nest-cavity.
The first plumage assumed is practically the same as that of the
adult and subsequent molts do not show any well-marked seasonal
differences. The annual molt of adults probably takes place in
August and September.
Food.—The Leach petrel skims the surface of the ocean to pick up
its floating food. It is particularly fond of animal oils or oily food
and will follow in the track of a wounded seal or whale to feed on the
traces of oil which have flowed from its wounds. It also follows
living whales to pick up the bits of food which the feeding whale
has left floating on the surface. It may also be seen flitting over the
sea in wide circles in the wake of a ship to pick up what chance
morsels of greasy food may have been thrown overboard. Fishermen
cleaning fish at sea are soon surrounded by petrels which appear as
if by magic as soon as the offal is thrown upon the waters; they are
especially fond of the oily cod livers and can be easily tolled up
to the boat by scattering such dainty morsels on the surface. When
feeding thus they seldom settle on the water, as the albatrosses and
shearwaters do, but hover close to the surface, rising over the waves,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 143
pattering occasionally on the water with their feet and pick up the
smaller pieces in their bills or peck at the larger fragments. Their
natura] food includes shrimps and other small crustaceans, floating
mollusks, perhaps small fishes occasionally, and probably many other
forms of minute marine animals which are found swimming on the
surface or in floating masses of seaweed.
Behavior.—The flight of the Leach petrel is swift, graceful, and
strong, but not sufficiently distinctive to identify it with certainty.
It can, however, be distinguished from the Wilson petrel, the other
common petrel off our Atlantic coast, by its larger size and relatively
shorter legs which are entirely hidden by the tail in flight, while the
long legs of the Wilson petrel project conspicuously beyond the tail;
the tail of the Leach petrel is markedly forked while that of the
Wilson petrel is square. Mr. Walter H. Rich, who has studied these
birds on the fishing banks, found them—
Instantly recognizable from the marked differences of wing action; the Wil-
son, with its apparently shorter, wider, and rather leaf-shaped wing and rapid
fluttery, constant, mothlike flight, is unmistakable when contrasted with the
slower, more irregular stroke of Leach petrel. The smaller species at once
suggested to me the chimney-swift, while the fork-tailed species, with its ap-
parently much longer wing, modeled after the pattern of that of the shorebirds
and plied in much the same manner, recalled in its erratic flight and somewhat
spasmodic wing action, a nighthawk gleaning its evening meal above the tree-
tops. Another flight difference noted was the carriage of the wings when
“scaling.” The small petrel’s wings were held flat and a trifle above horizontal,
the tips slightly bent upward; while the fork-tailed species carried the wings
down-bent, after the fashion of a shorebird when “ sliding up ” to the decoys.
The Leach petrel can not rise easily from the ground, as anyone who
has spent a night on their breeding grounds can testify; here it flops
along over the ground stumbling against everything in its way, half
‘running and half flying; its legs are too weak to enable it to spring
into the air and its long wings need more room in which to work
to advantage; but when once under way its flight is full of grace
and power.. It swims easily and well, but it apparently never dives,
though it frequently dips its head below the surface when feeding.
Its reputed power of walking on the water is, of course, a myth;
I doubt if its name was derived from its fancied resemblance to Saint
Peter in this respect ; it seems more likely to have been derived froni
a repetition of its notes.
Tts various notes have been differently described by several writers.
Audubon (1840) says that “they resemble the syllables peur-wit,
peur-wit.” Mr. Rich writes me that the only note or call which he
could “trace to this species was a twittering chuckle of perhaps a
heavier and more guttural quality than that of the Wilson petrel.”
Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1912) refers to the note heard on Bird Rock
at night as “a distinctly enunciated call of eight notes with a certain
144 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
crowing quality ; such a call as might be uttered by elves or brownies.”
The weird notes heard on the breeding grounds at night have sug-
gested to some observers the phrases, “Got any terbacker,” “Jonny
get your hair cut” or “Go to Gehenna,” but these seem to be very
crude reproductions.
The midnight performance has been much more pleasingly de-
scribed by Mr. Frank A. Brown (1911) as follows:
The flight of Leach petrels from the sea had begun, and, like erratic flying
bats, they brushed my tent, my coat, flying almost full into my face, until the
air seemed fairly alive with them, uttering their peculiar staccato, cooing
sounds. To the monotonous chanting of these sounds, which came from the birds
in swift, circling flight, in an hour I had dropped asleep, waking again at about
midnight, to find the flight notes entirely succeeded by a different song, ap-
parently proceeding from the ground, and some birds evidently but just
separated from me by the side of my tent. Crawling on hands and knees with
utmost care, I was unable to see the birds in the. act of singing, although I
could just make them out as they rose from the ground. The song, while of a
similar tone, was absolutely different from the early evening, softer, somewhat
liquid, and was nearly continuous. I judge it was uttered at the mouth of the
nesting burrow. The cool night air of the ocean soon drove me again to my
blankets, where I.slept till the reddening drawn brought the first note of a
stirring tern. But the petrels were gone, and the islands given over again to the
legions of the day.
The gentle petrels have many enemies that attack them on their
breeding grounds, where they are easily dug out of their burrows in
the soft ground and are too stupid to escape. Dogs and cats, intro-
duced as domestic pets, are the chief offenders. Between my two
visits to Spoon Island fishermen camping on the island with a dog
seriously reduced thé numbers of the petrels nesting there. On Seal
Island a Newfoundland dog, owned by the lighthouse keeper, spent
much of his time hunting for and digging out petrel burrows.
Apparently he did this purely for the sport of it, for we found the
bodies of the petrels lying where he had killed them; perhaps the
strong-smelling oily fluid which the birds ejected prevented his eat-
ing them, but did not discourage his digging out and killing them.
After a few years of this persistent hunting I learned that this large
and populous colony had been practically exterminated. Similar
destruction was going on at Machias Seal Island until, through the
efforts of the Audubon Societies, the dog was removed. Onmy recent
visit to Bird Rock, in 1915, I found that the petrels had been exter-
minated by a cat. Mr. B.S. Bowdish (1909) calls attention to “ the
terrible slaughter of petrels by minks upon Western Egg Rock,”
on the coast of Maine. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1897) found that the
petrels of St. Lazaria Island had some formidable enemy, as he
found “ their remains, together with egg shells, scattered on many
parts of the island.” He suspected that “the hundreds of Northwest
crows which breed on the island were accountable to some extent.”
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 145
and finally discovered one “which was evidently digging into a
petrel burrow for either the egg or bird, or, more probably, both.”
Winter——The young are so late in maturing that the petrels can
not wholly desert their breeding grounds until the latter part of
September or in October, but as soon as the young are able to fly
they start on their winter wanderings at large over both oceans,
but probably mainly in the northern hemisphere. Mr. Ora‘ W.
Knight (1908) says that “a few stray specimens are reported in
winter” off the coast of Maine, “but at this season a majority are
wandering in distant oceans.” Mr. Rich’s notes show the appearance
of the Leach petrel, “ single birds or in twos and threes, until October
12, when I left the grounds, and somewhere between this latter date
and October 23, my next return to Georges, the last petrel left these
banks, since my record shows no further note of their presence. I
am aware that there are records on inshore waters somewhat later
than this date.” aa y <a
The following incident, related by Mr. I. I. van Kammen (1916),
is interesting as indicating a flocking habit which I have never
noted, though I have visited the same region:
During a recent cruise to the Pribilof Islands via southeastern Alaska two
such flocks of “ whale birds ” were observed in company with schools of whales,
and were noteworthy in that each flock consisted, in as far as I could see, of
but one species of bird. The first. of these, encountered about 25 miles off Cape
Scott, B. C., on May 16, was the largest flock of whale-following birds that
I have ever seen, and was made up entirely of dark-bodied shearwaters. The
second flock, slightly smaller than the first, and seen off Yakutat, Alaska, on
May 25th, were, if my identification be correct, Leach’s petrel. Both of these
flocks contained myriads of birds. They were visible at a distance of three
or four miles and appeared as a dark cloud over the surface of the:sea. AS
the vessel approached nearer it was seen that not only was the air filled with
them but the water was supporting a still greater number. Their cries as
they flittered or swam about were deafening. In both instances schools of
about a dozen whales were being followed, and as they rose to the surface at
intervals to spout the birds would rush in that direction with movements that
bordered on a frenzy and with incessant screams. The fact. that it seemed to
be the sole aim of the birds to keep as closely as possible to the school tended
to indicate that the whales were better able to locate the food supply. The
cetaceans appeared to do all the hunting; the birds simply trailed behind to
feed on what the former had found. Just what type of marine animal life
serves to satisfy the tastes of both whale and bird is unknown to me, but it
is undoubtedly tiny fish, crustaceans, and the like. That the excretory matter
of the whale is also used by the birds is not improbable. The attraction, what-
ever it be, must remain very close to the surface of the sea, for it is readily
picked up by the latter, either when flitting along the water and when resting
on its surface.
DISTRIBUTION.
‘Breeding range.—Northern portions of the Atlantic Ocean. On
the American side, from the coast of Maine (Casco and Penobscot
146 BULLETIN -121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Bays) northward, on many suitable islands, as far as southern Green-
land (probably to 65° North). In Iceland (Vestmanneyjan) and on
various islands around Great Britain (St. Kilda, the Blaskets, Outer
Hebrides, Flannan Islands, etc.). Northern and eastern portions of
the Pacific Ocean. From the Kurile Islands north to the Commander
Islands (Copper Island). Eastward throughout the Aleutian chain
(Attu, Kiska, and Amchitka Islands, etc.). Southward along the
coast of southern Alaska, at least as far as Forrester Island. The
breeding birds of the southern portion of the range, Washington,
Oregon, and California coasts, south to the Farallon Islands, have
been called keadingi, but are now referred to beali, both of which
are only subspecies of lewcorhoa. Breeding grounds protected in
Alaska reservations.
Range.—North Atlantic Ocean. South nearly, if not quite, to the
Equator. East to the Cape Verde Islands and the coast of Africa
(Sierra Leone and Liberia). West to the coast of Brazil (Cape
San Roque) and the Lesser Antilles (Barbados). North’ Pacific
Ocean. South to southern California (San Clemente Island), south
of the Equator near the Galapagos Islands (13° 20’ South), and to
the Hawaiian Group (Midway Island).
Spring migration —Atlantic dates: Atlantic Ocean, 3° 15’ South,
33° 40’ West, April 19; Atlantic Ocean, 13° 16’ North, 51° 34’ West
(near Barbados), May 4; Bermuda, May 1; New York, Fire Island,
May 4; Nova Scotia, Pictou, May 15; Quebec, Godbout, May 21.
Fall migration.—Atlantic dates: Quebec, Godbout, September 25;
Maine, Oxford County, October 21; Massachusetts, September 1 to
November 25; Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay, October 14; New
York, Long Island, October 22; New Jersey, Tinicum, December
18; Atlantic Ocean, 28° 36’ North, 31° 45’ West, September 9, and
10° 46’ North, 24° 38’ West, September 27.
Casual records.—There are numerous inland records as far north
as northern New Hampshire (Lancaster, October 1, 1897), as far
west as eastern New York (Catskill, October 19, 1874), and as far
south as southern Virginia (Petersburg). Casual in western Europe
from Norway to Portugal and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Egg dates.—Maine: Fifty records, June 8 to August 8. Southern
Alaska: Nine records, Juné 17 to July 15. Newfoundland: Four
records, June 20 to July 6. Saint Kilda: Four records, June 12 to
July 2.
OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA KAEDINGI (Anthony).
KAEDING PETREL,
HABITS,
The bird which Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898d) described under the
above name is now recognized as the smallest of two or three
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 147
Pacific coast subspecies of Oceanodroma leucorhoa. It is a southern
bird ranging north tothe southern boundary of California and
known to breed only on Guadalupe Island, Lower California, where
Mr. Anthony found it. Since that time Mr. W. Otto Emerson
(1906) described two new species, Oceanodroma beali, smaller than
O. leucorhoa but larger than the others, breeding from the Aleutian
Islands to southern Alaska, and O. beldingi, smaller than beali and
decidedly grayer, breeding from Vancouver Island to northern
California; to O. kaedingi, the smallest of all, he attributed a still
more southern range. His species would thus show a gradation in
size from north to south which might be expected. According to
the ruling on which our check list was based O. bealé and O. beld-
ingt were not considered worthy of recognition, so the birds breed-
ing on the Alaska coasts were referred to O. leucorhoa, and all
those breeding on the Pacific coast of the United States were called
O. kaedingi.
Recent investigations have shown, however, that all of these
birds are only subspecifically distinct and that beldingi is a synonym
of beali. Rather than attempt to discuss the matter more fully
here I would refer the reader to what has been published on the
subject by Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1917), Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1918),
and Mr. Leverett M. Loomis (1918), three eminent authorities who
have studied the question quite thoroughly.
As we know very little about the distribution and practically
nothing about the habits of the Kaeding petrel, I shall not attempt to
write its life history. Probably it does not differ materially from
that of the Leach petrel. Mr. Anthony wrote me that on Guadalupe
Island the Guadalupe petrel breeds early, April 20 or earlier, and
that after they are through breeding the Kaeding petrels use the
same burrows among the pines at the north of the island.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Known to breed only on Guadalupe Island off
the Pacific coast of Lower California.
Range.—Pacific coast region of Lower California. North to
extreme southern California (off San Diego). South to the Re-
villagigedo Islands (Clarion and Socorro Islands), and at sea to
5° 30’ North and 102° West.
OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA BEALI (Emerson).
BEAL PETREL.
HABITS,
When the next edition of our check list appears the above name
will probably replace the name of the Kaeding petrel, for reasons
148 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
stated in my account of that bird. Both are apparently only sub-
species of the Leach petrel. This shifting of names will lead to much
confusion, but is a necessary correction of an evident error. Much
has been written about the Kaeding petrel which must now be applied
to the newer name.
Nesting —The main breeding grounds of the Beal petrel seem to be
on the islands included in the reservations off the coast of Washing!
ton, with a decided center of abundance in the Quillayute Needles. On
one island in this group Mr. William L. Dawson (1908) estimated
that there were about 40,000 of these petrels breeding; he estimated
that there were somewhere between 55,000 and 100,000 of them breed-
ing in the whole reservation. Mr. Dawson has kindly sent me the
following interesting notes, describing his visit to the Quillayute
Needles, on July 20, 1906:
At 11.30 a party comprised of Mr. Albert Reagan, Mr. Herring, and myself
set out for the Quillayute Needles. The fog had cleared and the day was fine,
but it was found feasible to visit only one of the islets, the western one of a
central pair dubbed Huntington Rock upon the chart, but known to the Indians
as Dhuoyuatzachtahl, or The Rock; Where One Catches Petrels; but we found
plenty to interest us here.
The rock is about 100 feet high, precipitous on three sides, but ainping. and
climbable on the south. The top has an area of something over an acre, and
is rather unique for thé abundance and uniformity of a rank grass which occu-
pies the greater portion centrally. This grass has a triangular blade; i. e.,
with a stoutly projecting midrib, and grows to a height of two and a half feet,
its roots being, embedded in a covering of its own waste to a depth of six or
eight inches more. Circling about the central bed was a border of turf all about
the edges of the islet, while a narrow stretch of dwarf salmon- berry bushes
occupied the extreme crest of the slope upon the north.
Upon arrival our attention was immediately called to the tiny entrances of
the petrel burrows in the turf, and we promptly: fell to digging. There was
sufficient slope to the ground to afford the tenants a little start downward when
they emerged from their holes, but the tunnels were seldom driven into the
bank. Rather they pierced the turf, then ran under it horizontally at a depth
of two or three inches and for a distance of from two to three feet. It proved
to be easier to insert the hand and to rip the hole up from the inside than to
dig through the turf with the shovel. Since a fair proportion of the nests con-
tained, eggs, I enlisted the help of my companions and we soon ripped up fifty
nests. Of these 18 contained eggs, all but one being heavily set.. Of the remain-
der all coritained young except two, in which were two adults, doubtless male
and female enjoying a- belated honeymoon. The young varied in age from
just hatched to a week or two old, the older ones in every case being accom-
panied by the parent bird.
When released the parent birds appeared dazed, but made off with a jerky
batlike flight to sea, with one exception, a bird which took a couple of turns
above the island before launching out. If placed upon the ground, however,
the bird usually poked about the grass in a nearsighted way looking for a hole,
and did not seruple to enter the home of a neighbor rather than remain under
surveillance. Or, again, the bird crept, half fluttered down hill for two
or three feet and then launched out to sea. After having waded through the
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 28
Three Arch Rocks, Oregon. Bohlman and Finley.
Three Arch Rocks, Oregon. Bohlman and Finley.
BEAL PETREL.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 149
heavily grassed portion of the island once or twice, the thought occurred to
us that there might be petrels there. Judge of our surprise, however, when we
found the vegetable mold a perfect labyrinth of burrows. So light was the
accumulation in density (once the growing blades were penetrated) and so
abundant the birds that one had only to dig with the hands dog fashion
and birds’ eggs and young were the invariable result. The whole half acre
of grass proper was a seething mass of petrelss Yet from all that host not
a sound to betray their presence. The sun shone calmly and the breeze breathed
benignly. Nothing disturbed the serenity of the day save the restless quaverings
of the always hostile gulls. There was nothing to indicate that beneath our
feet lay a buried city, not once populous and now deserted, but now teeming
with life, a city of storm waifs, gathered from an expanse of a thousand
watery leagues, a city perhaps more populous than any other colony of the
class Aves within the limits of Washington, sitting silent where the eye
saw only waving grass. The promise of the situation so wrought upon us
all that we determined to return at evening some time later, and. did so on
the Monday evening following, July 23d. We arrived a little after 9 o'clock,
provided with matches, bedding, and water, prepared to spend the night. We
found the island still silent; but we used the remaining moments of twilight
to determine the limits of the colony. At about 10 o'clock the first note was
sounded—from the ground. In quality like a tiny cockerell, in accent like a
glib: parnquet, came the cry Pettereteretterell,: etteretteretterell. The second
phrase is slightly fainter than the first, and is therefore just suggestively an
echo of it. After ten minutes, or such a matter, one sounded in the air. By
and by came another and another. And so the matter grew until by 11 p. m. the
air was aflutter with sable wings, and the island ahum with t’s and r’s and I’s.
This hour may be taken as being as typical as any, although the pace was more
furious at 1 o’clock, when we roused for another observation. We had spread
our blankets in the center of the grass field, regretful of the fact that the
portion of the population under us must needs ‘Zo supperless for that night.
Perhaps, therefore, it was our presence which stirred the birds to unusual
demonstrativeness, but IJ am not at all certain that this was the case, or that
our presence affected the situation in the slightest degree.
The air was full at all times of circling birds, at least several hundred,
probably several thousand. They flew about excitedly, much more nimbly
than in daytime, but still erratically, incessantly clashing wings with their
fellows, and now and then knocking each other down into the grass. Those
which flew about uttered from time to time the characteristic cry, but those
awing were but a small proportion of the total number in evidence.. The
grass swarmed with birds working their way down through to the burrows, or
else struggling out, all giving from time to time the rolling cackle which is
the accompaniment of activity, while from the ground itself came an attendant
chorus of cries. . Taken altogether there were thousands, perhaps tens of
thousands, of birds in motion, and the total effect of the rustling and the
cackling (or crowing) was a dainty uproar of large proportions, a never-to-be-
forgotten babel of strange sounds. And in this fairy tumult not the least ele-
ment was the peeping and whining of the chicks, both tended and untended.
The characteristic cry is as given above, but.it was frequently abbreviated to
Petteretterell, etteretterell. This was the only sound heard save a rolling cry
rendered staccato in r’s and l’s, and coming apparently from birds standing
at the mouth of the burrows. The note is instantly suggestive of the name
and if the notes of other petrels resemble this one, I should unhesitatingly say
that the name is imitative, and that the classical explanation of “ Little Peter
walking upon the waves” is ingenious but improbable.
83969—22——11
150 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Concerning the number of birds in the colony it is difficult to form a judg-
ment. We dug out fifty nests representing a hundred birds from the least
populous portion of the colony, yet the area affected was no sensible portion
of the whole, certainly not a hundredth, probably not a five-hundredth. Based
upon this estimate alone the number of resident birds would run from ten
to fifty thousand, and it might easily be much greater. I think the birds in
the air simply represented the newcomers as they came in from the ocean
to feed their mates, and who took a few turns about the island preparatory to
settling down to business. Certainly the majority of the birds were at all times
below ground, while the number in transition may be judged from the fact that
at 1 o’clock, when I left the bed and crawled along the ground on hands and
knees, I put my hands on two birds in the darkness.
At 4 o’clock the volume of sound had subsided, and not above a dozen flitting
forms were seen, while at 6 o’clock there was no sign again to betray the
presence of the sleeping myriad.
Prof. Lynds Jones (1908) has also visited this island and adds the
following observations:
Many ne&ts of both Kaeding’s petrel and Cassin’s auklet were uncovered by
overturning the sod as the burrows were followed. While the burrows of the
auklet were usually a litle farther from the surface and a little longer, the
plan was the same. The mouth of the burrow extended almost vertically down
6 inches or more, until stones were encountered, then the burrow turned and
ran parallel to the surface of the sod. Very few burrows were straight for
any distance, but usually angled here and there apparently to avoid obstruc-
tions, Several feet from the nest end of the burrow there was always a side
burrow branching off at a sharp angle, ending in an unused enlarged space.
Nothing was ever found in this false burrow. The nest burrow of the auklets
contained a bed of dry grass, but that of the petrel often contained nothing but
fish bones. Very few of the auklets were at home on this island, possibly
because there were no young in the nests, but at Alexander Island most of the
burrows contained young birds and one parent. Unoccupied nests were few.
In every petrel burrow there was at least one bird. If there was an egg the
male bird was with it, but if there was no egg both birds occupied the nest
burrow. We were unable to determine whether the office of incubation is
assumed wholly by the male or whether it is. shared by the female. Only
males were found in the burrows with eggs. When either of these species was
taken from the burrow and tossed into the air they took the shortest course
to the water, usually vacillating somewhat as if confused by the sudden day-
light. It seemed to us significant that the presence of these two species any-
where in this region would not be suspected away from their nesting burrows.
None at all were seen during daylight on any part of the trip.
Only a few Beal petrels breed on the Farallon Islands. Mr. Daw-
son (1911) relates his experience with them, as follows:
Near us were several half-ruined stone walls, the relics of occupation by
the eggers, or possibly by their predecessors, the Russian sea-otter hunters.
These walls resounded nightly to the incessant cries of petrels as did every
other wall on the island. On the evening of May 30, Leon Garland, one of the
wireless operators, secured a white rumped petrel in his tent, whither it had
been attracted by the light. On the morning of the 3d of June, Mr. Garland
brought in another Kaeding petrel, which he had secured in one of these old
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 151
stone walls near his tent, and he declared that the bird had been found sitting
on an egg, although the latter was broken. Mr. Rowley joined forces with
him and spent the best part of the day tearing down the walls of this and
neighboring inclosures. Three more specimens were found along with consid-
erable numbers of homochroa, which occupied the same area; and two eggs
of each species, the first of the season, rewarded the search. Although pre-
cisely similar conditions obtain elsewhere, no other Kaeding petrels were en-
countered on the Farallons.
E'ggs——The egg of the Beal petrel is practically indistinguishable
from that of the Leach petrel, as might be expected in a subspecies.
It is dull white and nearly immaculate, or with a ring or sprinkling
of minute dots of reddish brown or purplish about the larger end.
The measurements of 32 eggs, in various collections, average 31.7
by 20.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 34
by 24, 33 by 24.5, 29.5 by 22.5, and 31.5 by 21.6 millimeters.
I have not seen the downy young but suppose that it is practically
indistinguishable from-that of the Leach petrel.
Little of interest is know of the life history of these birds outside
of their breeding grounds, where they spend the greater part of the
year wandering over the ocean wastes. They are frequently seen by
navigators, but the various species are not easily recognized and it
is only on the rare occasions when they are collected and recorded
that we learn anything about their ranges and migrations. The
general movement is, of course, southward in the fall and north-
ward again in the spring.
DISTBIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Pacific coast islands from extreme southern
Alaska southward along the coasts of British Columbia, Washington,
Oregon, and California (at least as far as Mateo County and prob-
ably on the Farallones). This subspecies intergrades with leucorhoa
somewhere in southern Alaska, perhaps in the Sitka region.
Range—Unknown. Probably southward.
Egg dates —Washington: Eighteen records, June 9 to July 11;
nine records, June 11 to 18. California: Five records, May 30 to
June 24. Alaska: Four records, June 29 to August 2.
OCEANODROMA MACRODACTYLA W. Bryant.
GUADALUPE PETREL.
HABITS.
This petrel seems to be confined in the breeding season to the
island of the same name, off the coast of Lower California, and it
does not seem to wander far from Guadalupe Island on its migra-
152 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
tions. Its close resemblance to other forked-tailed species may have
caused it to be overlooked, and we really do not know very much
about its distribution.
Nesting.—Mr. A. W. Anthony (18980) says of its nesting habits:
On Guadalupe Island a colony of O. macrodactyla were found breeding among
the pines and oaks at about 2,500 feet above the sea. Well incubated eggs were
taken March 24, and well grown young the middle of May. The range of
variation in breeding in these three species of Oceanodroma presents an inter-
esting study. The Guadalupe petrel, with a breeding season early in March,
leaves ‘the colony altogether by June 10, by which time 0. socorroensis has not
begun to lay, and O. melania ‘is still later. I have found the last speciés
incubating as late as September 8. I am quite sure that only one young is
raised each year, though each species seems to have a rather long nesting
season. Fao i
Little attempt is made at nest building by either the Socorro or black petrel,
though a few sticks are often dragged into the burrow with an evident desire
to construct something resembling a nest. The Guadalupe peétrel, however,
nearly always has a few dry oak leaves or pine needles at the end of: the
burrows I have opened, it making a much better attempt at nest building,
owing perhaps to the fact that the burrows are dug among the trees where
this class of nesting material is abundant, whereas the other species nest on
barren islands and can not so readily obtain desirable material.
Mr. Henry B. Kaeding (1905) adds the following:
This species, peculiar to the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Island, breeds
sparingly on the island, eggs taken on the 25th of March being slightly incu-
bated; the birds may be seen at sea near the island. The, breeding habits of
this petrel differ materially from the other petrels found breeding in these
waters in that they lay their eggs at least 100 days earlier than the others,
and also instead of selecting low, sandy or rocky situations for their burrows,
are only to be found nesting in burrows at the extreme top of Guadalupe
Island, at an altitude of over 4,000 feet above sea level, and in pine and
cypress groves at that.
Mr. W. W.' Brown’s notes, published by Messrs. Thayer and
Bangs (1908) give a different impression, as to the breeding dates;
he took a series of a dozen adults and three downy young, between
May 28 and June 17, also a single egg on the latter date; his notes
yo
state:
This species was abundant at night about its nesting burrows on, the pine
ridge at the northern end of the island. Most of the burrows that we opened
were empty, the breeding season being about over; three, however, contained
one young each, and one, one egg. ae ie
The burrows were of various lengths and usually led between or under
heavy fragments of rock, making it very difficult, in many cases impossible, to
reach the end. We found no‘adult birds in the burrows. After the young are
hatched the old birds appear to come in only at night to feed them. The one
egg we secured was in a deserted burrow fifteen inches. long, and lay in a
somewhat enlarged depression at the end. It was white with a faint wreath
of reddish brown specks at the larger end.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 153
The mortality among these birds from the depredations of the cats that
overrun the island is appalling~—-wings and feathers lie scattered in every
direction around the burrows along the top of the pine ridge. The species, how-,
ever, is still breeding in large numbers in Guadalupe, and sometimes at night
the air seemed to be fairly alive with petrels, their peculiar cries being heard
on all sides. t ‘ 3
£'9gs.—The Guadalupe petrel lays but one egg, which in shape is
between ova] and elliptical oval. The shell is thin and smooth, but
lusterless. When first laid it is pure, dull white, with a wreath of
minute spots, of a faint reddish brown color and lavender about
the larger end; some specimens have fine dots of pale lavender mixed
with the reddish spots. After the egg has been incubated for a few
days it becomes so nest stained that the original color and the spots
are entirely obliterated. An egg in my collection is deeply stained,
over all of its surface, an uneven reddish brown color, with accumu-
lations of soil caked onto it. in places.
The measurements of 50 eggs, in various collections, average 35.7
by 27 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 38
by 27.5, 86 by 29, 31.5 by 26, and 33 by 24 millimeters.
Young.—The downy young is covered with long, soft, thick dowa
of a “Benzo brown” or “light drab” color. Apparently the young
bird molts directly from the downy stage into a plumage resembling,
the adult,
Behavior.—In its flight and behavior the Guadalupe petrel closely
resembles the other species of the genus Oceanodroma from which
it probably does not differ very much in habits. On account of its
close resemblance to other species very little has been published re-
garding its habits except on its breeding grounds.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—Known to breed only on Guadalupe Island, off
the Pacific coast of Lower California. an
Range—So far as known, only in the vicinity of Guadalupe
Island. °° . .
Egg dates—Guadalupe Island: Twenty-two records, March 4 to
July 2; eleven records, March 24 and 25,
OCEANODROMA CASTRO (Harcourt).
HAWAIIAN PETREL.
HABITS.
Although merely a rare straggler in North America, this petrel
enjoys a wide distribution in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as far
north as Madeira in the former and the Hawaiian Islands in the
latter.
154 BULLETIN i121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Nesting. —Lieut. Boyd Alexander (1898) found this species breed-
ing in the Cape Verde Islands and noted that its burrows run far-
ther into the ground and are more tortuous than those of Pelago-
droma marina. Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1905) found the Hawaiian
petrel preparing to breed on Praya Island, in the Azores, of which
he writes:
We procured a single specimen of Harcourt’s stormy petrel, taken in a hole in
the rocks on Praya Island on April 25th; on June 1st we picked up a dead speci-
men on Villa Islet, Santa Maria, but, at this season, the birds had not com-
menced to breed, and all their nesting-holes on that breeding-station were
empty. The fishermen knew the bird well, and Senhor Jofio S. G. da Camara
kindly promised to procure specimens later on-and forward them to England
in spirits. This he did, the birds having been captured in September.
Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) also found the species on the Salvages
and makes the following statement regarding its breeding there:
Almost more interesting than the white-breasted species was the square tailed,
white rumped petrel, of which we obtained but a single example, caught at
night by our men on Great Salvage, though we saw several flying over the
neighboring seas from the deck of our steam tug. This bird had not yet come
ashore to breed, and the only egg we obtained was taken on Lime Island,
Porto Santo, in the month of June. According to our Lanzarote pilot, this
species breeds commonly on the Little Piton, and it was with great regret
that we had to leave the Salvages without visiting this little island.
Mr. Leverett M. Loomis (1918) says of the breeding habits of
this species on the Galapagos Islands:
A small breeding colony was discovered on August 13, 1906, on Cowley
Island, a steep turfaceous islet about two hundred feet in altitude, situate
east of Cowley Mountain, Albemarle Island. Two hard-set eggs, with parent
birds, were secured, also an egg with a dried embryo. Mr. Beck’s labels fur-
nish the following particulars concerning them: One of the eggs, with living
embryo, was deposited in a slight hollow in the soil of a small cave in a hill-
side amongst “lava boulders; ” the other was placed on a little soil under a
large “lava boulder” on a hillside. The egg with the dead embryo was found
in a slight hollow in the soil at the end of a small cave in a hillside. Seven
young birds in various stages of down were obtained in similar situations.
Eggs.—Godman (1907) says: “ The egg of O. castro is white, with-
out any gloss, with a more or less evident zone of reddish dots round
one end, but these dots are never conspicuous.” Rev. F. C. R. Jour-
dain has sent me the measurements of 32 eggs, collected from various
sources; they average 33.57 by 24.82 millimeters; the largest eggs
measure 36 by 26 and 35 by 26.1, and the smallest eggs measure
30.8 by 24.1 and 31.2 by 23.2 millimeters.
Y oung—Godman (1907) describes the nestling as “covered with
long wooly down of a sooty brown color.”
The Hawaiian petrel might be, and probably often has been, mis-
taken for the Leach petrel, which it somewhat resembles, but it can be
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 155
recognized in flight by its less deeply forked tail and by the excess
of white in the lateral, under tail coverts and flanks.
Behavior —Lieutenant Alexander (1898), writing of its habits
in the Cape Verde Islands, observes:
When the night shadows began to brood vaguely over this lone waste of an
island the petrels came abroad and filled the air with their weird cries. They
mustered strongly, flitting to and fro over the low-lying ground in hundreds.
Among the number the most noticeable was Pufinus assimilis, as it glided
like some large soft-winged bat over the small sandhills, and even sometimes
brushing past our camp fire, forever uttering its weird cry “ karki-karrou,
karki-karrou, karki-karrou,” while amid these a similar but softer one would
often strike fitfully upon the ear, coming from Oceanodrona eryptoleucura,
as it flitted over the island, crying to its white-breasted relative “I’m a nigger,
I’m a nigger, I’m a nigger.” And the white-breasted petrel (Pelagodroma
marina) replied by uttering grating notes like those of a pair of rusty springs
set in motion.
As the night wore on the cries of these petrels died away, only to recommence,
however, with redoubled energy just as dawn arrived, and then, as soon as the
dusky light waxed clear, these voices ceased as suddenly as they had com-
menced, indicating that their owners had crept noiselessly into their dark
retreats, there to remain till the heat had once more abated.
There are only three American records for this species, so far as
I know, all of which were purely accidental inland records. Two
were taken by Mr. William Palmer, at Washington, District of Co-
lumbia, on August 28, 1893, and one by Mr. N. H. Gano, at Martins-
ville, Indiana, on June 15, 1902.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Eastern portions of the North Atlantic Ocean.
In the Maderia Islands (Porto Santo, Funchal, and the Desertas),
Salvages, Azores (Praya Island), and Cape Verde Islands (Rombos
Islands). On certain islands in the central Pacific Ocean. In the
Galapagos Islands (Cowley Island) and the Hawaiian Islands
(Kauai Island).
Range.—Northward from its Atlantic breeding range to Great
Britain and Denmark; and southward to Saint Helena Island in
the South Atlantic Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean north to Cocos
Island off the west coast of Mexico, though it has been suggested
that this and the Hawaiian birds are subspecifically distinct from
each other and from the Atlantic birds. ;
Casual records—Accidental in Indiana (Martinsville, June 15,
1902) and District of Columbia (Washington, August 28, 1893).
Egg dates.—Maderia Islands: Eleven records, November 13 to
August 30; six records, April 29 to July 2. Galapagos Islands: One
record, August 13.
156 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
OCEANODROMA MELANIA (Bonaparte).
BLACK PETREL.
HABITS.
Although this large, dark colored petrel is one of the commonest
of the forked-tailed petrels seen off the Pacific coast of Mexico and
southern California, it remained for a long time unknown and only
within recent years have its breeding grounds been discovered.
Nesting. —Mr. A. B. Howell has sent me the following notes based
on his experience with it:
Melania is, the species of petrel most often seen quartering near, and occa-
sionally following ships cruising along the coasts of southern and Lower Cali-
fornia, but even so, it is seldom met with. While traveling rather extensively
by boat in this region I have seen not more than a dozen individuals, and
these were all more than five miles from shore. They were always flying
methodically a foot or two above the waves, with slow and regular wing beats.
In, the, region covered by the A. O. U. list they are known to nest only on the
San Benito and Los Coronados Islands, Mexico. They have not been found
regularly to occupy their nesting sites in advance of deposition of the eggs
as in the case of socorroensis, though they may do so for several days; nor
dé they nest in colonies as do the latter, but are scattered over parts of an
island wherever the nesting sites seem to be most to their liking. The usual
situation chosen is a cranny beneath a boulder or a crack in a cliff, but they
will occasionally take possession of an old burrow of the Cassin’s auklet. I
do not believe however that this form ever excavates its own burrow. On the
Coronados in 1910, I found my first fresh egg June 17, and June 17, 1913, A.
van Rossem and I found that incubation was slightly further advanced than
this. The downy young to all intents are replicas of those of the socorros,
except for being a shade larger. All that I know concerning the time of
incubation is that it is in excess of 18 days. No nesting material is used.
Nine times out of ten, when removed from the egg, the parent will vomit a
short stream of orange-colored oil several times repeated, to the distance
of four feet or more. She will savagely bite the finger of her captor, but
of course is too small to inflict any pain, and will even seize her own wing in
her rage. The oil has a peculiar pungence comparable to no other odor which
I know, and by ornithologists, at least, is seldom considered disagreeable.
This, by regurgitation, constitutes the food of the nestlings. After death, when
in the collecting basket, great care is necessary to keep the oil from oozing
out onto the chin and nape, for once it has saturated these parts, it is almost
impossible to bring the feathers back to their original condition of smoothness.
Mr. A. W. Anthony (1896) found this species nesting on the San
Benito Islands about 75 miles off the coast of Lower California and
some 20 miles west of Cerros Island, between latitude 28 and 30
degrees. He writes:
The San Benito Islands are small, rocky reefs only, with little vegetation, and
being so far offshore are but little resorted to by gulls, cormorants,-and similar
species, Cassin’s auklets had bred in considerable numbers, as their burrows
testified, but at the time of our visit they had all left. Their burrows, however,
had been appropriated by later arrivals, and during the four and a half days
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 157
that we spent at the island Mr. Horace A. Gaylord and myself devoted most
of our time to digging for petrels. Both black and Socorro petrels were taken
from the burrows formerly occupied by the auklets, the- former species out-
numbering the Socorro about five to one. There was ‘no attempt apparently
on the part of the species to colonize by themselves, both being found in adjoin-
ing burrows. The Socorro petrel had evidently begun nesting somewhat earlier
than its neighbor, the black, for while fresh eggs of the latter were the rule,
very few fresh or even moderately incubated eggs of the Socorro were found,
and several downy young were taken. :
There was little, if any, attempt at nest building by sities species, though
in several burrows a small nest-like platform of little twigs was found upon
which the egg was laid. But in most cases it rested upon the bare earth at
the end of a more or less winding burrow, about three feet in length. Several
eggs of both species were taken from under loose slabs of rock, but as a rule
they preferred the burrows, which were in all cases, I think, those of Cassin’s
auklet. ; ; we, tah po ' :
On our return to the island, September 8 and 9, we found that the Socorro
petrels had all left, but many young black petrels were found, as well as a few
eggs which. the birds were still incubating. ;
£ggs.—The single egg of the black petrel is Keni oval in shape,
with a slight tendency toward elliptical oval. The shell is smooth
and lusterless. The color is dull white, usually somewhat dirty and
generally unspotted; some specimens show a faint suspicion of fine
lavender or reddish dots about the larger end. The measurements
of 61 eggs, in various collections, average 36.6 by 26.7 millimeters;
the eggs showing the four extremes measure 38.5 by 25, 36.5 by
27.5, and 32.5 by 24.2 millimeters. .
Young—The downy young looks much like that of the closely
allied species; the chin, throat and malar region are naked, but the
bird is elsewhere covered with long soft down, which is uniform
“ fuscous” in color, darker basally. I have seen small downy young
only a few days old collected as early as July 4 and as late as Sep-
tember 5, on Los Coronados Islands. Subsequent plumage changes
are probably the same as in other species of the genus.
Food.—Like other petrels, this species feeds on what it can pick
up from the surface of the sea in the way of fatty, oily substances.
Mr. Howell found the stomachs, of those he examined,, filled with
“oil and nothing else, except a small quantity of green, slimy stuff,”
which he thought might be “the remains of some small crustacean
or a seaweed.” ee
Behavior—Mr. Anthony (1900a) writes, of the night flight of
these petrels about their breeding grounds, as follows:
Hauling the boat out on the shingle, a few steps places us in the city of
birds, a fact’ we discovered by breaking through into the burrows at almost
every step, but the birds themselves are very much in evidence. Hundreds
of inky black objects are dashing about, with bat- like flight, now here, now
there, with no apparent object in their wanderings. Like butterflies they come
and go, flitting s0 néar at times that one attempts to catch them as they pass.
oa
158 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Others are constantly coming from the burrows to join in the revel. Each,
as it reaches the outer air, utters its characteristic call, flops along the ground
a few feet, somewhat like an old felt hat before the wind, and is away, as
gracefully and airy asthe rest. Those in the air are constantly calling and
from the ground under our feet come answering cries. The noise and con-
fusion suggests a busy street in a city.
He (1898) also says:
Both O. melania and O. socorroensis will at times dive a foot or more be-
low the surface for a piece of meat that is sinking if they are hungry, but
diving seems to be out of their usual line of business and is only resorted
to when food is scarce. They seem to be unable to get below the surface of
the water without first rising two or three feet and plunging or dropping,
exactly as I have seen the black-footed and short-tailed albatrosses dive under
similar circumstances.
In the same paper he speaks of the notes of the black petrel as
follows:
On the first night of my sojourn I had scarcely fallen asleep, curled up on
a rocky shelf just above the water, when I was suddenly recalled to my senses
by a loud Tuc-a-ree, tuc-tuc-a-roo within two feet of my head. The call was
repeated from a half dozen directions and as many bat-like forms were seen
flitting back and forth in the moonlight along the cliffs and hillside. One or
two attempts to shoot them proved utter failures, and the black forms soon
moved out to sea, returning at intervals of an hour or so all night. The next
afternoon I located one of the birds in a burrow under an immense rock, as I
passed on my way to camp. It several times uttered a clicking note which I
felt sure was that of a petrel.
He refers to the notes as harsher than those of the Socorro petrel.
Mr. Howell writes to me:
They begin visiting their nests at 8.30 p. m. and are very active until shortly
before dawn. Pitching in from the sea they come like big black bats rocking
on the breeze and uttering their loud weird call. This I am unable to describe,
except in that it consists of four notes. D. R. Dickey and A. van Rossem state
that, during the night the bird at or on the nest utters a series of notes sug-
gestive of the song of the wren-tit.
Mr. Howell also says that the black petrels suffer “ considerably
from the depredations of the duck hawks, as their dry remains on
the islands bear mute witness.”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—Known to breed only on Los Coronadog Islands
and on San Benito Island, off the west coast of Lower California.
May also breed in the Tres Marias group farther south off the Mexi-
can coast.
Range.—Pacific coasts of California and Mexico. North to central
California (Point Reyes, Marin County). South to southern Mexico
(Acapulco) and to about 19° north in the Pacific Ocean.
Egg dates—Lower California: Fifty-four records, May 30 to
September 5; twenty-seven records, June 22 to July 23.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 159
OCEANODROMA HOMOCHROA (Coues).
ASHY PETREL.
HABITS,
This is the smallest of the brown-rumped species of the genus
Oceanodroma, and it is not strikingly different from the other small
species. Its known range seems to be limited to the coast of Cali-
fornia, and it is known to breed only on the Farallon Islands and on
some of the Santa Barbara Islands. Mr. Walter E. Bryant (1888)
says that it is “the last to arrive on the Farallon Islands” and the
“yarest of the birds which breed there. They nest anywhere on the
island in natural cavities, particularly those under loosely piled rocks.
No nest is made and only a single egg is laid, although it sometimes
happens that an egg and downy young will be found in the same
place.”
Nesting.—Prof. Leverett M. Loomis (1896) writes of this species
on the Farallones:
Although these petrels were breeding abundantly in all parts of the island,
every portion of it might have been passed over in daylight without a single
individual being discovered, for apparently only brooding birds occurred, con-
cealed in loose piles of stones, in stone walls, and under driftwood. After night-
fall the petrels became active. They were especially conspicuous during the
early morning hours of the 14th, when the auklets held their concert. As
I stood in the dooryard of a keeper’s house every few moments one or more
would pass silently by, disappearing in the darkness. Their flight recalled that
of a Goatsucker.
The strong musky odor of the petrels renders their discovery in the rock piles
easy. It is only necessary to insert the nose into likely crevices to find them,
With little practice one may become very expert in this kind of hunting, readily
determining whether it is an auklet or a petrel that has its residence in any
particular cranny. Sometimes the petrels are within reach, but usually the
rocks have to be removed to get at them. When uncovered they generally shrink
away as far as they can, but occasionally one will remain on its egg. When
tossed into the air they fly without difficulty. Eggs with well-developed embryos
were the rule, but there were also fresh eggs and downy young in various stages
of growth. In seventeen:specimens preserved the organs of reproduction, except
in one female, displayed marked degeneration, showing that the breeding season
was about over. Apparently nearly as many males as females were brooding.
With a single exception, all the examples taken, including a partial albino, were
very fat. It seemed strange to find these birds of the ocean rearing their young
near the dwellings and within several rods of the siren. None of the feathered
inhabitants of the island appeared to be alarmed at the blasts of this signal,
repeated every forty-five seconds when the fog settled down.
Mr. William L. Dawson (1911) writes:
Either this species has notably increased of late, or else earlier visitors were
inclined to underestimate its numbers. We found them well distributed through-
out the main island. Not only are all the stone walls alive with them, but they
occupy the minor rock-slides along with the Cassin auklet, and they even burrow
160 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
in the level ground in front of the keepers’ houses. In investigating the drift
area on Franconia beach, we found almost as many petrels as auklets skulking
under logs and planks. In point of abundance they are easily third, possibly
second, on the island. 4
It is evident that these petrels have a lengthy season of courtship during
which, they spend their nights ashore, chiefly in their burrows, and return to the
sea daytimes. This is followed by a “ honeymoon is period of some duration,
presumably a week or more, in which both birds ‘remain ashore all the time.
AS soon ‘as the egg’ is laid incubation begins, and the other bird retires to sea to
forage. Precisely what the division of labor is: from this point on as between
male and:female remains to be determined, but it is certain that the: male:is
often found alone upon. the egg,
‘
Mr. . Chester: Barlow (18942) describes a. few nesting: sites, as
follows: ' td
In 1892 I found an eg on the floor of a cave about ten feet from the entrance
with the parent bird incubating it. ‘The cave was dark and damp, and the egg
was laid on a little moss growing on the ground. It was about to hatch. This
year while climbing about on the summit on Hast End I secured, a young auklet
(Ptychoramphus aletiticus), and after’ examining it let it go into a crevice in
the cliff. While watching it disappear I observed a forked tail of a bird vibrat-
ing as it breathed, and on tearing away the rocks found a petrel sitting on its
fresh egg. The bird was sitting with its head as far into the crevice as possible,
thus being protected from the Jight, but its tail was in view. The elevation was
about 200 feet above the ocean, ,
I have found the petrels nesting beneath the stone walls within a few inches
of Cassin’s auklet, ‘put have never, found any sign ‘of a burrow made by the
petrel. In 1892 I took an egg. from a petrel at the base of an elevated footpath
of the West End,, and carefully, replaced, the stones. This year on going by
the place I remembered the incident ‘and thought I would try. again., On
stooping down I detected. the familiar _musky | odor, and soon had a fresh egg.
It is possible that this was the same bird I found in 1892, and that, it had
clung to this nesting site these two years. Within a foot of this petrel, was a
pigeon guillemot, (Cepphus columba) sitting on her two eggs. I found one egg
about two feet in a crack in a cliff plainly in view, and it proved to be fresh.
I suppose the bird did not discover she had selected such an open place to nest
in until after she had laid the egg and daylight came, when no doubt she, left
for more. secluded quarters. ‘ ;
Mr. Osgood discovered a petrel of ‘detided tastes, ‘as regards nesting, ‘for on
the brink of a. cliff, beneath several loose boulders, she had constructed, a nest,
of coarse Farallon weed, perhaps four inches in diameter., It was naturally
rough, but was undoubtedly constructed by the bird, as, it was j in such a posi-
tion that a lar ger bird could not have gained access to it. It must be understood
that the nest and egg were entirely concealed by humerous rocks, which had ‘to
be removed to. permit of the © Bhetograph, being taken. The egg was badly
incubated,
In one instance I found an egg” inid, ‘on an accumulation ‘of pebbles, and
again quite a collection of small granite chips were used. As in the former
case, everything points to the bird‘gathering them, - —' : ee
The male incubates the egg as well as the female, as two males were found
performing this duty. The mates of the birds incubating were never observed.
I believe that, when an egg is taken that the petrel does not lay a second egg
the same season,
wha gs
LIFE HISTORIES QF NORTH AMERICAN. PETRELS AND. PELICANS. 161
Eggs.—The single egg of the ashy petrel is much like that of the
other small petrels. It is dull white or creamy, white in color and
either spotless or faintly wreathed with a circle of very fine reddish
dots near the larger end. The measurements of 54 eggs, in various
collections, average 29.7 by 22.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the
four extremes measure 31.8 by 22.5, 30. 3 by 24. 4, 27 by 22.5, and
29 Bs 21 millimeters.
Young.—Mr. W. Otto Emerson’s notes state that the young do not
leave the nest until they are fully feathered and that they are fed on
“small marine insects,” which are probably regurgitated by the
parents in semidigested form. Specimens of downy young, collected
on the Farallon Islands on September 15, 1911, are covered with Jong,
soft down, except on the naked chin ‘and throat; the down varies in
color from “ fuscous” to “hair brown.” The plumage,appears first
on the wings, back, and head, the down disappearing last on the
breast and belly, after the wings are fully developed. The first
plumage acquired is practically indistinguishable from that of the
adult, so there is no noticeable sequence of plumages to maturity.
Food. —Very little is known about the food of this species, but Mr.
Barlow (1894¢) makes the following rather unsatisfactory remark:
“The food of the petrel necessarily consists of fish or small shell-
fish, with possibly a little marine algae by way of desert, but unfor-
tunately no stomachs were examined.” .
Behavior—Mr. Henry B. Kaeding (1903) describes the flight of
this species as follows:
When flying about in the dim light the petrels resemble bats. Their flight is
fluttering and zigzag and they frequently flit by the head of the watcher close
enough for him to feel the wind of their wings. Often they run into the glass
around the big light, or into the telephone wires that stretch from the lighthouse
to the keepers’ houses and the siren, and terminate their erratic careers then
and there. Small, dainty, and velvety, they are the prettiest little birds imagi-
nable, and would be perfect were it not for their habit of vomiting oil over
everything when ‘disturbed.
The same writer says of its notes:
These petrels, like others of their kind tha t nest farther south, are nocturnal
in their habits during the breeding season, and seem to exchange places shortly
after dark, the incoming birds replacing the mate on the nest after an exchange
of courtesies and’ a chat over the day’s: happenings. These conversations are
carried on in a queer little sing-song twitter, regularly punctuated with a gasp
that resembles the exhaust of a Lilliputian engine. This twitter is character-
istic of all petrels, varying with the species, and has been admirably described
‘by Mr. A. W. Anthony.
Mr. Barlow (18942) says the note was “a squeaky note uttered
rapidly and in a low chuckling tone, and was prolonged for several
seconds,”
162 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Very little is known about the migrations of the ashy petrel or
where it goes after it leaves its breeding grounds, but probably it
spends the winter wandering over the adjacent ocean.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—The Farallon Islands and some of the Santa Bar-
bara Islands (San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands). Breeding
grounds protected in Farallon reservation.
Range.—Coast of California. North to Point Reyes and south to
San Clemente Island.
Egg dates.—Farallon Islands: Forty-two records, May 15 to July
13; twenty-one records, June 12 to July 2.
OCEANODROMA MONORHIS SOCORROENSIS C. H. Townsend.
SOCORRO PETREL.
HABITS.
In Godman’s (1907) Monograph Oceanodroma socorroensis is
treated as synonymous with O. monorhis (Swinhoe) from China;
and Count von Berlepsch (1906) described it, from specimens col-
lected on the San Benito Islands, as “the American representative
of that Asiatic species” under the name O. monorhis chapmani. As
J have not been able to examine sufficient material to warrant hazard-
ing an opinion on the matter, I shall not attempt to argue the merits
of the case.
The following notes by Mr. Henry B. Kaeding (1905) throw some
light on the migration of this and other Lower California petrels:
It is interesting to note that during the trip south to Socorro Island, prior
to May Ist, no petrels were seen except Oceanodroma macrodactyla at Guada-
lupe; but after May 1st the least, black, Socorro, and Kaeding petrels appeared,
becoming more numerous during June, and apparently passing north to the
breeding grounds from regions south of Socorro Island. Mr. Townsend secured
but one specimen of Oceanodroma socorroensis at Socorro Island, and saw very
few March 9th, so that it is probable that the bulk of the birds were still to the
southward at that date.
Nesting.—Mr. A. B. Howell has contributed the following notes
on the habits of the Socorro petrel which he found breeding on Los
Coronados Islands:
In an aggregate of 1,500 miles by sea along the coasts of southern and Lower
California I never saw a bird which I took to be of this species. By this I
infer that they range farther out to sea than does melania, and it is probably
more nocturnal in its foraging also, as they seem to be more greatly distressed
by the light when removed from their burrows, which they visit only after night-
fall. Mr. A. W. Anthony has recorded the fact that this species comes in from
the sea, constructs and occupies the burrows for several weeks before the eggs
are deposited, and this assertion surely holds good for the Majority of cases,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 1638
as both male and female can be found in a burrow long before the time for eggs;
but there are exceptions to this rule, for A. van Rossem took several birds
from fresh eggs out of burrows from which he had collected the original occu-
pants but a few days previous. After laying, but one of the parents remains
on duty, and I have found that, among birds incubating in the daytime, the
males are slightly in the majority. Birds with partially white rumps are found
in the same holes with unicolored ones and every degree of variation in this
respect occurs.
On one of the small Coronados Islands about 200 pairs in 1918, and not
quite so many in 1910, were nesting. Most of these occupied a small amphi-
theater in a compact colony, but this colonizing may have been because there
is very little soft earth to be found on the remainder of the island. In this
powdery loam the bird excavates a burrow about two feet long and a short
distance below the surface, and turns usually either to the right or left a few
inches from the opening. The entrance seems very small for the size of the
bird is more than twice as wide as high. The tunnel is slightly enlarged near
the end and here a flimsy platform is constructed of any bits of twigs and
rootlets that are handy, though occasionally the egg rests on the bare ground.
Observers have usually found that the nesting time of the Socorros is slightly
in advance of that of the black petrels, and such A. van Rossem and I found
to be the case in 1913, for during the latter half of June, slightly incubated
eggs of the former was the rule, while those of the latter were nearer fresh.
However, in 1910, on the Coronados, an egg of the present species was not
found until June 22, while incubated eggs of melania were taken nearly a week
before this.
Messrs. Grinnell and Daggett (1903) have given us a good descrip-
tion of Middle Island, in this group, where the petrels’ nests were
most accessible, as follows:
This island presents two Jagged peaks about a hundred feet high, with a
sag between the two. To one side of this saddle is a basin perhaps two hundred
feet across, unevenly edged with ragged ledges. The bottom of the basin farthest
from the saddle has been undermined by a subterranean channel connecting
with the surf on the outside of the wall. Here one can look down thirty feet
or more and see the water surging back and forth with the swell. The rest of
the basin sloping up to the saddle is covered by disintegrated rock from the sur-
rounding walls, and supports a scanty growth of dwarfed “ buck-thorn”
bushes. Where this bush is thickest a few inches of peaty soil has accumulated
and this we found to be a favorite burrowing place for the petrels. Other parts
of the island were also occupied, but in those places the burrows usually ended
underneath or between heavy fragments of rock and so were mostly impossible
to reach. We were first made aware of the presence of the colony by the
strong and characteristic odor of petrel oil, for, of course, not a bird is to be
seen above ground during daylight. Following the scent we soon found open-
ings, generally more or less hidden by weeds or stones. A cursory survey
showed that the basin was honeycombed with burrows. In the loose talus of
the slopes they extended directly down into the ground, turning aside here
and there to avoid pieces of rock, and ending, where further excavation had
become impossible, in a cavity about twice the diameter of the main burrow.
Those in the more level ground were often entirely concealed by wide-spreading
bushes which had to be cut away before the entrance could be reached. Other-
wise these latter were easy of access, for the peaty, fibrous nature of the soil
rendered shallow burrows possible, and such were easily uncovered by sliding
164 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the hand in and lifting up the top soil. The terminal chambers were larger
here than in the burrows among the rock fragments. Often two burrows crossed
or united, but always the occupants were in separate terminal cavities. The
shortest burrow did not exceed twelve inches in length, the first lifting up of
the top disclosing a Socorro petrel and egg. The longest observed was in
stoney ground, and zigzagged about so that in all its windings it extended fully
six feet. The nest cavities sometimes showed a sparse flooring of fine twigs and
grass, but just as often they were altogether bare of any lining. | titre, 2
Mr. A. W. Anthony (18962) found both the black and the Socorro
petrels breeding on the San Benito Islands, near Cerros, Island off
the west coast of Lower California, but, as his notes have been freely
quoted under the former species, I shall not repeat them here.
There is some doubt as to whether the Socorro petrel breeds at all
on the island for which it was named and on which Mr. Townsend
discovered it. Mr. Kaeding (1905) observes: .
It is interesting to note in this connection that so far as we were able to
ascertain, there are no sea birds nesting on Socorro Island at all, with the
exception of the terns nesting on the outlying rocks. Mr. Townsend found
burrows that he judged would be occupied later by petrels, but I am con-
strained to believe that these were the burrows of thé land crabs, which swarm
over the island. These crabs are so voracious and bold that it would hardly
be possible for even a shearwater to withstand their attacks, and’ this is
probably the reason why, although thousands of shearwaters nest on San
Benedicte thirty miles away, none nest on Socorro, there being very few crabs
on San Benedicte. ae : in
Eggs.—The single egg of the Socorro petrel is similar to the eggs
of other small petrels; the shape is between oval and elliptical oyal,
generally nearer the former; the shell is smooth and lusterless.. The
color is dull dead white; Mr. Howell says that it “is sometimes pure
white, but more often has a wreath of faint lavender dots and trac-
ings about the larger end”; Mr. Anthony (18960) refers to it as
“usually freckled with reddish spots in a more or less complete-ring
about the larger end.” .The measurements of 18 eggs, in various
collections, average 30.8 by 23.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the
four extremes measure 34 by 24, 32 by 24, 29 by 22.5, and 30 by 22
millimeters.
_ Before the egg is laid both parents occupy the burrow. Incuba-
tion is performed by both sexes alternately, and after a few days the
young is left in the nest alone during the day.
Plumages.—The downy young has the chin and throat naked, but
is otherwise covered with long, soft down of a uniform, “ deep mouse-
gray” color. The young bird is nearly fully, grown before any
plumage appears; the wing feathers are the first to grow, and then
the tail, both of which are complete before the contour feathers are
acquired. The first plumage assumed seems to be indistinguishable
from that of the adult. Messrs. Grinnell and Daggett (1903) refer
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 165
to an interesting individual variation in the plumage of adults,
which had also been noted by Mr. Anthony (1898c) ; about three per
cent of the birds have more or less white on the upper tail-coverts,
varying from a mere trace to nearly as much as in the Leach petrel;
the normal color of these parts i is, of course, uniform sooty.
Behavior—Mr. Howell contributes the following notes on the
habits of the Socorro petrel :
Unlike its larger relative, this form but rarely vomiits oil when handled, but
will often do so on the wing when released. This oil is practically the same as
that of melania, but sometimes contains flakes of a white mucus matter, green
Slime, and occasionally a tiny rock lobster or crayfish. It has been stated that
their food consists of these latter ; and this is undoubtedly the case when, they
are easily obtainable, which is but part of the year. I believe, however, that
they feed on a great variety of small sea life found at the surface and upon
whatever floating oil they can gather. When released from the hand socorroen-
sis launches in an uncertain fashion, twisting and turning after the manner
that should be employed by. a small drunken nighthawk. If placed on the
ground they poke about confusedly among the bushes. In the hand one is
impressed by their fragility and apparent weakness.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—San Benito and Los Coronados Islands, off the
west coast of Lower California.
Range.—Pacific coasts of Mexico: and southern California. North
to the Santa Barbara Islands and south to the Revillagigedo Islands.
If this species proves to be identical with O. monorhis, its range
should be extended across the Pacific to China and Japan.
Egg dates——Lower California: Forty-eight records, June 4 to
September 5; twenty-four records, June 22 to July 10.
OCEANITES OCEANICUS (Kuhl).
WILSON PETREL.
‘ HABITS.
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend.
Few who. have voyaged along the Atlantic coast or who have
crossed to. Europe have failed to see petrels or Mother Cary’s chickens,
as they are called. On untiring wing they skim the water, now
on one side, now on the other of the vessel, all ready, to gather
in little bands in the wake and drop astern whenever delectable
morsels are thrown from the cook’s galley, and then it is that, like
Peter of old, they walk upon.the water. |
Although the Wilson petrel has long been known as a common bird
of the Atlantic Ocean, especially on the American side, its true dis-
tribution, including its breeding place, is but recently acquired
knowledge.. Alexander Wilson, who first described this species and
83969—22——_12
166 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
who supposed it was identical with the stormy petrel (Z'halassidroma
pelagica) , thought it bred in the Bahama and Bermuda Islands, as
well as on the coast of Florida and Cuba. Audubon (1840) evi-
dently confused it with the Leach petrel, for he says: “ Wilson’s
petrel breeds on some small islands situated off the southern extremity
of Nova Scotia.” In 1881 Mr. William Brewster (1883) found in
specimens he had shot in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between June 17
and July 25 no evidence of breeding. He also secured a young
bird on June 18 which was at least two months old. He' surmised,
therefore, “that Wilson’s petrel breeds in winter or early spring
in tropical or subtropical regions and visits the northeastern coast
of the United States only in the interim between one breeding season
and the next.” His conjecture was a logical one and correct. to a
certain extent, but he did not put the breeding: place far enough
south. As late as 1884 Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, in The Water
Birds of North America, say of this bird: “Its breeding places have
been and to some extent remain in doubt,” and they instance rec-
ords of its being resident about the Azores and of “eggs pur-
porting to belong to this species said to have been taken near
Madeira.” They quote, however, Dr. J. H. Kidder’s belief that
these birds nest at Kerguelen Island, in 60° south latitude, and of
his report of a nest and eggs of this bird found by Rev. A. E. Eaton
on Thumb Mountain of that island. This discovery by the Rev.
Mr. Eaton was the first definite knowledge we had of the true nest-
ing of the species. The second edition of the American Ornitholo-
gist’s Union Check List, published in 1895, gives Kerguelen Island
as the only breeding place of this bird. Since then the Wilson petrel
has also been found breeding on the South Shetland and the South
Orkney Islands, as well as on the great Antarctic Continent itself,
in South Victoria Land. Capt. Robert F. Scott (1905), of sad but
glorious memory, says: “We twice saw it apparently exploring
the great ice barrier, in latitude 78°, some 20 miles from the nearest
water, where alone it would find its food.” The mystery is solved;
the Wilson petrel breeds only in the Antarctic regions in the sum-
mer months of the antipoles, namely December, January, and Feb-
ruary, and migrates north during the antipodal winter and spends
it in the northern summer. Its life is therefore one long summer,
albeit a sturmy and cold one. Ps
'Nesting—Like most of the petrels this species prefers to nest
in colonies. There is considerable variation in the nesting site and
nest, dependent undoubtedly on the character of the country and
the thaterial at hand. Thus Wm. Eagle Clarke (1906) speaking of
the South Orkneys, says:
There was no attempt at nest making, the egg was simply laid in a hollow
in the earth in narrow clefts and fissures in the face of the cliffs, under boulders,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 167
and sometimes under stones on the screes sloping from the foot of the
precipice.
The birds resort in thousands to the cliffs of Laurie Island,. one
of the South Orkney Islands, and nest all the way from 20 tc 300
feet above the sea. Robert Hall (1900) thus describes the nesting
of this species at Kerguelen Island:
The yellow-webbed Wilson petrel is a delicate creature that goes straight
to sea in the early morning, and comes back to the rocks in the gloaming.
Most of my time was spent among the stones below 1,000 feet, where this
petrel is to be found in great numbers by diligent search. At 1,500 feet
(Thumb Peak) one flew from the boulders in the daytime, which showed that
a nest was there. Having returned from the sea into the harbours at dusk
(8 p. m.) Wilson’s petrel is then to be seen, flying to and fro before a ridge
of rough-looking rocks. At 6 p. m. I observed (February 2) a gathering of
from 50 to 60 birds off the South Head of Greenland Harbour. Generally
they are unassociated until they come in toward night. They are seldom to be
seen on land in the daytime, and I only noticed a bird flying up and down a
part of a valley of stones, more than a mile from the sea, and a creek, which
led from this highland, had encouraged the bird to go there. It reminded me
of a martin collecting insects. Having sat ‘down to finish a piece of buttered
rye bread, I observed the bird alight on a jutting mass of loose stones, and
this led me to remove the stones from the entrance to the nest and to discover
a delicate egg.
At about 8 p. m. the croaking begins, for now the “night shift” has come
in from the sea to go on duty. Many congratulations seem to be exchanged.
Go straight to a wild-looking piece of the coast if you want nests. Look under
large or small slabs of stone or within the crevices ‘in the cliff-sides. Most of
the nests are saucerlike and neatly put together with loose twigs. Your shovel
will act as a lever to lift the slabs and expose them, when the sitting bird
will move away to the farthest corner to escape the light, never offering to
bite, although the act would be harmless. At 7 a. m. I have found the male
bird sitting on the egg, indicating in this case, that it will sit out the day.
A male also flew on board on one occasion during the night, which probably
meant that it had a mate sitting on the nest. Thus the male possibly sits
either day or night. At 8 p. m. I have taken both male and female from a nest
which was on an earthen bank and had an entrance and an exit.
The nests of this species were built principally of azorella stalks. They were
flat, in a shallow indentation beneath a stone, and had no definite tunnel run-
ning to them. The bird would sometimes scratch an entrance. A typical nest
measured 7 by 5 inches, and the depth of the bowl was 5 inches. On handling
a bird, it will (like other petrels) eject a fatty globule for a distance of 2
feet. I used to track the sitting birds between 8 and 10 p. m. by their strong
but mellow note. One evening’s search produced seven nests containing young
and eggs. The eggs differ very slightly in size: Six measured 1.3 inches by
0.9 inch. On February 3d.I found three eggs (fresh and hard set); on 7th,
8th, and 9th, four fresh eggs, seven young nestlings and two hard set eggs;
on the 14th one hard set egg. The parents sit with the young during the
night.
Dr. E. A. Wilson (1907) on January 9, 1902, at Cape Adare, South
Victoria Land, found a still more elaborate nest. He says:
Two of these crevices could not be reached, but soon we saw a bird hover
round and settle upon a large boulder. Hunting about for a burrow underneath
168 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
we caught the sound of twittering, and traced it to a kind of mouse hole. This
by dint of long and tedious picking with a sheath knife we enlarged till it ad-
mitted an arm up to the shoulder. The work was laborious, as the floor of the
burrow was hard black ice and grit; but eventually we. reached the nest. At
the end of the little tunnel was a chamber containing a very comfortable nest
thickly lined with Adelie penguin’s feathers, and in it a somewhat remarkable
collection. First we brought out an adult male alive, then an adult female, then
two eggs, one clean and newly laid, the other old and rotten, and under all
another dead and flattened Oceanites. Outside as we worked a fourth bird was
hovering, which when shot proved to be an adult male. :
Similar conditions were observed at the South Orkneys. Mr. Wm.
Eagle Clarke (1906) says:
They appear to return year after year to the same nesting places, for both
eggs and dead young birds of previous seasons were numerous in the tenanted
holes containing fresh eggs.
He infers that an unusually cold summer may delay the nesting
season so that the young are not sufficiently grown in the fall to with-
stand the cold, and great mortality results.
Eggs.—Only one set consisting of one egg is laid." Clarke (1906)
thus describes the eggs: “An elongated oval, dull white peppered
with tiny dots of reddish brown and underlying lilac, mostly accu-
mulated round one end of the egg, but occasionally sprinkled all
over the surface.” Hall (1900) says the egg has “an almost true
oval form, slightly wider toward one end, around which, is a circle
of pale pink spots.” The measurements of 15 eggs, in various col-
lections, average 32.2 by 23.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure 33.5 by 23.5, 33 by 24, 28 by 28, and 32.5 by
22.5 millimeters. _ .
Young.—tThe period of incubation is not known. Both sexes incu-
bate and, as already stated, both sexes have been found in the same
hole at the same time, but it is probable, as in the case of the better
known petrels, that one sex often remains on the egg in the day and
the other in the night. The nestlings are thus described by Hall
(1900): “The nestling was covered with a uniform greyish-black
down. Bill black, legs. bluish, tinged with faint yellow, toes faint
black, nails black.” a
Food.—The food of the Wilson petrel consists by preference of the
oily substances inseparable from the profession of the deep-sea fish-
erman. Fish “gurry” of all sorts seem to be relished by. these birds,
but they manifest the greatest eagerness when pieces of oily fish livers
are thrown overboard.. They will, however, seize upon any morsel
that is cast from the ship’s galley. Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke (1906)
says that “Great numbers were obseryed around a dead whale, pick-
ing up morsels of fat that fell from the bills of a host of giant and
Cape petrels.” Doctor Wilson (1907) says the food consists of minute
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 169
crustaceans from the surface of the water. When picked up wounded
or caught in their burrows the birds eject from their bill and nostrils
a yellow or reddish oily fluid with a strong musty odor. This odor
is very characteristic and clings to the skins of these birds in collec-
tions. Robert Hall (1900) says living birds when handled eject “a
fatty globule for a distance of 2 feet.” I have found this oily fluid
in their stomachs and on one or two occasions a few bits of charcoal,
on another a few small pebbles.
As already shown the Wilson petrel spends its nonbreeding season,
its winter, in the northern summer. As the bird is very tame its
habits may be studied at close range on almost any cod-fishing expe-
dition a mile or more from the Atlantic seaboard of North America.
When sailing or steaming along the coast or even in mid-Atlantic one
rarely fails to see an occasional petrel flying close to the water beside
or ahead of the boat or a few gathering in the wake, ever on the alert
to pick up any morsel that’ may drop from the vessel. Day after day
we may watch these tireless birds from any transatlantic steamer, but
it is, of course, impossible to say how far the same birds follow the
boat. On one or two occasions at night I have seen a petrel start up
from near the bow of the vessel, wheel wildly over head and disap-
pear in the darkness astern. Occasionally they drop on the deck.
Whether the birds were asleep on the water or not is a matter of con-
jecture.
When a boat stops to fish the scattered wide-ranging petrels are
at once attracted by the bait and “ gurry” that are inseparable from
this pursuit, and gather sometimes in considerable numbers. If fish
are being cleaned, or if one purposely throws out bits of fish livers to
attract the birds the gathering is often a large one. A large piece
of liver may be seized upon by several birds until it is torn to pieces.
It is not often that these birds actually settle on the water, but they do
so at times and ride as lightly as phalaropes. Asa rule the petrels pick
up the food as they skim over the water either bounding with both
feet together or pattering lightly over the water running or walking
with alternate feet. In both cases they keep their wings spread, and
support themselves largely on these. Both methods—feet together or
alternate—are extremely graceful and fascinating to watch; in the
first case the birds appear as if on springs and bound lightly from
wave to wave. The wings are often held motionless and the birds ap-
pear to take advantage of the upcurrents of air deflected from the
waves.
Behavior.—The flight of the Wilson petrel is graceful and swallow-
like and the birds often winnow the air as if for insects. The stormier
the day the more likely is one to see them close to the shore, but it is
rare that they are seen flying over it except in their nesting region.
170 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
The following incident. during an easterly June storm at Ipswich is
described in The Birds of Essex County (1905): -
The surf was breaking on the shallow beach as far out as one could see
through the blinding rain and spray, but these birds, with wings set, would glide
into the teeth of the wind and bound from wave to wave as if on springs, seem-
ing of their feet on the waves. Ever and anon they would wheel about like
ment only of their wings was at times to be noticed, and an occasional patter:
the wall of foam steadily gliding and: bounding'to windward. A slight move-
ing every now and then to be overwhelmed in the surf, but appearing: beyond
large swallows, flying to leeward, to turn again and glide and bound into the
wind. Once or twice they flew for a moment over the beach itself, actually
drifting past me on the shore side, as I stood in the water at the edge of the. surf.
Mr. John Treadwell N ichols, who has, studied. extensively. wide
ranging oceanic birds, contributes the following:
Though sometimes found in large numbers where conditions are favorable or
food is abundant they are not truly gregarious, and over wide stretches of
ocean are usually met with singly or two or three together. Sailors generally
believe that they do not rest on the water, but in calm weather the writer has
occasionally seen numbers of them sitting on the surface like miniature gulls.
‘Though varying greatly in‘ abundance, Wilson petrel is generally numerous
close inshore off New York through the summer months. It regularly passes
the Narrows and comes into New York Upper Bay, and occasionally one or two
may be seen on the South Bay, Long Island. It probably is molting at this
season, as on June 30, 1918, when the species was unusually abundant, flying
rapidly about over the ocean off Mastic, Long Island, the nearer ones so far
from shore as just to be seen readily with the naked eye, many of their feathers
were scattered along the line of wash on the beach, particularly primaries,
though others (including some tail feathers) were also found. * * * On this
date it was estimated that from a point on the crest of the dunes at least 1,000
Wilson petrels were within binocular range at one time.
Capt. Herbert L. Spinney (1903) has recorded a diving habit i in
these birds seen near Seguin Island, Maine. He says: “ They were
feeding on the wash of the bait om a fisherman’s hook, and were
noticed a number of times to plunge beneath the surface of the water
for the food they were after.”
The following ‘observations on the habits of this species made by
Doctor Pickering in 1838, published by Cassin (1858), are of interest:
A storm petrel taken, which proyed to be Thalassidroma wilsonit ; and, al-
though this species and others of its genus have been constantly seen during the
voyage of the expedition, this is the first specimen that has been captured with-
out having been injured, thus affording whatever facilities can be obtained on
shipboard for: observing its manners. ;
I was rather surprised to observe that this bird was not only entirély in-
capable of perching, but even of standing upright like birds in general, and as
I have seen birds of this genus represented, unless by the aid of its wings. In
standing, or rather, sitting, the whole of the tarsus ‘(commonly mistaken for
the leg), rests on the ground, and it walks in the same awkward position, fre-
quently obliged to balance itself with its wings. With a more powerful exer-
tion of its wings, however, it was enabled to run along on its toes, in the same
manner that it does over the surface of the water. The absence of a hind toe,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 171
the nails being but slightly bent and flat, and, perhaps I may add, its evidently
being unaccustomed to this description of locomotion, seemed to be the causes
of its helplessness on its feet.
These birds have been numerous about us for some days past, and their
coursing over the water with flitting wings reminds me of the actions of but-
terflies about a pool. One of them was swimming, or at least, resting on the
surface. We have seen this species very frequently, indeed, almost daily.
since leaving America, and scarcely any other sea birds, except in the im-
mediate vicinity of the islands. It would seem that it scarcely ever visits the
land, except for the purposes of incubation, and there can hardly be a better
comment on its untiring power of wing than the popular fable amongst sea-
men, that it carries its eggs and hatches its young while sitting in the water.
It does not sail in the continued manner of the gulls and some other sea birds,
but moves by rapidly flexing its wings something like a bat, and was continu-
ally coursing around and in the wakes of the vessels, generally in considerable
numbers, during much the greater part of the time that the expedition was in
the Atlantic Ocean.
The voice of the Wilson petrel when the bird is picking up food
from the water is a gentle peeping, which is repeated the more rap-
idly the more excited the birds become at the abundance of the feast.
This is the only sound I have heard them utter on the New Eng-
land coast, but various observers have written of the “twittering”
and “cooing” sounds made on the nesting grounds, Wm. Eagle
Clarke (1906) speaks of a “ low whistle” and a “ harsh screaming’
chuckle,” and he says that: “These noises they keep up almost. con-
tinuously after dark.”
Although Wilson petre] seems to delight in stormy weather, there
are times when even its native elements prove too much for it. A
great storm raged on the coast of North Carolina on August 28, 29,
and 30, 1893, and thousands of these birds were washed ashore dead
and dying, unable longer to battle with the waves. The 10 miles
of beach from Beaufort Harbor to Cape Lookout was literally
strewn with them. The holocaust is described by T. Gilbert Pearson
(1899) from information received from several reliable sources.
I have two birds of this species in my collection that were found
floating dead in the water, but how they came to their death I do
not know. One had a slit at the corner of the mouth, which may
have been caused by the cruel sport in which passengers on vessels
sometimes indulge, namely, the sport of fishing for these birds with
hook and line. Sometimes a line with a button attached is used,
and, as this skips along the waves in the wake of the vessel, there is
a remote chance of the line becoming entangled with the wing or
foot of a petrel.
When other sources of bait are lacking, petrels have sometimes
been used, although one is scarcely large enough to bait two hooks.
The superstition among sailors that it is unlucky to kill a “ Mother
172 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Cary’s chicken”. has, however, largely protected them. Capt. J. W.
Collins (1884) thus describes the method ‘formerly in use by fish-
ermen desiring these birds for bait:
The most common and effective way of killing them was with a whip, which
was made by tying several parts of cod line—each part 6 or 8 feet long—to a
staff 5 or 6 feet in length. The petrels were tolled up by throwing out a large
piece of codfish liver, and when they had gathered in a.dense mass, huddling
over the object which attracted them, swish went the thongs of the whip, cut-
ting their way through the crowded flock and perhaps killing or maiming a
score or more at a single sweep. By the time these were picked up another
flock way gathered, and: the cruel work went on until, maybe; 400 or 500 birds
were killed, though perhaps it was seldom that so great a number was obtained
at once.
Wilson petrels have a certain economic value as foretellers of
bad weather, for they are more active just before storms, at least
such is thier reputation among sailors—and it is possible that on
account they derive their common name, “ Mother Cary’s chick-
s,” from Mater Cara, the blessed Virgin, A group of petrels sit-
fits quietly on the water on the other hand i is said to be a sign of
calm weather, although the contrary is sometimes affirmed.
Fall.—The fall migration of the Wilson petrel i is, of course, the mi-
gration from their breeding place at the end of the Antarctic sum-
mer. ‘Their winter habits and haunts in our northern summer have
already been described.
The Wilson petrel resembles the Leach petrel in life, but can be
distinguished from it in the following manner: The Wilson pétrel is
slightly smaller than the Leach and blacker—less rusty—-although
these differences are very slight and both birds appear to be black
with white rumps. The tail-of the Wilson petrel is rounded, that
of the Leach slightly forked, but this again is a point that is diffi-
cult to make out. Murphy (1915) emphasizes the “ notable different
style of flight of Leach’s as distinguished from Wilson’s petrel.” He
says: “ Oceanodroma flies with rapid, ‘leaping’ strokes, quite unlike
the alternations of gliding and synchronous flutters which character-
ize the flight of Oceanites.” The most diagnostic point, however, and
the one that Wilson himself was the first to record, although a num-
ber of others have noted it independently, is the fact that the feet
with their yellow webs extend beyond the tail in the Wilson, but the
short, black-webbed feet of the Leach petrel are concealed below the
tail.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—Found breeding on Mauritius and “Kerguéien
Islands in the Indian Ocean; at Cape Horn, on Adelie Land, and
on Victoria Land (Cape Adare): ; also on the South Shetland and
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 173
South Orkney Islands and South Georgia; also probably in the South
Sandwich Islands, and on Bouvet Island.
FRange—All the oceans of the world except the North Pacific.
North in the Pacific Ocean to about 5° or 6° South (rare north of
the Equator). North in the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of Labrador,
Resolution Island (62°), and Great Britain. Westward into the Gulf
of Mexico (Vera Cruz and Louisiana coast). Eastward into the
Mediterranean Sea (Sardinia). South to the Antarctic continent, the
Great Ice Barrier (78° South), and Weddell Sea (72° South).
Pacific Ocean birds have been named as a distinct subspecies.
Spring migration—Northward in the Atlantic Ocean in March,
April, and May. Recorded dates: South Georgia, March 15; Pata.
gonia, Rio Gallegos, April 7; Brazil, Barra, April 27; Hignator, April
25; Bermuda, May; North Caralina. Gaps Hatteras, April 18;
Barbados, May 8; Azores, May 21; New Jersey, May 9; Maine, May
28; Newfoundland, Cape Race, May 29.
Fall migration—Southward in the Atlantic Ocean in September,
October, and November. Recorded dates: Maine, September 17;
Massachusetts, September 23; New York, October; Equator, October
14; Brazil, Fernando Noronha, October 16; South Orkneys, No-
vember 11; South Georgia, November 23.
Casual records.—Accidental in California (Monterey, August 24,
1910). Has wandered inland in North America to Pennsylvania
(Columbia, August 29, 1893), to northern Ontario (Muskoka dis-
trict), and to other less remote localities. Accidental in Spain,
France, and Italy.
Egg dates—Kerguelen Island: Four records, January 23 to Feb-
ruary 11. Cape Horn: One record, January 2. South Orkney
Islands: One record, February 12. Mauritius Island: One record,
March 15. Adelie Land: Three records, December 1, 14, and 18.
FREGETTA LEUCOGASTRIS (Gould).
WHITE-BELLIED PETREL,
HABITS.
One accidental occurrence of this rare species on the coast of
Florida is all that justifies us in recording this handsome little petrel
as a North American bird. The following account of the capture is
given by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1884) :
So far as we are aware, the black-and-white stormy petrel is only known to
have been taken in a single instance within our waters, and its claim to a place
in the fauna of North America rests entirely on the capture of these specimens
on the Gulf coast of Florida. Seven examples of this bird are said to have
been captured with a hook and line by the captain of a vessel while at anchor
in the harbor of St. Marks, Florida. One of these was secured by Mr. John
174 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Hooper, of Brooklyn, N. Y.: They were observed about. the vessel’ two days,
after which none were met with.
There has been considerable doubt expressed as to the validity of
this :species.. Godman (1907), who deals with the species under the
name Cymodroma grallaria, admits that it is closely related to C.
melanogaster, and says:
Dr. Bowdler Sharpe has suggested that C. grallaria might be the young of
C. melanogaster, before the black appears on the center of the breast and
abdomen, Salvin, however, did not indorse this view.
According to the evidence at present before me, I am inclined to agree with
Salvin in separating the two species, for C. grallaria never shows any black on
the abdomen, and all the white-banded specimens in the British Museum have
the appearance of being adult birds. It seems, therefore, that the white edges
to the dorsal feathers are a sign of adult plumage in C. grallaria, and of
juvenile plumage in C. melanogaster.
‘Sufficient evidence to support either theory is lacking and the ques-
tion can not be definitely settled until large series of specimens have
been collected to show all the plumiage changes from the downy stage
to the fully adult plumage.
Nesting.—The following notes, sent to me by Mr. Rollo H. Beck,
contain all that we know about the nesting habits of this rare species:
Though the fishermen of Juan Fernandez told me they had never found the
nest of this bird I found the nests quite close to the beach on Santa Clara
Island, which lies about 10 miles from the west end of Masatierra Island. The
nests were usually in rock Piles under a good-sized rock. The few nesis ex-
amined were lined with straws or a few twigs from bushes. One nest with
its downy occupant was plainly visible without moving the overshadowing rock.
On January 19, 1914, the date of my visit, I found more nests with yo.ng birds
than with eggs. As with other species of petrels the downy young of this
species is left alone during the day.
E'ggs.—The three eggs taken by Mr. Beck are probably the only
eggs in existence. They vary in shape from oval to broad elliptical
ovate. The shell is smooth, but without luster and the color is dull
white, more or less discolored. One has a wreath of small purplish
brown dots near the larger end and in one these dots form a cap over
the whole of that end; the other has a larger cap of such dots with
many minute dots scattered over the egg. The three eggs measure
34.5 by 24, 34 by 25, and 32.5 by 25 millimeters.
Plumages.—The downy young are apparently thickly covered with
long, soft down of a “ Quaker drab” color. Theré are several speci-
mens in the Brewster-Sanford collection, collected by Mr. Beck, on
Goat Island, Chile, on January 19,1914. These are of different ages,
but all still largely downy, though some are nearly fully grown.
The new plumage, which shows under the down, is much like the
adult plumage, except that the scapulars and the wing-coverts, par-
ticularly the latter, are broadly edged with white.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 175
Behavior—Comparatively little has been published on the habits
of the white-bellied petrel. Gould (1865) says of it:
Like the F. melanogaster, the white-bellied storm-petrel is a fine and power-
ful species, fluttering over the glassy surface of the ocean during calms with an
easy butterfly-like motion of the wings, and buffeting and breasting with equal
vigor the crests of the loftiest waves of the storm; at one moment descending
into their deep troughs and at the next rising with the utmost alertness to
their highest points, apparently from an impulse communicated as much by
striking the surface of the water with its webbed feet as by the action of the
wings. Like the other members of the genus, it feeds on mollusca, the spawn
of fish, and any kind of fatty matter that may be floating on the surface of
the ocean,
Mr. John Treadwell Nichols writes to me in regard to it:
In habits it resembles the Wilson petrel. It follows a ship for scraps, about
which a little flock gathers; pattering on the water with their feet, their wings
extended fluttering over their backs, so that they:make a twinkling white spot
in the distance. Its note, which I have heard at such times, is a funny little
squeak.
Dr. E. A. Wilson (1907) writes of his experience with it in the
Antarctic:
This petrel is to be recognized on the wing mainly by its small size and
white belly, the chin, throat, and tail alone being black on the under part.
We obtained no specimens, though we saw it on several occasions. On Septem-
ber 18th, 1901, we had several in our wake, and again on September 20th we
saw them continually dropping to touch the water with one foot, steadying
themselves while they daintily took their minute crustacean food from the
surface of the water. At these times their tails become much hollowed out on
the dorsal surface, so that each half is at right angles to the other.
Mr. Beck has also sent me the following notes on the habits of
the white-bellied petrel:
The first specimens of this form were noted about 150 miles offshore on
the 400-mile trip across from Valparaiso to Juan Fernandez, and were found
commonly within 100 miles of the islands. An interesting characteristic of
this bird is the manner in which it strikes the water with one foot. In a breeze
or wind it was always the leeward leg that was used, the windward one being
stretched out. behind. As our schooner was always on the wind, the petrels
usually had but little use for the leg on the southern side of the body. When
the birds flew directly into the wind either one or the other or both legs
might be used.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—Known to breed only on Santa Clara and Goat
Islands, near Juan Fernandez Islands, off the coast of Chile.
Range—Southern temperate oceans. North in the Indian Ocean
to the Bay of Bengal; in the Pacific Ocean to about 4° south; and
in the Atlantic Ocean to about 33° south. Southern limits not
clearly defined.
176 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Casual records——Accidental in northwestern Florida (Saint
Marks). bs
E'gg dates,—Juan Fernandez Islands: One eeeoed, January 19.
PELAGODROMA MARINA HYPOLEUCA (Moquin-Tandon).
NORTH ATLANTIC WHITE-FACED PETREL,
HABITS. .
This handsome and well marked little petrel enjoys a wide distri-
bution in the Atlantic and southern oceans. Its center of abundance
seems to be in Australian and New Zealand seas, where there are
several large breeding rookeries.- It also breeds on the Salvages
and on some of the Cape Verde, Azores, and Canary Islands in the
Atlantic Ocean. Its slim claim to a place: on our list is based on a
single record of a straggler taken nearly 200 miles off the coast of
Massachusetts. It was added to our list by Mr. Ridgway (1885),
who published the following record:
5 ‘
"On the 24 of September, 1885, there was eaptited on board the U. 8.
Fish Commission steamer Albatross (Capt. Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., command-
ing), in latitude 40° 34’ 18’ N., 66° 09’ W., a specimen of the white-faced
stormy petrel, Pelagodroma marina (Lath.). Mr. James E. Benedict, resident
naturalist of the Albatross, writes me that it was “taken on the ship late in
the evening of the 2d proximo,” and that “it was in all probability attracted
by the light and fell on the deck, from which it seemed unable to rise.” He adds
that no more of the same species were seen pea) the cruise, eee petrels of
other kinds were numerous around the ship. :
Nesting —Several interesting descriptions of breeding colonies of
this petrel have been published from which I have selected ‘two.
Messrs. A. G. Campbell and A. H. E. Mattingley (1906) have given
us the following full account of an Australian colony, probably the
largest one known:
Opposite the entrance of Port Phillip Bay, and some 4 miles in from the
actual Heads, lies a long, narrow strip of land known as Mud Island. The
name is somewhat of a misnomer, for the island consists mainly of sand. The
island, which is perhaps 3 miles around, stands sentinel over the entrance
to the harbor of Melbourne, arresting the onrush of sand that. would block the
opening, piling it up in the shallows and in the banks that form its;flanks. Mud
Island is unique in being one of the few spots on the south coast of Australia
where a species of storm-petrel (Pelagodroma marina) comes to breed.
Through the kindness of Mr. S. P. Townsend, A. O. U., and in company with
him and two friends, I was enabled to visit this rookery during the last week
of the old year.
Passing over to some of the sand banks, we came across what was the real
object of our summer visit—the petrel rookery. Little burrows, just large
enough to put one’s hand in, each with a little heap of sand outside, were seen
among native spinach and saltbush, sometimes so thickly that every square
yard held one of them. Inserting the hand, we could reach to the end, where
a large chamber was found and a white-faced storm petrel sat quietly upon
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 177
its egg. There was not a sound save our own voices, yet there must have
been thousands of birds within earshot. Each was intent upon its task of
incubation, now very near completion, for most of the eggs we examined were
already chipping, and in three burrows we discovered a tiny, fluffy, grey chick.
When brought out to the light the petrel, which is about 8 inches long, seemed
very stupid, and scrambled away on being released: On the wing, however,
it is the perfection of ease and grace. All the writers of the sea have made
mention of storm petrels.
As it was now far past sunset and the Christmas moon was shining brightly,
we decided to await the arrival of the other batch of birds—the mates: of those
sitting quietly in the burrows. Very little has been written about this species
of storm petrel, so it was with eager interest that we awaited the progress of
events. We marked 10 birds in the burrows, to see if this could give any clue
to their habits.. The same musty smell that pervades the mutton-bird rook-
ery, arising from the natural oil with which the birds’ plumage is greased,
was noticed here, and it scon permeated our blankets and clothes. It was
at 9.30 p. m. that the first storm petrel came in from sea and circled swiftly
and silently close to the ground, as if searching for its own particular burrow.
What a problem, especially if the night be dark, to find one’s own home amid
such tens of thousands of a similar nature. Bird followed bird every few
minutes in silence, until about 10.30 the numbers had increased: so that two
or three could be seen at once. But where were the numbers scuttling about
the ground and cutting the air in all directions amid noisy arguments: and
welcomes? Two hours later, still no great increase—cnes and twos still passed
our vantage point, flashing their white under surfaces as they occasionally
turned in the moonlight, but none settling within sight, though the night was
clear and bright. Not.a sound until we beat or stamped upon the ground,
when an impatient or hungry bird nearby would call from:a burrow with a
low, rasping. voice as untuneful as all sea birds’ notes are.
We estimated that at. the very least there must be 50,000 nesting burrows in
the sand rises about us, and we were forced to the conclusion that all the
birds can net return every night. It appears as if some only, and that a very
Small proportion, return to change places with the brooding mate. Search as
we would in the small hours of that moonlit morning, we could only find one
burrow where two birds were at home. We then snatched an hour’s ‘sleep
under the friendly shelter of a saltbush, and about 3.30,a. m. were awakened by
two storm petrels, with low cries, running onto us from behind and taking
wing. This illustrates the habit petrels have of running onto a mound, or
throwing themselves from a cliff, before taking flight. Their long wings pre-
vent them rising easily from flat ground. By daylight not.a bird was to be
seen.. We visited our marked burrows soon afterwards, and. often birds which
were each labeled with a small, piece of twine seven were, still at home, two. had
changed shifts, and one burrow was empty. This corroborated somewhat our
opinion that, a. small proportion only of the birds belonging to the rookery
come in each night. The sitting bird must therefore be four or five days with-
out food. We felt we had only touched the fringe of these interesting ques-
tions and that a longer stay on, the island was necessary for their solution,
But we had not, the time to spare ;, we must be off.
Y¥urther visits to the petrelry were, undertaken on the 16th and 17th February,
and again on the 23d and 24th February, 1907, to extend and make more com-
plete our observations on the breeding habits of “ Mother Cary’s chickens,”
Wading across the lagoon the southern rookery was reached, and examina-
tions of the white-faced storm-petrel’s burrows revealed young birds in several
stages of development. They were tiny fat little balls of slaty-grey down
178 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
from out of which. peeped a pair of beady black eyes situated behind a slender
black bill. which was surmounted by the long tube nostrils peculiar to the
petrel family. Most nestlings were to be found more advanced, however. In
many the abdomen had become covered with white feathers interspersed with
down, the tail was beginning to show, and the primary wing feathers were
prominent. It was noticed, too, that. the white abdominal feathers had ex-
tended up to and over the pectoral muscles, whilst the markings from which
the bird derives its vernacular name were showing up strongly through a few
threads of down. In the next stage of growth the whole of the feathers were
More strongly developed. The down, which freely covered the wings, back,
flanks, nape, and crown in the previous stage, had almost disappeared, whilst
the general contour of the burrowling resembled that of its parents, although
it was-still very fat. These birds had just been deserted ‘by their parents
and left to their. own devices. Whilst lying out in the rookery at night some
fully fledged birds were observed running and flapping about the rookery,
stimulated by the pangs of hunger. It is owing to this that they gain sufficient
muscular development both in the legs and in the wings to enable them in
about a week’s time to fly away one night with the adult birds, who no doubt
assis? and encourage them. At sea they use the feet almost as much as their
wings, as they go tripping along over the billows. It is owing to this last-
named fact that the members of the family to which they belong have been
called petrels, after. the Apostle Peter.
Up to the final stage the parents feed their offspring nightly with about a
teaspoonful of fishy, oily paste, principally composed of “ whale’s food,” a
small species of crustacean found floating on the surface of the ocean. This
they regurgitate, and when they enter their burrows a faint purring note of
welcome is made by the nestling, evidently in anticipation of its evening meal.
Opening its mouth wide over the head of its young one, which forthwith thrusts
its beak into that of the adult and opens it, the parent bird brings up the
dainty and juicy contents of its stomach. With this meal the young one has
to be content until next night, but as it lives an indolent life, quietly ensconced,
in the cool shade of its burrow, it waxes exceeding fat, so much so that in
some parts of the South Sea Islands, where these birds also nest, the natives,
passing a dry rush through a dead young one’s body, form thereby an excellent
candle.
Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) describes a breeding colony, which
he found on the Salvages near Madeira, as follows:
On the afternoon of our arrival on Great Salvage we found an egg of this
bird in what we at first mistook for a rabbit burrow, but it was unfortunately
broken by one of the men. This, however, opened our eyes, and we subsequently
found that large colonies ‘of the white-breasted petrel were breeding on the
flat top of the island, in burrows dug out in the sandy ground, and partly con-
cealed by the close-growing ice plant. It was very ‘unpleasant walking over
these breeding grounds, which occupied considerable areas, for the ground was
honeycombed with burrows in every direction, and gave way at each step,
one’s boots rapidly becoming full of sand. By thrusting one’s arm into one
hole after another, we soon procured a fine series of specimens, accompanied
in most cases by an egg, for we had evidently hit off the breeding season, and
most of the birds, having laid their Single egg, were beginning to set. Most of
the eggs were white, more or less finely spotted, and often zoned toward the
f * '
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 179
larger end, with dark. red and purplish dots, but some few were equally spotted
all over the shell, while one was almost entirely devoid of markings. In shape
they vary considerably, some being perfect ovals equally round at both ends,
while others are slightly pointed at the one end. Both sexes take part’ in
incubation, for out of twelve birds captured on the egg three were males.
F'ggs.—Mr. Henry O. Forbes (1893) describes the single egg as
“elliptical in shape. Ground color white, at one end covered with
fine dots of heliotrope-purple and lavender-grey, with a few of seal
brown interspersed, and at the other end sparsely with vinaceous
buff. In some specimens the end is thickly dusted over with the
finest. vinaceous-rufus dots, while on the rest of the egg they are
scarcely recognizable.” Buller (1888) and Gould (1865) describe
the eggs as “pure white.” Campbell (1901) gives it as follows:
“Texture of shell comparatively fine; surface occasionally has a
faint trace of gloss; color, pure white, but ue 50 per cent have
numerous fine brownish freckles about the apex.”
The measurements of 22 eggs, sent me by Rev. F. C. R. J ourdain,
average 36.20 by 22.03 millimeters; the eggs showing the four ex-
tremes measure 3'7.4 by 26.5, 36.9 by 2'7.4, 33.8 by 25.7, and 37 by
25.4 millimeters.
Young.—Several observers ee noted sit both sexes incubate.
The period of incubation does not seem to be known. Mr. Robert
Hall (1902) gives us the following good ventana of the downy
young, partly fledged:
Except the chin and throat, the whole under surface is covered with a
sooty-grey down averaging more than an inch in length. The down has fallen
from the upper surface, excepting the crown and rump. The back is deeper
slate colored than in the adult, and the wings, which are almost free from
down, are of the same color; the hind neck is mottled with white; the face is
deep slate colored; the lores white with dark tips; the chin, throat, and cheeks
white; the feet slate colored, with a very light yellow mark between the toes;
the bill is dark. The bulk appears to be twice that of the adult. Girth of
nestling at shoulders 10.5 inches; of adult,.4.5 inches.
Plumages.—Godman (1907) says that “the plumage of full-grown
young birds is like that of the adults as soon as the down is shed.
The grey rump and upper tail coverts have wavy cross lines of
grey and white, with a white fringe at the end of the feathers. One
specimen has the lower flanks and under tail coverts freckled with
greyish bars.”
Food.—The only reference I can find to the food of the white-
faced petrel is what I have quoted above from Campbell and Mat-
tingley, that “up to the final stage the parents feed their offspring
nightly with about a teaspoonful of fishy, oily paste, principally
composed of ‘whale’s food,’ a small species. of crustacean found
floating on the surface of the ocean.”
180 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. :
Behavior.—Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) makes the following ref-
erence to its flight:
We first. observed and recognized with pleasure these beautiful petrels as
we neared the Salvages, when numbers were seen flitting along close to the
surface of the sea, with their Jong legs dangling beneath them and just touch-
ing the water. Now they would be lost sight’ of-in the hollows between the
huge Atlantic rollers, now reappear, closely following the undulating waters
with their graceful easy flight.
Q
The same naturalist says:
We never heard the.call of this bird; those fyiie over the sea during ‘ie day:
time were always perfectly | silent so far as we heard, though they constantly
passed close to our tug, and there was no lack of them. When caught on
their eggs they uttered a short, grunting note, much like that given vent to
by the doniestic pigeon under similar circumstances. '
Lieut. Boyd Alexander. (1898), however, says that on its breeding
grounds, in the Cape Verde Islands, it uttered “ grating notes like
those:of a pair of rusty! springs set in motion.”
The: white-faced petrel seems to have many enemies to ieee its
increase in its thickly populated colonies. Lieut. Alexander (1898)
noted that, in unearthing these petrels, several managed to escape.
“They ran along the ground in a’ dazed condition, and before we
could move them they were pounced upon and carried off by kites.”
Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (1896) “found quite a number of dead birds and
sucked eggs, evidently the work of the mice already mentioned, as
their droppings were to be seen all about the burrows, and the marks
of their teeth upon the empty shells were unmistakable. The birds,
some of which were quite freshly killed and almost untouched, were
invariably done to death by being bitten at the nape of the neck,
and in some cases part of the brain had been eaten. It seemed cu-
rious that these comparatively small mice should be able to kill a
bird several times larger than themselves, and provided with a fairly
strong, hooked bill; but no doubt the petrels get caught in the end
of their burrow, and, being terrified, do not even try to defend them-
selves.” Campbell and Mattingley (1906) write:
“Two enemies of the white-faced storm-petrel ‘are found on the island—the
harrier, and, worse still, the common rat,. introduced by the guano-getters:’ If
these rodents are not exterminated, it is only'a matter of time when they will
destroy the occupants of the rookery, since several freshly killed remnants of
these fragile birds were found about. ;
_ Since the above was written the bird which breeds on the islands
in the eastern Atlantic Ocean has been separated as. a distinct sub-
species, Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca (Moquin-Tandon). This
is, of course,:the subspecies which belongs on the American list. It
seems better, however, to leave the life history as I have written it,
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 24
Bermuda Islands. A. O. Gross.
Bermuda Islands. A. O. Gross.
YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 181
for the species as a whole, than to leave out the full and very inter-
esting accounts which have been written on the Australian bird.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—The subspecies which belongs on the North
American list breeds in the Salvage and Cape Verde Islands, in the
eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Other subspecies breed on islands in
Australian and New Zealand seas.
Range.—North Atlantic Ocean. Limits not well defined.
Casual records.—Accidental off the coast of Massachusetts (40°
34’ north, 66° 9’ west, September 2, 1885) and in Great Britain
(Walney Island, Lancashire, November, 1890, and Colonsay, Inner
Hebrides, January 1, 1897).
E9g dates.—Salvage Islands: One record, April 27. Cape Verde
Islands: One record, March 15.
Order STEGANOPODES.
TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS.
Family PHAETHONTIDAE, Tropic-birds.
LEPTOPHAETHON LEPTURUS CATESBYI (Brandt).
YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD,
HABITS.
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream, sweeping northeastward
across the Atlantic, produce in the little Bermuda group semitropical
conditions and bring thither this beautiful species of tropical origin,
which finds here ideal conditions for rearing its young in the numer-
ous recesses and cavities of the honey-combed limestone cliffs, so
characteristic of these islands. Mr. A. Hyatt Verrill (1901) writes:
The most striking bird of the Bermudas is the yellow-billed tropic-bird
(Phaeton americanus) ; or “Long Tail” of the natives. These beautiful crea-
tures arrive about March 25th, and within a few days become exceedingly abun-
dant. As many as 300 can frequently be seen at one time, flying about the cliffs
or skimming the surface of the wonderfully colored water, the reflection from
which causes their breasts to appear the most lovely and delicate sea-green.
They are very tame and unsuspicious, flying close to moving boats and breeding
everywhere, often within a few yards of houses or settlements.
The value of properly enforced bird protection is nowhere better exemplified
than in the case of this bird. A few years ago the tropic birds were threatened
with extinction from the Bermudas, whereas, since the passing of strict laws,
prohibiting killing of birds or taking the eggs, they have rapidly increased,
until at present the number breeding yearly on the islands is calculated at fully
5,000.
83969—22——_18
182 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Spring.—Dr. Alfred O. Gross (1912) has made a most valuable
contribution to the life history of this species, based on an exhaustive
study of its breeding habits during two seasons at the Bermudas. He
says of the migration: :
The tropic birds migrate from the West Indies and, except for occasional strag-
glers, none are to be found in the Bermudas during the winter months. This
annual migration flight is remarkable when it is considered that the birds must
necessarily fly over open water for a distance of more than 600 miles without
any landmark to guide them. The first tropic birds appear at the Bermudas
during the latter part of February, according to the fishermen and local observers,
but the great bulk of them do not arrive until the first weeks of March. Mr,
Mowbray, superintendent of the Bermuda Aquarium, while making a voyage to
Turks Island in 1909 saw on February 9 and 10 several groups of two or three
individuals each, which were flying in a direct course for the Bermudas. This
agrees with the supposed course of migration of the tropic birds and illustrates
the keen sense of direction and orientation which they must possess. These birds
would probably be admirable subjects for experimenting on orientation.
Nesting. —Of the nesting habits he writes:
Particular localities, especially on the south shore of the main island, seemed
to be preferred by many of the birds, At Elys Harbor and Tuckers Town
it was not unusual to find as many as 50-75 pairs nesting within a range of
less than 100 yards. The tropic birds are not, however, strictly gregarious,
for isolated nests about the islands of the sound were very common. The
So-called colonies probably exist because of many choice nesting sites, which
chance to be situated in the ‘particular locality, rather than to any gre-
garious or social instinct on the part of the birds.
The nature of the nesting site varies from that of the open places on the
shelf-like ledges to that of the inner end of a narrow and circuitous passage,
or the recesses of an obscure cave. In the two latter situations the presence
of the adult bird may often be ascertained by inserting a long pole into the
opening, which usually brings forth a shrill cry in response to the intrusion.
At Tuckers Town nests were found in shallow excavations in the side of a
high sand dune which ran along the shore. These cavities, which apparently
were made by the birds themselves, were in each case at the base of some
herbage, which to a certain degree shielded and protected the bird from the
intense heat and light of the sun.
The height of the nest above the water varies greatly; it ranges from a point
just above the high-water mark to one situated near the top of the highest
cliffs, perhaps 75 or 100 feet above the sea. At Elys Harbor some of the nests
were so low that during an unusually high tide accompanying a storm, they
were overwashed by the waves and filled with heaps of sargassum and other
sea weeds. The sargassum is found in many of the lower open nests, where it
is deposited by the giant waves during the severe tempests of the winter
months. No nesting material is ever collected by the birds, but the single egg
is deposited on the bare rocks or else on the mat of sea weeds already present.
Mr. W. E. D. Scott (1891) describes an interesting cave colony, at
Jamaica, as follows:
The cave where the birds were found had a very small entrance, about large
enough for a man to crawl into, in the face of the cliff. This was approached
only in the calmest weather, in a boat. The entrance led at once into a spacious
chamber of irregular shape. Going directly back from the mouth the cavern
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 25
Bermuda Islands. A. O. Gross.
Bermuda Islands. A. O. Gross.
YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 331
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 183
was some sixty feet deep. It was at its widest point some seventy or eighty
feet, and oval in shape as a whole. The bottom was covered with coarse sand
and gravel, and boulders of varying size, evidently having fallen from above,
were scattered thickly over this floor except, at the extreme back of the
eavern farthest from the sea. The height of the roof or ceiling, which was
of an uneven rough surface, was about twenty-five feet, and many bats were
hanging wherever the. projections or inequalities afforded them opportunity.
Toward the back of this chamber five birds were secured, each one sitting on
a single egg. The place chosen for the nesting site, for this is all it can be
termed, was in all these cases where two boulders on the gravelly floor lay
close together, just leaving room on the ground for ‘the birds to crawl between
them. Two birds were obtained in like situations that had not laid, and may
have been simply resting. The females were in every case the birds that were
sitting on tha eggs, and it was quite evident upon dissection that the single
egg forms the complement in these cases. The birds taken from the holes
in the cliff, and also those taken in this cave, were very tame, and were cap-
tured readily without attempting to escape. Later on the same. day a bird
was found with a single egg laid at. the bottom of one of the holes in the face
of the cliff.
Mr. Karl] Plath (1913) states that he found nests, on the Bermu-
das, “in the deep grass and also under small cedar bushes.” The
data sent out with certain eggs would seem to indicate that bulky
nests were made of grass, moss, and sea weed, but it seems more
likely that the egg was laid on a bed of such materiel already in ,
the cavity than that the material was carried in by the bird for nest-
building.
Lggs.—The single egg of the yellow-billed tropic-bird is variable
in appearance and often quite handsome. The shape is practically
ovate or short ovate; some eggs are more pointed and some more
rounded at the small end. The ground color is pinkish or dirty
white, but this color is more or less completely ( generally more) con-
cealed by profuse, fine specklings or cloudings of various shades of
“livid brown,” “vinaceous brown,” or “purplish drab” in an endless
variety of patterns; some eggs are very light in color, some very
dark and some are very much variegated; some are marked with
heavy blotches or splashes of the above colors.
The measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 54 by
38.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 60 by
40, 56 by 41, 50 by 37.5, and 51 by 36.5 millimeters.
Apparently two young birds are raised by each pair in. a season,
the first eggs being laid early in April and the second sets late in
June. The period of incubation is 28 days. Doctor Gross (1912),
says:
Both the male and female birds take part in incubation, and during this
period the egg is seldom left uncovered for more than a few minutes. The
birds take their turns at the nest, thus giving each other an opportunity ‘to
feed. In one case an adult was seen feeding, its mate while the latter was
brooding the egg.
184 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Young.—From Doctor Gross’s (1912) extensive notes on the de-
velopment of the young bird, J shall make only a few quotations;
he found that “the length of time spent by the young tropic-bird
in the nest extends over a period of 63 days, or about two months,
The time required for incubation, previously noted, is about 4 weeks,
making the complete period about 3 months. The adult birds remain
in the islands about 7 months, which affords them ample time to
rear two broods, but not more, during any one summer in Bermuda.”
Of the food and care of the young, he says:
The food of the young during the first 10 or 15 days consists of snails and
soft marine animals. In some cases it seemed to be merely the regurgitated
juices and semi-digested food from the gullet of the parent bird. When the
birds are between 15 and 30 days old, more than 90 per cent of the food
consisted of squids, the remainder being made up of small minnows and some
unidentifiable material. During the latter half of the young bird’s life fish
constitutes a large part of the food, although many squids, some of consid-
erable size, were present in nearly every specimen examined. The food is
transferred from a pouch-like gullet of the adult to that of the young by process
of regurgitation. This transfer of food is accompanied by a series of gulps,
strains, and wrigglings of the head and neck on the part of both birds.
The adult birds remain very closely with the young during the first ten
days. The little fellow is usually tucked in under the feathers of the adult
- and frequently sleeps with its head projecting through the feathers, just as a
little chicken does when it is brooded by the old hen. When the little creature
became restless the old bird uttered a series of low guttural sounds, which,
I assume, were intended as disapproval.
The young birds are unable to fly well when they leave the nest although
the wings have been exercised very frequently for some weeks. Those which
I observed leaped into the water from the edge of the nest and then made their
way out to sea by paddling. The young birds flopped their wings vigorously,
as if attempting to fly, but were never able to rise from the water during the
time I observed them. Such an event created considerable excitement among
the adult tropic-birds, which assembled to witness the affair. The young bird
while thus floating on the water may be fed by the adults, but more probably
depends on its stored fat until it gains enough strength to fly and fish for itself.
Plumages.—Doctor Gross (1912) describes the downy young, as
follows: “At the time of hatching, the young tropic-bird is to all
appearances a ball of fluffy down with its dark colored beak and
black feet standing out in marked contrast to the background of
white. It is only the region about the beak, the underparts, and the
middle of the back which are pure white, for the remainder of the
plumage, especially the crown, sides of the back and regions of the
wings, has a decided tinge of dull gray.” Not much change takes
place, except an increase in size, until the 16th day, when the first
feathers appear in the scapular region; “ by the end of the 35th day
the wing feathers, including the coverts, are well expanded and
now form, with the scapulars, a continuous band” and “ by the 40th
day the young is completely feathered, but down still shows about
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN !21 PL. 26
Bermuda Islands. A. O. Gross.
Bermuda Islands.
A. O. Gross.
YELLOW-BILLED TRopPic-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 185
the region of the head and rump.” The distinguishing features of
this plumage are well illustrated in the photograph reproduced in
the accompanying plate. Just how long this plumage is worn does
not seem to be known, but probably the adult plumage is acquired
before the end of the first year. Of the molts and plumages of the
adult I have been unable to learn anything.
Food.—Regarding the food and feeding habits of the yellow-billed
tropic bird, Doctor Gross (1912) writes:
The food of the tropic-bird consists chiefly of marine animals, which in the
majority of cases are secured by diving. The birds go on long foraging flights,
wandering, according to some observers, as far as 50 miles from land. On our
return trip to New York in 1910 a lone individual was seen which was estimated
to be 150 miles distant from Bermuda, and on June 25, 1911, I saw two of these
birds which were 200 miles from land. These are probably extreme cases, but
they serve to illustrate the unusually long excursions which the tropic-birds
may make in their search for prey.
The food contained in the gullets and stomachs of 5 adult specimens was
made up, for the greater part, of squids and fishes, especially small minnows.
In one of the stomachs there were a few fragments of a crab and a sea urchin,
as well as particles of material which could not be identified. Two of the five
kinds of fishes found belonged to a species of flying fish (HExocoetus furcatus and
Exonautes exiliens) which are common in the waters of Bermuda. It would
be interest'ng to know whether or not these flying fish are captured while they
are sailing above the surface of the water.
The adult birds are most active during the early morn'ng hours; it is only
occasionally that they can be seen feeding during the middle of the day, the
heat at that time being, perhaps, great enough to account for the diminution in
their numbers. :
The numbers remained practically constant until about 8.30 a. m., when there
was a uniform but rapid decrease, and by 11.00 a. m. there was only an occasional
tropic bird to be seen flying about. The birds were again active during the few
hours before sunset, but the numbers at this time never equaled those of the
morning hours.
The diving of the tropic-bird is remarkable in that the plunge is usually made
from a height of 50 feet or more above the surface of the water. The bird, after
sighting its prey, poises a second or two in midair by rapidly vibrating the wings,
meanwhile maintaining a gaze on its victim. It then turns quickly at right
angles and, with wings flolded, darts through the air with the swiftness and
precision of an arrow. Frequently this downward plunge takes the form of a
spiral descent. It is uncertain whether th’s spiral course is the result of a
voluntary act or not.
Behavior—tThe flight of the tropic-bird has been likened to that
of a large tern or a pigeon; it is entirely unlike any of the other
Steganopodes in all of its movements and seems to belong in a class
by itself; its flight is swift and graceful, accomplished by rapid wing
strokes. It is decidedly an aerial species and its feet have become
weak and abortive by disuse. Doctor Gross (1912) says of it:
The birds never walk upright, but the body is shoved along in a cumbersome
manner by their diminutive legs. The wings are often brought into service
186 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
for supporting and balancing the comparatively heavy body, which is scarcely
raised above the surface on which the bird is moving. On first leaving the nest
the adult bird leaps from the ledge and nimbly catches itself on the wing,
but sometimes, especially after being irritated or excited, it may fall to the
water before taking flight. When once poised in the air, the tropic-bird may
be classed with the most graceful of sea birds. They have a very characveriatic
movement when flying, which is very unlike any other bird I know.
Mr. Plath (1913) writes:
They spend much time in the air, and may be seen flying in graceful curves,
sometimes swooping in a spiral, with half-closed wings, to the surface of the
water, and often alighting there after a skim over the waves. In the water they
sit very high, with their tails held well above it. They frequently utter their
peculiar cry, which varies—sometimes a rasping t-chik-tik-lik or clik-et-clik-et ;
again, the noise produced by several birds in the air reminds me of the noise
of a greaseless axle on a wagon wheel.
‘Their manner of flight differs from most sea birds; the wings move much
more rapidly, and at a distance one might easily mistake them for pigeons,
as their long tails are not then conspicuous. Against the blue of the sky their
plumage is dazzling; but see them against the dark background of a cliff, and
they. appear of a beautiful pale green, due to their glossy plumage reflecting
the bright emerald of the water below.
Doctor Gross (1912) adds:
Among the enemies of the tropic birds are the colored natives, who molest
the nests of the birds in spite of the stringent bird laws of the islands. It is
probable the eggs collected are used as food. The robbing of nests for such
purpose is said to be common in the West Indies. The wood rat (Mus alexan-
drinus), however, is responsible for some of the mysterious disappearances of
the many eggs I had under observation. On one of my daily rounds to the
nests on Two Rock Island I caught one of these rats in the act of sucking an
egg. The greedy creature was allowed to finish his meal, after which be was
killed and preserved as evidence against his kind. I saw no other rats in the
act of molesting eggs, but no doubt they find the tropic-bird eggs a convenient
source of food.
Winter.—During the winter the tropic birds retire from their more
northern breeding grounds to the warmer climate of the West Indies
and farther south. They spend much of their time on the wing,
wandering far out to sea to feed; but as they must rest occasionally,
they return to the islands, where they rest by day and roost at night
in the caves and smaller cavities of the limestone cliffs. ‘Mr. Scott
(1891) says:
The birds appear every morning just after the sun is up and are then to be
seen in the greatest numbers. By 10 o’clock they have either gone far out to sea
to continue feeding or have retired to their roosting places in the cliffs. Their
absence is noticeable from about the time in the morning indicated until just
before sundown, when a few, not nearly so many as may be observed in the
morning, are to be observed flying along outside of the cliffs. The native fish-
ermen say that most of the birds return to their roosting places when it is
almost too dark to see.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [121 PL. 27
Isabella Island, Mexico. H. H. Bailey.
Galapagos Islands. R. H. Beck.
RED-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 187
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—On the Bermuda Islands, some of the Bahama
{slands (Great Abaco, Ragged Island Keys, Water Key, etc.), some
of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Porto Rico, etc.), and
some of the Lesser Antilles (Martinique, Dominica, St. Vincent, etc.).
Winter range—Tropical and southern oceans, from the Bahamas
and the West Indies southward, at least as far as Brazil (Fernando
Noronha) and Ascension Island. |
Spring migration.—Arrives in Bermuda from March 4 to 12 (some-
times in February).
Falt migration—Leaves Bermuda from September 27 to Novem-
ber 1.
Casual records.—Occasionally visits Florida (Dry Tortugas, 1832,
and Merritt’s Island, April 21, 1886; seen at St. Marks, May 25,
1919). Accidental in western New York (Knowlesville, September,
1876) and in Nova Scotia (off the coast, September 4, 1870).
E'gg dates—Bahama Islands: Seventeen records, May 13 to June
16; nine records, May 14 to June 11. Bermuda Islands: Seven rec-
ords, April 27 to August 12; four records, April 30 to May 12.
Jamaica: One record, February 27.
PHAETHON AETHEREUS Linnaeus.
RED-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD,
HABITS.
The tropic-birds are well named, for they are always associated
with those favored regions, where on the hot, sunny islands they find
genial nesting sites and in the warm tropical waters fruitful feeding
grounds. The red-billed species inhabits both oceans and is found
as far north as the Lesser Antilles on the Atlantic side and as far as
the Gulf of California on the Pacific coast.
Nesting. —Dr. E. W. Nelson (1899) gives the following account of
the nesting habits of the red-billed tropic-bird on the west coast of
Mexico:
Soon after landing on Isabel, a tropic-bird was found sitting on its’ solitary
egg at the end of a little hole in the rock close to.the beach. The hole was
only about 15 or 18 inches across and about 3 feet deep, so that there was no
difficulty in taking the bird by hand after a little maneuvering ‘to avoid its
sharp beak. During a stay of about 24 hours on this island at least 20 nests
containing eggs or young were examined. A-single egg is laid directly on the
rough rock or loose dirt forming the floor of the nesting site, which is always
located under the shelter of overarching rock, but varies greatly in situation.
The inner ends of holes in cliffs facing the sea were favorite places, but as the
number of such situations was limited, the birds were forced to utilize. small
eaves and even rock shelters. In one locality five or six nests were placed on
188 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
loose earth at the bottom of rock shelters so situated that I could walk directly
up to them and pick up the birds. Whenever a nest was approached the parent
screamed and fought viciously, ruffled its feathers and looked very fierce, but
made no attempt to escape. They protested with beak and voice when pushed
about, but as soon as I went away a few yards they would shuffle back to resume
their former position over the egg. The young, even when quite small, were
equally fierce in resenting any intrusion. One nest was found on the beach
under the edge of some great rocks that had fallen from the adjacent cliff. It
was only 5 or 6 feet above high tide and would have been overlooked but for
the angry cries of the old bird when she heard me walking over the roof of her
habitation, At sunrise the old birds were found sitting side by side at the
mouths of their nesting places waiting to enjoy the first rays of sunlight. Half
an hour later one of each pair started out to sea, while the other resumed its
place on the nest.
Col. N. 8. Goss (18882) found them nesting on San Pedro Mar-
tir Island, in the Gulf of California, where “the birds breed in
holes and crevices on the sides of the steep cliffs that overhang
the water; many were inaccessible.” The nests “ were without mate-
rial of any kind,” the egg being laid upon the bare rock. In the
Galapagos Islands Mr. Rollo H. Beck (1904) says that “on Daphne
Island they were common; several of their nests were in small caves
in the sandstone cliffs, being quite similar to the nests of duck hawks
in the islands along the Lower California coast. Usually they select
some crevice among the loose rocks for a nest, although on San
Benedicto Island of the Revillagigedos very often a burrow of the
wedge-tailed shearwater is used.”
Eggs.—tThe red-billed tropic-bird, like the other species, lays but
one egg, which in shape is short ovate, ovate or a little elongated.
What few eggs I have seen resemble eggs of the yellow-billed species,
but average a little larger and are more prettily marked, more evenly
and clearly speckled or spotted with “livid brown” or “ purple
drab.” Mr. H. H. Bailey (1906) says: “The coloring of a series of
eggs in my collection varies from a creamy dirty yellow ground
color, spotted with a darker yellow, to a dark red ground color,
spotted with a darker red.” Certain eggs look very much like eggs
of the prairie falcon or duck hawk.
The measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 56.4
by 41.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
63.2 by 46, 63 by 46, 50.5 by 39.5, and 51.5 by 36.5 millimeters.
Mr. Bailey (1906) says:
Both birds take turns in incubating and caring for the young, and during
this period the bird in the cavity is fed by its mate. The female, and some-
times both birds, is found in the cavity for three or four days before the single
egg is deposited. While graceful on the wing, this bird is most awkward on
its feet, and when alighting to look for a nesting site drags itself along like
a bird with both legs broken. * * * Two cases of removing their young
happened while I was on White Rock, both of them similar. Two old birds
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 189
and their single young were found in a cavity, and I took one old bird to
skin that night, expecting to get the remaining parent and young the next
morning. On returning the next day, great wags my astonishment to find the
two birds gone, and still further was it taxed when I found, after careful
search, the two birds in another cavity twenty to thirty feet away.
Plumages.—The downy young is covered below with short, thick,
white down, and above with long, soft, silky down varying in color
from “ecru drab” to “pale drab gray.” The first plumage to be
acquired is, in a general way, similar to that of the adult; there
is more black on the head, forming an occipital crescent; the black
bars on the back are broader; there are no long, central tail feathers;
and the bill is yellow instead of red. How long this plumage is worn,
or at what season the adult plumage is assumed, I do not know.
Food.—Mr. E, W. Gifford (1913) says of the food of this species:
The food of the red-billed tropic-bird, as shown by the stomachs examined,
consists of fish and squids. ‘These were very often disgorged by both young
and old when they were taken from their burrows. This species dives for
its food somewhat like a tern.
Behavior.—Of its voice, he writes:
Red-billed tropic-birds could be recognized at almost any time by their cry,
which is long and shrill and consists of a lot of short, high, rasping notes
given in quick succession. Birds flying about the nesting-places often gave it,
and birds disturbed on the nest also gave it. The young, when taken from the
nest, uttered the same cry, and I have even heard a young bird only a day or
so old give three or four notes of it when handled.
Doctor Nelson (1899) says that “ when disturbed on the nest their
eries are very shrill and strident, consisting of a series of short,
harsh, clicking, or rattling sounds something like the noise of an
old-fashioned watchman’s rattle.”
The flight of the tropic-birds is said to be not unlike that of the
terns, with rapid wing strokes; they must be graceful birds on the
. . . . . . a
wing with their long tail feathers streaming in the wind. They are
said to soar very high in the air at times, far above the boobies
and frigate birds. Mr. Beck (1904) thought that “their flight and
call as they wheeled and darted about the high cliffs closely re-
sembled that of the white-throated swifts in California.” He also
says:
“In this section of the world the tropic-bird wanders as far away from land
as the frigate bird. We found both this species and the red-tailed tropic-bird
more than 600 miles from any island.”
Mr. Gifford (1913) writes of the activities of the red-billed tropic-
bird as follows:
During the breeding season at Daphne Island I saw birds circling about
holes on the hillsides without beating their wings. Whenever they came
opposite certain holes they would flutter their wings to check their flight, and
190 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
come to a standstill for an instant, as though about to alight, but they would
continue their circle. This was repeated ten or twelve times before the bird
finally entered the hole. On Hood Island they usually went directly to their
holes without hesitation. \
Only twice in the archipelago were these birds seen on the water; once I
saw three off Daphne Island, and on another occasion one off Mount Pitt,
Chatham Island. In the latter case the bird flew as we passed and shook
itself just after getting out of the water. As far as we observed, the tropic-
birds are practically immune from the attacks of man-o’-war birds. On one
occasion only did I see man-o’-war birds harrass a tropic-bird, and then without
success.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—On some of the Lesser Antilles (St. Vincent,
Grenada, Bequia, Carriacou, etc.), off the coast of Venezuela (Or-
quilla and Los Hermanos Islands), and off the coast of Brazil (Fer-
nando Noronha). And on the Pacific coast, from the Gulf of Cali-
fornia (San Pedro Martir Island) southward along the coast of
Mexico (Tres Marias Islands), on the Galapagos Islands and on the
coast of Peru (San Lorenzo).
Winter range.—Tropical oceans, en the West Indies (Jamaica)
south to Brazil (Fernando N ororiha and Abrolhos Islands) and As-
cension Island; also from Lower California (Espiritu Santo Island)
south to Chile (Taltal).
Migrations—Not well marked and data very scanty.
Casual records.—Accidental in Bermuda (April, 1901), on the
Newfoundland Banks (August, 1876), and in the Cape Verde Islands
(January 23, 1832). Wanders north on the Pacific coast to southern
California (San Pedro Channel, August, 1916).
Egg dates —Tres Marias Islands, Mexico: Eighteen records, March
6 to April 23; nine records, April 9. Galapagos Islands, four records,
March 6.
SCAEOPHAETHON RUBRICAUDUS (Boddaert).
RED-TAILED TROPIC-BIRD.
HABITS,
This, the most beautiful of the tropic-birds, is the rarest of the
three in North American waters. It is an inhabitant of the tropical
regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, occurring, as a straggler
only, on the coast of Lower California.
Gould (1865) says of it:
This bird is very generally dispersed over the temperate. and warmer lati-
tudes of the Indian Ocean and South Seas, where it often hovers round ships,
and occasionally alights on their rigging. During the months of August and
September it retires to various islands for the purpose of breeding; among
other places selected for the performance of this duty are Norfolk Island, off the
coast of Australia, and Raines Islets, in Torres Straights, from both of which
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 28
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island. Cc. T. Albrecht.
: RED-TAILED TROPIC-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 191
localities I possess specimens of the bird and its eggs. As I had no opportunity
of observing it, I avail myself of the following information communicated to
me by Mr. Macgillivray:
“This tropic-bird was found by us on Raines Islet, where, during the month
of June, about a dozen were procured. Upon one occasion three were observed
performing sweeping flights over and about the island, and soon afterwards
one of them alighted. Keeping my eye upon the spot, I ran up and found a
male bird in a hole under the low shelving margin of the island bordering the
beach, and succeeded in capturing it after a short scuffle, during which .it
snapped at me with its beak, and uttered a loud, harsh, and oft-repeated
croak. It makes no nest, but deposits its two eggs on the bare floor of the
hole, and both sexes assist in the task of incubation. It usually returns from
sea about noon, soaring high in the air, and wheeling round in circles before
alighting.”
Nesting—The red-tailed tropic-bird is the common breeding spe-
cies on the islands of the Hawaiian group, where Dr. Walter K.
Fisher (1906) has given us the following information regarding it:
The red-tailed tropic-bird is fairly common on Laysan, where it nests under
the shelter of bushes and not infrequently several will congregate beneath
colonies of Fregata aquila, occupying the ground floor as it were. The bird has
a vicious temper, and if one attempts to disturb or to take it from the egg, it
sets up a horrible and discordant screaming, which soon grows unbearable.. The
sharp beak with serrated edges is not to be despised and the enraged bird will
sometimes use it to good advantage. The bow’s’n birds keep up their strident
cries so long as one meddles with them, but if left undisturbed will soon quiet
down. Whenever we inadvertently passed near one hidden under a cheno-
podium bush, we soon became aware of its presence by its cry of defiance. > _
The nest is merely a hollow in the sand, with a few grass straws and leaves
gathered in the bottom. The single egg is brooded by both parents, each of
which sits upon it with the wings slightly opened. We found one white,
downy, nestling and most of the eggs were considerably incubated.
We saw only one red-tailed bow’s’n bird near the French Frigate Shoals, but
on Necker they were rather common. Contrary to the very pronounced nesting
habits on Laysan, the species here has accommodated itself to the rocks and
lays its egg in any rounded cavity. One nest I examined consisted of old torn
feathers, a few stray sticks, and similar rubbish. The birds sat facing the wall
and were as noisy as usual when disturbed.
Mr. Edward Newton (1861) has published the following notes on
this species: i.
Round Island lies about twenty-five or thirty miles northeast of Mauritius,
and is about a mile and half long by a mile wide. The land rises at once from
the sea to about the height of a thousand feet, and is consequently very steep.
Here the red-tailed tropic-bird (Phacton rubricauda, Bodd.) breeds in very large
numbers. They are the tamest birds I ever saw and do not know what fear is,
They never attempt to leave their single egg or nestling at one’s approach, but
merely stick out their feathers and scream, pecking at one’s legs with their
beaks. It is the fashion on the island for visitors to remove the old bird from
its egg by a slight shove, and then placing the foot gently on its head to draw
out the long tail feathers. It resents this insult by screaming and snapping,
put never tries to escape by flying or shuffling along the ground; in fact, like
all birds which have their legs placed so far behind, they can not rise off a flat
192 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
surface but require a drop of a few feet to give them an impetus. One that
had an unusually tight tail I lifted up and held in the air by that appendage,
and it flapped in my hand until the feathers gave way, when it flew off, but
having left a young one behind, returned almost to my feet in two minutes or
so as if nothing had happened. They do not appear at all particular in the
choice of a place to deposit their single egg. They make no nest, but the shelter
of an overhanging rock or the protection of the arched roots of the Vacoa (a
species of Pandanus) seems preferred. On one occasion I found an old lady
asleep on her egg, and she was extremely indignant at being stirred up and
having her tail stolen. It is curious that I did not see a single egg without its
owner sitting on it, and perhaps one may hence presume that they feed at night.
In some places their nests were excessively numerous, their eggs or young
occurring every few yards. There were to-be found about as many young as
eggs, some of the former almost as large as their mothers, and nearly able to
fly, but I did not see a single immature bird that had started in life on its own
account, though I have no doubt many had already done so. Most of the eggs
had been incubated some time; in fact on blowing fifty or so of them I hardly
think that I found half a dozen fresh, the majority being within a few days of
hatching. I was rather short of baskets for carrying eggs, and consequently I
did not get as many as I might have done. Certainly I had been told that the
eggs might be picked up by the thousand, but I had not believed the statement.
This species is much finer and larger than the yellow-billed one (P. fldvirostris,
Brandt). Of this there were a few about the island, but I did not find a single
egg or see a bird on the ground.
Eggs.—The single egg of the red-tailed tropic-bird is similar to
that of the foregoing species, but it is somewhat distinctly spotted,
speckled, or scrawled on a clearer background, producing a hand-
somer effect. I can not improve on the following description by
Doctor Fisher (1906) : ,
The egg is particularly handsome, being thickly sprinkled with specks, spots,
and even blotches of reddish brown (liver brown), in most of the specimens
rather evenly distributed over the egg, but with an irregular dark area at the
larger pole in some specimens. The ground color is a dirty white, almost
obscured by the fine marks. Some examples have few spots, only fine sprin-
kling, so that the general tone of the egg at a distance is vinaceous. One
specimen is almost white, while two others are very heavily washed at the
blunt end with deep reddish chocolate. The eggs are ovate and a typical
specimen measures 67 by 45 millimeters.
The measurements of 36 eggs, in various collections, average 65.5
by 46.6 millimeters; the four eggs showing the four extremes measure
73.5 by 46.5, 67 by 51, 59 by 43, and 64 by 41 millimeters.
Plumages.—I have never seen the downy young. What few im-
mature birds I have seen would seem to indicate that the adult
plumage, including the red tail, is acquired during the second winter.
Gould (1865) describes the immature bird as follows:
The young birds for the first year are very different from the adults, being
of a silky white without the roseate blush, with the whole of the upper surface
broadly barred with black and with the black of the shafts of the primaries
expanded into a spatulate form at the tips of the feathers.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [21 PL. 29
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
BLUE-FACED Boosy.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 193
Food.— :
ise Raia makes the following reference as to the food of
eri Seige : ss 1e contents of the stomach consisted of the beaks of
ae . ‘i ave not been able to find any other references to its
Ww : :
> Which probably does not differ materially from that of other
tropic-birds.
Behavior.—Doctor Fisher (1906) refers to its flight as follows:
‘ = see these birds at their best one must watch them flying about in the
: ne t sunshine when their pale, salmon-pink plumage shines as though burn-
- ed, oo the satiny feathers stand out like scales, The two long, red tail-
eathers are possessed by both sexes, and the female is only a trifle less pink
than the male. Usually when flying about they were quiet, and progressed by
short, nervous wing beats, never attempting to sail. Occasionally, however,
they swooped about our heads and made the neighborhood lively.
I regret that, as I have never seen the red-tailed tropic-bird in life,
I can not add anything to the life history of such an attractive bird.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-——Warmer portions of the Indian and Pacific
Oceans. East to the Galapagos Islands. South to the Kermadec
Islands. West to Mauritius. North to the Bonin Islands and Lay-
san Island. Also on many intermediate islands.
Winter range.—Practically the same as the breeding range, extend-
ing north in the Pacific Ocean to the Linschoten Islands and Kru-
zenstern Rocks and south into New Zealand seas.
Casual records.—Taken once near Lower California, Guadalupe
Island, April 23,1897. This and the Laysan bird are now considered
subspecifically distinct from the birds of the Indian Ocean and Aus-
tralian seas (Scaeophaethon rubricaudus rothschildi [Mathews]).
Egg dates.—Bonin Islands: Five records August 15 and 27, Sep-
tember 14, and December 1. Galapagos Islands: One record, March
6. Laysan Island: One record, May 23. Mauritius Island: One
record, September 15. Lord Howe Island: One record, December 3.
Family SULIDAE, Gannets.
SULA DACTYLATRA Lesson.
BLUE-FACED BOOBY.
HABITS.
The blue-faced booby is an inhabitant of the tropical oceans, breed-
ing as far north as the West Indies, in the Atlantic, and as far as
joa Benedicto Island, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean.
Its principal breeding grounds seem to be on the islands of the
Hawaiian group in the mid-Pacific.
194 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Nesting—Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) has given us the following
account of the nesting habits of this species on Laysan Island:
On Laysan the masked, or blue-faced booby lives only on the sedgy slope
facing the ocean, exposed to spray-laden winds and close to the booming surf.
On the inner slopes of the island the species is entirely absent, being replaced
by its somewhat smaller congener Sula piscator. We found cyanops most
plentiful on the northeast, east, and southern exposures, where the narrow
littoral slope is broadest, but on the west side, where a little bluff replaces the
seaward slope, the birds are absent. The homes of these boobies are not
crowded, but are scattered here and there over the greensward and from a dis-
tance are easily recognized by a little round patch of sand and the sentinel
bird. Two limy, white eggs are laid on the bare sand, with usually no sem-
blance of a nest, or oc¢asionally there may be a little dried sedge scratched
about the eggs or young.
Dr. Thomas H. Streets found this booby breeding on Christmas
Island, though not very abundantly. He says (1877): “ They build
no nest, but scratch a slight concavity in the fine coral sand, where
the egg is deposited.” He speaks, however, of a nest he found on
Palmyra Island, which “was well constructed of grass.”
Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898/) writes of their nesting habits in the
Revillagigedo Islands as follows:
On May 19 we found some colonies of blue-faced boobys on Clarion Island, in
which there were fresh eggs and young birds, and even a few well-grown young
were seen. The nests were mere hollows in the coral sand, anywhere from just
above high tide to the top of the island, at 500 feet altitude. The nests were
all vigorously defended by the birds, who greeted our approach with deafening
shrieks and threatening bills. Indeed, their bill is not to be despised. It is
as sharp aS a bayonet and is wielded with no little force, as my shins could
testify after an hour’s collecting among the nests. If the Webster boobys re-
quired a kick to drive them from their nests, the blue-faced required a charge
of dynamite. I have repeatedly put my foot under a sitting bird—gently to
save the eggs—and thrown her as far as I could—with vigor to save my shins—
but before I could grab the eggs, was driven back by a shrieking demon in
snowy white that charged at me with agility surprising in so large a bird. On
one occasion a bird came in from out at sea and with a scream threw itself
between me and a sitting bird I was approaching, constantly moving about so
as to interpose its body between its nest and the threatening danger. The de-
fense being so spirited and gallant I concluded that the eggs were far ad-
vanced in incubation.
I several times found the present species sitting on large sea shells, which
in shape and size somewhat resembled their eggs. The “ boobies” seemed per-
fectly contented with the substitute, and I often supplied them with the
shells after taking their eggs. These they immediately tucked under their
breasts with their bills, and accepted the change as a matter of course. One
nest, from which I took one egg, was supplied with two shells. Both were
tucked away, but next day I found that one had been discarded. Others which
were incubating two eggs accepted two shells in exchange and were sitting on
them ten days later, when we left the island.
Eggs.—tThe set generally consists of two eggs, though sometimes
only one. The shape varies from ovate to elongate oval or short fusi-
U. SS) NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 30
Laysan Island. W.K. Fisher.
BLUE-FACED Boosy.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 195
form, according to Doctor Fisher: (1906). The ground color is very
pale blue or bluish white, but the egg is generally completely covered
with a thick coating of calcareous deposit which is dull white in color
and often much nest. stained; the surface is smooth and soft; the
coating is easily scraped off, showing the bluish tint beneath it.
The measurements of 41 eggs, in various collections, average 67 by
46 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 77 by
47, 65.2 by 48.5, and 60 by 40 millimeters.
Young.—Both sexes incubate, and while one is sitting the other
often stands on guard nearby. They are exceedingly tame or stupid,
merely hissing at the intruder when approached. Doctor Fisher
(1906) says:
It is a curious fact that although there are two eggs, only one young is reared.
Often all signs of the second egg were removed, as if the young had hatched and
had been devoured by a parent or some marauding Fregata. But more fre-
quently there would be one nestling and one egg. Sometimes this egg was spoiled,
sometimes contained an embryo. In one case I found two newly hatched young,
one of which had already been trampled to death. Professor Nutting saw one
large nestling and one small, still alive, but I doubt if it lived long. The presence
of only one young bird has been noted in the eastern Pacific at Clipperton Island
by R. H. Beck, and Rothschild mentions the same fact for Laysan. The voracity
of the bird first hatched is probably responsible for the death of the second.
The young bird nearly always keeps its head under the parent, although the
greater part of its body may be exposed to the sun. Both old birds take turns in
sitting on the eggs or watching the nestling. Occasionally both will be seen
standing guard together in an absurd statuesque pose, or gazing seaward or at
the sky on the lookout for winged marauders. From time to time they utter
a very hoarse strident cry.
The young are fed on semidigested food; the process is described
by Doctor Fisher (1906) as follows:
The young one inserts its head fairly into the throat of the parent, in a de-
cidedly gruesome manner, and catches the disgorged food. In fact, the young
one’s head went so far into the parent’s throat that I became solicitous for its
safety. Flying fish, swallowed whole, seem to be their favorite food, judging by
remains scattered about nests and a stomach examined.
When the old pirds exchange places, one slips off the nestling and the other
immediately takes its place, as if fearing an attack from a frigate bird. The
boobies appear to exhibit affection for their young. I have seen them gazing
at the fuzzy-white ball with evident pride in their otherwise stolid countenances,
and on one occasion saw an old bird carefully lay dry sedge over the exposed
and not too heavily feathered hind parts of the young.
Plumages—The young is covered with soft, thick, yellowish-white
down. The immature, or first year, plumage is described by Dr.
Thomas H. Streets (1877) as follows: “The brown color of the back
and upper surface of the wings has a grayish tinge; the head and
neck all around dark brown, as in S. Jeucogastra, except that the dark
color does not extend as far down. in the breast as in the latter.”
There is not sufficient material available to show the subsequent se-
196 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
quence of plumages, but apparently the fully adult plumage is not
completed until the second winter or later.
Food—Mr. A. J. Campbell (1901), referring to the flight and
feeding habits of this booby, quotes the following observation of Mr.
F. M. Hobbs, of Norfolk Island:
I think the gannet is the clumsiest on the ground of all the birds which fre-
quent this locality, but once it gets on the wing, it seems one of the proudest.
I have often watched them from the whaling boats darting down after their
prey. They descend at a wonderfully rapid rate, and must go to a considerable
depth below the surface of the water, for they keep under for a long time. The
fiying fish seem to be their favorite food, but I have never seen a gannet pursue
them while they (the fish) are flying.
Its most troublesome enemy seems to be the man-o-war bird, as the
following incident, related by Dr. Homer R, Dill (1912) will illu-
strate:
Not far from this spot we saw a man-o-war bird pursuing a booby which had
just returned from fishing, with a crop full of fish. At first it seemed as though
the booby would outfly its pursuer, but its load was too heavy. The man-o-war
bird overtook the booby, seized it by the tail, raised itself in the air, and
turned the booby completely over. Being thus rudely overturned the booby lost
control and quickly disgorged the contents of its crop, and the man-o-war bird
actually caught the fish as it came from the booby’s mouth.
Behavior.—Messrs. Snodgrass and Heller (1902), referring to the
habits of the blue-faced booby in the Galapagos Islands, say:
The most common note uttered by the adults was a loud quack. Occasionally
a sharp whistle was heard, but no special significance to this sound was observed.
The species was observed fishing at sea, 300 miles from the island, and it is
probable that the birds, in pursuit of food, daily travel more than 100 miles
from their breeding grounds.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—On some of the Lesser Antilles (the Grenadines,
[Battowia and Kick-em-Jenny]) and off the coasts of Venezuela (Los
Hermanos Islands), Colombia (Gorgonall Islands) and Yucatan
(Alacron Reefs). Formerly on the Bahama Islands (Santo Do-
mingo Key).
Birds which breed in various islands in the Pacific and Indian
Oceans, from the coast of Mexico westward have now been subdi-
vided into other subspecies.
Winter range.—Practically the same as the breeding range, within
30’ of the equator.
Casual records.—Said to be accidental in southern Florida. Taken
once in Louisiana (Avery Island, August, 1915).
Egg dates—Mexican Islands: Twelve records, March 20 to May
21; six records, April 26 to May 21.
BULLETIN 121 PL. 31
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
R. H. Beck.
Galapagos Islands. R. H. Beck.
BLUE-FOOTED Booey.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 1977
SULA NEBOUXII Milne-Edwards.
BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY.
HABITS.
This Species is one of several tropical and semitropical forms
which have been included in our check list because they are to be
found in Lower California, but nowhere else within our limits. I
have never been able to understand why this region should be in-
cluded within the limits covered by our check list, for politically
and geographically it is a part of Mexico and faunally it is much
more closely allied to that country than to our own. Including this
remote and narrow strip of Mexico adds to our list a number of
otherwise foreign species and subspecies, which few American orni-
thologists are ever likely to see.
Our information regarding the blue-footed booby comes from
those fortunate ornithologists who have visited the islands in the
Gulf of California and off the west coast of Mexico and the Gala-
pagos Islands. Our attention was first called to it by Col. N. 8S.
Goss (18882) who found it breeding abundantly on San Pedro
Martir Isle in the Gulf of California. It was described and named
in his honor, as a new species, under the name Sula gossi, but it was
subsequently discovered that the species had been previously de-
scribed as Sula nebouwit.
Courtship.—Mr. E. W. Gifford (1918) gives the following account
of the interesting courtship of this species:
At Finger Point, Chatham Island, inthe middle of February, there were
Several blue-footed boobies standing about in the vicinity of some old nests
three or four hundred feet above the ocean. Whenever a bird alighted, there
was a great deal of squawking and bowing and waddling carried on by it and
its mate. In latter March during the mating-season at Tagus Cove, Albemarle
Island, they were quite demonstrative, the mated birds seeming to talk to each
other, and managing to keep up an incessant racket. One of them as a rule did
considerable strutting about, lifting its feet very high with each step, and ap-
pearing to us very ridiculous. They made a very elaborate bow uttering one
or two short notes at the same time. With the breast almost touching the
ground, the neck stretched upwards, and the wings outspread but held verti-
cally, the ceremony of bowing would last for about half a minute.
Nesting.—In the same paper he refers to the nesting habits of the
blue-footed booby as follows:
The nest of this species was like that of the Peruvian booby, a mere de-
pression in the earth in which two eggs were laid. On Hood and Champion
Islands blue-footed boobies nested in the vicinity of the shore, sometimes along
the tops of cliffs, at other times close to the water. The birds at Hood Island
in September, 1905, were nesting beside white glazed rocks and in the broiling
sun, with no shelter whatsoever. Many of them were sitting on their nests
with mouth open panting with heat and thirst. On Daphne, they nested on
83969—22——_14
198 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the sandy floor of the crater, which is three or four hundred feet deep, and
very hot, as it is protected on all sides from the wind. Only one pair was
seen nesting outside the crater. At Tagus Cove they nested on the broad ledges
and tops of the low tufaceous cliffs.
The following notes on the time and place of breeding of the blue-footed
booby, taken in conjunction with the observations of other expeditions,
point to an almost continuous breeding season. We found eggs, young in
the down, and fully fledged young at Hood Island, in September and October;
both naked young and young assuming juvenal plumage at Hood in Feb-
ruary ; eggs, birds in down, and well-feathered young at Champion in October;
young in the down at Champion in February; naked young at Brattle in
October; eggs and downy young at Daphne in November; large young of
various ages at Daphne in July; fresh eggs at Tagus Cove in March; and
one large young one at Tower in September. There are two young hatched;
but by the time they reach the partially-feathered state, seldom more than
one has survived.
Mr. H. H. Bailey (1906) found the species breeding abundantly
on Isabella Island, off the west coast of Mexico, of which he writes:
All around our camp, which was pitched under the low bushes bordering
the little bay, were pairs of boobies, one or the other of the pair covering
the eggs while the mate stood close by. This, however, was during the middle
of the day, the fishing being mostly done before ten a. m., and after four in
the afternoon, during which time one or the other of the birds always re-
mained on the eggs to keep the gulls from stealing them. The poor boobies
had a hard time of it here, as the man-o’-war birds nested just back of
them in the bushes, and lucky was the booby who passed in the entrance of the
bay without having to disgorge part, or may be the whole, of its day’s
catch to this robber. Numbers of nests were on the sandy beach just above
high tide while others were still farther back under the shrubbery and below
the man-o’-war birds, and still another colony was situated on the top of the
rocky southwestern side of the island. All the birds were very tame, and
I think had not been molested since the expedition of the Biological Survey
in 1897, as Mr. Beermaker on landing in search of guano deposits in March,
1904, had not found them breeding at that time, nor had he disturbed them
in any way. When I first started in to get a series of eggs, I used my foot
to remove the booby from them, but after the first few attempts I found
that the sharp beak whenever it came in contact with my leg drew blood, and
almost penetrated through my cowhide boots, so I soon abandoned this
method. Two eggs were generally the complete set and but three sets of
three were discovered while on the island, and in some cases highly in-
cubated single eggs were found. In case of the latter I am inclined to think
the gulls had stolen one of the eggs after incubation had commenced. No
nest was made, a slight hollow being scratched in the sand or earth, while
those on the rocky side of the island simply deposited them on the bare
rock or on the little drifted earth that happened to be on its surface. During
the moonlight nights these boobies could be seen going and coming, and I
have no doubt their best catches were made at this time, as they were then
unmolested. by the man-o’-war birds. Single fresh eggs gathered by the
crew were made into omelets, but the flavor was rather rank.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1899) relates an amusing experience with these
birds in the same colony, as follows:
LIFE HISTORIES OF NURTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 199
About 10 o’clock the following night a visit was paid to the nesting boobies.
The night was calm, and taking a lighted candle I walked out a short distance
to an opening in the bushes where there were twenty or thirty nests. The
females were found on their eggs with the males standing close beside them.
When the strange visitor appeared in their midst the birds set up a continuous
series of hoarse cries and, like so many moths, seemed to become fascinated
by the light. They started up on all sides, and trooping within the circle of
bright light, began to run around me in a ring about 20 feet in diameter. They
ran in single file from right to left and presented a most ludicrous sight.
Occasionally one fell on its breast, whereupon the others scrambled over‘ the
fallen bird until it regained its feet and rejoined the procession. One of the
number was suddenly possessed with a desire to run around one of my legs,
and, although seized by the head several times and tossed out among its com-
panions, persisted in returning to the same place and continuing its gyrations.
Eggs.—The blue-footed booby lays usually one or two eggs, rarely
three, perhaps more commonly two. In shape they are usually
elliptical ovate or elongate ovate. The shell is more or less rough
or uneven, due to its chalky covering. The color of the shell is very
pale blue or bluish white, which is generally mainly concealed by a
thin chalky coating, which is dirty white and often much nest
stained.
The measurements of 62 eggs, in various collections, average 62.7
by 42.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
69 by 44, 68.5 by 48, 57.8 by 41.2, and 63.5 by 38.8 millimeters.
Young.—Incubation seems to be performed by the female alone,
but she is constantly attended by her mate, except when he is off
fishing, and is fed by him at the nest, as it is necessary for the eggs
to be guarded from their various enemies. Mr. Gifford (1913) says:
“The half-fledged young exhibited considerable pugnacity. When
one was shoved into a neighbor’s domain a fight ensued, the birds
seizing each other by the beak and then having a tug-of-war for
perhaps a minute.”
Plumages.—The downy young is pure white. Two young birds in
the United States National Museum, in one of which the head and
neck is still covered with white down, show the development of the
juvenal plumage. In this plumage the head and neck is variegated
or washed with “ pale. brownish drab”; the variegated effect is pro-
duced by the paler tips of the feathers, which are long and narrow;
the back and wing coverts are “sepia;” with whitish edgings on all
the feathers, producing a whitish interscapular saddle; the breast is
pale brownish, shading off gradually into the color of the neck; the
under parts are variegated or mottled with dusky, particularly on
the flanks. How long this plumage is worn or at what age the adult -
plumage is assumed does not seem to be satisfactorily shown by the
material available.
200 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Food.—The food of this booby consists principally and probably
wholly of fish. Mr. Gifford (1913) describes the methods employed
as follows:
The fish were almost invariably caught by diving, although an occasional
flying fish was chased and caught while in the air. It was a common thing to
see blue-footed boobies fishing in flocks, often all diving simultaneously. They
dive with wings half closed and neck rigid and straight, striking the water with
great force. As all would not get fish when diving in a flock, there was usually
considerable squabbling over captures. One day a booby was seen to enter the
water obliquely at a very small angle, appearing quickly on the surface again
and continuing its line of flight without a pause.
Behavior.—The same writer says of its actions:
When offshore and on a journey, the blue-footed boobies frequently flew in
single file, all following the undulations of the leader. On the south coast of
Albemarle Island, in May, they were noted flying toward Brattle Island each
evening. Single birds met with offshore usually circled about the schooner.
The birds noted about the bays and coves had the habit of continually looking
downward when flying, apparently in search of fish.
When not fishing, the blue-footed boobies frequently congregated on the low
black lava points which jut into the sea, the assemblages varying from two or
three to thirty or forty. Single birds and pairs are often seen standing on the
ledges and on the tops of sea cliffs. On south James they were seen in the
mangroves. It was not unusual to find them asleep in broad daylight. An
entire flock, however, was never caught napping, two or three birds always
being awake and on the lookout.
As to the migrations and the habits of the blue-footed booby when
absent from its breeding grounds, I can not find that anything has
been published.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—F rom the Gulf of California (San Pedro Martir
Island) south along the west coast of Mexico (Tres Marias Islands),
the Revillagigedo Islands (Clarion Island), the Galapagos Islands,
and on the coast of Peru (Lobos de Tierra Island).
Winter range.—Mainly near its breeding grounds. Ranges south
to Chile.
Egg dates—Mexican islands: Twenty-nine records, March 7 to
May 21; fifteen records, April 10 and 11.
SULA LEUCOGASTRIS (Boddaert).
BOOBY.
HABITS.
The common brown booby, or white-bellied booby, often called
the brown gannet, is a widely distributed species among the islands
of the tropical seas of both hemispheres. At the present time it is
known to be a North American bird merely as a straggler or an
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 121 PL. 32
Bahama Islands.
,
F. M. Chapman.
Bahama Islands.
Boosy.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332.
F. M. Chapman.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 201
occasional visitor on our coasts, though its breeds abundantly at
various localities in the West Indies.
Nesting According to Audubon (1840) it formerly bred on one
of the Dry Tortugas; I quote from his account of this colony as
follows:
About eight miles to the northeast of the Tortugas Lighthouse lies a small
sand bar a few acres in extent, called Booby Island on account of the number
of birds of this species that resort to it during the breeding season, and to it
we accordingly went. We found it not more than a few feet above the sur-
face of the water, but covered with boobies, which lay basking in the sunshine
and pluming themselves. Our attempt to land on the island before the birds
should fly off proved futile, for before we were within fifty yards of it they
had all betaken themselves to flight, and were dispersing in various directions.
The nest of the booby is placed on the top of a bush, at a height of from
four to ten feet. It is large and flat, formed of a few dry sticks, covered and
matted, with sea weeds in great quantity. I have no doubt that they return
to the same nest many years in succession and repair it as occasion requires.
In all the nests which I examined only one egg was found, and as most of the
birds were sitting and some of the eggs had the chick nearly ready for exclu-
Sion it is probable that these birds raise only a Single young one, like the com-
mon gannet or solan goose.
This account of Audubon’s has been discredited by some modern
writers, who think he must have been mistaken as to the owners of
the nests, because this species is known to nest only on the-ground
and to lay two eggs instead of one. But, as Audubon studied the
birds at close range and shot some 30 specimens, which he described
and figured accurately, I see no reason for doubting his statement;
moreover, Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1884) write that “Peale
found it breeding on nearly all the coral islands visited” by the
Wilkes exploring expedition, and that “the nests were constructed
of sticks and weeds on bushes and low trees, and were generally
found to contain but one egg.”
The best modern account of the habits of the booby on its breeding
grounds is by Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1908a@). His studies were
made on Cay Verde in the Bahamas, which he describes as follows:
Cay Verde lies on the eastern edge of the Columbus Bank, 30 miles southeast
of Little Ragged Island. It is about 0.5 mile long by 0.25 mile in greatest
width, the longer axis lying approximately north and south, and, roughly esti-
mated, contains some 40 acres. On the west and south, or shallow, bank sides
there are steeply shelving beaches, where under favorable conditions a landing
may be easily made. On the eastern side the deep blue waters of the ocean
break directly against the characteristic water-worn limestone rock, of which
Cay Verde, in common with other Bahama Islands, is composed. At the
northern end, where the islet terminates in a point, this rock is but little above
sea level. Southward it gradually increases in height and, with pronounced
irregularities in coast line, reaches a blufflike elevation of 75 feet at the
southeastern extremity of the islet.
About one-eighth of the surface of the island is covered with a dense growth,
chiefly of sea grape (Coccolobis uvifera), but with a liberal mixture, mainly
202 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
about the borders, of a “prickly-pear” cactus (Opuntia) and sea lavender
(Tournefortia gnaphalodes). Where sufficient soil has accumulated the remain-
der of the island supports a growth of coarse grasses, sparse on the higher and
rockier portions, more luxuriant in the lower portions, particularly about the
margins of a small salt pond, the size of which was dependent upon conditions
of tide and wind. There is no fresh water on the cay.
He remained on the island from April 9 to 11, 1907, and wrote a
full account of his observations, from which I quote in part:
A partial census of eggs and young led to the conclusion that there were
about 1,500 pairs of boobies nesting on Cay Verde. They were distributed in
several groups, where the comparatively level surface and sandy soil furnished
favorable nesting conditions. In most instances the young were covered with
down, with the brown second plumage more or less evident in wings and tail.
A few birds of the year were already awing, and several nests contained fresh
eggs. For the greater number of birds, however, the nesting season, as Bryant
has stated, evidently begins in February.
The booby’s nests on Cay Verde were usually slight hollows in the ground,
with often a scanty lining or rim of dried grasses, but in some instances even
this humble preparation for housekeeping was lacking, and the eggs were laid
without pretence of nest.
About 98 per cent of the boobies nesting on Cay Verde had young, some of
which were newly hatched, while a few were on the wing, but the largest
number were beginning to acquire flight feathers. Of the nests, 35 contained
eggs, of which 21 held 2 eggs, while in 14 there was but 1, but possibly in some,
if not most, of these another egg would have been laid. As a rule, therefore,
there were 2 eggs, this confirming previously recorded observations on the
nesting habits of this species. On the other hand, 2 young were the exception.
Of 740 nests counted by Doctor Mayer on the east side of the cay, only 2 con-
tained young, and both pairs were well grown and approximately the same size.
Examination of the eggs contained in sets of two showed that either there
was a marked difference in the development of the embryos or that one or both
eggs were infertile. For example, of 13 nests containing 2 eggs, in 3 nesta
both were bad; in 10 both were good; but with every good pair there was
about a week’s difference in the age of the embryo. In 6 nests, each contain-
ing one young and one egg, 5 of the eggs were decomposed.
With those bobbies which lay 2 eggs, apparently a week intervenes between
the laying of the first and second egg, and to this unusual irregularity, io
connection with the high percentage of infertility, we attribute the discrep-
ancy between the number of eggs laid and the number of young reared.
Dr. Alexander Wetmore has contributed the following notes on
another interesting colony of this species:
Off the west coast of Porto Rico, seven leagues from the port of Aguadilla,
lies the small island of Desecheo, hot and dry for a large part of the year, but
Swept occasionally by tempestuous downpours of rain. ‘The island is little
more than an isolated rock rising from the restless waters of Mona passage
with its treacherous changing currents, profound depths all about cutting it
off from other land connection. In shape it is roughly an ellipse a mile and
a half long and three-fourths of a mile wide with abrupt rocky shores and
steep slopes rising into two pointed hills, the highest about three hundred feet
above the sea, Three or four small indentations boast a rough gravelly beach
where with care a landing can be made in the surf and behind these are small
U. S, NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [21 PL. 33
Bahama Islands. F. M. Chapman.
Bahama Islands. F. M. Chapman.
Boosy. :
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 203
semicircles backed by water-worn cliffs on the landward side and floored
with sand and huge rocks fallen from the overhang above. The thin soil of
the island supports a considerable growth of vegetation, bound with thorny
creepers into an impassable jungle, with only small grass-grown openings
offering a Pathway. The West Indian birch (Bursera simaruba), with its
trunk and limbs curiously shortened, thickened and gnarled in the struggle
for life, is the common tree, while growths of three species of cactuses are
common.
On this interesting island, boasting of-but eleven resident avine forms, the
booby (Sula leucogastra) has chosen its home and here in June, 1912, I spent
a few days in studying the habits of these ungainly birds. Between eight and
ten thousand of them at a conservative estimate occupied the rookeries, spread
over the entire island, but they were so distributed on the steep brush-covered
slopes that a more accurate census was impracticable. Though they were seen
at the top of the higher of the two hills, the greater number were found within
four hundred feet of the beach, gathered usually in groups. By my fishermen
they were said to nest from late June until October, but these dates are very
uncertain, The young now were nearly all caring for themselves, though
a few showed traces of down feathers clinging to the tips of the feathers
about the head, and I would consider February or March a more probable date
for their nesting. A few were seen playing with sticks and straws as though
contemplating nest building, but the sexual organs of those taken were little
developed. Birds in all possible intermediate plumages were seen and im-
mature specimens were much more common than the fully adult with smooth
dark brown heads and white underparts.
The young birds were averse to flying when they could avoid it, but pre-
ferred to scramble away under the bushes awkwardly, falling over sticks and
stones in their haste. Even the adults could not take flight from a level sur-
face, but had to launch themselves from the cliffs and sail down for a dis-
tance before being able to rise with,strong wing beats. From the limbs of
the trees they flew readily, but on the ground I captured several by merely
pinning them down with my gun barrel. They showed little real fear of me
and many stood their ground, snapping and hissing, and it was a point of
wisdom to keep beyond reach of their sharp powerful beaks. It rather gave
me the shivers occasionally to see one flounder and flop through and over a
bed of prickly pear, but the birds seemed careless of the thorns. Numbers
were seen with spines or even small lobes of cactus hanging to the feet or
wings, and the dissemination of the plants by this means can be readily pic-
tured. At a gunshot there was a great rush among those near by, and the air
for a few minutes would be filled with them circling and crossing, frequently
almost within reach. The confusion among them would cease gradually, and
they would soon be all around again, eyeing me curiously or forgetful of my
presence, busy with their own affairs. On the rough limestone blocks above
the sea they sat in rows in the blazing sun, rather upright, occasionally
waddling along a foot or two, but usually motionless. Birds came and went
during the day, flying out to sea to feed, sometimes at considerable distances
off shore, but they were most active in the morning and evening. The com-
mon eall note was a loud quack quack quack, and at night, whenever I awoke,
there was always much commotion among them.
Eggs.—F rom the foregoing quotations it would seem as if two
eggs was the normal set with the common booby, but apparently
sometimes only one is laid. The eggs vary considerably in shape
204 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM,
and size, but usually they are elliptical ovate, elongate ovate, or
elliptical oval. The underlying color of the shell is pale bluish
white, but it is usually completely or nearly covered with a thin
layer of white calcareous deposit. In some eggs this’ deposit is
uneven, broken, or rough, but usually it has a smooth, clean, lustre-
less surface. P
The measurements of 40 eggs, in the United States National Mu-
seum and the writer’s collections, average 59.4 by 40.2 millimeters;
the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 41, 62 by 42.5,
52.5 by 40, and 56.5 by 34.5 millimeters.
The male assists the female in the duties of incubation, but the
period of incubation seems to be unknown. The behavior of the birds
during the incubating and brooding period is fully described by
Doctor Chapman (1908a) as follows:
One or both of the adults remain, as a rule, with the young. On March
9 the birds awoke at 5.15 a m., when for the ensuing 10 or 15 minutes there was
a subdued kind of quacking, and some birds were seen flying. At 5.30 several
hundred birds left the rookery in a body to go a-fishing, this being the first gen-
eral movement. Individuals returned at intervals during the day and evidently
changed places with the bird left at the nest, which in turn went out to feed
and to gather fish for the young. There was no concerted return movement
until dusk, when flocks of birds came in from the sea, the last comers not arriv-
ing until after dark. In the meantime the man-o’-war birds had retired, and it
is not impossible that the boobies have acquired the habit of “ staying out late”
to avoid being robbed of their food by the man-o’-war birds, which at times
attacked them as they approached the gay and forced them to disgorge. ;
Sitting or brooding birds spend the night upon the nest with the mates
standing at their sides, but the close resemblance of the sexes rendered it im-
possible to distinguish them at this time. When the young is too large to be
brooded, it passes the night on the ground between the two parents, which stand
on either side, all three with their heads tucked under their scapulars.
When perched on rocks about the border of the island, boobies showed a de-
cided fear of man and generally flew before one had approached to within
30 yards of them; but when on their nests they were conspicuously tame, the
degree of tameness being related to the advance of the nesting season. A bird
with newly hatched young would not, as a rule, leave the nest unless actually
forced to do so, and it would strike so viciously at anyone approaching that it
was well not to venture within its reach. This was the extreme development
of parental instinct, which now gradually diminished as the young increased
in size. Evidently as a result of excitement caused by our presence, the birds
which remained to defend their young threatened us with their bills, picked up
bits of sticks or grasses only to drop them and pick them up again, and even
struck at their own young in a confused and aimless manner. The young
also had this habit. The report of a gun occasioned but little alarm among
the boobies, some of which, with their young near my feet, did not: fly when the
gun was discharged.
In spite of the apparent sociability expressed by their communal habits, the
boobies immediately resented trespass on their home site by one of their own
kind. Where the nature of the ground permitted, their nests were placed with
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 205
more or less regularity 6 to 8 feet from one another. As long as a bird re-
mained within its own domain, having a diameter of approximately 6 to 8 feet,
it was not molested ; but let it or its young advance beyond these limits and they
were promptly attacked.
So closely, however, are the birds confined to their own little areas that dif-
ficulties of this kind are rare, and under normal conditions peace reigns in
the rookery. But when, as we walked through the rookery, the birds, in escap-
ing from the larger evil, forgot the lesser one and inadvertently backed onto a
neighbors’ territory, the unusual cause of the trespass was not accepted as an
. excuse and they found the “ frying-pan ” worse than the “ fire,” as the enraged
owner, with bristling feathers, furiously assailed them with open bill, sometimes
taking hold. At these times and whenever the birds were alarmed, they gave
utterance to hoarse, raucous screams or screeches, though as a rule they were
comparatively silent.
Young—Regarding the young birds he says:
The young booby is born practically naked, and since exposure to the sun
before the downy plumage is developed would result fatally, it is constantly
brooded, one parent immediately replacing the other when the brooding bird
is relieved. Brooding continues even when the white down is well developed
and the young bird, then too large to be wholly covered by the parent, lies flat
on the ground, the head exposed, the eyes closed, apparently dead. This relaxed
attitude is also taken by young which are not sheltered by the parent, and
we were not a little surprised on several occasions when about to examine
an evidently dead bird to have it jump up, and with a trumpeting call, blare
at us with open mouth. Nor do they rely only on the voice for defense, but
use the bill effectively, and, as has been remarked, they possess with the adult,
the somewhat ludicrous habit of venting their feelings by picking up bits of
stick and grass.
Compared with other rookeries I have visited, the mortality among young
boobies on Cay Verde—aside from the prenatal mortality already referred to—
was surprisingly small. This I attribute to the isolation of the cay, which
permits the birds to rear their young with little or no intrusion by man, whose
presence, even as a visitor, results in great confusion and consequent death.
among the young of ground-nesting colonial birds.
The young were fed on squids and fishes, which, in a more or less digested
condition, they obtained by thrusting their heads and necks down the parent’s
throat, a manner of feeding common to all the Steganopodes with whose habits
I am familiar (including Pelecanus, Fregata, Phalacrocoraz, and Anhinga). I
have not, however, seen Phaethon feeding its young, and it would be interesting
to know whether this tern-like member of the order has a’similar method of
administering food.
Evidently but one brood is reared, since approximately three months must
elapse after the egg is laid before the young can fly and care for itself.
Plumages.—The young booby is hatched naked, but the down soon
begins to sprout in the various feather tracts and shortly clothes the
whole body, head, and neck, except the naked face, with a pure white,
soft, woolly covering. The juvenal, or first real plumage, appears
first on the wings, the primaries coming first; the tail soon follows,
so that all the flight feathers are developed at:an early age and con-
siderably in advance of the body plumage; -the latter appears first
206 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
on the breast. Doctor Chapman (19082) describes the juvenal plum-
age as follows:
In the succeeding specimen the second or juvenal plumage is essentially com-
plete, except upon the foreneck, where it is just emerging. This bird is almost
uniform grayish-brown above; the upper tail coverts are slightly browner; the
exposed portion of the remiges andi rectrices show a somewhat frosted effect;
the primaries are decidedly blackish ; the lower breast and abdomen are grayer
than the dorsal plumage; the upper breast (with which the throat feathers
would apparently agree) is decidedly browner.
This plumage is apparently worn for about a year or until the
first complete postnuptial molt. I have seen young birds in this
wholly brown plumage in July, September, January, and March and
have seen birds molting out of this plumage and into the white-
bellied adult plumage in May, in July, and in September. Young
birds therefore probably become indistinguishable from adults when
about a year and a half old.
The smal] amount of material available for study makes it difficult
to arrive at any satisfactory conclusions as to the sequence of
plumages and molts of this species. I have seen but one adult in
full molt; this is a July bird in which the primaries are in such con-
dition that the bird must have been practically incapable of flight.
Food—The food of the booby consists almost entirely of fish,
chiefly flying fish and mullets, many of them of large size, which it
is very expert in catching by diving. Audubon (1840) says:
The expansibility of the gullet of this species enables it to swallow fishes
of considerable size, and on such occasions their mouth seems to spread to an
unusual width. In the throats of several individuals that were shot as they
were returning to their nests, I found mullets measuring seven or eight inches,
that must have weighed fully half a pound.
Mr. Austin H. Clark (1903), writing of the habits of this species
on the Venezuela coast, says:
They seemed to approach the land solely for the purpose of feeding, after
which they withdrew to open water. Just off Carfpano there was a certain
spot to which every day came hundreds of sea birds of many species to fish.
Over one-half of this congregation were common brown pelicans and most of the
rest were these gannets. Overhead soared a score or more frigate birds, while
various gulls and terns composed the remainder. All the larger members of
this vast flock acted in perfect unison, wheeling about until a sufficient altitude
was obtained, all diving with a great splash, then all slowly rising again to
repeat the performance,
Single boobies may often be seen fishing in company with solitary pelicans,
imitating in every way the actions of their larger companions, diving at the
same time, and rising simultaneously. Mr. Outram Bangs has suggested to me
that perhaps the booby, being smaller and more active, finds a good fare in
the fish which the uncouth pelican fails to catch,
Dr. Henry Bryant (1861) says of its feeding habits:
The booby is, I think, the most expert diver that I am acquainted with; no
matter in what position it may be, whether flying in a straight line, sailing
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 207
in a circle, just rising from the water, or swimming on the surface, the In-
stant it sees its prey it plunges after it. I have frequently seen one dive from
the wing, rise to the surface, and dive in rapid succession five or six times;
and on taking flight again, dive before it had risen more than two or three
feet from the surface, and perhaps catch a dozen fish in the space of a minute.
There is nothing graceful in its style; it is apparently work and not pleasure.
On one of the keys I visited, called Booby Key, near Green Key, I saw a great
number of a species of Anolis of a dark, almost black color, entirely unlike any
seen elsewhere, but they were so timid and active in their movements that I
could not procure a specimen. The stomach contained a great many varieties
of fish; among them a cottus, a parrot fish, flatfish of two species, and some
large prawns; but their principal food seemed to be flying fish and a species
of hemirhamphus.
Behavior—Audubon (1840) describes its flight, as follows:
The flight of the booby is graceful and: extremely protracted. They pass
swiftly at a height of from twenty yards to a foot or two from the surface,
often following the troughs of the waves to a considerable distance, their
wings extended at right angles to the body; then, without any apparent effort,
raising themselves and allowing the rolling waters to break beneath them,
when they tack about, and sweep along in a contrary direction in search of
food, much in the manner of the true petrels. Now, if you follow an individual,
you see that it suddenly stops short, plunges headlong into the water, pierces
with its powerful beak and secures a fish, emerges again with inconceivable
ease, after a short interval rises on wing, performs a few wide circlings, and
makes off toward some shore. At this time its flight is different, being per-
formed by flappings for twenty or thirty paces, with alternate sailings of
more than double that space. When overloaded with food they alight on the
water, where, if undisturbed, they appear to remain for hours at a time,
probably until digestion has afforded them relief.
The booby is usually a silent bird, but when excited it is said to
utter loud and raucous cries which have been likened by various
observers to the croak of a raven, the honk of a goose, or the hoarse
quack of a duck.
Undoubtedly the booby’s worst enemy is the man-o-war bird, to
which it pays frequent and regular tribute, but Audubon (1840)
says: “Their principal enemies during the breeding season are the
American crow and the fish crow, both of which destroy their eggs,
and the turkey buzzard, which devours their young while yet un-
fledged.”
Winter—After the young birds are able to fly the boobies leave
their breeding grounds and begin their fall and winter wanderings
up and down the coasts, following the schools of fish, on which they
feed. These wanderings, which can hardly be called migrations,
sometimes take them as far north as Massachusetts.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—The Bahama Islands (Cay Verde, San Domingo
Key, Berry Islands, etc.) ; some of the West Indies (Porto Rico,
208 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Jamaica, St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Vincent, Battowia, etc.) ; the
Cayman Islands; off the coasts of Venezuela (Los Testigos and Los
Hermanos Islands), Honduras (Belize and Swan Islands), Costa
Rica (Uvita Island), and Brazil (San Paulo and Fernando No-
ronha) ; and in the tropical Atlantic Ocean (St. Paul Rocks and
Ascension Island). Birds which breed on islands in the western
Pacific and the Indian Oceans are probably subspecifically distinct.
Breeding grounds protected on Desecheo Island reservation, Porto
Rico.
Winter range.—The Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic
Ocean, from the Bahamas and Florida south to the Straits of Magel-
lan and Ascension Island.
Casual records Has wandered to Massachusetts (Cape Cod, Sep-
tember 17, 1878), Bermuda (October 3, 1847, and September 26,
1875), and Louisiana (below New Orleans, two taken in September,
1884).
Egg dates——Bahama Islands: Sixteen records, January 14 to June
12; eight records, April 15 to May 19.
SULA BREWSTERI Goas.
BREWSTER BOOBY.
HABITS.
This species is in much the same class geographically as the blue-
footed booby; neither would be included in our fauna except for the
inclusion of that extra-limital strip, Lower California. It somewhat
resembles Sula leucogastris and takes the place of that species on the
Pacific coast of Mexico.
Nesting.—It was first described by Col. N. S. Goss (18882), who
found it breeding on San Pedro Martir Isle in the Gulf of California;
he says of its breeding habits:
The birds were not wild, but their nesting places as a whole were not in as
exposed situations as those of the blue-footed ; they seemed to prefer the shelves
and niches on the sides of the rocks. They lay two eggs, and in all cases collect
a few sticks, seaweed, and often old wing or tail feathers; these are generally
placed in a circle to fit the body, with a view, I think, to keep the eggs that lie
upon the rock from rolling out. There is but little material on or about the isle
out of which a nest can be made.
The birds must commence laying as early as the 10th of February, for I found
in many cases young birds from half to two-thirds grown—white, downy little
fellows with deep bluish black skins—that, in places where they can, wander
about regardless of the nests where they were hatched.
Mr. H. H. Bailey (1906) gives us the following account of the
habits of the Brewster booby on the west coast of Mexico:
This species was common along the coast of San Blas, roosting on the small
rocks near the shore and on a large white rock some ten miles west of San Blas,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 209
called Piedra Blanca, but on none of these rocks did they breed. All the birds in
this section belonged to the colony breeding on White Rock, and many traversed
the sixty miles back and forth daily from their nesting and roosting place on the
rock to their feeding grounds near the coast. Never did I see a blue-footed booby
in this section; hence my assertion that the Brewster boobies went east and
south from their colony to fish, while the blue-footed boobies went northward.
Thousands of these boobies were roosting on White Rock and some few had been
laying previous to our arrival, but as the workmen had robbed the nests as fast
as eggs had been deposited, the birds had become disgusted and stopped laying
for the time being, although they still continued to use the rock as a roosting
place. It was the guano from this countless flock of birds, which probably had
been breeding there for centuries, that the men were engaged in collecting. Dur-
ing the day when not fishing they roosted on the sides of the island, and when
the men left the top to come down to supper at six, they returned to the top of
the island to roost and make their so-called nests. Many an evening, as I sat at
my skinning table or in front of camp waiting for supper, have I watched these
birds as they came in from their day’s fishing excursion. From about five o’clock
on, as far as the eye could reach, could be seen small flocks of from four to
twenty making for the island, and after circling half around it, would generally
alight on the top, but a few preferred to roost in the caves in the cliffs of the
island.
Numerous visits to the top of the rock were made at night after specimens,
and a series of some seven pairs were procured by walking up to them while
asleep and selecting individual birds as I chose. I had seen colonies of birds
before, but none like this, and the sight certainly made one take a long breath.
The whole island surface was literally covered with birds, some with their
heads and necks stretched out along their backs, sound asleep, some picking
up bits of bone, long wing feathers, grass, and small chips of stone and guano
to form nests with, while others sat on little piles of heaped-up guano with the
neck ‘stretched upward watching the approach of a bird about to alight, as if
hoping it might be its mate. They always seemed to roost in pairs, each pair
always separated, as were also the nests, by enough space to be out of reach
of their neighbor’s sharp beaks. It was truly a weird sight. in the starlight,
and the low, hissing sound from the birds that were awake, with the shadowy
forms floating through space, reminded one of a graveyard.
One of the most amusing sights I ever saw was the regular “ Mexican cock
fight,” between males of this species. This combat was, I imagined, over the
unmated females, or some single male trying to steal a female from another,
and started in this fashion: A male in alighting commenced to strut. around,
craning his long neck and uttering a low, hissing sound, and on coming near to
some mated pair, or some other male also trying this mode of courting, would
suddenly stop. Both males now squatted low on their short legs, their breast
sometimes touching the ground, while their long necks were craned upward in
a double bow. No regular cock fight could be more complete or interesting.
While they did not use their feet, their long wings and sharp beaks were thrust
out at their rival, and occasionally they met with open beaks, which became
locked together in the struggle. Sometimes one would catch the other by the
wing, while he retaliated by getting his adversary by the neck, these cases
often proving fatal to one or the other of the combatants. Over all this scene
was the ever-present smell from the guano, which one must get. accustomed to
if he would study bird life on an island in the Pacific. Birds with broken
wings, as well as those with little strength, were at daybreak quickly put out
of the way by the Caracaras, and the gulls made part. of their morning meal
of these poor unfortunates. .
210 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1899) describes a breeding colony of this species
as follows:
Only a few of these boobies were seen about the Tres Marias until an islet
was visited off the northwest shore of Maria Cleofa. This islet rises from 150
to 200 feet above the sea, with cliffs on all sides. The summit is mainly rolling,
with an elevated, sloping bench on one end. At this time, May 30, many
thousands of boobies were breeding on the bare top of this rock. Ths eggs
were laid directly on the surface, with no sign of a nest. The sun was in-
tensely hot and heated the rocks so that they were uncomfortably warm ta
the touch. The birds did not sit upon the eggs during the hottest hours, but
while standing to avoid contact with the heated rocks kept in such position
that the eggs or young were shaded from the sun, and thus had their vitality
preserved. While trying to secure photographs of this breeding ground a few
of the old birds flew away, and it was surprising to see how quickly the newly-
hatched young succumbed to the heat when the parents left them exposed to the
rays of the sun. The nests were spaced at intervals of 4 or 5 feet, so that
the old birds were safely out of reach of one another. Although so gregarious
in their breeding habits, they appeared to have but little regard for one another.
It was amusing to see the savage way in which the nest owners assisted in-
truders of their own kind out of their territory. While we were walking among
them some of the birds would often waddle off to one side, and in so doing
necessarily trespassed on their neighbors. The latter at once raised a hoarse
shrieking and set upon the outsiders with wicked thrusts of their beaks, which
continued until the victims took wing and escaped.
We were also subjects of this proprietary rage, and had our legs nipped
every now and then, despite all efforts to walk circumspectly. Our progress
over the breeding ground was accompanied by a wave of horse nasal cries that
sometimes became almost deafening. Many of the birds were valiant upholders
of their rights and sturdily refused to leave their nests, which they defénded
vigorously, all the time uttering loud cries of rage.
Eggs.—The Brewster booby lays ordinarily two eggs, but some-
times only one. The eggs vary in shape from ovate to elliptical ovate.
In appearance they are indistinguishable from the eggs of other
boobies; the color, bluish white, is obscured by a chalky coating,
which is dirty white, rough and often much stained.
The measurements of 45 eggs, in various collections, average 61
by 41.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 66
by 42, 65 by 45, 53.6 by 40, and 59.7 by 37.5 millimeters.
Plumages.—The young booby is hatched naked, but soon becomes
covered with pure white down. The series of young birds in col-
lections is too limited to throw much light on the sequence of
plumages to maturity, but apparently an immature plumage is worn
for at least a year; this plumage is described by Doctor Nelson (1899)
as follows: “Dorsal surface uniform dark brown slightly paler than
back of adult; entire lower surface still paler and more dingy brown.
Feathers over much of body, especially about head, neck, and lower
parts, narrowly edged with grayish brown, giving a faint wavy
barring.” A male bird in this plumage was taken on April 23,
which was evidently a bird of the previous year, and several others
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12l PL. 34
Laysan Island. C. T, Albrecht.
Laysan Island.
W. K. Fisher.
RED-FOOTED Boosy.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 332.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 211
like it were seen. Apparently the immature plumage is worn for
at least a year; but nothing further seems to be known about the
molts and plumages of this species.
Nothing more seems to have been published regarding its life
history and probably not much more is known. It probably does
not differ materially from other boobies in its habits.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—Islands off the Central American coasts, from
the head of the Gulf of California (San Pedro Martir and Georges
Islands) south to Costa Rica (Cocos Island).
Winter range.—Practically the same as the breeding range, but
including the Galapagos Islands.
Egg dates.—Mexican islands: Twenty-one records, March 7 to
May 18; eleven records, April 1 to May 1.
SULA PISCATOR (Linnaeus).
RED-FOOTED BOOBY,
HABITS.
This is another widely distributed species on the tropical coasts
and islands of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, which is
perhaps even better known than the common booby. As an Ameri-
can bird its status is rather unsatisfactory and it seems to have a
very slim claim to a place on our fauna. It undoubtedly occurs
occasionally, perhaps more often than we suppose, on the coasts of
Florida, but the only specimen from that region, so far as I know,
is one of somewhat doubtful status presented by Audubon to the
Philadelphia Academy. This is an immature bird in variegated
plumage; it may not be this species at all; moreover there is con-
siderable doubt as to its having been taken in Florida.
Nesting—Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) has given a good account
of the breeding habits of the red-footed booby in Laysan Island,
from which I quote, as follows:
Unlike its relative, the masked gannet, this species always builds in bushes,
never on the ground. At Laysan it is found in colonies of scattered indi-
viduals on the inner slopes of the island, usually well down toward the lagoon.
’The nest is simple, scarcely more than a slightly hollowed platform composed
of twigs and sticks of chenopodium, on the tops of which the structure is
usually placed. In the newer nests a few leaves are scattered under the egg.
These leaves were a rude index to the age of the egg, for when dry and crisp
the bird had been sitting some time, but when fresh, as was frequently the
case, the egg was only newly laid.
Both male and female sit on the eggs, and occasionally one is seen perched
on the side of the nest while the other is brooding. The birds are rather loath
to leave their egg, and when disturbed ruffle their feathers and utter a
212 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
very harsh cry, making use of their beaks if occasion offers. They are
singularly beautiful birds despite their vicious yellow eyes, as the white
plumage is set off by bright blue skin about the bill, and by coral-red feet.
Dr. Thomas H. Streets (1877), writing of the birds of the Fanning
Islands, in the North Pacific Ocean, says:
On Palmyra Island, their principal breeding-place, the period of their incuba-
tion was over at the time of our visit in December, but the young were not
yet fledged. The latter were very numerous; they covered the trees and bushes,
and looked like great balls of snow-white down. The nests are rudely con-
structed of coarse twigs, and are built on the low trees.
We arrived at Christmas Island one month later, in January, and there we
found the gannets still sitting on their eggs; few or no young were to be seen.
This difference is probably induced by the physical conditions surrounding
them. One of the islands is situated almost directly on the Equator, exposed to
the fiercest rays of a tropical sun; it is devoid of fresh water, and it rarely
or never rains; the vegetation is scanty and stunted, and life in general
has a very unequal struggle for existence. On the other island, Palmyra, a con-
dition of things directly opposite to these exists. The gannets of Christmas
Island have a very curious habit, which, as far as our observations extended,
is confined to those of that island. Under their nests, which were quite low on
account of the stunted condition of the shrubbery, were mounds one and two
feet high, built of twigs, and in some instances solidly cemented together by
their excrement. It probably affords them diversion during the monotonous
period of incubation to break off all the twigs within reach of their bill,
and to drop them under their nests. These mounds furnish evidence of the
nests being occupied for sever‘al successive years, for the lean bushes could not
furnish a sufficient amount of twigs to build them up in a single breeding
season.
F'ggs.—The red-footed booby lays ordinarily only one egg, but,
according to published accounts, two eggs are very often found in a
nest. Only a single brood of one or two young is raised in a season.
The shape varies from “elliptical ovate” to “elongate ovate,” in
average specimens, but extremes are “cylindrical ovate” or “short
ovate.” The color of the shell, where it can be seen, is pale bluish
white, but the egg is so completely covered with a thick, rough coat-
ing of calcareous deposit that the underlying shell is nearly or quite
concealed. This outer coating, which was originally white, is usually
much nest stained and dirty; it is rough and lumpy and badly
scratched, cracked or peeled off in spots, giving the egg a far from
attractive appearance. ;
The measurements of 38 eggs, in various collections, average 62.7
by.41.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 72
by 48.5, 59 by 40.5, and 69 by 35 millimeters.
Plumages.—Incubation is shared by both sexes and the period of
its duration is said by Campbell (1901) to be 45 days. The young
bird is hatched naked, but soon becomes covered with a coat of white
down. By the time that the young bird has become fully grown the
down has been replaced by the first plumage; the wings are the first
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 213
to develop and enable the young bird to fly at an early age., This
juvenal plumage is too variable in shade to definitely name the colors,
but in a general way it is sooty brown above, including the wings
and tail, and lighter or drab below; there is no white in this plumage
at first. The changes that take place subsequently are not well under-
stood, nor is it definitely known how long it takes to complete the
changes. Until more material is collected for study we can make
only a provisional guess at. what takes place. Apparently some prog-
ress is made during the first year, either by a prenuptial molt or by
a more or less continuous molt during the year, for young birds seem
to acquire considerable white before they are a year old. Probably
no white is acquired before the first prenuptial molt, which seems to
be quite extensive. Doctor Fisher (1906) describes a young bird,
which was probably about a year old, as follows:
Whereas the adult is pure white, except the dark grayish-brown quills and
greater wing coverts, this immature bird, in much-worn plumage, has the head
and neck hair brown, the feathers edged with whitish; throat the same; jugulum
white; a sepia band across breast ; abdomen white; back deep bister, the feathers
edged with wood-brown ; wing coverts and tertials sepia, edged with light brown;
rectrices same, tipped with white; remiges brownish black. The immature in-
dividuals must belong to a late brood of the previous. year.
At the next molt, the first postnuptial, another brown plumage
somewhat darger than the first is acquired on the upper parts, with
probably an increasing amount of white on the under parts, head,
and neck; probably the white tail, rump, and under tail.coverts are
assumed at this molt, but perhaps not until the next molt, the second
prenuptial.
In this second nuptial plumage, in which the tail, lower back,
rump, vent, and both tail-coverts are white, birds have been fre-
quently found breeding. Mr. M. J. Nicoll (1906) noted that on
Glorioso Island “at least 90 per cent of the gannets are brown-
plumaged birds with white tails.” Although these white-tailed
brown birds are generally conceded to be Sula piscator and are so
labeled in collections, I have always had a lurking suspicion that
they might represent a distinct species and that perhaps Mr. C. J.
Maynard (1889) was justified in naming them Sula coryi.
Probably during the following year, the third year of the bird’s
life, the adult plumage is fully acquired; I have seen -one bird, ap-
parently about three years old, collected on July 25, which is in
worn adult plumage except for some dusky mottling on the back.
This bird, which had not yet molted, would probably have assumed.
the fully adult plumage at the next molt, the third postnuptial.
T have seen immature birds undergoing the postnuptial molt as early
as July 25, as late as October 9, and at various intermediate dates.
Adults I have seen molting in June and in August. Undoubtedly
83969—-22——15
214 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the postnuptial molt is complete, and probably the prenuptial molt
includes everything but the wings.
Food.—The food of the red-footed booby consists of various fishes
and squids. -
Behavior.—Mr. E. W. Gifford (1913) writes of the habits of this
species as follows:
When a bird alighted at its nest or beside its mate it craned its neck and,
swinging its head from side to side, uttered a long, harsh, cackling call con-
sisting of a short guttural note repeated fifteen or twenty times in quick suc-
cession. This ca]] resembled somewhat the call given by the man-o’-war bird
when on the nest, only that it was harsher. At Cocos Island the birds in the
trees kept up a continual loud cackling noise,
When these boobies were asleep or pluming themselves in some tree, a per-
son could walk right up to them before being noticed. They usually straight-
ened up with a startled expression, often uttering a short squawk of surprise.
If one continued to disturb them they would squawk vociferously and try to
fly away, frequently floundering about among the branches.
' The flight of the red-footed booby is more graceful than that of the blue-
faced and the Peruvian, and somewhat resembles that of a large shearwater.
When in the vicinity of Cocos Island and of Clarion Island, flocks of red-
footed bocbies were seen flying away from the islands in the morning and
toward them in the evening. The flocks contained from six to fifteen birds.
The birds fly with the same gentle, wave-like rise and fall that characterizes
the flight of other members of this genus. The wing-strokes occur on the rise;
on the downward swing the bird sails, in calm weather often going several
yards very close to the surface of the water. The members of a flock are prac-
tically synchronous in every action.
In fishing, the red-footed booby pursues the same tactics as the blue-footed,
diving, with wings half closed and rigid, from a height of twenty or thirty
feet. On one occasion, however, I saw one catching flying-fish on the wing
by swooping into schools which were skimming along above the water.
Winter.—At the close of the breeding season the birds disperse
and scatter out over the ocean, congregating at times in large num-
bers where schools of fish are to be found. A: striking picture of
their winter activities is furnished by Mr. Outram Bangs (1902) as
follows:
On February 12, 1895, occurred the second terrible “freeze” of that mem-
orable winter. At the time I was at Oak Lodge, on the East Peninsula of the
Indian River, opposite Micco. For several days thereafter the weather con-
tinued to be very cold and unsettled, with high winds that drove the water out
of the Indian River to such an extent that it was impossible to cross it in a
boat, and culminated on February 16 in a northeasterly gale accompanied by
rain, of a violence seldom attained on the east coast of Florida in winter. About
10 o’clock of that morning (February 16, 1895), Mrs. Latham came into the
workshop where I was skinning my morning’s catch, thankful to be indoors
again out of the storm, and told me she had just been at the beach and had
seen a great many birds there, among them what she thought were gannets,
fishing in the breakers. I instantly took my gun and started along the trail
through the palmetto hummock, fighting my way foot by foot against the
fury of the wind and rain. On arriving at the beach I was greeted by the
wildest scene imaginable; huge breakers were rolling in over the shallow water
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 215
and falling on the beach with tremendous noise; the rain, driven by the gale,
came in sheets, but in spite of it the cutting white sand was blown with‘ such
force against my face and hands that I had repeatedly to turn my back to the
storm.
Vast numbers of herring gulls, royal terns, and Bonaparte gulls sat huddled
together in bunches on the upper beach, not daring to trust themselves to the
elements. These great gatherings of gulls were very tame and allowed me to
wall up close to them, and when they did take wing, skimmed only a short dis-
tance along the crest of the beach and lit again, huddled together as before.
High up overhead an occasional frigate bird swept by on motionless wings,
cutting directly into the teeth of the gale, or driving before it with apparent
indifference. The stolid pelicans, unmoved by the storm, proceeded as usual
up and down the line of breakers, in little companies, with the same meas-
ured flight as in the finest weather, rising and falling as the huge breakers
rolled under them.
But to me most interesting of all was a sight I had never before witnessed
on the beach, although I had visited it every day; as far as the eye could reach,
up and down the line of surf, were great numbers of boobies flying back and
forth and every now and then collecting over some school of small fish and
diving from a height like a party of boys following each other off a spring-
board. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of them. There were
probably but two species, though of three styles of coloration. A compara-
tively small number were adults of the common booby (Sula sula), easily
identified by their brown backs and heads and white bellies; next in numbers
were young birds in wholly grayish brown plumage, but outnumbering both
these together was a small white species with conspicuous blackish flight
feathers.: All these were of about one size.
For two hours I lay flat on the beach, hoping to get a shot, but though
the boobies came often to within a hundred yards of me and sometimes
gathered and fished in front of where I lay, none came quite close enough to
shoot, keeping just outside the breakers. At the end of this time they began
gradually, in small parties, to fly out to sea, till all had gone. From the way
these birds behaved I do not think they were driven in by stress of weather,
because all the time they were off the beach they were very busy fishing, and
when they had done they gradually left again, flying out to sea, though the
storm had not abated. It is my opinion, rather, that the boobies know by ex-
perience that during such a storm there is good fishing on the east Florida
beach and come there to enjoy it.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—On some of the West Indies (Porto Rico, Little
Cayman, Dominica, Battowia, Kick-em-Jenny, etc.) ; off the coasts
of Venezuela (Los Testigos and Los Hermanos Islands) and Hon-
duras (Half-moon Cay, and Little Swan Island) ; in the tropical
Atlantic Ocean (Trinidad and Ascension Islands) ; on various islands
in the Pacific Ocean (Revillagigedo, Galapagos, Laysan, Fanning,
Philippine Islands, etc.) ; and in the Indian Ocean (Glorioso Island
and Raine’s Islet).
These Pacific birds may prove to be subspecifically distinct from
the Atlantic birds. Said to have nested once on Atwood’s Key in
216 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the Bahama Islands. Breeding grounds protected on Desecheo
Island reservation, Porto Rico. -_
Winter range.—Practically the same as the breeding range.
Casual records.—Accidental on the coast of Florida (Micco, Feb-
ruary 16, 1895.)
Egg dates—Mexican islands: Twenty-four records, April 29 to
December 10; twelve records, May 2 to 18. Swan Island, Caribbean
Sea: One record, March 31.
MORUS BASSANUS (Linnaeus).
GANNET,
HABITS.
Day after day we had gazed, from the hilltops of the northern
Magdalens, across the waters of the stormy Gulf of St. Lawrence
toward the distant Labrador coast, where we could see looming up
on the horizon a lofty reddish mass of rock, the goal of our ambitions
and the mecca of many an American ornithologist, Bird Rock. At
last the day came sufficiently smooth for us to risk the trip in our
tiny craft, the only boat available. To visit and storm that almost
impregnable seabirds’ fortress is risky. enough in a seaworthy vessel,
for storms come up without much warning and the waves thunder at
the base of its almost perpendicular cliffs with such fury, that only
during the calmest weather can a landing be effected with safety
on a narrow beach. At the time of our visit the present comfortable
landing had not been completed. It is now no longer necessary to
be hoisted up in a crate, a hundred feet or more to the top of the
rock.
Gannets were seen flying past us toward the rock, as they returned
from their fishing grounds and as we drew near we could see a swarm
of white birds circling about it. The setting sun shone full upon
its towering cliffs of red sandstone, deeply cut or carved by the ele-
ments into ledges and shelves of varying sizes and shapes; the
broader ledges seemed covered with snow and it was hard to believe
that such wide bands of white were really colonies of nesting gan-
nets. The whole side of the rock seemed to be covered with birds;
wherever there was room for them the gannets were sitting on their
nests on the wider ledges; clouds of noisy kittiwakes were hovering
overhead or nesting on the smallest shelves of rock; razor-billed auks
were breeding in the crevices near the top of the rock and the murres,
Brunnich, and the common, were sitting in long rows upon their eggs
on the narrower ledges. Such was the home of the gannet as I saw it
in 1904.
The history of the gannet colonies of Bird Rock is interesting as
showing the effect of human agencies in the extermination of bird life.
PL. 35
BULLETIN 121
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
‘E66 ADVd 33S NOlidIvoS3G HO4
“LANNVS)
“mBYyINNg *g “SIeIQ BSITV “yueg ‘O°V “purysy amyueaeuog
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 217
It begins with Jacques Cartier’s account of his voyage to Canada in
1534, at which time there were apparently three islands in the group,
of which he says, according to Gurney’s: (1918) rendering of Hak-
luyt’s translation: “These ilands were as full of birds as any medow
is of grasse, which there do make their nestes ; and in the greatest of
them there was a great and infinite number of those that wee cal
margaulx, that are white and bigger than any geese.” There is very
little doubt that the birds he referred to were gannets. For three
centuries the persecution of these birds was not sufficiently severe
to reduce materially their numbers, for when Audubon (1897) visited
Bird Rock in 1833 it was a most wonderful sight, as the following
graphic description, taken from his journal for June 14, 1833, well
illustrates :
About ten a speck rose on the horizon which I was told was the rock, We
sailed well, the breeze increased fast, and we neared this object apace. At
eleven I could distinguish its top plainly from the deck, and thought it covered
with snow to the depth of several feet; this appearance existed on every portion
of the flat, projecting shelves. Godwin said, with the coolness of a man
who had visited this rock for ten successive seasons, that what we saw was
not snow, but gannets. I rubbed my eyes, took my spyglass, and in an instant
the strangest picture stood before me. They were birds we saw—a mass of
birds of such a size as I never before cast my eyes on. The whole of my
party stood astounded and amazed, and all came to the conclusion that such a
sight was of itself sufficient to invite anyone to come across the gulf to view
it at this season. The nearer we approached the greater our surprise at the
enormous number of these birds, all calmly seated on their eggs or newly
hatched brood, their heads all turned to windward and toward us. The air
above for a hundred yards, and for some distance around the whole rock,
was filled with gannets on the wing, which, from our position, made it appear
as if a heavy fall of snow was directly above us.
At that time the whole top of the rock was covered with their
nests and it was regularly visited by the fishermen of that vicinity,
who killed the gannets in large quantities for codfish bait. The stupid
birds were beaten down with clubs as they tumbled over each other
in their attempts to escape. Sometimes as many as 540 of them have
been killed by half a dozen men in an hour, and as many as 40 fishing
boats were supplied regularly with bait each season in this way, the
birds being roughly skinned and the flesh cut off in chunks.
When Dr. Henry Bryant visited Bird Rock on June 28, 1860,
the colonies were very much reduced in numbers, although the light-
house had not been built at that time and the gannets were nesting
over all of the northern half of the flat top of the rock. He estimated
that there were at least 100,000 birds in this colony and about 50,000
that were nesting on the side of the rock. Mr. C. J. Maynard visited
the rock in 1872, three years after the lighthouse was built, and found
218 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
the colony on the summit reduced to 5,000 birds. In 1881 Mr. Wil-
liam Brewster reported only 50 pairs still nesting on the flat top of
the rock, and since that time they have abandoned it entirely, resort-
ing only to the safer locations on the ledges. In 1887. the total num-
ber of gannets nesting on Bird Rock was estimated at 10,000, and at
the time of our visit in 1904 we estimated that their numbers had been
reduced to less than 3,000 birds. Fortunately, they are now pro-
tected by the lighthouse keeper, and will probably not be further re-
duced in numbers by persecution on their breeding grounds, but the
soft sandstone cliffs of Bird Rock are gradually wearing away and
it is only a question of time when their old home will disappear,
and it is doubtful if they can find another suitable and safe substitute
for it.
‘Though not so well known as Bird Rock, the island of Bonaven-
ture, off the Gaspé Peninsula i in the Gulf of 'St. Lawrence, is fully as
important as a breeding resort for gannets, for it contains by far the
largest colony of these birds on the American coast. Gurney (1913)
records this colony as containing about 7,000 gannets. It has a simi-
lar formation of red sandstone cliffs some 300 feet high and may, at
some remote period in the past, have formed a part of a chain of
cliffs or islands of which Bird Rock is now the surviving. outpost.
There are many. broad ledges on Bonaventure Island which are
practically inaccessible, offering attractive nesting sites for thousands
of gannets, where for many years to come they will be safe from
molestation. Gannets are said to have nested on Funk Island many
years ago, but after the extermination of the great auk the gannets
probably shared a similar fate. Another colony of recent existence
was on Perroquet Island, of the Mingan group, off the south coast of
Labrador. Mr. William Brewster noted several hundred birds there
in 1881, but they disappeared soon after that. We saw a few gannets
flying about these islands in June, 1909, but were told that they were
not. breeding. there, having been driven away by constant persecu-
tion. Bird Rock and Bonaventure have both been set apart as res-
ervations by the Canadian Government, where these birds will be
permanently protected.
Spring —The northward migration of the gannets begins i in April
and extends well into May, following: the earliest movement, of her-
ring and other fish on which it feeds. They. arrive on their breeding
grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in May, many of the older birds
being already paired. Love making and nest building begin at once
and eggs are laid late in May or in June.
Courtship.—I have never seen the courtship of the gannet, but
Dr. Charles W. Townsend has sent me the following interesting
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 36
Bonaventure Island. A.C. Bent.
Bonaventure Island. A.C. Bent.
GANNET.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 219
notes on what he calls the courtship dance, although, at the time of his
observations, the breeding season was well advanced. He says:
I spent many hours in the summer of 1919 under most favorable conditions
near the great gannet nesting ledges on the cliffs of Bonaventure Island; I saw
the dance repeated by hundreds of pairs many times and I came to the same
conclusion that Professor Fisher did in the case of the Laysan albatross, namely,
that it was originally a courtship dance and that it was continued from habit
and from the joy of it, in the same way that the song sparrow continues to
sing long after the nesting season.
Let me describe a typical performance: As the sexes are alike in plumage,
they can not be distinguished apart. One of them—we will assume it is the
male—is swinging around in great circles on rigidly outstretched and motion-
less wings. He passes within a few yards of me and swings toward a shelf
crowded with birds brooding their downy black-faced young. Alighting on the
edge, he elbows his way along the shelf, notwithstanding the angry looks, the
black mouths suddenly opened, and the vicious pecks of his neighbors. All of
these he returns in kind. Arrived at the nest, he is enthusiastically greeted
by his mate, who, disregarding. the young bird beneath her, rises up to do her
part in the dance. The birds stand face to face, the wings slightly raised and
opened, the tail elevated and spread. They bow towards each other, then
raise their heads and wave their bills as if they were whetting these powerful
instruments, or as if they were performing the polite preliminaries of a fencing
bout. From time to time this process is interrupted as they bow to each other
and appear to caress each other as each dips its pale-blue bill and cream-
colored head first to one side and then to the other of its mate’s snowy breast.
With unabated. enthusiasm and ardor the various actions of this curious and
loving dance are repeated again and again, and often continue for several
minutes. After the dance the pair preen themselves and each other, or the
one first at the nest flies away, and the new arrival waddles around so as to
get back of the nestling, and the strange process of feeding takes place. :
This dance is not only performed by pairs, as first described, but not infre-
quently individuals perform a pas seul; it may be because he or she is wearied
with waiting for its mate. The wings are slightly raised and opened, the tail
elevated and spread, the bill pointed vertically upwards and waved aloft, then
dipped to one side under the half-open wing and then to the otherv, the bill
raised and waved again, and so on over and over again. Owing to the great
volume of sound from the ledges, it is impossible to distinguish any individual
performer, and I was unable to tell at what point in the dance and to what
extent the song was important. The sound is like that of a thousand rattling
looms in a great factory, a rough, vibrating, pulsing sound—“ car-ra, car-ra,
car-ra.”
Nesting—An account of the nesting conditions as we saw them
on Bird Rock and on North Bird Rock, will serve to illustrate the
two common methods of nesting, which are also typical of the species
elsewhere. On Bird Rock the nests were all on the ledges on the
sides of the rock; the broader ledges were well covered with nests
several rows deep, and many smaller shelves were occupied by as
many nests as they could hold. The nests varied greatly in size
and in style of construction from practically nothing to well-made
nests 18 inches in diameter and 5 inches high; probably the nests
220 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
are added to from year to year by more or less extensive repairs, so
that the oldest nests become quite bulky. Asa rule, they were fairly
well made of. fresh seaweed, kelp, or rockweed, in many cases still
wet, as if recently pulled up by the birds, but more often partially
dried. There were usually a few straws and feathers in or about
the nests, and in one case a large piece of canoe-birch bark had
been brought i in, probably as an ornament. The nests at that date,
June 24, all contained eggs, a single egg to each nest, and some of
the young had hatched. There was always more or less filth about
the nests, broken eggs, decaying fish, and excrement, the ledges often
being whitewashed with the latter.
We found primitive conditions still prevailing on North Bird Rock,
about three-quarters of a mile from the large rock; this had been
cut into three parts by the action of the sea, two flat- topped rocks
with perpendicular sides, joined by a rocky beach and an inacces-
sible pillar of rock separated by water. We climbed up the steep
sides of one of the rocks and as we looked over the top of the cliff
we saw, in miniature, what might have been seen on Bird Rock 50
years ago, a wildly scrambling mass of great white birds, frightened
by our sudden appearance and stumbling over each ethers in their
haste to get away. The whole flat top of the rock was covered with
their nests, set about 3 feet apart, leaving just room enough to walk
among them, and sufficiently separated for each sitting. bird to be
beyond the reach of its nearest neighbors, a necessary precaution,
for gannets are quarrelsome birds and frequently steal the nesting
material from neighboring nests. These nests had evidently been
occupied year after year for many seasons, new material being added
each year, until a considerable pile of soil had been accumulated
by the gradual decay of the nest material and the new portion of
the nest occupied only the top of the mound. The nests, described
by the earlier writers, on the flat top of Bird Rock showed similar
signs of age. Gurney (1913) gives an interesting list of the miscel-
laneous articles that have been found in gannets’ nests and says of
their increasing bulk: “Gannets’ nests have ever been regarded as
substantial edifices—although only intended to receive one egg—in
truth, their size attracted attention centuries ago, when in a fissure,
or leaning against the rock; Mr. J. M. Campbell has obliged me
with a photograph of one 5 feet i in height, but they are not all equally
large, and some do not measure 18 inches. across.”
L-ggs.—The gannet lays only one egg, which is not large for a
bird of its size, varying in shape from elongate. ovate to elliptical
ovate. The pale bluish white ground color is almost wholly con-
cealed by a thick calcareous deposit, which is dull white at first but
soon becomes nest stained and much. soiled by mud and dirt from
the birds’ feet.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 37
Bird Rocks, Quebec. H. K. Job.
GANNET.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 221
The measurements of 44 eggs, in various collections, average 77.6
by 47 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 86.5
by 53.5, 70 by 47, and 80 by 37 millimeters.
The period of incubation is variously given by different observers
as from 39 to 44 days, and, as Mr. Gurney (1913) suggests, probably
42 days is about the average. Both sexes incubate. The absence of
any bare hatching space on the belly of the gannet is due to the
peculiar method in which the bird incubates. Mr. J. M. Campbell,
of the Bass Lighthouse, has given a very good account of this, which
Mr. Gurney (1918) quotes, as follows:
Alighting on the edge of the nest, the bird shuffles on to the shallow depres-
sion, carefully adjusting the huge webs of both feet over the egg until it is
completely concealed from view. The body is then lowered over the feet until
the breast feathers but barely cover them, giving one the impression that the
bird is not sitting sufficiently far forward on the nest. From this habit the
eggs, originally chalky white, soon become stained and discolored.
Young.—The following account of the hatching process is also
taken from the writings of the same excellent observer:
On the 5th of June the young solan was seen emerging from the shell
* * * The young bird, on making its exit from the egg, appeared to use at
first the little horny excrescence on the tip of the upper mandible for the
purpose of rupturing the inner membrane, mere pressure being afterwards suffi-
cient to chip the shell. This is invariably effected at the broad end, a little
deeper than one would cut a breakfast egg. The chipping was continued
slowly, bit by bit; first a small portion of the tough membrane was ripped, then
the opposing shell pressed out. After a short rest, the bird wriggled a little
farther round—the bill always in view—and again renewed the attack, until
fully two-thirds of the circumference had been cut. The claws of one of the
feet now made their appearance over the lower edge of the fracture, and, by
dint of pressure of the whole body, the remaining third of the shell was
snapped, and out tumbled a black, sprawling object, helpless, blind, bare as the
palm of one’s hand, and whining like a puppy dog.
The very young gannet when first hatched is naked and livid
gray in color, an unattractive object, fat, shapeless, and helpless.
It is carefully brooded by its devoted parent, for it must be shielded
from the hot sun and protected against the rain and cold fogs
until, in the course of about three weeks, its protective coat of
soft, white down completely covers the body. It is well fed by
semidigested food from its parents’ crop and increases rapidly in
size, until it equals or even exceeds the adult bird in weight. Wheu
feeding a very young bird, the parent practically scoops the little
fellow into her mouth, but when larger the youngster is able to dive
into the cavernous throat and fish for himself. When old enough to
eat solid food the young bird is fed on fresh fish deposited near the
nest by its parents. When about six weeks old the plumage appears
and by the end of September the flight stage is reached. Concern-
ing this interesting and critical period in the life of the young
222 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
gannet, I can not. do better than ante what Mr. Gurney (1913) has
to say about it, as follows:
When the young gannets are twelve or thirteen weeks old, instinct tells their
parents that they are quite fat enough for their own good, and that any more
stuffing with fish will make them too unwielding to, fly. Accordingly it would
seem that they desist from feeding their young for the last ten days before they
quit the ledges. As a matter of fact, it must be an exceedingly necessary pre.
caution, for if too’ heavy, the’ young gannet, when it launches’ itself for the
first time into space, would often not get clear of the rocks. When the day
comes for the mighty plunge to be made, spreading wide their great sails of
wings, the young gannets may be seen to half fly, half fall, into the abyss below.
This does not take place until the month of September has commenced, and
then numbers of them are to be seen quitting the safety of their ledges. A
singular, not to say absurd sight, it is to stand, as my son and I did, on the
Bass Rock and watch their awkwardness and hesitation, like that of a timid
human bather about to take a first header into the water. I reckoned, when I
was there in 1906, that between August the 29th and September the 4th, two
hundred and fifty young gannets made the plunge, and with it took their
departure from the Bass Rock.
For some days before their: actual departure the young gannets may be
seen continually flapping their long black wings, which is done, it is to be
presumed, to relax the joints and strengthen the ligaments; ten or twelve
young gannets may be viewed going through this performance at the same
time-on the ledges. Notwithstanding so much preparation, some make a bad
start, and I was told at Ailsa Craig,; where there is a belt of rock-strewn
shore to be crossed, that’ they' not infrequently fall on to ‘it. In squally
weather others lose their balance and are carried by a gust of wind down
into the sea before they are ready. But even if they do meet with either of
these mishaps, they are not necessarily left to die, for old’ ones—very likely
not their own parents—will sometimes provide for them.
The flight, or, rather, descent, of the young gannet from its natal ledge is
a very unsteady performance, yet on the whole it is well sustained, so that
the bird has probably achieved a distance of half a mile before the final de-
scending curve into the sea takes place, which ends with a mighty splash
caused by impact with the water. The otopyn, or natural effection, of which
Gilbert White wrote so eloquently, is now past and over, and the young one
must shift for itself as best it can in the world of waters, ’ When once
launched, the young gannet is comparatively safe, except’ that it is now in
some measure at the mercy of the tide. In the sea it remains, drifting hither
and thither for the space of two or three weeks. It is apparently unable to
rise from the water, and all evidence points to its receiving. no food whatever
except the sustenance contained in its own subcutaneous layer of grease, which
is considerable enough to impart nutriment to the rest of the body. Besides
the tide, it has to reckon with any high wind, but September is generally a
tranquil time of the year and young gannets from Ailsa or the’ Bass soon
work their way out to sea.
Having reached the sea, we shall be safe in assuming that the young gannet
will be nearly four months old before it voluntarily essays a second flight.
Even this is much less than is the case with the young albatross, Then a
new phase of its life begins ; it rises from the water with a newly found
power, henceforth to find its own livelihood by those beautiful plunges which
are the admiration of all who see them.
PL. 38
121
BULLETIN
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
A.C. Bent.
ks, Quebec
Bird Roe:
A.C. Bent.
Bird Rocks, Quebec.
GANNET.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 223
Plumages—The naked young gannet, even when first hatched,
shows some signs of sprouting down, and when about 10 days old it
is completely covered with long white down, -except on the face,
which remains naked and black. When about 3 weeks old the tail
and wing quills begin to sprout, followed by the black juvenal
plumage of the scapulars and back, and the full first plumage is
assumed at an age of 9 or 10 weeks. This is the plumage in which
we see the young birds in the fall, nearly black above, sprinkled
with small triangular spots of white, one on each feather, and much
lighter below, where the feathers are largely white. During the
first winter and spring a gradual change takes place, by fading,
wear, molt, and growth of new feathers. Mr. Gurney (1913) has
described this very well from observations made on a captive bird.
He writes:
At what I considered to be four months old the white spots upon this young
gannet were less numerous and@ were becoming distinctly smaller, being pre-
sumably worn by abrasion. At five months its entire plumage had grown
darker. At six months there was not any further change worth registering;
nor at seven months. At eight months all its feathers were darker, and the
molt had set in, shed feathers being pretty numerous in its enclosure. At
nine months its new tail-feathers were growing—very large and very stiff
when compared with the limp rectrices which they replaced. At the same
time new feathers were discoverable upon -the back,. and these were black
with small white spots on the tips of a few only. Some white color was
apparent at the back of the neck also. At ten months the white on the neck
had spread and was beginning to cover the throat and breast, and at eleven
months the whole of the underparts were white.
Describing the plumage of the second year, he goes on to say that
when 12 months old its forehead retained—
Many dark speckles, but there were no longer many spots of white to be seen
on the back. By the time it had reached 16 months there was not a spot of
white on my young gannet’s back, which was nearly black, but two-thirds of its
head and neck were now quite white. Although the molt seemed to be finished,
it was evident that there was still some change of color going on, either by
fading or abrasion. The only part of its body which remained in the spotted
plumage now was the lower part of the belly. At 17 months the head and
neck were nearly white. At 21 months the lesser upper wing coverts and a
part of the scapulars were white also, and three white spots of some size were
visible on the back. At 22 months a shade of yellow came out on the head and
neck. At 23 the white spots or blotches on the back were the size of a florin,
and several new ones had appeared upon the wing coverts. At 24 the blotches
were still larger, and at 25 months the bird, which had been in excellent health
until the last fortnight of its life, unfortunately began to droop and died—
August 7th, 1908—and my observations came to an abrupt end.
When a gannet is about 26 months old it exhibits a yellow occiput and a
partly black back, forming a handsome conjunction of colors. When 28 months
it should have, if the normal molt has been adhered to, nearly acquired its
complete white plumage, but there still remain a few small patches of black on
the lower part of the back and upon the wings. The black tail is the last por-
224 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
tion of the immature plumage to be shed; in a molt which is normal, the two
middle rectrices, which are the longest of the twelve, being the final ones to go.
I have examined a large number of young gannets in first and second
year plumages (I have a series of 26 immature birds in my own col-
lection), all of which agree substantially with Mr. Gurney’s observa-
tions. During the first year young gannets are extensively mottled
on the under parts, with an increasing amount of white in heads,
necks, and under parts toward spring; the upper parts are slate
colored with a hastate spot of white at the tip of each feather. These
slate-colored feathers with the white spots are characteristic of the
first-year plumage; but they are renewed on the back, rump, and
lesser wing coverts at the first complete molt, when the bird is about
a year old, so that they appear also during the first part of the second
year; however, the white tips disappear by wear during the fall, and
before winter the young bird has a solid black back. A few white
feathers appear in the lesser wing coverts at about this time.
During the second winter, then, the young gannethas a solid
black back in which an increasing number of white feathers appear
toward spring, showing first in lesser wing-coverts, then in the
scapulars, and lastly in the back. The head, neck, and under parts,
which are largely white in the fall, become increasingly white during
the winter and spring; and the yellowish suffusion comes in on the
head. The secondaries are still all black and the tail feathers all
dusky. By the next summer, when the young bird is two years old,
the back and wing coverts are about half white and half black, in
a variegated pattern of wholly white and wholly black feathers.
Many birds in this plumage are seen in the breeding colonies and are
probably breeding.
At the following molt, which begins as early as June, when the
bird is two years old, white feathers begin to appear in the second-
aries and in the tail, the white feathers in the upper parts increase
and the black feathers decrease until the bird is three years old. The
summer and fall molt, at this age, probably produces the fully adult
plumage in many individuals; but in many cases, perhaps in all,
traces of immaturity, such as black secondaries, alternating or scat-
tering through the wings, and black central tail feathers, persist
through part of all of the fourth year.
T have seen birds which I call 40 months old in this plumage, but,
as late winter and early spring specimens are lacking, I can not say
whether these last black feathers are shed before the bird is four
years old or not, Certainly at the four-year old molt, if not before
that, the plumage becomes adult. During all of this time the young
bird has been undergoing an almost continuous molt, represented by
two semi-annual molts, much prolonged during the eaclion years so
that they nearly overlap, but later becoming restricted to a postnup-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 39
J. M. Campbell.
Mu
FOS 4
x.
Ce
S41 adve
$4
bt Je
4
A.C, Adams,
GANNET.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 225
tial and a prenuptial molt in older birds. There is much individual
variation in the time required for the various changes.
The adult gannet undergoes a complete postnuptial molt in August
and September, which is sometimes prolonged into November, and
a partial prenuptial molt, involving the contour feathers and per-
haps the tail, during March, April, and May. There is no conspicu-
ous seasonal change in plumage, except that the yellow suffusion on
the head is richer and more extensive in the spring and is much paler
or entirely lacking in the fall.
Food.—The food of the gannet consists entirely of fish, which it
obtains by diving in a most spectacular manner. A flock of feed-
ing gannets bombarding a school of herring is a most interesting
sight and not an uncommon sight on the New England coast late in
the fall. At that season a few gannets are almost always in sight
circling high in the air off, the coast, looking for migrating schools
of fish. As soon as a school is discovered and one or more gannets
begin diving, others begin drifting in from all sides, until, in an
incredibly short time, a great cloud of birds has gathered; how the
welcome news is transmitted so quickly and so far is a mystery ; where
less than a dozen gannets were in sight a few minutes before, there
are now two or three hundred. Over the unlucky school of fish is a
bewildering maze of soaring, circling birds, pouring down out of
the sky in rapid succession, plunging into the water like so many
projectiles and sending columns of water and spray many feet into
the air like the spouting of a school of whales. In the center of the
mass are the plunging birds hurling themselves at their prey with
tremendous force; all around them on the water are the birds which
have just risen to the surface to swallow their prey or to rest before
trying again and in the air birds are constantly rising, circling, and
soaring for the next plunge. It is a lively scene for a while, but it
does not last long, as the fish soon become frightened and seek safety
in the depths, when the gannets scatter to look for another school.
Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) describes the process in de-
tail as follows:
The gannet flies rapidly over the water and begins to soar at a height of from 30
to 100 feet, often rising just before the plunge. At the plunge the head is pointed
down, the tail up; the wings are partly spread so that the bird appears like a
great winged arrow. The speed of the descent is great, and the wings are closed
just before reaching the water, which spurts up to a height of from 5 to 15 feet.
After the waters have subsided following the splash and all is still, the bird
suddenly and buoyantly comes to the surface, the head and neck stretched out
first. It then sits quietly on the water for half a minute or so to finish swallow-
ing the prey and to rest, and then slowly and laboriously rises to windward,
with its long neck and tail stretched to their full extent. Gaining a height of
thirty or more feet, it swings around to leeward and is soon soaring and plung-
ing again. Of eight observations made with a stop-watch on the length of time
that this bird remained under water after the plunge, the limit was 4 and ve
226 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
seconds, the average being 6} seconds. I also timed them in three descents
from height of perhaps 60 feet and found it to be 14, 13, and 1 second, re-
spctively, from the beginning of the descent to the time when they struck the
water. This would indicate that the bird actually throws itself downward
and not merely drops by gravitation, as the distance traveled is too great for
such a quick descent by gravity alone: This is apparent without actual measure-
ment, and is also shown by the fact that the birds sometimes descend quickly
at an angle, two often aiming at the same spot. How they avoid annihilating
each other seems marvelous. The height of the descent is, of course, very dif-
ficult to judge, but my estimates are based on comparisons with the masts of
schooners equally distant. The height of the splash was compared with that of
spar buoys near the fishing grounds. As with all other sea birds at a distance,
observations were made with a telescope.
The gannet is well protected against bodily injury in its terrific
plunges by a strong elastic cushion of air cells under the skin of its
breast, which softens the shock of impact as it strikes the water. The
gannet is a voracious feeder and undoubtedly consumes an enormous
number of fish; it is not partial in its choice, though it feeds largely
on herring and mackerel where they are abundant in schools; it also
takes capelin and other species as well as small codlings. I have
heard it said that gannets may be easily killed by fastening a fish on
a floating board, for which they will dive and break their necks,
though this hardly seems credible. Audubon (1840) describes ‘a
method of feeding which I have never seen. “ At other times I have
seen the: gannet plunge amidst a shoal of launces so as scarcely to
enter the water, and afterwards follow them, swimming, or as it were
moving, on the water, with its wings extended upwards, and striking
to the right and left until it was satiated.”
The gannet has a peculiar habit of disgorging whatever fish it has
recently eaten when disturbed and forced to fly; it goes through a
series of preliminary motions, pumping its neck up and down, strain-
ing, gaping, and retching until the fish is finally forced out of its
mouth and deposited on the ledge near the nest, where it is left to
decay or dry in the sun. These fish are often as much as a foot in
length and generally partly digested. I am not sure whether this
habit is caused by fright or by a desire to get rid of unnecessary
weight; probably the latter, as it is a very docile or very stupid bird
and not easily frightened away. It is easily approached with a little
caution, and I even caught one in my hands, but usually if I came too
near the disgorging process would begin, it would move awkwardly
away, uttering a variety of loud guttural croaks or grunts, until it
could flop off over the edge of the cliff, spread its long, black-tipped
wings and sail gracefully out into space, a sudden transformation
from an ungainly, awkward, stupid fowl to an elegant, soaring sea-
bird, riding at ease on its broad and powerful wings, one of nature’s
triumphs in the balancing of forces.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 227
Behavior—The flight of the gannet is a magnificent performance
as it soars aloft on its long, pointed, black-tipped wings, its spearlike
head and beak, and its slender tapering tail offering little resistance
to the air, as it sweeps in great circles far above the sea until almost
lost to sight in the blue sky. When traveling it flies close to the water,
flapping its wings and sailing at intervals with wings fully out-
stretched, after the manner of the pelicans. It is well built for speed
and its flight is powerful and long sustained. Its peculiar shape,
forming an almost perfect cross while soaring, serves to identify
it, as far as it can be seen.
The vigorous plunge of the gannet from a great height, often
over a hundred feet, together with the momentum of its heavy body,
gives it a decided advantage over other diving birds in reaching
great depths. There have been some remarkable stories told of the
depths to which gannets dive, based on their having been caught
in fishermen’s nets set at known depths. Mr. Gurney (1913) mentions
a number of such cases from which I infer that gannets frequently
dive to a depth of 60 or 70 feet and occasionally over 100. It is
hardly conceivable that the gannet can penetrate to any such great
depths as these by the impetus of its plunge; it must, therefore, swim
downward, probably using both wings and feet for propulsion. The
gannet is not only an expert diver, displaying great agility below the
surface, but it is also a strong swimmer above, where it propels
itself rapidly with alternate strokes of its great paddles. A wounded
gannet is not an easy bird to catch. ,
I have never heard gannets utter any vocal sound except on their
breeding grounds, where they are often quite noisy ; they indulge in
a variety of soft guttural notes among themselves in conversational
tones, and when disturbed a series of loud, grating grunts and croaks,
sounding like the syllables “kurruck, krrrrruck” or “gorrrrrok,
gorrrrok,” the base accompaniment of the never ceasing chorus of
sounds in the mixed colonies of Bird Rock. Macgillivray (1852)
describes the notes as follows:
Their cry is hoarse and harsh, and may be expressed by the syllables
carra, carra, or kirra, kirra, sometimes it is crac, crac, or cra, cra, or cree, cree.
The cry varies considerably in different individuals, some having a sharper
voice than others, and when unusually irritated they repeat it with great
rapidity.
Gannets quarrel considerably among themselves on their breeding
grounds, but I can not find any evidence that they ever molest the
other species that breed near them. Morris (1903) describes—
A battle between a gannet and two full-grown male swans, the latter both
attacking at the same time, and following up the contest most vigorously with
the former, who defended himself most resolutely for a very long time, and
ultimately defeated the swans, beating them both off, and laying them pros-
228 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. |
trate, totally disabled, helpless, and seemingly seriously injured. The gannet,
much exhausted by the protracted struggle, was easily caught alive, and very
little the worse for fighting.
Gannets have never been considered as game birds and the flesh
of the adults must be very strong and unpalatable, but there is
plenty of evidence to show that the fat young birds have been
largely used for food, particularly in the European colonies. As
they are naturally long-lived birds, they would have increased more
rapidly than they have done if it were not for this and other natural
causes which have kept their numbers in check. They are naturally
sluggish and somewhat. deaf, so that they are easily caught when
asleep on their nests or on the water. Mr. Gurney (1913) says that
they are frequently choked and killed by attempting to swallow
gunnards, “whose spinous dorsal fin may easily become wedged in
the gannet’s throat.” They are sometimes killed by plunging. into
boats containing freshly caught fish, or they become entangled in
fishermen’s nets or are caught on hooks baited with fish. Un-
doubtedly many gannets, as well as other sea birds, starve to death
during prolonged periods of rough weather when it is difficult or im-
possible for them to catch fish. Mr. Gurney (1913) mentions such
a disaster, stating that the French ornithologist, M. Baillon, “saw
the dead birds lying spread along the shore, and testifies to there
having been about 200 gannets, with some 500 razorbills, gulls, etc.,
on an extent of 4 miles, near the mouth of the Somme.”
Winter.—As soon as the gannets leave their breeding grounds
they begin their autumn wanderings and southward migrations,
They have been seen on the Massachusetts coast in August, but the
main flight passes along the New England coast during September
and October and extends as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. I have
specimens in my collection taken off Cape Cod in both December
and January and a few birds winter regularly about Long Island,
but usually by November most of the gannets have gone farther
south, their movements being governed largely by the migration
of the herring. They winter regularly about Florida and in the
Gtulf of Mexico, where they find an abundant food supply.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—The Gulf of St. Lawrence (Bird Rocks and
Bonaventure and a rock off the south coast of Newfoundland near
Cape St. Marys). Formerly near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on a rock
near Grand Manan, Bay of Fundy, and on Perroquet Island, off
Mingan, Quebec. On several islands and rocks near the British
Isles (St. Kilda, Bass Rock, Ailsa Craig, etc.) and near Iceland
(Sulusker, Eldey, and Grimsey). Breeding grounds protected on
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 229
po in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bird Rocks, and Bonaven-
ure.
Winter range—North Atlantic coasts. On the American side
rarely from Massachusetts (Cape Cod) regularly from Virginia,
mainly at sea, south to Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico (Vera
Cruz). South on the other side to the Azores, Canary Islands, and
Africa (Morocco).
Spring migration—Mainly off shore. Early dates of arrival
(north of Cape Cod, where it may winter): Massachusetts, Lynn,
April 8; Nova Scotia, Pictou, April 20. Late dates of departure:
Cuba, Cape San Antonio, May 20; Florida, Ormond, March 31; Vir-
ginia, Smith’s Island, May; New York, Long Island, May 25; Rhode
Island, Block Island, May 16; Massachusetts, Essex County, May 18
(latest June 7).
Fall migration—Early dates of arrival: Massachusetts, Essex
County, August 28; Rhode Island, September 10; Block Island, Oc-
tober 4; New York, Montauk Point, October 5.
Casual records.—Accidental inland, mainly near the Great Lakes,
as far north and west as Ontario (Toronto, December 19, 1908, and
Ottawa, October 14, 1909), Indiana (Michigan City, November, 1904)
and Michigan (Ann Arbor, October 18, 1911). Recorded on the
Labrador coast at 65° north, and in Greenland. Occasional on
Louisiana coast (Rigolets, December 9, 1886).
Egg dates.—Gulf of St. Lawrence: Twenty records, June 4 to July
25; 10 records, June 16 to July 1. British Isles: Sixteen records, May
9 to June 11; eight records, May 18 to June 7.
Family ANHINGIDAE, Darters.
ANHINGA ANHINGA (Linnaeus).
WATER-TURKEY.
= HABITS.
In the swamps and marshy lakes of Florida, where the shores are
overgrown with rank vegetation and the stately cypress trees are
draped with long festoons of Spanish moss, or in the sluggish streams,
half choked with water hyacinths, “bonnets” and “ water lettuce,”
where the deadly mocassin lurks concealed in the dense vegetation,
where the gayly colored purple gallinules patter over the lily pads
and where the beautiful snowy herons and many others of their tribe
flourish in their native solitudes, there may we look for these curious
birds. We may expect to find them sitting quietly, in little groups,
in the tops of some clump of willows on the marshy shore or on the
branches of some larger trees overhanging the water, with their long
necks stretched upwards in an attitude of inquiry or held in graceful
83969—22——16
230 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
curves if not alarmed; perhaps some may have their wings out-
stretched in the sun to dry, a favorite basking attitude. If alarmed
by the sudden appearance of a boat one may be seen to plunge head-
long into the water, straight as a winged arrow, and disappear ; soon,
however, a snake-like head and neck may be seen at a distance rapidly
swimming away with its body entirely submerged. The anhinga is a
water bird surely enough, but I could never see any resemblance to a
turkey, and I can not understand how this name happened to be
applied to it. The name “ darter” or “snake bird,” both of which are
descriptive, seem much more appropriate.
Spring.—Throughout the southern portion of its range, in the Gulf
States and in tropical America, the water-turkey is a resident through-
out the year, but it migrates a short distance northward, up the
Mississippi Valley and to the Carolinas, in March, avoiding’ the salt
water and frequenting the inland marshes and ponds.
Courtship.—Audubon (1840) observes that during its courtship the
movements of its head and neck—
Resemble sudden jerkings of the parts to their full extent, become extremely
graceful during the love season, when they are reduced to gentle curvatures,
I must not forget to say that during all these movements the gular pouch is
distended, and the bird emits rough guttural sounds. If they are courting on
wing, however, in the manner of cormorants, hawks, and many other birds, they
emit a whistling note, somewhat resembling that of some of our rapacious birds,
and which may be expressed by the syllables eek, eek, eek, the first loudest,
and the rest diminishing in strength. When they are on the water, their call-
notes so much resemble the rough grunting cries of the Florida cormorant that
I have often mistaken them for the latter.
Nesting.—My first experience with the nesting habits of the
water-turkey was in the extensive marshes bordering the upper
St. Johns River in Florida. The river at this point is spread out
over a marshy area about 3 miles wide with a narrow open chan-
nel and a series of small lakes or ponds in the center. Except in
these open places the water is very shallow, from 1 to 3 feet deep,
with a treacherous muddy bottom, making wading impossible. The
marsh consists of broad areas of saw grass among which are nu-
merous tortuous channels overgrown with a rank growth of coarse
yellow pond lilies, locally known as “bonnets,” through which we
had to navigate by laboriously polling a shallow, pointed skiff. The
channels are still further choked by small floating islands, made up
of bushes and rank aquatic vegetation, which drift about more or
less with the changes of the wind. There are also many permanent
islands overgrown with willows, which serve as rookeries for thou-
sands of Louisiana herons, little blue herons, anhingas, and a few
snowy, black-crowned and yellow-crowned’ night herons. Least
bitterns, red-winged blackbirds, and boat-tailed grackles nest in the
saw grass; coots, purple and Florida gallinules frequent the “bon-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 40
Brevard County, Florida. A.C. Bent.
WATER TURKEY.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333. ’
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 281
nets,” and large flocks: of white ibises, wood ibises, cormorants, and
a few glossy ibises fly back and forth over the marshes, especially at
morning and evening.
Here we found, on April 18 and 21, 1902, several small breeding
colonies of water-turkeys in small isolated clumps of willows or on
the borders of the larger willow islands inhabited by the various
herons. There were never more than 8 or 10 nests in a group, which
were placed from 5 to 15 feet above the ground or water and were
very conspicuous; we generally saw the anhingas sitting in the tree-
tops and sometimes saw them on their nests as we approached.
The nests were easily: recognized, as they were always loosely built,
often quite bulky and irregular in shape and always showed a large
quantity of brown, dead leaves mixed with the sticks in the body
of the nest. The nests were generally carelessly built, mostly of
willow twigs and coarse sticks, mixed with the dead leaves, which
gave them a ragged appearance; they were profusely lined with
green willow leaves. The date of laying must vary considerably,
for we found eggs in all stages of incubation, from incomplete sets
of fresh eggs to full sets of four or five, and young birds, some
recently hatched and others nearly grown.
In the locality described above the anhinga’s nests were segre-
gated in groups on the outskirts of heron rookeries or were in small
rookeries by themselves, but they are often found mingled with
various other species in the large rookeries. In the great Cuthbert
rookery in southern Florida, which occupies a small mangrove
island in Cuthbert Lake, we estimated, on our first visit on May 1,
1903, that the population consisted of about 2,000 Louisiana herons,
1,000 white ibises, 600 Florida cormorants, 200 anhingas, 100 little
blue herons, 18 American egrets, and 12 roseate spoonbills; the
total, about 4,000 birds, was really a wonderful population for so
small an island, and I have no doubt that the estimate was well
below the actual figures. The water-turkeys’ nests were scattered
among the ibises and cormorants nests in the red mangroves and
mostly over the water; they were similar to those described above
and in most cases contained from three to five eggs, though there
were also young of various ages.
Mr. Charles R. Stockard (1905) describes the nest of this species,
as he has found it in Mississippi, as “rather loosely constructed of
sticks and very shallow, suggesting at once the architectural style
so commonly employed by the herons,” apparently unlined and with-
out leaves. Other writers have referred to nests lined with willow
catkins, cypress needles, and Tillandsia. The water-turkey returns
to the same nesting site and probably uses the same nest year after
year, which may account for the presence of dead leaves in the nest,
the remains of previous years’ linings.
932 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Eggs.—tThe full set usually consists of four eggs, sometimes only
three and sometimes five. The eggs are often laid at irregular
intervals, as the young in a nest are frequently of widely different
ages. The eggs have been described as resembling other eggs of
the Steganopodes, but to me they look quite different and easily
recognizable. The shape varies from “ ovate,” slightly elongated,
to “elliptical ovate” or “elongate ovate.” The ground color is pale
bluish white, which is usually more or less covered with a very thin
coating of chalky deposit, rarely roughly or thickly covered with
it; this is generally quite smooth, and after the egg has been incu-
bated for a while it even becomes quite glossy. The color is always
more or less concealed by brownish, buffy, or yellowish nest stains,
which will not wash off; some eggs are uniformly stained a rich
cinnamon or buff color over the entire surface.
The measurements of 42 eggs in the United States National Mu-
seum average 52.5 by 35 millimeters; the eggs showing: the four
extremes measure 57.5 by 35, 54 by 37.5, 47 by 33.5,.and 53.5 by
33 millimeters.
Young—The young remain in the nest or near it until they are
fully grown and able to fly, using both bills and feet to climb out of
the nest and over the surrounding branches. Audubon (1840) says
on this subject:
At an early age the young utter a low wheezing call, and at times some cries
resembling those of the young of the smaller species of herons. From birth
they are fed by regurgitation, which one might suppose an irksome task to the
parent birds, as during the act they open their wings and raise their tails. I
have not been able to ascertain the period of incubation, but am sure that the
male and the female sit alternately, the latter, however, remaining much longer
on the nest. Young anhingas when approached while in the nest cling
tenaciously to it until seized, and if thrown down they merely float on the
water and are easily captured.
Plumages—The young snake bird, when first hatched, is naked
and yellowish buff in color, very different from the jet-black young
of cormorants, but it soon becomes covered with a short, thick coat of
soft buff-colored down, which contrasts prettily with its black bill.
The peculiar snake-like attitude of the head and-neck give the young
bird a very curious appearance at this age. Audubon (1840) says
of the development of the young:
When they are three weeks old, the quills and tail feathers grow rapidly but
continue of the same dark-brown color, and so remain until they are able to
fly, when they leave the nest, although they still present a singular motley
appearance, the breast and back being buff-colored, while the wings and tail
are nearly black. After the feathers of the wings and tail are nearly fully
developed, those of the sides of the body and breast become visible through
the down and the bird appears more curiously mottled than before.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 41
Cuthbert Lake, Florida. H. J. Job.
WATER TURKEY.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 333,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 233
In the juvenal or first winter plumage the sexes are practically alike;
the flight feathers of the wings and tail are plain dusky; the belly
: dark brown and the breast and neck lighter brown, sometimes pale
“cinnamon” on the chest; the upper parts are brownish black with
a limited amount of the silver-gray markings so conspicuous in adults
on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts; these markings are more
restricted and less brilliant than in adults and are bordered with
brownish. I have seen young birds, still partially in down, in
which these silver-gray markings were well developed. <A prenuptial
molt occurs during the first spring, which involves part or all of the
body plumage, the tail and perhaps also the wings. This molt
brings progress toward maturity, but the wings and tail are still
plain dusky, lacking the characteristic corrugations of the latter or
having them only faintly suggested ; there is an increase in the silver-
gray markings of the upper parts and more black appears in the
belly, but the head, neck, and chest are still light brown in both sexes.
At the first postnuptial molt, during the following summer and
fall, a plumage approaching the adult is assumed and the sexes be-
come differentiated. This is a complete molt at which the adult
wings and tail are assumed and at which the male acquires the black
chest, neck, and head; but signs of immaturity still remain in the
shape of scattering brown feathers, which give the head and neck of
the young male a mottled appearance. The fully adult plumage is
not completed until the following spring, when the young bird is
nearly two years old.
The adult winter plumage is similar to the adult nuptial plumage,
except that the scattering light-colored plumes of the head and neck
are lacking, also the elongated dark mane of the hind-neck. The
prenuptial molt is nearly complete; the tail is molted in April, be-
ginning with the central rectrices; I have seen birds in early sum-
mer which had apparently fresh remiges, but I have never seen them
actually molting these feathers in the spring. The postnuptial molt
is probably complete, though I have not fully traced it and can not
say just when it occurs.
Food—Audubon (1840) found in the stomachs of this species
“ fishes of various kinds, aquatic insects, crays, leeches, shrimps, tad-
poles, eggs of frogs, water-lizards, young alligators, water- snakes,
and small terrapins,” certainly a varied bill of fare. He also relates
the following incident to illustrate its voracity:
One morning Doctor Bachman and I gave to an anhinga a black fish,
measuring nine and a half inches by two inches in diameter; and although
the head of the fish was considerably larger than its body, and its strong and
spinous fins appeared formidable, the bird, which was then about seven
months old, swallowed it entire, head foremost. It was in appearance digested
in an hour and a half, when the bird swallowed three others of somewhat
‘
234 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
smaller size, At another time we placed before it a number of fishes about
seven and a half inches long, of which it swallowed nine in succession. It
would devour at a meal forty or more fishes about three inches and a half
long. On several occasions it was fed on plaice, when it swallowed some that
were four inches broad, extending its throat, and compressing them during their
descent into the stomach. It did not appear to relish eels, as it ate all the
other sorts first, and kept them to the last; and after having swallowed them,
it had great difficulty in keeping them down, but, although for awhile thwarted,
it would renew its efforts, and at length master them. When taken to the
tide-point at the foot of my friend’s garden, it would now and then after diving
return to the surface of the water with a cray-fish in its mouth, which it pressed
hard and dashed about in its bill, evidently for the purpose of maiming it,
before it would attempt to swallow it, and it never caught a fish without bring-
ing it up to subject it to the same operation.
Fish undoubtedly form the principal part of this bird’s diet and
it is especially well adapted to catch them, with its skill as a diver,
its speed under water and its long neck, controlled by highly de-
veloped, special muscles and armed with a ‘spearlike beak, which may
be darted in any direction swiftly and accurately. Mr. N. B. Moore’s
unpublished notes on this species in Florida show that it does not
fish exclusively in fresh water, for he frequently saw it diving in
the tidal waters of a bay between two oyster bars.
Behavior. .—Though ungainly in appearance and somewhat awk-
ward in its movements when perched on a tree, it is really a graceful
bird on the wing with splendid powers of flight it clings somewhat
clumsily to the branch on which it sits, but its totipalmate feet hold
it securely, as it spreads its broad wings in the sun to dry them or
flaps them vigorously for exercise, its ample tail serving to balance it.
As it launches into the air it is evident that the broad expanse of
wings and tail, in proportion to its small, compact body, are amply
sufficient to sustain it in rapid, strong, and protracted flight. The neck
is outstreached, usually to its full extent, but sometimes with a partial
fold near the body, the tail is spread as a rudder and the wings are
moved rather rapidly as the bird forges steadily ahead in a straight
line. Like other Steganopodes, it sets its wings and scales at inter-
vals, when it suggests, in appearance and manner, the flight of a
Cooper’s hawk. One of the favorite pastimes of a flock of water-
turkeys is to indulge i in aerial exercise by rising from their roost,
mounting high in the air and soaring in circles gradually apwerds,
until almost out of sight, suggesting i in their movements the flight of
the Buteos. After gazing in admiration at such a spectacle the ob-
server may be suddenly surprised to see one after another of the birds
fold its wings and dart downwards, swift as an arrow.
In the water it is even more at home than in the air, where it swims
gracefully and swiftly on the surface or sneaks away with its body
submerged and only its snake-like head and neck showing in sinuous
curves; sometimes only its bill is seen cutting the smooth surface and
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 235
making scarcely a ripple. In pursuit of its prey it does not plunge
from the air into the water, but dives from the surface, disappearing
like a flash with the least possible effort or commotion, like a master
diver with perfect control of its movements in its favorite element.
Under water its long slender body is propelled by the powerful feet
alone, the wings tightly folded and the broad tail puiding its move-
ments.
Audubon (1840) says of its roosting habits:
The anhinga is altogether a diurnal bird, and, like the cormorant, is fond of
returning to the same roosting place every evening about dusk, unless prevented
by molestation. At times I have seen from three to seven alight on the dead top
branches of a tall tree, for the purpose of there spending the night; and this
they repeated for several weeks, until on my having killed’ some of them and
wounded others, the rest abandoned the spot, and after several furious contests
with a party that roosted about two miles off succeeded in establishing themselves
among them. At such times they seldom sit very near each other, as cormorants
do, but keep at a distance of a few feet or yards, according to the nature of the
branches. Whilst asleep they stand with the body almost erect, but never bend
the tarsus so as to apply it in its whole length, as the cormorant does; they keep
their head snugly covered among their scapulars, and at times emit'a wheezing
sound, which I supposed to be produced by their breathing. In rainy weather
they often remain roosted the greater part of the day, and on such occasions
they stand erect, with their neck and head stretched upwards, remaining per-
fectly motionless, as if to allow the water to glide off their plumage. Now and
then, however, they suddenly ruffle their feathers, violently shake themselves,
and again compressing their form, resume their singular position.
Aside from the whistling notes, referred to above as a part of their
courtship performances, their only utterances are the rough, grunt-
ing call notes, much like the sounds made by cormorants. Even these
are not often heard, as the birds are usually silent. I have never
noticed anything worthy of comment in their behavior toward other
species; they seem to be peaceful and harmless neighbors in the large,
mixed rookeries where they breed; and, so far as I know, they seem
to have no serious enemies. They attend strictly to their own af-
fairs, have their own favorite haunts and usually flock by themselves.
They are practically useless for food and their plumage is not in
demand. , —
Winter—At the approach of winter the water-turkeys withdraw
from their northern breeding grounds and spend the winter in Florida
and the Gulf States. At this season they become more gregarious
and are often seen flying about in large flocks.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range-—Tropical and subtropical regions in North and
South America. In the United States, north to south central Texas
(Bexar County), eastern Arkansas (Helena), southern Illinois (Cairo
236 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
and Mount Carmel), and southern North Carolina (near Wilming-
ton). Southern limits of South American breeding range not well
defined, but the species ranges south to southern Brazil, Paraguay,
and northern Argentina, and it probably breeds throughout most of
its range. Said to breed on the coast of Peru.
Winter range-—Includes most of the breeding range, at least north
to central Arkansas (Newport), central Alabama (Greensboro), and
probably southern Georgia. ©
Spring migration—Migrates into South Carolina in March
(earliest, March 18, usually common by March 21).
Fall migration—Latest dates: Illinois, Cairo, August 31; South
Carolina, Otranto, August 31.
Casual records.—Has wandered as far west and north as California
(Imperial County, February 9, 1918), Wisconsin (Kelley Brook,
spring, 1889), and Ohio (Lowell, November, 1885).
Egg dates —Florida: Fifty-four records, February 15 to June 16;
twenty-seven records, March 16 to April 29. Louisiana and Texas:
Eight records, April 14 to June 2; four records, April 21 to May 27.
Family PHALACROCORACIDAE, Cormorants.
PHALACROCORAX CARBO (Linnaeus).
CORMORANT,
HABITS,
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend.
On the northern Atlantic seaboard the term shag is used for both
this and the double-crested species, and the two are not distinguished
by the ordinary observer. Although not as common here as the
double-crested bird, it has an almost world-wide distribution, and
breeds in the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere from Nova
Scotia, Labrador, and Greenland to the British Isles and Kamchatka,
and winters as far south as Long Island, southern Africa, Australia,
and New Zealand. The bird is said to be very intelligent, easily
domesticated, and to become attached to its masters. In the time
of Charles the First, fishing with trained cormorants was a regular
sport in Mngland, and this species was employed. Rings -around
the neck, as in China at the present day, were used to prevent swal-
lowing the prey, although in well-trained birds this was unnecessary.
Although the cormorant does not now breed south of Nova Sco-
tia, in the time of Audubon it nested at Grand Manan. Nuttall
(1884) says, “They breed, and are seen in the vicinity of Boston on
bare and rocky islands, nearly throughout the year.” Earlier still,
when the first settlers came to this country, they were abundant along
42
PL.
121
BULLETIN
NATIONAL MUSEUM
U. &.
“BEG 3Ovd Aas NOILdINOSaa 4Od
LNVYOWHOD
“HOTOD *2 *ABMION ‘SPUB[ST 1040JO'T
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 237
the New England coast, where now they are uncommon. Thus Wil-
liam Wood (1634) writes:
Cormorants bee as common as other fowles which destroy abundance of small
fish, these are not worth the shooting because they are the worst of fowles for
meate, tasting ranke and fishy; againe, one may shoot twenty times and misse,
for seeing the fire in the panne, they dive under the water before the shot
comes to the place where they were; they used to roost upon the tops of trees,
and rockes, being a very heavy drowsie creaturé, so that the Indians will goe
in their Cannoes in the night, and take them from the Rockes, as easily ag
women take a Hen from roost.
Spring.—The birds arrive early on the breeding grounds and
begin nesting before the snows of winter have disappeared. Frazar
(1887) says that in southern Labrador it is sometimes the case that
the frozen foundations of the nest give way under the summer heat,
and the domicile and its contents are projected into the sea. He
found large young in the nests at Cape Whittle, as early as June 19th.
Courtship.—The courtship of the oceans is spectacular and is
performed both on the rocky ledges and cliffs and on the water. In
the former situation the male approaches the female with an awk-
ward waddle or hop and sinks down before her on his breast. In
both situations the neck is stretched up to its full extent, with widely
open beak and the brilliant inside lining of the mouth displayed.
The tail is cocked up and the head stretched back and down until it
touches the back. Selous (1901) says that “in this attitude he may
remain for some seconds more or less, having all the while a lan-
guishing or ecstatic expression, after which he brings his head for-
ward again, and then repeats the performance some three or four,
or perhaps half a dozen times.”
Nesting—Rocky cliffs are chosen by these birds for their nesting
colonies, and, as a rule, they prefer the elevated stations while the
double-crestad species nests for the most part on low rocks or on the
lower portions of the cliffs. At Whapatiguan, the breeding place
in southern Labrador made famous by Audubon, this species was
found by Bryant (1862) to nest on the higher parts of the cliffs,
while the double-crested nested lower down, although he found that
the highest nest of all belonged to the double-crested species. I'razar
(1887) at this place observed the double-crested nests all over the
cliff, but those of carbo close to the top only. Brewster (1884) vis-
ited a colony of 20 pairs at Wreck Bay, Anticosti, and says the nests
were situated “on the projections of a vertical spa ETE cliff some
15 feet below the summit and at least 100 above the sea.” Audubon’s
(1840) description of the colony at Whapatiguan is classic; he says:
We saw no nests of this species placed in any other situations than the
highest shelves of the precipitous rocks fronting the water and having a south-
ern exposure * * *. On some shelves eight or ten yards in extent, the nests
were crowded together; but more usually they were placed apart on every
238 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
secure place without any order; none, however, were below a certain height
on the rocks, nor were there any on the summit.
Yarrell (1871) speaks of an island in county Cork, Ireland, where
a colony of 18 pairs of cormorants had built their nests in Scotch
fir trees not under 60 feet in height. He also speaks of their nesting
in trees in Norfolk and Sicily.
The cormorant has not reached the point in evolution where sanita-
tion and cleanliness about the dwelling place are considered impor-
tant. A cormorant colony can be smelt from afar, and the vile,
fishy odor clings to the clothes and remains long in the memory,
Rocks, sticks, bushes, nests, eggs, everything is daubed with the
chalky, slimy excrement. The nests are placed close together, or
scattered wherever there are suitable ledges on the cliffs. In con-
struction the nest is a bulky affair composed of twigs and branches
of trees, grass stalks, pieces of mountain cranberry and curlew berry
vine, seaweed, and fresh evergreen boughs. It measures about 10
inches inside and 20 to 24 outside and.3 or 4 inches high. Some of
the nests, however, are fully a yard across and a foot high and are
built upon the nests of preceding seasons.
E'9gs.—The eggs are four or five in number and occasionally six,
and one set only is laid. They are somewhat larger than those of the
double-crested species and are more rounded or ellipiéal in shape.
They are of a faint green or blue color overlaid with a thick, chalky
coating which soon becomes soiled a dirty yellowish color.
The measurements of 42 eggs, in various collections, average 64.8
by 40.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
70.5 by 43.5, 61 by 39.6, and 62 by 38.5 millimeters.
Young.—Audubon (1840) graphically described his pleasure in
watching a cormorant family at Whapatiguan: “The mother fon-
dled and nursed her young with all possible tenderness, disgorged
some food into the mouth of each, and coaxed them with her bill and
wings. The little ones seemed very happy, billed with their mother,
and caressed her about the breast.” They grow rapidly and are fed
by both parents who convey the partially digested fish in their
capacious gullets. Into these the young thrust their heads and
necks and forage to their hearts’ content.
Plumages.—The young are not objects of beauty, as they appear
to be all legs, feet, and head and are naked and of a dark leaden
color ; this also is the general color of their bill, eyes, and feet. Later
they become clothed with a sooty colored down. When three or four
weeks old, before they are able to fly, they take to the water and at,
this time, according to Lucas (1897) the external nostrils, which have
been open, become closed as in the adult. The juveniles, when fully
feathered, have a brownish gray back, a dark brown breast, and in
PL. 43
121
BULLETIN
NATIONAL MUSEUM
Ss.
U.
“WBA JO OTST
€8§ 3OVd 2as8 NOMdlwosad
‘LNVHOWHOO
“STTOM.
H
ie)
‘UVP JO IST
LIFE HISTORIES OF. NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND-PELICANS, 239
the first winter plumage the belly is nearly white. In this respect
they differ from double-crested cormorants, which have a light-gray
breast shading down to black on the lower belly. With good glasses
I have been able to distinguish the two species at the distance of a
mile. In the full adult plumage both sexes are alike, and are blue
black below and bronzy slate-brown above. There is a broad band of
white on the throat below the bare gular sac, there are scattered
linear white feathers on the side of the head and upper neck, and
there are patches of white feathers on the flanks. These white
patches, but particularly the white feathers of the throat, are ex-
cellent field marks to distinguish this bird from the double-crested
cormorant. The fowlers of Belfast Lough, Ireland, according to
Patterson (1880) speak of the flank patch as “ the watch that it carries
under the wing.” The bill is grayish-black; yellowish white on the
edges of both mandibles and at the base of the lower mandible.
The iris is a light bluish gfeen with a dull olive bare space above and
a bright red space below. The gular sac is yellow, not orange as in
the double-crested species. The feet are grayish black.
The distinctive white patches are worn by both sexes but for a
brief time during the nuptial season. Yarrell (1871) reports some
observations on this point on captive birds in the gardens of the
London Zoological Society; the white feathers on the side of the
head and neck began to appear January 4th, arrived at greatest per-
fection February 26th, began to disappear on April 2d, and were
gone by May 12th; the white patches on the thighs began on January
24th, were complete in five weeks, began to disappear on June 16th
and were almost entirely gone on July 30th. It is probably. that
three or four years are needed before the full adult plumage is at-
tained.
Food.—tThe cormorant is an expert on the wing and in the water,
and its habits are very similar to those of its double-crested cousin.
Its food consists entirely of fish, which it is able to follow under
water with great speed and seize with its powerful hook-like bill.
When it appears on the surface it sometimes throws the fish up into
the air in order to get a better hold; its gullet is so wide that its
swallowing capacity is large. Most of the fish it captures are of no
economic importance to man, but in some cases, no doubt, a toll is
taken of useful fish. On Cape Cod I. have seen cormorants perched
on the fencing of fish weirs, and it is probable that they are not
considered desirable visitors by the fishermen. With us the cormorant
is rarely seen away from the sea, although there are records from
Lake Ontario. Stead (1906) says of.it in New Zealand that it “is
with us largely an inland bird, frequenting fresh-water lakes and
rivers.” Yarrell (1871) writes that 6 follow the course of rivers
many miles inland.
240 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Behavior.—The flight of the cormorant is heavy and heron like, with
slow flapping of its broad wings. It often flies close to the water,
and I have-seen it touch the surface with its wing tips at each stroke
From a flat station like a beach, or the water on calm days, it has
considerable difficulty in rising, and strikes with its feet together in
great hops several times before it can get away. From a cliff or
buoy it launches itself into the air and descends in a great down-
ward curve nearly to the water, sometimes even splashing the surface
before it gets impetus enough to rise again and fly away. The
stronger the wind to which it opposes its aeroplanes, the less is the
depth of the curve. The reverse process of alighting on a cliff, and
particularly on a small perch like a buoy, also calls for much skill
on the part of the bird, and is interesting to watch. The cormorant
flies with considerable velocity upwind toward its buoy, sets its
wings, and with neck outstretched and feet dropped, it sails upwards
toward its perch. If it has not calculated exactly right it may fail
to accomplish the feat; whereupon it swings around to leeward and
tries again. I watched a cormorant try four times one calm March
day off Rockport on Cape Ann before it succeeded in alighting on
the spindle on the salvages. Cormorants, in migration or when flying
to and from their feeding grounds, maintain no regularity of flock
arrangement. An irregular flock is common, as is also a perfect
V-shaped formation, a long file, or a rank. In the latter case each
successive bird in the rank is generally slightly behind his neighbor
on one side. Although the flight is usually heavy, with slow wing
beats, the birds are swift flyers in strong winds and, at times, soar
like gulls or hawks to a great height.
On the water they are rapid swimmers, and they often swim with
their body depressed so that the back is level with the surface.
When alarmed they sink still lower so that only the head and neck
are exposed. They not infrequently swim with the head and neck
extended forward under water for the purpose of looking for fish.
Under the surface they are especially at home, and progress with
great swiftness. As the cormorant dives for fish he springs upward
and forward and enters the water in a graceful curve with wings
pressed close to the sides. Headly (1907) says: “The cormorant uses
his feet alone to propel him [in diving] striking with both simul-
taneously, and holding the wings motionless, though slightly lifted
from the body. The position of the wings must have given rise to
the idea, common among fishermen, that the cormorant flies under
water * * * but when you see him in a tank you can have
no doubt that the legs are the propellers.” Selous (1905) made ob-
servations on wild birds seen under advantageous circumstances in
a cave in the Shetlands and confirms the statement that the wings
are not used in diving. Cormorants are also able to dart down from
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 241
a height as from a cliff and dive into the sea. This they are apt to
do when shot at or otherwise disturbed.
The position of the cormorant on a perch is very characteristic
by reason of the long neck which takes on an S curve, and the long
tail which points diagonally downward or is slightly elevated to
clear the ground. The gait of this bird is a waddle of the most
marked description. It may be seen asleep on rocks or sandbars
with head buried in the scapulars and the tail elevated. At their
nesting places in cliffs they support themselves on the vertical faces
by their claws and tail like woodpeckers. The most characteristic
attitude of the cormorant, however, is the spread-eagle one with
wings widely open. This attitude is assumed on trees or buoys, on
rocks or sand and even on the surface of the water—sometimes for
minutes together. On one occasion I timed an individual who sat
thus on a rock for ten minutes. The position is generally supposed
to be assumed for the purpose of drying the wings, but, if.so, it is
not assumed by other water birds, who content themselves with
flapping and shaking their wings. I have seen cormorants assume
the spread-eagle position on foggy, rainy days, and I am inclined
to think that the habit is derived from the same ancestors that be-
queathed it, to the vultures, for cormorants and vultures are now
believed to be allied.
The cormorant is not a song bird, and, as far as I know, he utters
his feelings only in harsh, guttural croaks.
Although Longfellow has made us familiar with the “fierce cor-
morant,” this bird seems to get along peaceably with other birds.
As already stated it nests in communities with the double-crested
species. G. M. Allen (1913) quotes from the notes of B. F. Damsell
the interesting case of a cormorant that took refuge in an oak tree
from the attacks of two kingbirds. From the tree it fell to the
ground and was found to have a broken wing that had healed.
Man, as always, is the cormorant’s worst enemy, although its flesh
and eggs are so fishy that they are but indifferent eating. I have
already quoted William Wood on the subject. Josselyn (1674)
gives-a similar verdict and describes more in detail the Indians’
method of capture. He says:
I have not done yet, nor must not forget the cormorant, Shape or Sharke;
though I can not commend them to our curious palats. The Indians will eat
them when they are fley’d, they take them prettily, they roost in the night
upon some Rock that lyes out in the Sea, thither the Indian goes in his Birch-
Canow when the Moon shines clear, and when he is come almost to it, he lets
his Canow drive on of its self, when he is come under the Rock he droves his
Boat along till he come just under the Cormorants watchman, the rest being
asleep, and so soundly do sleep that they will snore like so many Piggs;
the Indian thrusts up his hand of a sudden, grasping the watchman so hard
round his neck that he can not cry out; as soon as he hath him in his Canow
242 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
fast, he clambreth to the top of the Rock, where walking softly he takes them
up as he pleaseth, still wringing off their heads; when he hath slain as
many as his Canow can carry, he gives a shout which awakens the surviving
Cormorants, who are gone in an instant.
Bewick (1884); says:.
At other times and places, while they sit'in a dozing and stupified state,
from the effects of one of their customary surfeits, they may easily be taken
by throwing nets over them, or by putting a noose around their necks.
Kumlien (1879), reports that the primaries of this bird were
formerly in great demand by the Eskimos of Cumberland Sound for
their arrows.
Winter.—The fall migration of the cormorant along the Atlantic
coast begins in October ‘and the birds winter in favorable localities
along the shore. One of these:is Rockport on the end of Cape Ann.
Here three or four individuals, the pitiful remnant of a much
larger number, may generally be seen fishing about the Salvages—
rocky islands in the outer harbor—and alighting on spar buoys and
spindles. ,
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—Probably now extirpated as a breeding bird in
North America; a few may still breed in Greenland. Formerly bred
from central western Greenland (Godhaven, 69° north) and Baffin
Land (Cumberland Sound) south to Newfoundland, southern
Labrador (Whapitaguan) and the Bay of Fundy (Grand Manan).
In the eastern hemisphere this form breeds in Iceland, on the
Scandinavian and north Russian coasts, east to the Kola Peninsula,
and south to the Faroe Islands, Scotland, England, Ireland and
Wales. The birds of continental Europe and Asia are now regarded
as subspecifically distinct.
Winter range—From southern Greenland, throughout its breeding
range, and southward along the Atlantic coast, regularly to New
York (Long Island) and occasionally to Maryland (Chesapeake
Bay) and South Carolina (two specimens taken). On the other side
of the Atlantic the winter range extends to the Canary Islands.
Spring migration.—Uas been noted in Rhode Island (Newport)
as late as May 15, and in Massachusetts (Amesbury) as late as
June 18,
Fall migration.—Arrives in Rhode Island (Seaconnet Point) as
early as September 15, and New York (Long Island) as early as
September 22.
Casual records.—Accidental inland: Ontario (Toronto, Novem-
ber 21, 1896), and New York (Oneida Lake, November 15, 1877).
L'gg dates——Labrador: Twelve records, June 1 to 30; six records,
June 16 to 20. British Isles: Seven records, April 22 to May 25; four
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 44
Stump Lake, North Dakota, A.C. Bent.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 243
records, April 28 to May 19. Greenland: April 28 to July 25
(Hagerup).
PHALACROCORAX AURITUS AURITUS (Lesson).
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
HABITS.
Among the passing flocks of wild fowl which migrate along the
New England coast, one occasionally sees a flock of large black birds
flying high in the air in a regular V-shaped formation like geese, or
in single file, or rarely in an irregular bunch. At first. he may mis-
take them for geese or brant on account. of their size and manner of
flight, which is heavy and strong, with rather slow wing strokes, but
if he watches them carefully he will see them set their wings and scale
along at occasional intervals, by which he recognizes them at once
as cormorants or “shags.” There are two species of “shags” found
on this coast, the double-crested and the common cormorant, of
which the former is much the commoner. .
Couriship.—On the flat top of Percé Rock, which stands only a
few rods from the shore of Percé, Quebec, is a large breeding colony
of double-crested cormorants and herring gulls, and the top ofthe
rock is about level with the heights of Cape Cannon, the nearest
point. On June 19, 1920, while watching this colony from that
point through a powerful telescope, I had a good opportunity to
study the courtship or nuptial greeting of this species. Many
birds were standing by their mates on the nests; others were con-
stantly coming or going. The incoming bird, presumably the male,
bows to his mate and walks around her with his neck upstretched
and swollen, opening and closing his bill. Then approaching his
mate he begins caressing her with his bill; she steps off the nest;
then both begin a series of snakelike movements of heads and necks,
almost intertwining them. Finally he passes his head over, under,
and around his mate, apparently caressing her from head to tail,
and he or she settles down on the nest.
Nesting —Many of the birds must reach their breeding grounds on
the south coast of Labrador by the middle of May or earlier, for we
found their nesting operations well under way during the last week
in May, and they are said to begin nest building before the snows of
winter have passed away. They must be very common all along this
coast, for in a 75-mile cruise from Esquimaux Point to Natashquan,
Doctor Townsend and I saw three breeding colonies in 1909. These
were all on low, bare, rocky islets well off the coast. The first colony
visited, on May 26, was on Seal Rock, off St. Genevieve Island, a low-
lying rock of less ‘than an acre in area. From a distance we could
see the large black birds sitting all over it, but as we approached it in
244 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
a small boat they all flew off, and after circling about us a few times,
_ to satisfy their curiosity, they settled down on the water to watch us.
We counted 204 nests in various stages of construction, closely
grouped together on the higher portions of the rock, which was
thickly covered with excrement, making the rocks quite slippery
and filling the small water puddles with a putrid, vile-smelling mix-
ture. Some of the nests had well-made foundations of sticks, but
most of them were made wholly or largely of seaweed, kelp, rock-
weed, grasses, feathers, and bark; they were generally lined with
grasses or seaweed, and many were decorated with green sprigs of fir,
spruce, cedar, or laurel; a few were still further ornamented with
gull’s feathers, birch bark, or dead crabs, and one had a long curly
shaving in it. A typical nest measured 22 inches in diameter outside
and 9 inches inside; they were usually built up 4 or 5 inches, but
one was 9 inches high. Many of the nests were incomplete or empty,
but most of them contained from one to five fresh eggs. Two similar
colonies containing about 75 pairs each were noted a little farther
along the coast. We watched them through our high-power glasses
and saw them building their nests; most of the seaweed was obtained
near by, the birds diving for it in deep water and bringing it up in
their bills; the sticks and green twigs were, of course, brought from
the mainland several miles away. Although they were not breeding
in the interior anywhere we frequently saw these cormorants flying
up the rivers, probably in search of fishing grounds.
The most southern breeding resort of the double-crested cormorant
that I know of on the Atlantic coast is at Black Horse Ledge, »
precipitous crag of rough black rock, towering 60 or 70 feet up out
of the ocean off Penobscot Bay, Maine. I visited this rock on June
19, 1899, where I had some difficulty in landing and climbing up its
steep sides. I had seen eight or ten cormorants fly off as I approached
and the top of the rock was filthy with their excrement and swarm-
ing with flies, but no nests had been built. Mr. Ora W. Knight, who
told me about the colony, said that a few pairs bred there nearly
every year, but did not lay their eggs until late in June or in July.
A few pairs of herring gulls also nest on this rock.
The most populous summer resort for this species that I have ever
seen is Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba, a large shallow lake, about
120 miles long and averaging about 15 feet deep, with numerous
rocky shoals and low reefs of loose boulders. The whole country
around the lake is low, flat, and largely marshy, a fine country for
water fowl of many species. The waters of the lake are teeming
with fish, mostly white fish, pickerel, and pike, which furnish an
abundant food supply for thousands of cormorants, grebes, loons,
and pelicans. Numerous small islands and rocky reefs furnish con-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [21 PL. 45
Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. A.C. Bent.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 245
venient nesting places, which are well patronized. During a short
cruise of less than a week we saw no less than five breeding colonies
of double-crested cormorants, ranging in size from 45 to 1,500 pairs.
The largest colony that I have ever seen was visited on June 18, 19138,
on a small] triangular island near the northern end of the lake. As
we approached the island and anchored in the lea of it, preparing to
land, an imense cloud of the large black birds poured off the rocky
shores and began circling around us in a bewildering maze, and
mingled with them were a few of the great white pelicans, which
were also breeding on the island. It was an impressive sight. The
birds were much tamer than usual, for when we landed they were
still sitting on their nests on the farther side of the island behind a
little ridge, but they went scrambling off in haste and confusion as
soon as we were in plain sight. The cause of their tameness was soon
apparent for we were surprised to find that nearly all of the nests
contained young; this was rather remarkable, for none of the other
colonies contained any young at all and nearly all the eggs we had
collected were fresh or only slightly incubated. Perhaps this was
the oldest colony, for it was by far the largest, and had been occupied
by the earliest arrivals. In an average space 3 yards square I
counted 25 nests and by roughly measuring the whole occupied area
IT estimated that there were between 1,500 and 2,000 nests in the colony.
The island was about 50 yards long by 40 yards wide, consisting of a
mass of boulders piled up quite high at one end with an accumulation
of bare soil in the center, probably the result of generations of guano
deposits. Except for a bare space in the center where the pelicans
were nesting, the whole island was covered with cormorants’ nests
nearly down to the water’s edge, even on and among the boulders.
The nests were made of sticks, dead weeds, canes, and flags, most of
which had been picked up as drift material along the shore; they
were lined with straws, grasses, and often with green leaves and
fresh twigs; some were decorated or lined with gulls’ feathers. One
large nest measured 14 inches in height and 18 by 22 inches in di-
ameter; most of the nests were much smaller than this and some of
them consisted of only a few sticks and straws. The nests and their
surroundings were far from atractive as the whole island was slimy
with excrement and reeking with dead fish; the odor was almost un-
bearable. Some of the nests still held eggs but the great majority
held young of various ages, from naked, helpless, newly-hatched
chicks to well-developed, half-grown young, covered with jet black
down and squawking vigorously.
Although I have never seen the double-crested cormorant nesting
in trees, as is the universal custom with its southern representative, the
observations of others indicate that it frequently does so in the south-
ern portion of its range in the interior of the United States. Mr.
83969—22——_17
246 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
R. M. Barnes (1890) has described a large herony, formerly existing
in Illinois, in which these cormorants nested with great blue herons
and American egrets, all three species building their nests in trees,
just as they do in Florida. More recent information on the nesting
of double-crested cormorants in Illinois is given us by Mr. Frank
Smith (1911). Mr. Arthur H. Howell (1911) describes a recent
colony in Arkansas, as follows:
A large colony, probably the only large one now remaining in the State, breeds
in a rookery at Walker Lake, Mississippi County, in company with great blue
herons and water-turkeys. When I visited this rookery the first week in May,
1910, I found the cormorants sitting on their nests in the tops of the tall cypresses
growing in the lake. The nests, of which there were between 100 and 200,
were placed in crotches either close to the trunks or some distance out on the
limbs and were compactly built of green cypress twigs with a few strips of bark
as a lining. Most of the nests examined contained three or four bluish eggs,
but in one were four little naked coal-black cormorants a few days old. The
number of nests in a single tree varied from 1 to 6—usually 3 or 4—and in many
instances the cormorants shared the tree with several great blue herons. Speci-
mens taken in this colony are referable to the northern form), and this is probably
the southern limit of its breeding range.
Mr, P. A. Taverner (1915) found a colony of about 30 pairs near the
Gaspé Basin in Quebec, where the nests were built in trees, mostly
small birches, growing from the top and upper face of a bluff over-
looking the sea ‘at a height of about 150 feet, a most unusual situation.
Eggs—The double-crested cormorant lays ordinarily three or four
eggs, frequently five, rarely six, and I have taken one set of seven.
They vary in shape from elongate ovate to cylindrical ovate. Their
color is very pale blue or bluish white, more or less concealed by a
white calcareous coating which is thinner than in some other species,
and they are often badly soiled or nest stained.
The measurements of 40 eggs in the United States National Mu-
seum and the writer’s collections average 61.6 by 38.8 millimeters;
the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 40, 63 by 42,
56 by 88, and 57.5 by 36.5 millimeters.
Young.——The young when first hatched are purplish black in
color, naked, blind, and helpless. Their downy covering begins to
grow when they are about 10 days old, and at the age of about three
weeks they are fully covered with thick, short, black down. The
plumage appears first on the wings and scapulars; the wings and
tail are practically fully grown before the body plumage is fairly
started, which does not appear until the bird is fully grown; the
head and neck are the last portions to become feathered when the
bird is about six weeks old. A populous colony often contains young
birds of all ages from naked helpless chicks to full sized birds, and
presents a most interesting, if not an attractive, picture. Such a
colony is the filthiest place imaginable, for no other birds can equal
S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [21 PL. 46
ce
Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba.
a
Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. H. K. Job.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 247
cormorants in this respect. The nests and their surroundings be-
come thoroughly whitewashed with excrement, which also accumu-
lates in slimy pools swarming with flies; the nests are often alive
with fleas, lice, and other vermin; and the odor of decaying fish
scattered about adds to the nauseating stench. Among such un-
healthful surroundings the young cormorants begin life and seem to
flourish. At first they are too weak to even hold up their heads, and
the heat of the sun on the black, naked bodies often brings fatal
results, if they are left too long without the brooding care of their
parents. Even when older and covered with black down, they seem
to suffer greatly with the heat, panting with wide open mouths, the
gular sacks vibrating rapidly as if in distress; perhaps this action
may be caused by fear rather than by suffering, but it strongly sug-
gests the panting of a dog on a hot day.
The young are fed by their parents until they are fully grown
and able to fish for themselves; at first the helpless youngster sips
the semidigested liquid food from the tip of the old bird’s bill;
later on he learns to thrust his head and neck deep down into the
parental throat where he finds a more substantial supply of food;
and finally when he has learned to eat solid food his fish are brought
to him whole. The young remain in the nests until about fully
grown, but after their wings and tails are grown and while their
bodies are still downy they begin to wander about and gather in
groups near the shore; they walk about freely, exercising their
wings and legs, but do not attempt to enter the water; if one falls
into the water by accident, it makes no attempt to swim and soon
becomes thoroughly water soaked and chilled. Mr. Hersey once
rescued one from such a predicament, which seemed to be benumbed
and lay flat on the rocks as if dead, although it had been in the
water but a few seconds. As soon-as the body is fully feathered
the young bird takes to the water and soon learns to swim; probably
it learns to catch fish before it can fly, which accomplishment is not
acquired until it is about eight weeks old.
Plumages.—The first winter plumage is complete in September,
being acquired gradually from the downy stage, as explained above,
and is worn with but slight progress toward maturity during the fol-
lowing winter and spring. The plumage of the back suggests the
color pattern of the adult, each brown feather being bordered with
brownish black, but it is dull and lusterless, instead of glossy greenish
black; the under parts are dull brown, lighter on the throat and
belly than elsewhere; the colors become lighter and duller as the sea-
son advances, by wear and fading. The progress of the molt into the
pext plumage is very variable; some vigorous individuals begin to
molt as early as February, but with most birds this does not begin
until late in the spring or in the summer; the latter is probably the
248 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
norma] time at which the first postnuptial molt takes place. This
molt is complete, though much prolonged, and produces the second
winter plumage, which is similar to that of the adult when complete.
It is often not completed, however, until the latter part of the winter,
when the bird may be said to be in its second nuptial plumage. This
is similar to the adult nuptial plumage except that the crests are
lacking on the sides of the head. Up to this time the young bird has
been undergoing an almost constant change and development of
plumage and it is now ready to breed.
The plumage changes of the adults are simple; a complete post-
nuptial molt in the late summer produces the winter plumage and. a
partial prenuptial molt early in the spring produces the nuptial
plumes on the sides of the head which are characteristic of the mating
season and constitute the only marked difference between the nuptial
and the fall or winter plumages. These nuptial plumes are appar-
ently shed during the nesting period, as they are seldom seen after
the season is well advanced.
Food.—The food of the double-crested cormorant consists almost
entirely of fish, which it obtains by diving from the surface or swim-
ming below it, at which it is an adept, capable of making great speed
under water, diving to great depths and remaining under for a long
time. I have seen it stated that cormorants use their wings in flying
under water, but I doubt if they do so regularly; their long slender
bodies and powerful totipalmate feet are highly specialized for rapid
swimming, without the aid of wings. On the New England coast
they are frequently seen flying up the larger rivers and tidal estuaries
to fish, where they live largely on eels. Mr. George H. Mackay
(1894) makes the following interesting statement regarding the food
of this species in Rhode Island:
All the double-crested cormorantg (P. dilophus) obtained had eels (Anguilla
vulgaris Turton) in their throats. In four of the birds the heads of the
eels had been apparently torn off and they rested in the throat in every in-
stance in the form of a loop or ox.bow, the two ends being nearest the stomach.
In the fifth and largest bird an eel in perfect condition, measuring sixteen
inches long and one inch in diameter, rested lengthwise in the throat with
the tail at the mouth. Those taken from the other four birds were seven to
ten inches long. It would therefore seem that eels constitute a large part of
their food in this locality, at least at this time. I also picked up on the top
of the rock an eel in a partially dried condition, minus its head, which was
probably seven or eight inches long before the head had been torn off. It was
in the form of an ox bow or loop, having dried as it was probably ejected.
He also speaks in the same paper of finding their ejected pellets
of fish bones on a rock off Seaconnet Point, Rhode Island:
On the flat top of the rock I found and saw a large number of curious balls
(and brought fourteen away with me) varying from an inch to two inches in di-
ameter and composed almost entirely of fish bones, chiefly the bones of young
parrot-fishes (Labroids) and drums (Sciaenoids) firmly cemented together
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 249
with gluten, hard in the dried specimens and soft and gelatinous in those
more recent. One of the largest of the former, which was five and a quarter
inches in circumference and quite black, while all the others were of a light
color, contained three crabs (Cancer irroratus Say—Panopeus sayi Smith) in
a fairly perfect condition, with some of the claws still remaining in place,
showing that they were probably swallowed whole. I am consequently in-
clined to the opinion, in the absence of absolute facts, that these birds, like
the owls, have the power of ejecting indigestible substances,
Mr. Taverner (1915) says of their fishing habits:
In the morning as soon as the sun ig well up the cormorants fly in through
the narrow channel separating the basin from the bay, their numbers increas-
ing until about nine o’clock, when most of the birds are to be found. fishing.
in the shallow water at the head of the basin. On first coming in they alight
in the water, look about a minute, and then disappear with an easy gliding
dive. They generally remain under the water for about a minute. If they
have been successful in their fishing, their prey can be easily seen when they
reappear. They catch a fish crossways, and it takes a little manipulation and
sundry jerks of the head to get it placed properly in the mouth; then there
is an upward flirt of the bill and the fish is swallowed. A few gulps are
given and the bird is ready to repeat the operation.
He says of their food:
With the exception, then, of a few wandering birds, the cormorants feed
either along the sea coast, as at Percé, or in the tidal mouths of the rivers.
We collected some thirty stomachs from such localities, but none of them
contained salmonoid remains. The food contents were mostly capelin, floun-
der, herring, and an occasional eel and tom cod.
Of the thirty-two stomachs examined, five were empty, one so nearly so as
to make the contents unrecognizable, and two were from nestlings with con-
tents regurgitated from the parents’ throat and, having been subject to double
digestive action, were not recognizable.
Of the remaining twenty-five, sixteen contained sculpins, five herring, one
each capelin and eel, and two tom cod or allied fish. Nearly all had ascaris
and other parasitical remains. The evidence indicates that these were inci-
dentally obtained from the flesh of the original hosts. In many stomachs there
were fragments of eel-grass, crustaceans, molluscs, and pebbles, but in small
quantities and evidently derived from the stomachs of the prey or taken
accidentally with it.
Behavior.—¥Except for an occasional hoarse grunting croak, when
alarmed, I have never heard the double-crested cormorant make any
vocal sound whatever and believe it is usually silent. Its flight, which
I have previously described, is characteristic of the genus, slow and
heavy, with occasional periods of scaling. When flying from a spar
buoy, one of its favorite perches, it drops downward at first nearly
to the water and flies along close to the surface, rising in an upward
curve to its next alighting place. On bright, sunny days it frequently
stands on some convenient perch in an upright position, with its
wings outstretched in spread-eagle fashion, enjoying a sun bath.
Unless facing a strong wind it experiences considerable difficulty in
rising from the water, pattering along its surface for a long distance.
250 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Winter.—As soon as the young birds are large enough to fly they
gather into great flocks and prepare for the fall migration, which
begins in August. They are deliberate in their movements, loitering
along the coast for two or three months. In Massachusetts the main
flight passes between the middle of September and the first of No-
vember. The south Atlantic and gulf coasts are the principal winter
resorts of the double-crested cormorants, where they mingle with their
close relatives, the Florida cormorants, and lead a similar roving life.
On the North Carolina coast Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson (1919) says
that this is the common cormorant in winter and that “as evening
comes they congregate in flocks of from ten to forty individuals, and
in solid ranks, go flying low over the water to some favorite ‘lump’
of shell or small sandy island on which to roost.” Once he “dug a
hole in the shells of a miniature island, where, lying concealed, he
was enabled to watch unobserved the hundreds of cormorants which
came there to roost. Without exception the flocks all pitched in the
water a short distance away, and later swam leisurely ashore.”
Mr. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that, on the coast of South
Carolina, “ every afternoon these birds fly out to sea to pass the night,
and at break of day flock after flock may be seen returning to the
tidal creeks and sounds in quest of food.”
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range——Temperate North America, east of the Rocky
Mountains. East to the Gulf of St. Lawrence (from Cape Whittle to
Percé Rock). South to the coast of Maine (Penobscot Bay), west
central Ohio (near Celina, formerly at least), central Illinois
(Havanna and Persia, on Illinois River), northeastern Arkansas
(Walker Lake, Mississippi County), central northern Wyoming
(Buffalo), and northern Utah (Great Salt Lake). West to above
point and south central Alberta (Buffalo Lake). North to central
Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake), central Manitoba (Lake Winni-
pegosis) and James Bay. Utah records may refer to albociliatus or
the two forms may intergrade here. Breeding grounds protected in
the following reservations: In Quebec, Percé Rock; in North Dakota,
Stump Lake; and in Arkansas, Walker Lake.
Winter range——Mainly on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from New
Jersey to northern Florida and Louisiana. Has been recorded as
far north in winter as eastern Maine (Calais) and Michigan
(Grosse Isle).
Spring migration —Northward along the coast and throughout the
interior. Early dates of arrival: New York, Long Beach, March
31; Massachusetts, Plymouth County, March 26; Quebec, Godbout,
May 19; Illinois, Mount Carmel, March 1-7; Michigan, Ann Arbor,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 251
April 12; Manitoba, Shell River, May 13. Late dates of departure:
New Jersey, Sea Island City, May 23; New York, Montauk Point,
May 15; Rhode Island, Newport, May 17; Massachusetts, June 18;
Missouri, St. Louis, May 22; Louisiana, Lake Catherine, April 14.
Fall migration—Reversal of spring routes. Early dates of ar-
rival: Massachusetts, Essex County, August 22; New York, Montauk
Point, August 26; New Jersey, Wildwood, August 30; Missouri,
October 5. Late dates of departure: Quebec, Montreal, November 1;
Massachusetts, Essex County, November 24; New York, Onondaga
Lake, November 30; Pennsylvania, Erie, December 14; Michigan,
Ann Arbor, November 25; Illinois, Chicago, November 20.
Casual records—Wanders occasionally to Bermuda (October 10,
1847, February 8, 1848, etc.)
Egg dates—North Dakota and Minnesota: Thirty-one records,
May 12 to July 11; sixteen records, May 23 to June 15. Manitoba
and Saskatchewan : Eighteen records, June 4 to July 21; nine records,
June 14 to 18. Quebec: Six records, May 26 to June 30. Utah:
Five records, April 9 to May 17.
PHALACROCORAX AURITUS FLORIDANUS (Audubon).
FLORIDA CORMORANT.
HABITS.
About the mangrove keys of southern Florida, principally in that
broad expanse of shallow water known as the Bay of Florida, be-
tween Cape Sable and the Keys, this smaller form is exceedingly
abundant and one of the characteristic birds of the region. It is
decidedly gregarious in its habits, flying about in large flocks and
roosting in immense numbers on certain keys, to which it regularly
resorts, the mangroves becoming thoroughly whitewashed with the
accumulated droppings of hundreds of cormorants. These roosts
are occupied by day as well as by night and it is an interesting ex-
perience to row around one of them in a small boat and see the great
black birds pour off the trees down to the surface of the water and
go flying off in large flocks. They are much tamer than their north-
ern relatives, as they are seldom molested. They are called “ nigger-
geese” by the natives, who consider the young good eating, but even
the negroes and conchs do not care for adults.
Courtship—As I have never witnessed the nuptial performance
of this species I must quote the following graphic account from the
pen of the illustrious Audubon (1840) :
The Florida cormorant begins to pair about the first of April, and commences
the construction of its nest about a fortnight after. Many do not lay quite
so early, and I found some going through their preparations until the middle
252 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
of May. Their courtships are performed on the water. On the morning,
beautiful but extremely hot, of the 8th of that month, while rambling over one
of the keyes, I arrived at the entrance of a narrow and rather deep channel,
almost covered by the boughs of the mangroves and some tall canes—the only
tall canes I had hitherto observed among those islands. I paused, looked at
the water, and observing it to be full of fish, felt confident that no shark was
at hand. Cocking both locks of my gun, I quietly waded in. Curious sounds
now reached my ears, and as the fishes did not appear to mind me much, I
proceeded onward among them for perhaps a hundred yards, when I observed
that they had all disappeared. The sounds were loud and constantly renewed,
as if they came from a joyous multitude, The inlet suddenly became quite
narrow and the water reached to my arm pits. At length I placed myself be-
hind some mangrove trunks, whence I could see a great number of cormorants
not more than fifteen or twenty yards from me. None of them, it seemed,
had seen or heard me; they were engaged in going through their nuptial cere-
monies. The males, while swimming gracefully around the females, would
raise their wings and tail, draw their head over their back, swell out their
neck for an instant, and with a quick forward thrust of the head utter a rough,
guttural note, not unlike the cry of a pig. The female at this moment would
crouch as it were on the water, sinking into it, when her mate would sink
over her until nothing more than his head was to be seen, and soon afterwards
both sprung up and swam joyously around each other, croaking all the while.
Twenty or more pairs at a time were thus engaged. Indeed, the water was
covered with cormorants, and had I chosen I might have shot several of them.
I now advanced slowly toward them, when they stared at me as you might
stare at a goblin, and began to splash the water with their wings, many diving.
On my proceeding they all dispersed, either plunging beneath or flying off.
and making rapidly toward the mouth of the inlet. Only a few nests were on
the mangroves, and I looked upon the spot as analogous to the tournament
grounds of the pinnated grouse, although no battles took place in my presence.
A few beautiful herons were sitting peaceably on their nests, the mosquitoes
were very abundant, large, ugly blue land crabs crawled among the mangroves,
hurrying toward their retreats, and I retired, as I had arrived, in perfect
silence. While proceeding, I could not help remarking the instinctive knowl-
edge of the fishes, and thought how curious it was that, as soon as they had
observed the cormorants’ hole none had gone farther, as if they were well aware
of the danger, but preferred meeting me as I advanced toward the birds. .
Nesting.—The most northern breeding colony of the Florida cor-
morant that I have heard of was well described by Mr. T. Gilbert
Pearson (1905) as he found it during the early days of June, 1904,
in Great Lake, among the cypress swamps of eastern North Caro-
lina, and surrounded by a heavy forest, far from the haunts of
man. On his former visit to the lake he had found 150 pairs of cor-
morants breeding here, but the colony has decreased in numbers
since. I quote from his description of the colony as follows:
The colony at that time was found to be in the height of the breeding
season. The heavy nests of sticks and twigs occupied low-spreading cypress
trees standing solitary here and there in the water, usually from fifty to
one hundred yards from shore. A number of the trees were occupied by the
domicile of a single pair of birds; others contained two, three, five, seven, or
eight nests; one tree held sixteen and another thiry-six cradles of these great
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 47
Ellis Lake, North Carolina. P. B. Philipp.
FLORIDA CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 2538
birds. One hundred and twenty-one homes of the cormorants were counted,
twenty-eight trees in all being used for their accommodation.
Alligators gather about the colony, probably to feed, in part, upon the frag-
ments of food which fall from the nests above. Six were counted at one time
within easy rifle range of the boat. One of the young, while climbing along
a slender limb, lost its balance and fell with a splash into the water. It im-
mediately dived, and, coming to the surface about twenty feet away, began
swimming up the lake with long and rapid strokes. By the time I had descended
to the boat with.my cameras the bird was fully fifty yards away. ‘To our
horror, a large alligator had given chase, and was rapidly approaching the
swimmer. We immediately started in pursuit, and, after an exciting chase,
rescued the young cormorant; but not until the alligator had made two un-
successful snaps at his intended victim, which escaped only by diving with.
marvelous quickness just at the proper instant.
Mr. C. J. Pennock (1889) described a somewhat similar colony,
nesting in large cypress trees in an inland pond, near St. Marks,
Florida. His account of the immense size of the trees chosen and
the unusual height of the nests is well worth quoting:
The nests were placed for the most part on the horizontal limbs well out
from the body of the tree, some, however, well up in the tops of the trees.
Hight trees were occupied, and ninety-seven nests were counted. The largest
tree was at least six feet in diameter at a height of eight feet from the ground,
and carried its size in good proportion well up to the lower limbs, which we
estimated to be over sixty feet from the ground. This tree contained twenty-
three nests, but none of-the others had over sixteen nests. The lowest nest
was over fifty feet from the ground, the majority were over sixty feet high,
and on the large tree referred to several nests must have been one hundred
feet high. This tree, by the way, was not molested by our party; the com-
bined girth of the strap and a pair of long arms not being sufficient to com-
pass it by fully six feet.
I think the above two instances are rather unusual, although illus-
trating the nesting habits of the Florida cormorant in inland lakes,
for this cormorant evidently prefers to frequent the shores, bays,
estuaries, inlets, and mouths of rivers, where it is more frequently
found nesting in low red mangrove trees or bushes on islands. On
my first visit to Cuthbert Lake, near Cape Sable in southern Florida,
we found, on May 1, 1903, a colony of about 600 Florida cormorants
nesting on a small mangrove island with large numbers of Louisiana
and little blue herons, American egrets, white ibises, roseate spoon-
bills, and water-turkeys. The cormorants’ nests were on the extreme
outer edge of the red mangroves which grew well out into the water
of the lake. The nests were closely bunched in compact colonies on
the very tops of the trees or bushes, from 6 to 10 feet above the
water, which was from 2 to 3 feet deop at this point. They were
well made of sticks, compactly interwoven, and were lined with
green leaves, but, like all cormorants’ nests, they were very filthy;
the nests and the trunks, branches, and leaves of the trees were
completely whitewashed with excrement, which peeled off in large
254 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
flakes, where it had become dry, making climbing very unpleasant.
Most of the nests contained two or three eggs each, but in some cases
we found newly hatched young, black, naked, and feeble. The old
cormorants were quite tame and soon returned to their nests even
within 10 feet of us. Their only note was a loud guttural croak or
grunt, which seemed to roll up through their long necks with a
hollow, rattling noise. I visited Cuthbert rookery again on March
29, 1908; the herons were incubating on full sets of eggs, but the
cormorants had not begun to lay at that time. Apparently the
Florida cormorant does not ordinarily lay its eggs before April,
probably early in that month in the southern portion of its range
and later farther north, but evidently not until May in the Caro-
linas. Its nesting habits seem to vary considerably in different
localities, as do those of its relatives, but, as far as I know, it never
nests on the ground. Some observers state that it uses no lining in
its nest, but, as most cormorants do line their nests with grasses,
leaves, or other soft substances, it is probably exceptional when it
fails to do so.
Eggs.—The Florida cormorant usually lays three eggs, sometimes
only two, or rarely four; except for an average difference in size,
they are not distinguishable from those of its northern relatives.
The measurements of 41 eggs, in the United States National Museum
and the author’s collections, average 58.2 by 36.8 millimeters; the
eggs showing the four extremes measure 64.5 by 38.5, 62 by 39, 50
by 35, and 53 by 33 millimeters.
Food.—tThe feeding habits of the Florida cormorant are similar
to those of the northern subspecies. Mr. John T. Nichols (1918)
speaks of seeing “a school of porpoises breaking not far from our
anchorage,” with “three or four cormorants following them closely,
screaming and making short flights, diving close after them.” He
refers to this as a common habit, perhaps for the purpose of secur-
ing pieces of fish left by the porpoises. According to Mr. T. Gilbert
Pearson (1919), “In the summer of 1905 H. H, Brimley saw an im-
mature bird disgorge a portion of a large water snake (Matrix taa-
ispilota) .”
In other respects the life history and habits of the Florida cormo-
rant are not essentially different from those of the double-crested
cormorant, though it is less migratory and, except in the northern
portion of its breeding range, is practically resident.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—On the Atlantic coast from North Carolina
(Craven County) southward, along both coasts of Florida and the
coast of Louisiana; on some of the Bahama Islands (Great Abaco,
j
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121) PL. 48
Carroll Islet, Washington. L, Jones,
Coast of Washington. W. L. Dawson.
WHITE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334.
LIFE HISTORIES .OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 255
Andros Island, and probably others) ; and on the Isle of Pines. Has
been recorded as breeding in southern Illinois.and Ohio, but these
birds are now considered referable to awritus, though perhaps they
may be intermediate.
Winter range.—Practically resident throughout its breeding range.
Winter range includes most of the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser
Antilles, and the coasts of Texas, Honduras, and Yucatan. With-
draws from the Carolinas in winter.
Egg dates——Florida; thirty-six records, March 5 to June 21:
eighteen records, April 8 to May 14.
PHALACROCORAX AURITUS CINCINATUS (Brandt).
WHITE-CRESTED CORMORANT.
HABITS.
The northwestern race of the double-crested cormorant is restricted
in the breeding season to the northwest coast region from southern
Alaska to Oregon. Reported records of its breeding in the interior
are probably erroneous and refer to the eastern subspecies, or to the
Farallon cormorant; such errors may have arisen from the fact that
in high nuptial plumage a few white feathers are occasionally found
in the crests of the eastern bird. All of the subspecies of Phalacro-
corax auritus habitually shed their crests during the season of incu-
bation, the long curling plumes serving merely as courtship and nup-
tial adornments. The species can always be distinguished, however,
from the other Pacific coast species by the conspicuous yellow gular
sac. :
Nesting—The best known breeding resorts of the white-crested
cormorant are in the great sea-bird reservations off the coasts of
Washington and Oregon, which have been so well described by Mr.
W. L. Dawson and Prof. Lynds Jones in their various writings. I
can not do better than to quote freely from one of Professor Jones’s
(1908) excellent papers on the subject, as follows:
The proper study of the white-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax dilophus
cincinatus) was made during our stay on Carroll Islet. The reader has already
seen enough pictures of the rocks and islands characteristic of this coast to be-
come familiar with the precipitous sides, jagged outlines, verdure-clad top, and
crumbling ledges. The accompanying halftone pictures will give some idea as
to what parts of Carroll Islet these cormorants select as nesting sites, and illus-
trate certain details which the camera was able to record. These pictures rep-
resent two somewhat different kinds of nesting places, and fairly represent the
life of these birds during the breeding season.
Figure 2 is a representation of nearly the entire colony which occupied a
sharp ledge jutting out from the northeast corner of the island, a ledge with a
sharp and jagged summit ridge, as the picture shows. This was the only
colony of this species found in such a situation. Figure 1 represents a part
256 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
of one of the other and apparently more usual nesting site of this species—a
rather narrow ledge of broken shelving rock at the foot of a precipice or over-
hang. Apparently any relatively flat space sufficiently large to accommodate
the nest may be utilized, either upon the sharp ledge or precipice’s foot. A
careful scrutiny of any of the nests shown will reveal the fact that one of
the prime requisites in a nesting site for the individual nest is that on one
side the ground or rock must fall abruptly away. It is on this side that the
excrement forms a limy smear, often extending many feet below the nest.
The uphill side of the nest is always relatively clean.
Nests are made of coarse sticks arranged much after the manner of a hawk’s
nest, cupped to the depth of five or six inches, and with a lining of grassy ma-
terial which covers scarcely more than the bottom of the depression. The sticks
used were such as might have been found upon the island, and the grass seemed
to correspond to that within a short distance of the colony. There was no evi-
dent attempt at concealment in any case, nor was there any clear indication
that any nests were placed with a view to shelter either from the weather or
from the scorching rays of the sun. The evident distress of both old and young
birds when exposed to the direct sunlight would certainly afford excuse enough
for seeking a shady nook among the rocks. The very young birds were nearly
baked when left uncovered for any great length of time. One such died under
our eyes, evidently from the heat. p
The varying ages of the young—none of which were yet feathered—and the
fresh eggs in a nest which showed no signs of having been a victim of the
pilfering crows, both point to the conclusion that there must be a great deal
of individual variation in the time of nesting of these birds. It is true that
nests containing fresh eggs may represent a second set after the loss of the
first one, but the fact that none of the young birds were anywhere near ready
to leave the nests seem conclusive that only one brood is reared in a season.
The nesting season was too far advanced to afford any opportunity for study-
ing nest building or egg deposition.
The colony shown in Figure 1 was shared by a few California murres who
occupied the spaces between nests which were level enough to keep an egg from
rolling into the water, or off from the ledge. There was no apparent discord in
such a mixed colony, even though the murres were within reach of the weupons
of the cormorants. In one other place the same conditions prevailed. I could
discover no reason for regarding this as a case of true communalism, If there
was any benefit derived from this association it must have been to the advan-
tage of the murres.
Besides these two nesting sites there were a few small ledges on the ocean
side of the island where we found nests of this species, usually not more than
two or three nests together. Here there was some distant intimacy with
Baird cormorants, but the different manner of nesting of these two species
precludes the possibility of any competition between them.
The perpetual noises made by the birds of the island seriously interfered
with any careful study of the various notes of these cormorants. When the
old birds were disturbed or alarmed they gave vent to a spluttering squawk
and often a low grunting. The young yelped something like a puppy, particu-
larly when they were calling for food. They were usually silent when crouch-
ing away from danger. The very young birds showed no fear, but the older
ones clearly did.
Eggs-—The eggs of this subspecies seem to be scarce in collections.
They are apparently indistinguishable from eggs of the other sub-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN [21 PL. 49
Tule Lake, Oregon. Bohlman and Finley.
Los ,Coronados Islands, Mexico. D. R. Dickey.
FARALLON CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 257
species. A small series of 9 eggs collected by William L. Dawson
on the coast of Washington average, in measurements, 62.4 by 40.8
millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measured 64.2 by
42, 59.4 by 40.2, and 60.7 by 40.2.
Behavior—It hardly seems necessary to go into further details of
the life history of this bird, about which comparatively little has
been published, as it is the rarest and the least known of the four
subspecies. There is no reason for thinking, that it differs essen-
tially in its habits from its better known relatives.
Winter—Mr. William H. Kobbé (1900) say of its winter habits,
near Cape Disappointment, Washington :—
This cormorant is a very abundant species during the entire year, but espe-
cially so in the winter and spring. They are rather wary birds to hunt, but may
always be shot while sitting upon the stakes which support the fish pots. They
sometimes perch upon these poles for hours and oftentimes may be seen with
their wings half spread, by. which means they dry them. Although the birds
remain throughout the summer, I did not find them nesting upon the numerous
cliffs of the cape and am certain they do not breed in this locality.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Northwest coast region. From the coast of
Washington (The Olympiades) northward throughout southern
Alaska to Kodiak Isand and the base of the Alaska Peninsula (Lake
Iliamna). Aleutian Islands records are open to question. Breed-
ing grounds protected in the following reservations: In Alaska, St.
Lazaria, and Forrester Island; and in Washington, Flattery Rocks,
Quillayute Needles, and Copalis Rock.
Winter range.—Practically resident in its breeding range.
Egg dates—Washington: Four records, June 3, 12, and 20, and
July 10.
PHALACRCCORAX AURITUS ALBOCILIATUS Ridgway.
FARALLON CORMORANT,
HABITS.
This name is somewhat misleading, for this is the least abundant
of the three species of cormorant known to breed on the Farallon
Islands; it is much more abundant at many other places; and it is
widely distributed from southern Oregon to Lower California, breed-
ing on the islands along the coast and in many lakes in the interior.
It has a much wider range and is much better known than the north-
ern subspecies, the white-crested cormorant. Its life history is so
similar to that of the eastern double-crested cormorant that it would
involve a useless repetition to give much more than a brief account
of some of its characteristic breeding colonies.
258 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Nesting —Mr. W. Otto Emerson, in his notes sent to Major Bendire
says that on the Farallon Islands they begin to assemble about the
first of April or earlier if the season is favorable.
They gather about the old rookeries and collect great pieces of dry kelp and
Farrallone weed to repair their old nests; they may be a month or more about
the nests, adding bit by bit to the home; sometimes all leaving for a fishing
trip to sea, then back again, sitting around the nests or on them; purloining
one from another’s nest to add to its own; bits of sea-moss and broken sticks
are stuck in the nest here and there. By the first of May some of the nests
contain eggs, both sexes sharing the. work of incubation, one staying on the
eggs to protect them from the thieving gulls, while the other is off fishing. I
found these cormorants to be the tamest of the three species on the island;
one can get up to within two feet of the nests.
The tameness of the Farallon cormorant has been referred to by
several writers and a number of good photographs of birds on their
nests have been taken at short range; this trait is not shared by the
eastern subspecies which is usually so shy that it is difficult to come
within gunshot of one on its nest.
Mr. Milton S. Ray (1904) describes the nests of this species, on
the Farallon Islands, as follows:
The weed nests were like those of the gull but much larger and shallower,
measuring twenty inches across, the cavity being nine in width and three in
depth. I counted but forty-seven nests in the colony, which shows that the
number of these birds, now the least abundant cormorant on the islands, is
continually decreasing. On subsequent visits we noticed the birds did not re-
lay in the nests from which we had taken eggs. The gulls did not molest
the eggs and young in this rookery, for the reason the old birds did not
give them a chance, they settling back on the nest as soon as we passed it.
While it was interesting to watch these avian snakes in their summer home,
the decaying remains of numerous fish about the colony and the swarms of
seal-flies rendered it a pleasant place to be away from.
A vast breeding colony of this cormorant was found on San Mar-
tin Island, Lower California, by Mr. Howard W. Wright (1918);
he made a careful estimate of the area covered by this colony and
figured that it occupied about 13 square miles; then allowing one
nest for each 100 square feet, based on a count in an average meas-
ured area, he concluded that the colony contained the astonishing
number of 348,480 nests. This is certainly the largest colony of
cormorants of which we have any record. He says:
We became very much interested in estimating the amount of fish these
birds consumed per day. We noted the amount each young cormorant threw
up when molested, and found on several occasions a bunch of fish as big
as a man’s two fists. This mass was generally composed of surf fish, smelt,
and sardines. I have heard of other estimates of from three to six sardines a
day for a cormorant, so I consider a half pound of fish a day very conservative.
Allowing half a pound of fish a day for each of the 1,800,000 birds, the
entire population would consume four hundred tong a day or about ten
thousand tons a month. The fishing was done in San Quentin bay, exclusively,
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 1I21 PL. 60
7
Salton Sink, California. W. L. Dawson.
Salton Sea, California. J. Grinnell.
FARALLON CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 334.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 259
but in that bay and in Hassler’s Cove, on the island, fish were found very
plentiful, and always hungry, showing that the birds do not seriously lessen
the number of fish.
Referring to the early morning flight witnessed at this island, he
writes:
From the hills there poured a steady stream of cormorants, flying about
eight or ten abreast. This stream poured from these hills continuously and
reached as far as we could see, toward the bay of San Quentin. The stream
was like a great black ribbon that waved in the breeze and reached to the
horizon. It was truly a wonderful sight. The birds kept coming as though
there were no limit to their numbers.
At about seven-thirty a stream began to return, each individual heavily
laden with fish. The ribbon of birds was now double—one part leaving and
the other returning. The flow of birds was continuous during the daylight
hours of each day we were there. The flow was unbroken—simply one steady
stream going, all day, and a steady stream returning.
A colony found by Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1908) on an island in
Salton Sea was evidently much like inland lake colonies of the
eastern subspecies. He says of it: !
A census of cormorant’s nests showed 147 containing eggs, besides many
others partly built. The nests were tall, compact structures composed alto-
gether of angular shrub-trunks, and lined with mesquite barkstrips and old
feathers. The outer basal sticks and the surrounding rocks were all white-
washed with excrement. A typical nest was 414 mm high and 552 mm across,
slightly saucered. The tendency seemed to be to locate the nests on prominent
rock ledges or pinnacles. The number of eggs in a nest ranged from one to
six, commonly four or five.
Several writers report inland colonies nesting in trees. One of
the most interesting of these is described by Mr. Corydon Cham-
berlain (1895) as follows:
Early in March of the present year I visited Lakeport (California), a small
town on the west shore of Beautiful Clear Lake in Lake County. Big Valley
lying on the south side of the upper basin of the lake is a forest of large white
oaks. The trees extend down toward the lake as far as the moist soil will
support them. Some trees standing within a hundred yards of the low water
mark are wholly or partially dead, as though the unfavorable moisture of the
soil had early completed the work of senile decay. In such a place where they
were within easy reach of their feeding grounds, the cormorants occupied a
rookery that had been in use many years.
We landed on a gravelly beach (the only one for several miles) among some
willow bushes and poplar trees. A number of cormorants fluttered excitedly
from the poplars and flew away in a frightened manner. Under these trees
we found. pieces of carp which the birds had dropped and the whole place had
a vile smell. About two hundred yards beyond us were two trees covered with
cormorants. Both of these trees stood apart from the great body of the forest
and one of them was dead, only the trunk remaining, and that, though
bleached, was charred deeply on one side. The other had some bunches of
leaves about the body and a few more trailing from the ends of some branches,
but the upper parts were white, seemingly dead, but really covered with the
limey excrement of the birds. South of the trees in the edge of the forest
260 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
were several containing nests but none having the bare appearance of the two
described. There were probably a hundred nests in this rookery all built in
the very highest places in the trees. I found no nest lower than 75 feet from
the ground, while the average height was about 80 feet. These measurements
were made with a tape from the treetop. One tree, which contained a few
nests, looked to be considerably over a hundred feet high, though I did not
climb it to verify my estimation,
Of the two trees described the dead one contained a single nest and the
other one 19. As I climbed the latter tree all the cormorants left their nests
and perches and went wheeling around until I descended, when they imme
diately settled down on their empty nests seemingly as contented as ever. Of
the 19 nests in the tree all but one contained complete sets of eggs, the usual
number being four, though sets of three and of five were common. All of the
sets were incubated slightly, though not enough to cause trouble in blowing.
The nests were solid, well-built affairs, having a width of frem 15 to 20. inches
and a depth of about 6 or 8 inches. They were built of oak twigs and the
stalks of marsh weeds as a base, some of the oak twigs having leaves on them;
and dead tules and other green weeds from the lake as a lining. Some had
a further lining of green oak leaves. The birds continue to put on nest mate-
rials after the eggs are laid. .Some birds could be seen flying around with great
ribbonlike tules streaming from their mouths.
Mr. A. B. Howell writes to me:
June 8, 1912, C. C. Lamb and I found them breeding abundantly at Buena
Vista Lake, California. Their nests were either near those of the white peli-
cans or in the standing dead timber in the mouth of the Kern River, and held
eggs in various stages of incubation. At Salton Sea they also breed in the dead
trees in the water near the shore, and as the sea is receding rapidly, the
height of the water from year to year may be gauged accurately by the position
of the old nests on the shore.
Eggs—The eggs of the Farallon cormorant can not be distin-
guished from those of the double-crested cormorant, though eggs
from northern latitudes average larger than those from southern
localities. The measurements of 71 eggs, in the United States Na-
tional Museum, average 62.9 to 38.8 millimeters; the eggs showing
the four extremes measure 69.5 by 40.5, 68.5 by 42.5, 54 by 37, and
67.5 by 36 millimeters.
The sequence of plumages, the behavior and other details of the
life history of the Farallon cormorant are apparently similar to
those of the double-crested cormorant. It is 2 common and well-
known bird throughout its range. Together with the Brandt cor-
morant, with which it is often associated, it is a familiar feature at
all seasons along the California coast, frequenting all suitable fishing
grounds about the islands or perching conspicuously on buoys, posts,
or floating timbers about the harbors.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range,—Pacific coast region of United States and Mexico.
On inland waters from southern Oregon (Lake Malheur and Klamath
PL. 51
BULLETIN 121
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
“UBUIPOD “V¥ “a
“S68 3Dvd ags Nolldiyosaad HOF
“LNVYONHOD NVOIX3SIN
‘oorxoyy ‘epedeyg FBT
“UBUIPOD "V “A
soorxeyy ‘epedeyy oye]
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 261
Lakes) to western Nevada (Pyramid Lake) and southern California
(Salton Sea). On islands off the coast from northern Oregon (Three
Arch Rocks) southward along the coasts of California and Lower
California to the Revillagigedo Islands. The breeding birds of Great
Salt Lake may be intermediate between this and the eastern form.
Breeding 'grounds protected in the following reservations: In Oregon,
Three Arch Rocks, Klamath Lake, and Malheur Lake; and in Cali-
fornia, Farallon.
Winter range.—Includes most of the breeding range, except per-
haps the more northern inland resorts, and extends to the valley of
the Colorado River and the Gulf of California.
Egg dates—Farallon Islands: Twenty-seven records, May 9 to July
12; fourteen records, May 30 to June 28. Los Coronados Islands:
Eighteen records, March 27 to June 3; nine records, April 3 to May
10. Oregon, California, and Nevada: Twelve records, February 5 to
June 6; six records, April 20 to May 20.
PHALACROCORAX VIGUA MEXICANUS (Brandt).
MEXICAN CORMORANT.
HABITS.
This small, but handsome, cormorant is a tropical species which
extends its range northward over the Mexican border and into the
southern part of the Mississippi valley. It has also been found
breeding in some of the West Indes. It is the only one of the North
American species of cormorants that I have not seen in life. Com-
paratively few ornithologists have studied its habits and still fewer
have published anything about it, so its life history will be rather
meager. It seems to be rare north of Texas and Louisiana, but on
the coasts of southern Texas and Mexico it is a common bird of the
salt water lagoons, rivers, and inland lakes, much resembling in ap-
pearance and behavior the well known Florida cormorant.
Nesting.—It is apparently not a migratory species, being a resi-
dent throughout the year over practically all of its range and hav-
ing a much extended breeding season. Dr, E. W. Nelson (1903) has
given us the best account of its habits and I shall quote freely from
his notes. On Christmas day, 1902, he discovered a breeding colony
of Mexican cormorants on Lake Chapala, Mexico, of which he
writes:
In the afternoon a long line of whitened bushes growing in the open water
some distance away was pointed out by our host who said he had passed there
a short time before and found a lot of cormorants nesting in them. I could
scarcely credit this but the whitened appearance of the bushes showed that the
birds used the place as a roost at least and I decided to investigate. As we
poled near enough we saw that the bushes, or small trees, which projected
twelve or fifteen feet from the water were full of cormorants and many could
83969—22——18
262 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
be seen standing on nests. We stopped the boat when within one hundred
yards and after removing our clothing slid cautiously overboard into from
three to four feet of water. Camera in hand Goldman and I stalked the birds
to within about forty yards and secured a few exposures. The bushes extended
in a narrow belt for about two hundred yards in the otherwise open water
and in them were perched between two to three hundred birds. At our first
stop the outstretched necks and changing position of some of the birds gave
evidence of their uneasiness and as we waded still nearer most of them flew
clumsily down into the open water. After moving out a hundred yards be-
yond the line of bushes they formed a black line on the water where they
remained as long as we stayed in the vicinity. When the birds became alarmed
at our approach they began a curious guttural grunting which came in a low
continuous chorus from those left in the bushes as well as those in the water.
These notes sounded much like the low grunting of a lot of small pigs while
feeding. As we waded among the bushes the birds which had remained by
their nests pitched off into the water one after the other and swam out to
join the main flock; or took wing, and after a short detour, came circling close
overhead, uttering at short intervals their guttural notes of alarm or protest.
The nests were strong platforms placed on forking branches and measured
about 15 inches across and 4 to 6 inches deep, with a shallow depression in
the top. They were composed entirely of small sticks compactly arranged,
as is shown in detail in the accompanying photographs. From one to half
a dozen nests were placed in a bush and we planted our tripods in the muddy
bottom, and, standing nearly waist deep in the water, secured good pictures
before calling up the boat and getting aboard. As the bushes were scattered,
we had no trouble in poling about and examining the nests at leisure. Most
of them were just completed and contained no eggs. Quite a number had
a single egg and in a few cases two eggs were found. A series of 18 eggs
were taken. They are rather small for the size of the bird and have a pale-
green ground color overlaid with the usual chalky white deposit which gives
them a greenish-white shade.
Mr. J. H. Riley (1905) found a colony of this species breeding in
the Bahamas, of which he writes:
A colony of these cormorants was breeding in some tall mangroves in the
large salt-water lake on Watlings Island. Most of the young were found sit-
ting on the edge of the nests, that were 15 to 20 feet up, or on the limbs out
of the nest. Some of the young were already in the water with their parents,
though they could not fly, apparently. A few nests contained heavily incu-
bated eggs. This was on July 11. A few cormorants were seen on the salt
pans around Clarence Harbor, Long Island, but as none were shot here their
identity is in doubt, though they appeared to belong to the same form as those
shot on Watlings. The young are eaten by the inhabitants and are said to be
very good. The numerous downy skins found along the shores of the salt lakes
on Watlings would indicate that young cormorant is quite an item in the
domestic economy of the islanders.
£ggs.—The Mexican cormorant usually lays four or five eggs, simi-
lar to other cormorants’ eggs in shape and texture. The ground
color is pale bluish white, but it is almost entirely concealed by a
thin coating of white calcareous deposit and the eggs are often nest
stained. The measurements of 41 eggs, in various collections, aver-
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 263
age 53.7 by 33.8; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 58 by
35, 57.5 by 87, 4'7.5 by 33.5, and 50 by 29 millimeters.
Plumages.—1 have never seen the naked or the downy young of
this Species, nor can I find any description of either in print. The
nesting season is so prolonged and variable that it is usually impossi-
ble to even approximately guess at the ages of immature birds in
collections, but apparently the sequence of plumages to maturity
is similar to that of other cormorants. In the fresh juvenal plumage,
in which I have seen birds in November, January, and April, the
head, neck, and under parts are deep, rich, dark brown, “ Vandyke
brown,” or “warm sepia,” paler on the throat and darker on the
crown, flanks, and lower belly. This plumage is probably worn for
about a year, but it wears and fades out to much paler colors, nearly
to white on the throat and belly. The upper parts are much as in
the adult, but duller and browner, with less conspicuous black edgings
on the back and scapulars. The fully adult nuptial plumage is not
acquired until the second breeding season. Adults in winter plumage
are similar to those in breeding plumage, except that they lack the
white plumes about the head and neck, where there is also more
brownish mottling. I have seen adults in full nuptial plumage in
July, August, September, November, and December. There is
probably one complete molt each year and one partial molt; the tail
is apparently molted twice.
Behavior.—Doctor Nelson (1903) writes of the behavior of Mexi-
can cormorants as follows:
Last March we camped on a small river at the bottom of a deep canyon in
central Michoacan; this stream runs a tortuous course between high rocky walls
and at short intervals breaks into foaming rapids. Our camp was on a narrow
sandy flat at the water’s edge, under the overhanging branches of some small
mahogany and other trees that had secured a foothold in the talus at the foot
of a cliff. As we lived here unsheltered except by the foliage, the happenings
among the wild life of this solitary place were under constant observation.
Among the interesting daily events was the passage up the river each morning
of several Mexican cormorants, always flying singly, their glossy black plumage
gleaming in the intense sunlight as they turned. They were evidently on their
way to some fishing ground higher up, and several hours later—usually about
midday—came back following, as in the morning, all the wanderings of the
river, and giving a touch of completeness to the wild character of the sur-
roundings.
In the summer of 1897 we found them in abundance about the lagoons and
rapids of the coast country in southern Sinaloa, and especially at some shallow
rapids in the Rosario River a few miles above the town of Rosario. During the
early part of the rainy season the river was low and at the place mentioned a
short descent in the boulder-strewn bed of the stream made a stretch, forty or
fifty yards long, of brawling rapids. Every morning dozens of cormorants flew
up stream to the rapids from the mangrove-bordered lagoons near the coast.
They flew low along the water, sometimes singly and sometimes in small
parties, usually keeping side by side in a well-formed line when two or more
264 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
were together. For a time most of them perched about on the numerous pro-
jecting stones in the river, preening their plumage and sunning themselves;
others swam idly in the slow current about the rapids. At such times the bril-
liantly green masses of foliage bordering and often overhanging the water, the
swift dark stream broken by jutting rocks on which were the numerous, black,
sharply outlined forms of the cormorants, and overhead the crystalline depths
of the morning sky of the rainy season made a wonderfully beautiful picture.
When a considerable number of cormorants had congregated they seemed to
become suddenly animated by a common purpose and followed one another in
swift flight to the foot of the rapids. There most of the assembled birds
alighted and formed a line across a considerable section of the river. Then
with flapping wings, beating the surface of the water into foam, the black line
moved up stream, the birds showing much excitement, but keeping their places
very well, The surface of the water was churned to spray by the strokes of
so many powerful wings and feet, yet in the midst of the apparent confusion the
birds could be seen darting to one side or the other, or spurting a few feet ahead
on the line, and sometimes disappearing for a moment below the surface, but
nearly always securing a fish, When they reached the head of the rapids the
birds flew heavily to their perching stones, or swam slowly up the quiet surface
of the river. After a short rest the line would reform and again beat up the
rapids and this was repeated until the birds had satisfied their hunger.
The cormorants evidently fully appreciated the advantages of thus working
in company, so that a fish trying to escape from one bird would almost certainly
become the prey of another. The purpose of beating the surface of the water
with their wings was evidently in order. to alarm and confuse the fish so that
they would dart blindly about and become more easily captured. I have seen
parties of gannets doing the same thing in the midst of fishes off the Tres Marias
Islands. ’
When the cormorants were gorged they deserted the fishing ground for the
day and streamed back down the river to the lagoons, where they perched
motionless for hours in large mangroves or other trees along the edge of the
water.
‘The west coast lagoons are long lakelike bodies of brackish water varying
greatly in size and proportion but nearly always fringed by a more or less
dense growth of mangroves, These are low, rarely rising over twenty-five
or thirty feet, and as the leafage begins at the water’s edge they present a
solid wall of dark green, back of which often rises the larger growth of scat-
tered forests. Here and there among the mangroves occur dead and weathered
trees, or, lacking these, wide branching living trees which project over the
water. These are favorite congregating places for the Mexican cormorants
which, with their somewhat grotesque outlines, form a conspicuous figure
of the bird life in such localities. These birds are not considered game by
the Mexicans and this combined with the high price of ammunition, is sufficient
to protect them from wanton killing so that they are not often disturbed
and will permit a canoe to approach within easy gunshot before they clumsily
take flight. They are heavy-bodied and awkward and frequently fall from the
perch into the water and try to escape by swimming in preference to flight.
When driven to take wing from such a perch they commonly make a broad
circuit and returning pass near the canoe and turn their heads in evident
curiosity to examine the cause of the alarm. Their flight like that of other
cormorants is steady and rather labored, and as they circle about an intruder
they often glide for some distance on outspread wings, turning their long out-
stretched necks toward the object of their curiosity and presenting almost
as grotesque an appearance as the snake-bird.”
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 52
BRANDT CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336.
Los Coronados Islands, Mexico.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 265
Mr. H. H. Bailey: (1906) saw numbers of cormorants which he
took to be of this species fishing near the surf on the west coast of
Mexico. Mr. C. William Beebe (1905) says that “their food in the
barrancas is partly vegetable, not exclusively fish.” What we know
about the behavior and voice of the species is included in the above
quotations and I regret that I can add nothing more to its life his-
tory. There seems to be no fall migration and its winter home and
habits are probably the same as at other seasons. —
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range—Tropical North and Central America. North
to northwestern Mexico (Guaymas), southeastern Texas’ (Browns-
ville), southern Louisiana (Lake Arthur), Cuba, Isle of Pines, and
Bahamas (Watling Island). South to Nicaragua. South Ameri-
can birds are subspecifically distinct.
Winter range.—Resident throughout its breeding range.
Casual records.—Has wandered north to Colorado (near Denver,
October 15, 1899) ; Kansas (Lawrence, April 2, 1872) ; and southern
Illinois (near Cairo, spring 1879).
Egg dates—Texas: Eighteen records, February 8, October 12
and 16. Mexico: Four records, May 10, 12, and 20 and December
25. Louisiana: Three records, May 29.
PHALACROCORAX PENICILLATUS (Brandt).
BRANDT CORMORANT,
HABITS.
This large, heavy, well-marked species is perhaps the best known,
the most abundant, and the most characteristic cormorant of our
Pacific coast, being found in all suitable localities from southern
Alaska to Lower California. It is mainly a resident throughout its
range, where its heavy, lumbering form is a familiar figure on the
coast at all seasons, sitting for hours on any convenient perch over the
water in lazy indolence, congregating in large numbers in its favorite
roosting places on outlying rocks or gathering in great black rafts on
the water where fishing conditions are favorable.
Nesting. —For breeding purposes it congregates into large colonies
on rocky islands or on the more inaccessible rocky cliffs of the main-
land, where it is beyond the reach of marauding enemies, except its
most persistent and most successful foe, the western gull. While cruis-
ing among the Santa Barbara Islands we found many a large breed-
ing colony of Brandt cormorants, visible many miles distant as a con-
spicuous, whitewashed space on some prominent rocky slope or prom-
ontory; as we drew near we could see that the white surface was
266 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
dotted with hundreds of black specks, which later we could recognize
as cormorants sitting on their nests, spread closely and evenly over the
gently sloping rocks.
Brandt cormorants seem to prefer to nest on the flat top of a rocky
island, on a gradually sloping incline or more often still on a high
rounding shoulder of rock. They never seem to nest on the inacces-
sible perpendicular cliffs, such as are chosen by the Baird cormorants,
The nests seem to be easily accessible and they are so, provided one
can make a landing on the island, but this is generally not so easy,
for these rounding shoulders of rock often terminate in steep and
slippery sides washed by dangerous breakers. The nests are not very
different from those of the Farallon cormorant, except that they
never use sticks in their construction, which the other species usually
does utilize. But the birds themselves are much shyer and can be
easily recognized by the blue gular pouch, which is very conspicuous
during the breeding season. The nest is made of various seaweeds
and sea mosses, which the birds may be seen gathering by diving in
the vicinity of their breeding grounds; the nest is used for successive
seasons, fresh material being added each spring to the foundation of
rotted débris and guano; they are often placed so near together that
there is barely walking space between them.
Two interesting colonies of Brandt cormorants, near Monterey,
California, are described by Prof. Leverett M. Loomis (1895) from
whom I quote in part as follows:
Two rookeries were discovered; one at Point Carmel and the other at Seal
Rocks. June 25th I visited the former, which is situated on a rock or little
islet in the ocean at the extremity of Point Carmel, about fifteen yards from
the mainland. This rock rises perpendicularly some forty or more feet above
the water. At first sight it does not seem that it can be scaled, but closer
inspection reveals that a foothold may be had in the seams and protuberances
on its water-worn sides. Only on days when the sea is very calm can the
rock be landed upon, and then only from the sheltered channel separating it
from the mainland. Fortunately, it happened that the sea was quiet the day
of my visit. The following day a party of Stanford University students were
unable to land on account of the heavy surf.
We first took a view of the rookery from the mainland, The cormorants
were very tame, remaining on their nests while we clambered down the sloping
rocks and while we stood watching them on the same level only a few yards
away. They were safe, however, from its precipitous walls of rock, effectually
cutting off further advance. They were equally tame when the boat drew
near aS we approached from the water.
The clefts in the sides of the rock were occupied by Baird cormorants and
the top by Brandt’s. There were comparatively few of the former, but of the
Brandt cormorants there were upwards of two hundred pairs. Their nests
covered the top of the rock, every available situation being occupied. The
surface was So uneven that all the nests could not be seen from one spot. Stand-
ing in one place I counted one hundred and eighteen.
53
PL.
BULLETIN 121
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
soyoIC “Aa
"gee BOVd 238 NOlldiwOssa YOd
“LNVHONHOO LONVHG
OOTXeP ‘SPUB[S] SOPBUOIOD SOT
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 267
All the nests of the Brandt cormorants on the rock contained eggs (apparently
in an advanced state of incubation), with the exception of eleven, which had
young birds in them. In ten, the young were just out of the shell. In the
remaining one they were as large as “ spring chickens.” The eggs in seventy-
Seven nests were counted by a companion, Twenty-one contained four eggs each;
thirty-six, three eggs; fourteen, two eggs; three, five eggs; three, one egg. The
most frequent numbers were therefore three and four, probably the ordinary
clutches.
Sardines were lying in little bunches near the nests, apparently placed there
as food for the birds that were setting. °
The smell from the accumulated excrement was sickening. The sides of the
rock were so daubed that it appeared to be white toward the top. Flies swarmed
about the rookery.
It was not until I fired my gun that the brooding birds began to desert their
eggs. The Baird cormorants were the first to go. Many of the Brandt cor-
morants lingered on the edge of the rock while I walked about among the nests,
only a few steps away. Finally all were driven to the water, where they formed
a great raft. They began to return as soon as I left the top of the rock.
The rookery at Seal Rocks was much larger than the one at Point Carmel.
The rocky islet upon which it was located is considerably greater in size and
much lower in elevation than the Point Carmel islet. From the mainland, less
than a hundred yards distant, no nests were in sight, all being on the side
toward the ocean, hidden from view by a sort of dividing ridge. The Del Monte
drive passes along the shore directly opposite the Rocks. It is a much fre-
quented roadway, and the summer visitors have greatly persecuted the birds
with firearms, forcing them to seek shelter for their nests behind the projecting
rock,
My first visit to the rookery was made July 2d. As at Point Carmel, a landing
could be effected only on the shore side of the islet. The resident population was
composed exclusively of Brandt cormorants. Their nests were crowded so
closely together on the uneven surface of the rock that room to place the foot
was not always readily found. Some of the nests were on little points of rock,
others in crevices, every available spot being utilized. Most of the eggs had
hatched. The young were in different stages of growth, varying in size from
those just out of the shell to half-grown ones. The larger left the nests when
approached, and huddled together on the edge of the islet well above the reach
of the surf. There was such a complete mixing up of babies that the old birds
must have had some trouble in sorting them out when they returned, for im-
mediately after I landed most of the adults retreated to the water, congregating
in a great raft a short distance away. A few of the bolder remained behind
for awhile. Several, apparently females, kept close by their young until I
approached within ten feet of them, when their courage failed and they took
flight, leaving the young to shift for themselves. Two of the larger young birds
sought refuge on an outlying rock, separated from the islet by a little channel.
They had apparently never been in the water before, They succeeded, never-
theless, in swimming across the channel and climbing up the steep sides of the
rock, although a number of times they were buried out of sight by incoming
waves,
A vibratory movement of the gular sac, apparently occasioned by fear, was
noticed in a number of adults and half-grown young. Most of the adults ob-
served on the rookery appeared to have lost the nuptial filaments.
The general form of the nests was circular. except where wedged in between
rocks. They appeared to be constructed entirely of eel grass (Zostera). Those
268 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
containing the larger young were trampled down. Two typical, untrampled
nests yielded the following measurements: Outer diameter 22 by 19, inner
diameter 10 by 10, depth 4 by 4, height 54 by 7.
Not many fish were lying about the nests. There were too many hungry
mouths to be filled for a store to accumulate as at Point Carmel rookery. It
was evident that sanitary measures were not in vogue, for the decaying bodies
of several birds were suffered to remain and add to the almost intolerable
stench of the excrement deposits. Quantities of feathers were scattered about
and there were myriads of flies. Some of the flies accompanied us in the boat
most of the way to Point Pinos, much to our annoyance.
Referring to this species on the Farallon Islands, Mr. Milton S.
Ray (1904) writes:
Bandt cormorant is the commonest and biggest species of the island cor-
morants. Besides the large rookery on the more gradual slopes on the north
side below Main Top Ridge, extending from near the water to well up the
hillside, there are large colonies nesting on Saddie Rock and Sugar Loaf. We
gained our first view of the rookery on West End when we crossed the ridge
on the morning of May 30. Right below us, with scarcely foot-space between
the nests, was the great city of cormorants. I counted 156 nests; on June 3
they had increased to 187, and they were still building. The weeds that trail
over the rocks form most of the nest material, and these become more or less
dry by the end of May and are easily detached by the birds; in fact a strong
wind will frequently rip up a whole mat like bed. In make and size the nests
of this species are like those of the preceding. I noticed considerable sea
moss among the nest material, which is undoubtedly uprooted by the birds
themselves, but it was not in such variety as I had been led to believe. Quar-
rels over nest material were of frequent occurrence among the birds of the
rookery, but the most arrant robbers came from the settlement on Sugar Loaf,
where the weeds do not grow. It was a queer sight to see one of these great
lumbering-flighted cormorants come flapping into the colony, and after some
opposition succeed and go awkwardly sailing off with a long stringing bunch of
weeds.
All day long the great rookery was a scene of activity; everywhere the pon-
derous clumsy birds, using to the best of their ability what skill nature had
endowed them with, were fashioning their weed-homes, while scores of setting
birds ever and anon would rise to stretch their stiffened wings or to greet
their mates returning fish-laden from the sea.
£'9gs.—The Brandt cormorant lays from three to six eggs, usually
four, and only one brood is raised in a season. The eggs are not
distinguishable from those of other cormorants of similar size. The
ground color is pale blue or bluish white, which is more or less
completely concealed by a white calcareous coating, which becomes
very much soiled during the process of incubation. The shape varies
from “elongate ovate” to “cylindrical ovate.” The measurements
of 41 eggs, in the National Museum and the writer’s collections, aver-
age 62.2 by 38.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 68.5 by 39.5, 68 by 40.5, 56 by 39, and 61 by 36 milli-
meters.
Plumages.—The young cormorant, when first hatched, is blind and
naked, an unattractive object covered with greasy black skin. The
54
PL.
BULLETIN 121
NATIONAL MUSEUM
U. S.
"gee uOVe ABS NOlLdlUOSaG HOS
"LNVYOWHOD LONVYG
“Aor, pus aemyor ‘u0dAIO ‘syOoy YOY CYL. AOU pus wsurypyog
‘mw0da10 ‘sHOOY YOY eo1L
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND.PELICANS, 269
down soon appears, however, and before the young bird is half grown
it is completely covered; the down coat is “clove brown” above,
slightly paler below, mottled with white on the under parts and
wings. The feathers of the wings and tail appears first and are
fully developed before the body plumage is acquired; the down
disappears last on the head and neck, after the young bird is fully
grown. The brown plumage of the first winter succeeds the downy
stage and is worn for nearly a year, fading out to a very light color
on the breast in the spring. There isa partial molt during. the first
spring, but no very decided advance toward maturity is made until
the first complete molt the following summer. At this first post-
nuptial molt a plumage is acquired which is somewhat like the adult,
but there is still much brown mottling i in the head, neck, and ander
parts. During the following spring there is still favther advance,
the nuptial plumes are partially acquired and the young bird is ready
to breed; but the fully adult nuptial plumage is not acquired, I be-
lieve, until the next, the third, spring. The partial prenuptial molt
of adults, at which the long nuptial plumes of the neck and back
are nequired: occurs in February and March; and the complete post-
nuptial molt extends from August to October. Both old and young
birds in any plumage can be distinguished from the Farallon cormo-
rant by the outline of the feathered tract bordering the gular sac;
in the Brandt cormorant the gular sac is invaded by a pointed ex-
tension of the feathered throat area, whereas in the Farallon the
gular sac has a broad, rounded outline.
Food.—tLike other cormorants, this species feeds almost exclusively
on fish, which it obtains by diving. As it is a maritime species, it
lives on salt-water fishes, many of which it obtains near the bottom
and often at considerable depths. Professor Loomis (1895) took
some fish from the gullets of these cormorants which were identified
as “a species of rock cod (Sedastocles paucispinis).” He also says:
“ Great rafts of these cormorants collected on the bay whenever ‘ the
feed came in.’ At a distance these gatherings present a very pecu-
liar appearance. The water seems to be Shickly set eh black sticks,
often covering an area of several acres.’
Mr. A. B. Howell writes me:
The throat is capable of great expansion. I have seen an adult down a fish,
after repeated attempts, which seemed surprisingly large for the size of the
bird. They forage in very deep water. I have seen them bring up seaweed
where I was assured that there was none to be had within a 150 feet of the
surface.
Behavior—Mr. Dawson (1909) says:
It is a familiar figure on the stringers of salmon traps, aS well as on isolated
piles or the old abandoned wharves on the lower Sound. If the bird is not
exactly of a mind to fly at the first alarm from the passing steamer, it stands
270 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
with wings half open, that, should necessity arise, no time may be lost in mak-
ing good its escape. Again, a group of them will sit on a low-lying reef, or
even on a floating log, with wings half extended, “drying their clothes” in
the sunshine. The wings as well as the feet are used under water, but we
can not guess why the cormorants more than other aquatic species should be
averse to wet plumage.
The chief enemy of the Brandt cormorant in its breeding grounds
is that persistent robber of all the sea birds on the California coast,
the western gull. The cormorant is big and strong enough to defend
its eggs and young against its weaker foe, but the omnipresent gulls
are so numerous, so persistent, so active, and so ever on the alert to
seize a favorable opportunity, that a brood of young cormorants is
successfully raised only at the price of eternal vigilance. Fortu-
nately the cormerants are prolific layers and persevering in their
attempts to raise a brood, for the stupid birds are so often driven
away from their nests by some chance intruder that the active gulls,
which are not so easily frightened, clean out all the eggs in a colony
so frequently that it is a wonder that the cormorants are not dis-
couraged and exterminated.
The cormorants are harmless and peaceable neighbors among the
various species which share their breeding grounds—murres, gulls,
pelicans, and other cormorants. At other seasons of the year they
also associate with other species. Mr. Loomis (1895) says:
Sometimes solitary cormorants returning to their rookery joined the files of
migrating California murres, and frequently single murres were observed bring-
ing up the rear of strings of outgoing cormorants. On one occasion a Cali-
fornia brown pelican was seen at the end of a line of cormorants.
Winter.—_In their winter resorts they often congregate in enor-
mous rookeries or roosts. They winter as far north as Puget Sound
and are common southward all along the coast in winter. A long
line, or a V-shaped flock, of great, black birds winging their heavy
flight to and from their feeding grounds is a familiar sight about the
islands and the rocky bays.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Pacific coast of North America. From southern
Alaska (Forrester Island) southward all along the coast to southern
Lower California (Magdalena Bay). Breeding grounds protected
in the following reservations: In Alaska, Forrester Island; in
Washington, Flattery Rocks and Quillayute Needles; in Oregon,
Three Arch Rocks; and in California, Farallon.
Winter range.—Includes most of the breeding range, extending
from northern Washington (Puget Sound) to southern Lower Cali-
fornia (Cape San Lucas). i
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 271
Egg dates.—California: Fifty-eight records, April 3 to July 15;
twenty-nine records, May 28 to June 20. Lower California: Four
records, March 28 to April 23.
PHALACROCORAX PELAGICUS PELAGICUS Pallas.
PELAGIC CORMORANT.
HABITS.
I have never been able to recognize any constant characters by
which the two northern forms of the pelagic cormorant, pelagicus
and robustus, could be satisfactorily separated. And if the two
forms are subspecifically distinct, the. breeding ranges of the two
have never been satisfactorily separated. The birds of southern
Alaska seem to be identical with those of the Aleutian Islands and
the birds of the American coast of Bering Sea seem to be similar
to those of the Asiatic coast. Therefore Phalacrocorax pelagicus
robustus seems to have no standing. For these reasons and because
I am unable to satisfactorily separate the references between the two
forms, I prefer to treat them both together, for certainly their life
histories are similar. I shall use the name pelagic cormorant to
cover both forms.
Nesting. —Throughout the whole length of the Aleutian chain we
found this small, slender cormorant sitting in little groups on the
rocks about the promontories or flying out to meet us and to satisfy
their curiosity by circling about our boat; they seemed far from
timid and were but little disturbed by our frequent shooting for
they returned again and again to look us over. Here they breed in
colonies on the highest, steepest and most inaccessible rocky cliffs,
safe from the depredations of foxes and men and shrouded in the
prevailing fogs of that dismal region. The nest is placed on some
narrow ledge on a perpendicular cliff facing the sea; it is made
mainly of seaweeds and grasses, is added to from year to year and
becomes quite bulky.
On the Siberian coast their nesting habits are similar; Dr. J. A.
Allen (1905) quotes Mr. N. G. Buxton’s notes as follows:
At this place, and six miles farther south, at Matuga Point, there are sev-
eral rocky islets with precipitous sides where thousands of them nest. Their
nests are placed in the most inaccessible places on top of ledges and projec-
tions. The nests are large and bulky and composed of kelp and seaweed.
The eggs are chalky-white, with a bluish tinge. Five to seven constitute a
clutch. The eggs are not palatable on account of the strong flavor, although
the Koraks gather and eat them. The height of the nesting season is reached
by the 10th of June. The males assist in the work of incubation.
In southern Alaska the pelagic cormorant was found breeding
abundantly at various localities by all of the expeditions sent to
272 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
these regions. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1909) quotes Mr. Joseph Dix-
on’s notes, referring to South Marble Island in Glacier Bay, as
follows:
There were at least a hundred cormorants breeding on the island and from
one hundred and fifty to two hundred more were merely roosting there. Only
breeding birds were seen during the day, but about 7 o’clock the other black
nonbreeders began to arrive in bunches of from four to seven. They left
about 4 o’clock in the morning. The nests were attached to the sloping marble
just before it dropped off into salt water and were from fifteen to seventy-five
feet above the high-tide mark. Most of the nests were not finished, but four
contained one egg each. The nests were compactly built of moss gathered
nearby, and not of seaweed. The white patches on the flanks and the two
crests were very noticeable in the breeding birds, and most of the males also
had the white, slender plumes on their necks. The nonbreeders had no white
flank patches.
Mr. George Willett (1912) says that at St. Lazaria Island “the
nests are built of sticks and seaweed, lined with grass and seamoss.
Many of the breeding birds have little or no white on the flanks,
and in many cases the nuptial plumes on the neck are not present
or are very poorly developed.”
Eggs.—The pelagic cormorant is said to lay anywhere from three
to seven eggs, but the usual numbers run from three to five, the
larger numbers being exceptional. They are “elliptical ovate” or
“elongate ovate” in shape. ‘The color is very pale blue or bluish
white, which is more or Jess concealed by a thin calcareous deposit,
originally white, but usually somewhat nest-stained. The measure-
ments of 41 eggs from the supposed breeding range of pelagicus,
average 58.3 by 37.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 63 by 38, 61 by 41, 53.3 by 37, and 56 by 35 millimeters.
The measurements of 43 eggs from the supposed breeding range of
robustus, average 57.5 by 37.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the
four extremes measure 63 by 39, 62 by 39.5, 51.5 by 36, and 55.5 by
34 millimeters.
Plumages.—The period of incubation is 26 days. The young
bird is naked when first hatched, but before it is half grown it is
covered with short thick down of a dark, sooty gray color. The
wings and tail appear first and are fully grown before the down dis-
appears. . In the first plumage young birds are very dark colored,
“blackish brown” above and clear uniform, “clove brown” below,
but lighter and somewhat mottled on the head and neck. This
plumage, which is somewhat glossy on the back when fresh, be-
comes duller and paler during the fall and winter by wear and
fading. Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885) has made some exhaustive
studies of the molts and plumages of this species, based on the ex-
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 273
amination of fresh material. I can not do better than to quote
from his conclusions, as follows:
It will be necessary first to remark that these birds raise two broods during
the summer. This is not to be understood as a positive statement that the
same parents rear two sets of young every year—although I believe that most
of them do—but simply that I have found the colonies of this species having
eggs and downy young at two different times. The first season commences
early in May, the young of this brood being fully fledged in the latter part ot
July. In the middle of this month, however, the colonies again contained
all stages, from fresh eggs to newly-hatched young. During the first days
of August I found downy young of almost the same age and still without
feathers, while on the 21st of August, 1882, I visited a numerous colony at
Poludjonnij, Bering Island, in which the oldest young were about half fledged.
These would not be able to fly before the first week of September. Between
the two periods, young in all stages of development will be found in the
colonies, but proportionately few in number. It will thus be seen that it is
safe to assume that the difference in age between the earliest and the latest
born young in one year amounts to three months, at least.
We are now prepared to understand that we can find two birds undergoing
the corresponding molt at times as much apart as the birthdays of the same
two birds. If the first molt occurs, say, ten months after the bird broke
the shell, the bird born in the middle of May; will molt in the middle of March
next year, while the one born in the middle of August will not molt before
the middle of June next year. And this conclusion is borne out fully by the -
observed facts. As will be seen from the details relating to the birds col-
lected by me, as given below, I shot birds in the latter part of February, both
younger and older, which were just in the first stage of molting, while, on
the other hand, I have a skin before me in full molt from young to adult
plumage, as late as July, a discrepancy hardly to be accounted for, except by
the above explanation. :
When about ten months old, the first plumage, which is of the dark grayish
sooty color, with some green and purplish reflections in the fresh plumage,
ehanges into the resplendent garb of the adult, from which it then is un-
distinguishable, except by not having the bright colors of the naked parts
of the face and by lacking the white feathers on the neck and thighs. In the
following spring, or when about twenty-three months old, it begins to breed.
The above conclusions seem to be substantiated by what material
I have examined; I have seen young birds molting into adult plum-
age in May, June, July, and September, showing that the molt is
much prolonged or very variable, probably the latter. Adults have
a complete postnuptial molt during the summer and early fall and
a partial prenuptial molt in February, March, and April. The
highest nuptial plumage, including the white flank patches, the two
crests on the head, and the white filaments on the neck and back,
is worn during March, April, and May; the white filaments are
very brittle and soon disappear; they are seldom seen in museum
specimens, as they are easily lost in skinning. The winter plum-
age is duller or browner than the nuptial and lacks the special adorn-
ments mentioned above.
274 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Food.—The food of the pelagic cormorant consists principally,
perhaps wholly, of fish. Prof. Harold Heath (1915) says: “Several
times at sea these birds were seen feeding on herrings.”
It can be distinguished from other species by its size and shape, as
well as by the white flank patches, if present. As a diver and a
swimmer it is an expert, though it seldom rests on the water. It
must be exceedingly swift in the pursuit of its finny prey. Being
more slender and more elegant in form than the other cormorants,
the flight of this species is rather more graceful than the others.
It is a rakisly looking craft in the air with its long, slim neck and
long tail, but its flight is not swift; its wing strokes are rather
rapid, interrupted by intervals of scaling. Dr. Frank M. Chapman
(1902) publishes the following interesting note by Mr. J. D. Figgins
on the feeding habits of this species:
When the gulls, by their discordant cries, proclaim the discovery of a school
of fish every cormorant within hearing distance flocks to the scene, and in
many cases so thoroughly appropriate the school to their own use that the
gulls are compelled to seek other feeding grounds, as they do not relish diving
into a mass of cormorants. The cormorants make no attempt to fish on their
own account, but wait until the gulls discover the game and then appropriate it.
Cormorants are usually silent birds and this species is no exception
to the rule. Mr. Joseph Dixon (1907) says: “They make a par-
ticularly groaning sound when on the nest that sounds like someone
moaning in pain. We could hear it quite a ways out before we landed
and could not imagine what it was.”
Behavior—These cormorants, which build their nests on inacces-
sible cliffs, have few enemies to contend with, except the winged
robbers of their eggs and young. Mr. George Willett (1912) writes
that on St. Lazaria Island: .
Owing to the depredations of the crows, very few of these birds succeed in
raising an entire brood, and I believe there are many who are unable to raise
a single young. When frightened from the nest, they very foolishly fly a con-
siderable distance to sea and often remain for several minutes at a time.
This opportunity is quickly seized by the crows, and in an almost incredibly
short time the cormorants’ nest is empty.
Doctor Stejneger (1885) refers to a wholesale destruction of this
species in the Commander Islands, as follows:
During the winter of 1876-77 thousands and thousands were destroyed by an
apparently epidemic disease, and masses of the dead birds covered the beach all
around the islands. During the following summer comparatively few were
seen, but of later years their number has again been increasing, though people
having seen their former multitude think that there is no comparison between
the past and the present. From Bering Island the reports are similar, with
the addition that the stone foxes would not eat the corpses.
Fall.—The natives in the vicinity of Bering Sea depend largely
on the flesh of these cormorants at certain seasons for food; their
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 275
skins were formerly used for clothing and their nuptial crests and
plumes served as ornaments. Mr. L. M. Turner (1886) writes:
During severe weather of the winter and fall these birds resort to the high
rocky ledges or the single rocks which jut from the sea. Some of the rocks are
fairly covered with these birds, and these appearing like a lot of black bottles
standing on the rock. The natives of all parts of the country use the flesh of
this bird for food. Some of the Aleuts, especially those of Attu, prize the flesh
more than any other bird. They formerly obtained many of these birds with
a kind of net which was thrown over the birds when sitting on the shore rocks,
being driven there by the severity of a storm, so that the birds could not remain
on the outer rocks without being washed off,
Winter—Mr. W. H. Kobbé (1900) writing of the winter habits of
this species near Cape Disappointment, Washington, says:
The violet-green cormorant is only found upon the cape during the winter
months, when it is very abundant. It arrives in the fall and departs rather
late in the spring. During its stay upon the cape it associates with the white-
crested cormorant, and the two species may often be seen perched upon the
fish-trap poles in large flocks. Both species frequently fly into the fish pots
from which they are unable to escape ,since they are unable to fly vertically
upward. It is an easy matter for the birds to fly from the poles downward
into the square pot formed of netting, but after they once get in they are
forced to remain and are generally killed by the fishermen.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Coasts and islands of Bering Sea and northern
Pacific Ocean. From Norton Sound (Sledge Island) and St. Law-
rence Island southward along the coast to southern Alaska (For-
rester Island) and perhaps farther. Westward throughout the
Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands. Southward through the
Kurile Islands to Japan (Yezzo). Northward along the Asiatic
coast of Bering Sea to northeastern Siberia (East Cape) and west-
ward on the Arctic coast of Siberia to Cape Irkaipij, Cape Kibera
Island and Koliutschin Island. Seen in summer and may breed in
Kotzebue Sound. Birds breeding near the south end of Vancouver
Island are probably referable to resplendens. Breeding grounds pro-
tected in the following reservations: In Alaska, Bering Sea, Pribilof,
Aleutian Islands, St. Lazaria, and Forrester Island.
Winter range—From the Aleutian, Pribilof, and Commander
Islands southward throughout the remainder of the breeding range
and beyond it south to Puget Sound and to China.
Spring migration.—Arrives in northeastern Siberia, Gichiga, as
early as May 13, in Norton Sound, Alaska, by June 5, and at St.
Lawrence Island, June 2.
Fall migration.—Leaves northeastern Siberia about the second
week in October and Norton Sound, Alaska, in October or November.
Casual records.—Taken at Point Barrow, Alaska, June 8, 1898.
276 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Egg dates—Southern Alaska: Twenty-four records; June 16 to
July 31; twelve records, June 29'to. July 19. Aleutian Islands: Four.
records, June 20 to July 4.
PHALACROCORAX PELAGICUS RESPLENDENS Audubon.
BAIRD CORMORANT.
HABITS.
The Baird cormorant is clearly distinct, subspecifically at least, from
the northern subspecies of Phalacrocorax pelagicus and it has been
suggested that it might be even a distinct species. To what extent
the northern and southern forms intergrade and what the limits
of the respective breeding ranges are I must leave to others to in-
vestigate and decide; but for the purposes of this life history I
shall assume that the birds which breed from the coast of Washing-
ton southward are resplendens. Much of what I have written about
the life history of pelagicus would apply equally well to the smaller
southern form, so I will not repeat it.
Nesting —The nesting habits of the Baird cormorant are similar to
those of the pelagic, but very different from those of its neighbors
on the California coast, the Farallon and Brandt cormorants. The
latter two are almost absurdly tame, whereas Baird is very shy
about its breeding grounds. The two larger species breed in large
colonies and build their nests on the flat tops of the rocky islands
or on the broader and more accessible ledges, whereas the slim, little
Baird cormorant almost always builds its nest on the narrowest and
most inaccessible, little shelves or crannies on the face of some steep,
rocky cliff, usually breeding in small scattered groups or singly.
The Baird cormorant also uses no sticks in the construction of its
nest.
Prof. Lynds Jones (1908) gives the following account of the nest-
ing habits of the Baird cormorant on Carroll Islet, off the coast of
Washington:
The nesting places of this cormorant were small ledges or grottoes in preci-
pices. Therefore the most of them were nesting on the ocean side of the
island, and at various elevations. Nests were usually placed not nearer to-
gether than several feet, possibly because of the character of the rock face.
The birds were uniformly more timid than the white-crested. Their single
barklike cry was not often heard, even when they were disturbed or fright-
ened.
None of the nects examined contained sticks, but were wholly composed
of dry grass, with occasionally'a few feathers in the lining. All of the nest
except the outside was clean, but the outside was characteristically covered with
lime, and the rocks below the nest for many feet were white with the same
substance. In fact, the nesting places of these birds could be discerned. at
considerable distances by the white streaking of the dark gray rocks. All along
PL. 55
BULLETIN 121
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
“TOJSUTYSB AA
‘
‘gee aDVd 3aS NOILdINOSaG YO
“INVHOWHOD GYyIVg
JOIST [O1VO “souor “Ty
“WOIZUTYSe MA ‘JST [O12 D
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 277
the coast, when we approached the rocky shores, evidences of these birds were
scattered along the rocks.
Mr. Walter E. Bryant (1888), writing of this cormorant on the
Farallon Islands, says:
They are less common than the two foregoing species, with which they do not
associate. The nests are built usually in the most inaccessible places, and at
all altitudes; some were found so close to the water’s edge that they were
splashed by the highest waves beating against the rocky shore. The same
rookeries are used from year to year, and the same nests are occupied after
being robbed, the owners simply adding a few more pieces of weeds before
laying. They congregate in colonies of eight or ten pairs, nesting on natural
shelves of perpendicular or overhanging rocks. Three or four eggs are laid in
a nest of the same material as is used by the other cormorants. Incubation
commences after the first egg is laid, in order to keep it protected’ from the
gulls. The birds may be seen on the nests for days before the first egg is laid.
E'ggs.—The eggs of the, Baird cormorant are practically indis-
tinguishable from those of the pelagic cormorant, though, strangly
enough, the eggs, of which I have measurements, average larger. The
measurements of 40 eggs, in various collections, average 61.7 by 40.4
millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65 by 40
and 51 by 36 millimeters.
Behavior.—Referring to the behavior of Baird cormorants, Mr. W.
Leon Dawson (1909) writes:
Cormorants plunge into the wildest waters as fearlessly as sealions, and they
carry on their fishing operations about the shoulders of booming reefs, which
humans dare not approach. After luncheons, which occur quite frequently in
the cormorant day, the birds love to gather on some low-lying reef, just aboye
the reach of the waves, and devote the intervening hours to that most solemn
function of life, digestion. There is no evidence that the birds discuss oceanic
politics on these occasions; the benevolent assimilation of a twelve-inch cultus
cod is presumed to be ample occupation for union hours.
When the birds of a colony quit their nests they launch out swiftly, wagging
their head from side to side if the danger is above them. They may join
the puffins and gulls for a few rounds of inspection, but oftener they settle
in the water at some distance from the shore, a large company of them looking
and acting very much like a flock of black geese. It requires quite an effort
on the bird’s part to rise from the water, but this is done with a single motion
of the wings, unassisted: by the feet, as would be the case with heavy ducks
and loons. If the shag has been diving it may burst out of the water with
the acquired impetus of the chase, and once under way its flight is swift
and vigorous and not altogether ungraceful.
Winter—An interesting account of a winter resort of this and
other cormorants on an island off the coast of Lower California
is given by Mr. A. W. Anthony (1906) as follows:
The first cormorants will arrive at the island as early as 4 o’clock, and taking
up their station well back from the beach will be joined by the next flock.
The black patch on the gray sand extends its outposts until it meets the brown
borders of the pelican colony on the one side and the snowy expanse of gulls
33969—22——19
278 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
on the other, completely surrounding them and forcing later arrivals of gulls
and pelicans to start other camp grounds farther along. These again are over-
taken and surrounded until by dusk the entire side of the island will be one
solid mass of closely packed birds, the white of the gulls and brown plumages
of the pelicans standing out in striking contrast to the inky blackness of the
cormorants, which form over three quarters of the mass. The species all flock
separately so far as is possible, and the result is a patchwork of white and
gray separated by broad zones of black; even the Brandt and Farallon cormo-
rants roost apart, with the somewhat rare Baird cormorant still further re-
moved, perching on the low cliffs and rocks along the beach. Stragglers arrive
until late in the night; the gulls in fact do not all get home until the first of
the early risers begin to leave at daybreak. The departure is even more grad-
ual if possible than the arrival of the night before, and it is not until the sun
is two hours high that the last of the cormorants leave for the fishing grounds.
The following quotation from Mr. C. I. Clay (1911) will illus-
trate the remarkable diving ability of this species:
We were one and one-half miles southwest from Trinidad, Humboldt County,
California, and about one-half mile off shore. Mr. Francisco had set a net the
night before near a blind rock and in twenty fathoms of water. We were
taking in the net when a Brandt cormorant came to the surface in its meshes,
then a second one and a third. Although the Baird cormorants were common
everywhere on the ocean there were none in the net. On closely questioning
the fisherman, he informed me Brandt cormorants were caught almost daily
in from five to thirty fathoms of water while using the deep water nets, but
were never taken in over forty fathoms of water, while the Baird cormorant
(I had taught him the difference between the two species) were often taken
in as much as eighty fathoms of water.
I saw several Baird cormorants rise to the surface of the water with pieces
of kelp in their bills in places where Joe informed me the water was over
eighty fathoms deep. Brandt cormorants were not seen far offshore, though
they were common among the rocks near shore. Is it a superiority in diving
or a desire to obtain a certain kind of food that prompts the Baird cormorants
to go down deeper than Brandt cormorants while on their feeding grounds?
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Pacific coast of North America. From extreme
southern British Columbia (Sidney Island, near Victoria) southward
all along the coast to extreme northern Mexico (Los Coronados
Islands). Breeding grounds protected in the following reservations:
In Washington, Flattery Rocks, Quillayute Needles, and Copalis
Rock; in Oregon, Three Arch Rocks; and in California, Farallon.
Winter range—Includes most, if not all, of the breeding range
and extends southward to, at least, the central Mexican coast (Cape
San Lucas and Mazatlan).
Egg dates—California: Sixty records, May 3 to J uly 15; thirty
records, May 29 to June 19. Los Coronados Islands: Thirty records,
April 17. Washington and Oregon: Seven records, June 10 to 21.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 279
PHALACROCORAX URILE (Gmelin).
RED-FACED CORMORANT.
HABITS.
Walrus Island, one of the Pribilof group in Bering Sea, the home
of the red-faced cormorant, is without exception the most interesting
bird island I have ever seen. Although situated only 7 miles to
the eastward of St. Paul Island, it is well isolated and protected by
the prevailing fogs and storms of that forbidding region, for it is
only during the calmest weather that a landing may be effected on
its rugged shores. It is a small, low, rocky islet of less than 5 acres
in area, not over a quarter of a mile long, and less than 80 yards wide,
formed mainly of flat volcanic rock and lava in a series of shelves
and low cliffs extending in an irregular outline down to and into
the water. Portions of the island are covered with great masses
of water-worn boulders of various sizes, piled up indiscriminately
by the action of the sea, under which hundreds of paroquet, crested,
and least auklets, as well as tufted and horned puffins, find suitable
nesting sites. The accumulation of guano for many generations,
perhaps for centuries, has formed sufficient soil on the higher por-
tions of the island to support a luxuriant growth of grass in compact
tufts. Here the ground is so honeycombed with the nesting burrows
of tufted puffins that it is impossible to walk without constantly
breaking into them; here also a large colony of glaucous and glaucous-
winged gulls build their nests among the tufts of grass. But all
of these are as nothing compared with the vast hordes of California
and Pallas murres which resort to this wonderful little island to
breed. All around the rocky shores every available bare spot above
high-water mark is literally covered with them, thousands and thou-
sands of them, sitting as close as they can sit on the rocks, on the
cliffs, and on the bare ground above them.
The day we landed, July 7, 1911, was perfectly calm and the
sea was as smooth as glass; we stepped out of our dory onto a flat
shelf of rock as easily as if it were a wharf. As we walked out
among the murre colonies they scarcely moved enough to allow us
to pass and it was not until we almost stepped on them that they
decided to leave and went pouring off in swarms down into the
water. They soon returned and circled about the island, a constant,
steady stream of whirling birds. A cloud of great white gulls were
hovering overhead screaming constantly and downy young gulls
were running about in the grass. The lively little auklets werd
chattering beneath the rocks or scrambling out from under them to
fly off to sea. Grotesque puffins, disturbed in their burrows, made
ludicrous attempts to escape by bounding along the ground in an
280 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
effort to fly. Amidst all the noise and confusion the stolid red-
faced cormorants sat unmoved upon their nests, on the wide shelves
of rock projecting from the low cliffs, their rich glossy black
plumage glistening with metallic tints of purple, blue, green, and
bronze, offset by the brilliant scarlet face and the gular sac of
clear smalt blue, a striking feature in the scene, a picture of dig-
nified indifference. All about them murres were sitting on their
eggs and the well-made nests of Pacific kittiwakes were often near
them. They seemed to live on good terms with their neighbors
though they took no part in the exciting events going on about them;
they were busy brooding over their young and it was only when
we almost touched them, as they stood craning their necks at us
in awkward stupidity, that they finally flew off in silence.
Although the common name of this species is aptly descriptive,
it might also be well applied to other cormorants; I have always
thought the old name décristatus peculiarly fitting for the red-faced
cormorant, for its two conspicuous crests, one on the crown, and
one on the occiput, make it more strikingly double crested than
dilophus, or auritus, as it is now called. Much confusion seems to
have existed, among the earlier writers on the birds of Bering Sea,
as to the species of cormorants noted in this region, but between
pelagicus and urile there seems to be sufficient difference to distin-
guish these two species at all ages. The extent of the naked skin
on the face and forehead of urile is distinctive in the adult; its
larger size, stouter bill and heavier head are characteristic at all
ages; and even the downy young are different in color.
Nesting.—The breeding season begins early, two or three weeks
earlier than with the other sea birds of Bering Sea, with the pos-
sible exception of the glaucous and glaucous-winged gulls. Eggs,
well incubated, were taken by Elliott as early as June 1, 1872, and
young, about a week old were secured by Palmer on June 13, in-
dicating that egg laying must have begun about the middle of May
or earlier. At the time of our visit, July 7, 1911, nearly all the
nests contained young of various ages; a very few nests held heavily-
incubated eggs, probably laid about the middle of June or later,
these may have been second layings where the nests had been robbed
by gulls. Probably the last of the young do not leave the nests
until well on toward the end of August, extending the breeding
season over three or four months.
The nests are placed on broad flat ledges of rock on the steepest
cliffs, where they are often inaccessible, though on Walrus Island the
cliffs are so low that the nests are easily reached. Other writers have
stated that they are exceedingly filthy about their nests, but my expe-
rience was quite to the contrary; the nests that I saw were the hand-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 56
*
{
Walrus Island, Alaska. A.C. Bent.
Walrus Island, Alaska. A.C. Bent.
RED-FACED CORMORANT.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 335
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 281
somest, neatest, and cleanest cormorants’ nests that I had ever seen.
The nests were large, well built, and securely plastered onto a firm
foundation ; some were made almost wholly of green grass and sods,
evidently gathered in the center of the island; others were made par-
tially or wholly of various pretty seaweeds, sea ferns (Sertularidae)
and sea mosses, fresh and neat in appearance and of various shades of
brown, pink, and purple, probably obtained at considerable depths by .
diving; some of the nests were profusely decorated with gulls’
feathers. One typical large nest measured 20 by 16 inches in diameter
outside, was built up 6 inches high, and hollowed in the center about
3 inches; another, small nest, measured 14 by 12 inches outside, 3
inches high, and nearly 3 inches deep.
Eggs.—The eggs are small in proportion to the size of the birds;
the measurements of 47 eggs, in the United States National Museum
and the writer’s collections, average 60.3 by 37.6 millimeters; the
eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 38.5, 62 by 41.5,
53.2 by 36.2, and 62.3 by 33 millimeters.
The ground color is pale bluish white, which is almost wholly con-
cealed by a rough calcareous deposit, more or less nest stained and
soiled. They are much elongated in shape, varying from elliptical
ovate to cylindrical ovate.
Young.—tThe incubation period is about three weeks. When first
hatched the young are naked, blind, and quite helpless, a dark, livid,
purplish brown in color. They grow rapidly and like other members
of the family are fed on semi-digested regurgitated food, for which a
more solid diet of small fish, crabs, and shrimps is substituted as they
grow older. Within a few days after hatching, down begins to ap-
pear on the dorsal tracts and the young bird is soon well covered
with dark-gray down mottled with white on the belly.
Plumages.—Mr. William Palmer (1899) has described in detail
the development of the downy and juvenal plumages in this species.
At the end of six weeks the young cormorants are practically fully
grown and ready to fly, the wings and tail being fully developed
before the contour plumage is completed. The full adult plumage
is not acquired until, the fall of the second year; young birds in the
dull brownish plumage and lacking the brilliant colors of the facial
parts frequent the breeding grounds when ‘one year old but they
probably do not breed until the ‘following season. Young birds in
this plumage closely resemble the young of other species, but they
can be distinguished by the narrow frontal naked space or by the
outline of the feathering surrounding the gular sac. sy
Behavior—The red-faced cormorant can not be readily distin-
guished at a distance from other species of the genus; its flight is
similar, slow, strong and direct, with rapid wing-beats and occa-
sional intervals of scaling, and with head, neck and feet outstretched
282 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
to the fullest extent. Like other cormorants it is strongly impelled
by curiosity to fly out to meet an approaching boat and to circle
about it several times, though generally a little beyond gunshot
range. While fiying about an intruder or when its home is invaded
it sometimes utters a loud, guttural and rolling note or croak, but as
a rule it is a peculiarly silent bird.
Winter.—After the breeding season is over, in September, the red-
faced cormorants leave their breeding grounds to wander about the
shores of Bering Sea, as far south as the Aleutian Islands, during
the winter months. Even the severe winter storms which rage so fu-
riously among those desolated rocky islands fail to drive this species
from its inhospitable home, where it proves a blessing to the hardy
natives. During severe winters when other bird life is scarce these
birds are much in demand for food and furnish a convenient supply
of fresh meat for soups and stews; the flesh of the young birds may
be fairly palatable, but the old birds could hardly be tolerated if
anything else were obtainable.
Dr. EK. W. Nelson (1883) says:
These birds appear to be a fitting accompaniment of the bleak, barren coast
found so frequently along the northern shore of Bering Sea. The dark cliffs,
with scarcely a trace of vegetation, and the cold rocks, relieved here and
there by banks of snow in the ravines, are rendered still more wild and in-
hospitable in appearance by the presence of these large, awkward, sombre-
colored birds, which circle silently back and forth in front of their cliffs,
fitting inhabitants of the remote and cheerless wilds where their home is
made.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Bering Sea region. On the Pribilof Islands,
perhaps on the western Aleutian Islands, on the Commander Islands,
and on the coast of northeastern Siberia as far north as North
Cape. Breeding grounds protected in the Pribilof Reservation,
Alaska.
Winter range.—From the vicinity of the Pribilof, Aleutian, Com-
mander, and Northern Kurile Islands, southward to Japan and
Formosa.
Casual records.—Ranges to Norton Sound (Saint Michael) and the
Diomede Islands.
Egg dates Aleutian and Pribilof Islands: Four records, June
17 to July 7.
Family PELECANIDAE, Pelicans.
PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS Gmelin.
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN,
HABITS.
The day we reached Big Stick Lake, after a 30-mile drive over
the rolling plains of Saskatchewan, was cold and blustering; the
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN (21 PL. 57
Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba.
WHITE PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 335.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 283
lake looked forbidding enough, for its muddy waters were covered
with white caps and heavy breakers were rolling in on the pebbly
beach before a strong northerly gale; but we could not resist the
temptation to visit a small island, which lay less than 200 yards
offshore, and over which a cloud of white gulls'were hovering. The
chief attraction was a great white mass of birds standing on one
end of the island, conspicuous as a snow bank in spring, but recog-
nized at once as a flock of pelicans. I had never seen a breeding
colony of white pelicans and, as our driver assured us that the water
was shallow enough to drive to the island, we decided to attempt it.
Our horses plunged bravely on through the rough water, which
nearly flooded the wagon, the flying spray drenched us to the skin
and nearly took our breath away as it was blown into our faces by
the gale; but we arrived safely at the end of our short drive none
the worse for our chilly shower bath, and we were well repaid for
our trouble. Clouds of California and ring-billed gulls were rising
from the little island and beating the air above it in a bewildering
maze; numerous ducks flew from the grassy Knolls and a lot of
yelping avocets added their cries to the constant chorus of gulls’
voices. But the pelicans stood silent and dignified until they de-
cided to leave and then, as if by one common impulse, they all rose
at once with a great flapping of long black-tipped wings; they
seemed heavy, awkward, and ungainly at first, but they soon gained
headway and showed their marvelous mastery of the air, as they
swung into line forming one large V-shaped flock; they circled
around the island two or three times, with slow and dignified wing
beats in military precision, or all scaled in unison like well-drilled
soldiers; and finally, when satisfied that they must leave and when
fully arranged in proper marching order, they all followed their
leader and departed northward over the lake; the last we saw of
them they were flying in a long straight line, just above the horizon,
their black-tipped wings keeping perfect step and their snowy
plumage showing clearly cut against the cold gray sky even when
miles away. It was a fascinating spectacle to stand and gaze at
that departing flock of magnificent birds and to dream of nature’s
wonders, the marvels of creation, which only those may see who
seek the solitudes of remote wilderness lakes.
We were doomed to disappointment, however, for not a pelican’s
nest was to be found on the island; we felt sure that they would have
eggs at this late date, June 14; possibly they had been disturbed; but
more likely they were merely wandering about in flocks, as we had
seen them elsewhere. Later in the season, on July 18, 1906, Doctor
Bishop and Doctor Dwight visited this island again and found a
small breeding colony of white pelicans with a few double-crested
284 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
cormorants; there were ten nests of the pelicans with two eggs each,
and four with only one each, surrounded by a thickly populated
colony of California and ring-billed gulls. The pelicans’ nests were
made of sticks and feathers. Doctor Chapman visited this island on
June 10, 1907, and found a great colony of 3,000 pelicans nesting
there; the young were just appearing at that date, showing that they
were unusually late in nesting the previous season.
Nesting—The first breeding colonies of white pelicans that I
found were in Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba, where they were nesting
on small islands with double-crested cormorants, ring-billed gulls,
and common terns. The largest of these was-examined on June
19, 1913. ;
A long white reef was seen in the distance, which, as we drew
near, seemed to be covered with birds; the mass of loose boulders
which formed its foundation, and was prolonged into a point at one
end, was black with nesting cormorants; a fine stony or pebbly beach
formed a point at the other end, over which a cloud of screaming
terns were hovering, and in the center, where the soil had accumu-
lated to a considerable height, we could see the great, white solemn
forms of numerous pelicans sitting on their nests, or standing beside
them. While making a landing in our canoe the scene suddenly
changed to one of action, as the cormorants began pouring off their
nests and out over the water, and the pelicans rose with one accord;
not a single bird was left on the island, but the whole great regiment
formed in one vast flock and circled around the island again and
again in a dense, black cloud, with nearly a hundred of the great
white birds in the center; it was a magnificent sight not soon to be
forgotten. They swung close over our heads several times within
easy gunshot, and my boatman could not resist the temptation to send
two of the large, beautiful creatures tumbling into the water with
a mighty splash. Although ungainly in form and massive in size,
weighing from 15 to 20 pounds and stretching from 8 to 10 feet in
alar expanse, the white pelican is really a glorious bird, the spotless
purity of its snow-white plumage offset by its glossy black wing
feathers and enriched by its deep orange bill and feet.
On landing we found that the common terns were nesting in a
densely populated colony of from 500 to 800 pairs on the gravelly
beach at the eastern end, and the double-crested cormorants, about
300 or 400 pairs of them, were occupying the bare ground and the
rocky point at the western end. On the high bare ground in the
center we counted 46 nests of white pelicans, mere depressions in the
bare earth, with usually a more or less complete rim of dirt and rub-
bish raised around the eggs. The usual number of eggs was two, but
three or four nests contained three eggs each and one held six, prob-
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 58
Salton Sea, California. J. Grinnell.
WHITE PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 335,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 285
ably laid by two or perhaps three birds; some nests held only one
egg, and there were a few single eggs lying around on the ground or
under the rocks. We saw one pelican’s egg in a cormorant’s nest with
four eggs of the latter. The nests of the two species were often
close together, showing that they are friendly neighbors.
Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1908) visited Echo Island in Salton Sea on
April 20, 1908, where he found an interesting breeding colony of some
2,000 white pelicans, the most southern colony recorded at that time.
He gives the following accurate description of the nests:
The nests varied greatly in size and composition, according to location. A
nest on the drift line just at highest water mark was a tall, steep-sided affair,
like the pictures I have seen of flamingos’ nests. Appropriate material was
plentiful, consisting of sections of plant stems, chips, and chunks of pumice.
Planks and railroad ties sometimes interfered with the symmetry of the nests.
The finer material had evidently been heaped up by the bird as she sat on the
nest, for the nests were often surrounded by radiating spoke-like grooves,
plainly bill marks. The material is thus pulled towards the sitter, but not from
a farther distance than 828 mm. from the center, beyond which the bird is
evidently not able to reach. The spacing of the nests in the colony, quite regular
in places, seems to be dependent on the reach and conflicting interests of the
inhabitants. The sets of eggs were never closer together than 828 mm., usually
1,380 mm, apart. The ground between the nests was usually absolutely clear of
even the finer fragments, these having been scraped up onto the walls of the
nests. On the hill slopes the nests were more scanty, for material was scarce.
Some were made wholly of angular pumice or dried mud fragments, some of
brush stems, and some of just soft earth. But their diameter was an almost
constant quantity, between 414 and 532 mm. The depression was 46 to 69 mm.
deep, so that there was nearly always a well-defined rim to the nest. The
higher nests, those in the drift, were mounds as much as 276 mm. tall.
In the Klamath Lake region of southern Oregon, now a reserva-
«tion, the white pelicans nest in very different situations. Mr. Wil-
liam L. Finley (1907) has thus described their nesting sites:
Extending for several miles out from the main shore was a seemingly end-
less area of floating tule islands, between which flowed a network of channels.
These islands furnished good homes for the great flocks of pelicans that return
each spring to live about these lakes and rivers that teem with fish. The
tules had grown up for generations. The heavy growth of each year shoots
up through the dead stalks of the preceding season till it forms a fairly good
floating foundation. On the top of this the pelicans had perched and trodden
down the tules till they formed a surface often strong enough to support a
man. But it was like walking on the crust of the snow, for you never knew
just when it would break through. However, these treacherous islands were
the only camping places we had during the two weeks we cruised the Lower
Klamath. We rowed on among these islands and found the pelican colonies
scattered along for about two miles. There were eight or ten big rookeries,
each containing from four to six hundred birds. Besides, there were about
fifteen others that had all the way from fifty to two hundred birds. The birds
nested a few feet apart on these dry beds, laying from one to three eggs.
Eggs.—The white pelican raises only one brood in a season and
normally lays two eggs, sometimes only one and occasionally three.
286 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Some of the earlier writers say that this bird lays from three to four
eggs, but I think such large sets are exceptional. .I have found as
many as six eggs in a nest, but I believe that these were laid by two
or three birds. The eggs vary in shape from “ovate” to “elongate
ovate,” and some are nearly “elliptical oval.” The shell is thin,
soft, and brittle, lusterless and rough on the exterior, with generally
more or less calcareous deposit, which cracks or flakes off irregu-
larly. The original color is dull white, but the eggs are usually
more or less blood stained and sometimes are heavily smeared or
streaked with it; they soon become very much nest-stained and dirty,
so that they are far from attractive in appearance. The measure-
ments of 62 eggs in the United States National Museum collection
average 90 by 56.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 103 by 54, 81.5 by 62, 62.5 by 45, and 85.5 by 34 millimeters.
Young.—Both sexes share the duties of incubation, which lasts
for about a month. Major Bendire (1882) recorded the period of in-
cubation as 29 days for eggs hatched under a domestic hen. The
young when first hatched are naked, blind, and helpless, of a livid
flesh color, and most unattractive in appearance. They remain in
the nests for two or three weeks and are fed by their parents on
regurgitated food. Mr. Finley (1907) says of this process:
The parent regurgitated a fishy soup into the front end of its pouch and the
baby pelican pitched right in and helped himself out of this family dish.
As the young bird grew older and larger, at each meal time he kept reaching
farther into the big pouch of his parent until finally, when he was half grown,
it was a remarkable sight. The mother opened her mouth and the whole head
and neck of her nestling disappeared down her capacious maw while he
hunted for his dinner in the internal regions.
When one-third or half grown the young pelicans are strong
enough to leave the nests and wander about their island home in
droves. They also learn to swim while still in the downy stage and
when less than half grown. The feeding process during this active
stage is most interesting and strenuous. Mr. Finley (1907) has well
described it as follows:
Just then another mother dropped into the nursery and she was besieged by
several ravenous children, Each began pecking at her bill, trying to make
her feed them. But she moved off in apparent unconcern, or perhaps she was
making some selection as to which one to feed. She waddled about till one
of the youngsters began a series of actions that were very interesting. He
fell on the ground before the old bird, grunting and flapping his wings as if
he were in the last stages of starvation. Still the mother did not heed his
entreaties and the youngster suddenly got well and began pecking her bill
again. The old bird backed up as if she were getting a good footing and
slowly opened her mouth to admit the bill of the little pelican. She drew
her neck up till the ends of the upper and lower mandibles were braced against
the ground and her pouch was distended to the limit. Jonah-like, down the
raother’s throat went the head of the child till he seemed about to be swallowed
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12 PL. 59
Malheur Lake, Oregon. Bohlman and Finley.
t. Malheur Lake, Oregon. Bohlman and Finley.
WHITE PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 335.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 287
had it not been for his fluttering wings. He remained buried in the depths
for about two minutes, eating everything he could find. Nor did he withdraw
from the family cupboard voluntarily, but when the supply was exhausted or
the mother thought he had enough she began slowly to rise and struggle to
regain her upright position. The youngster was loath to come out and, flapping
his wings, he tried in every way to hold on as she began shaking back and
forth. The mother shook around over 10 or 12 feet of ground till she literally
swung the young bird off his feet and sent him sprawling over on the dry tules.
Rev. S. H. Goodwin (1904) has published the following interest-
ing account of the behavior of young white pelicans:
Young pelicans must certainly be given a prominent place in the front rank
of the ridiculous and grotesque in bird life. Their excessively fat, squabby
bodies, the under parts of which are bare, while the upper parts are covered
with a wool-like coating, hardly distinguishable from that on the back of a
four weeks’ old lamb; these bodies set on a pair of legs, of the use of which
the youngsters seem to have no clear notion, so that when they undertake to
move about they wobble and teeter and balance themselves with their short,
unfledged wings, often tumbling over; many of them (on this occasion) with
their mandibles parted, and panting like a dog after ‘a long run on a hot day,
the pouch hanging limp and flabby, like an empty sack, shaken by every
breath—form, appearance, movement, all combined to make these birds ab-
surdly ridiculous.
When we approached these birds, those nearest the water would not move an
inch, while those nearest us in their frantic endeavor to get away would try
to climb up and over the struggling, squirming mass in front of them, some-
times succeeding, but oftener rolling back to the ground where, not infrequently
they alighted upon their backs, and lay helplessly beating their wings and
icking their feet in the air—after the fashion of some huge beetle—till they
were helped to right themselves. When left to themselves, not a few of these
birds would “sit down,” just as a dog sits on his haunches, the wings some-
times hanging limp. at the sides, at others folded back. The larger part of
them, however, simply squatted in the usual manner. They made no sound,
save when we attempted to drive them, when an occasional puppy-like grunt
would be heard, as if some hapless youngster had fallen or been trodden upon.
As the young pelicans increase in size they are fed more and more
on solid food which consists wholly of fish. Mr. John F. Ferry
(1910) says of the food of the young “Sometimes they disgorged
the contents of their pouches, usually a mass of salamanders (Vec-
turus maculatus), though occasionally a ‘jock-fish’ (one of them
was about a foot long), and some brook sticklebacks (Hucolia incon-
stans).” As ig generally the case with the larger birds, pelicans
are not at all solicitous for the welfare of their eggs or young; they
seem to think only of their own safety. If pelicans and eagles were
half as aggressive as humming birds or thrushes, collecting their eggs
would be a hazardous undertaking; but fortunately for the collectors
and for predatory gulls the white pelicans promptly depart and
leave their nests to be despoiled.
Plumages.—F rom the naked stage of nativity the young pelican
develops rapidly in size and soon begins to acquire its downy cover-
288 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
ing. A young bird in my collection, with a body about the size of a
mallard and a head as large as a swan, has the head and neck prac-
tically naked, the down only just starting, and the body thickly
covered with soft, dense fleece-like down which-is pure white. This
bird was probably two or three weeks old. The soft woolly down
increases until the young bird is completely covered; the flight
feathers develop rapidly and the bird attains its full size before the
body plumage appears. The first winter plumage is acquired in the
fall when the young birds closely resemble the adults. Young birds
may be distinguished from adults in the spring by the absence of the
special adornments of the nuptial season, the heads and breasts are
pure white and the bills and feet are duller colored. At the first
postnuptial molt old and young become practically indistinguish-
able, except that the highest development of maturity is not reached
until the third or fourth year. In adults the prenuptial molt is
incomplete, producing in highly plumaged birds, the pale yellow
crest and breast plumes, the brilliant orange bill and feet and the
horny protuberance on the bill, which is common to both sexes. The
horn is shed soon after the eggs are laid and the occipital crest is
soon replaced by a mottled gray cap. I believe that only a few of
the oldest and most highly developed birds have well-marked yellow
crests and plumes; the greater number of breeding birds have the
gray caps, which are lost at the end of the breeding season, or at
the following postnuptial molt.
Food.—The white pelican does not dive for its food like the brown
pelican, but catches it on or near the surface by swimming or wading
in shallow water. The process has been well described by several
writers, but the following account by Mr. N. S. Goss (1888) seems
to give the best idea of it:
I have often noticed the birds in flocks, in pairs, or alone, swimming on
the water with partially opened wings, and head drawn down and back, the
bill just clearing the water, ready to strike and gobble up the prey within
their reach; when so fishing, if they ran into a shoal of minnows, they would
stretch out their necks, drop their heads upon the water, and with open
mouths and extended pouches scoop up the tiny fry. Their favorite time for
fishing on the seashore is during the incoming tide, as with it come the small
fishes to feed upon the insects caught in the rise, and upon the low forms
of life in the drift as it washes shoreward, the larger fish following in their
wake, each from the smallest to the largest eagerly engaged in taking life in
order to sustain life. All sea birds know this and the time of its coming well,
and the white pelicans that have been patiently waiting in line along the
beach, quietly move into the water, and glide smoothly out, so as not to
frighten the life beneath, and at a suitable distance from the shore, form into
a line in accordance with the sinuosities of the beach, each facing shoreward
and awaiting their leader’s signal to start. When this is given, all is com-
motion; the birds rapidly striking the water with their wings, throwing it
high above them, and plunging their heads in and out, fairly make the water
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 289
foam, as they move on in an almost unbroken line, filling their pouches as they
go. When satisfied with their catch, they wade and waddle into line again
upon the beach, where they remain to rest, standing or sitting, as suits them
best, then, if disturbed, they generally rise in a flock and circle for a long
time high in the air.
While fishing in this way, the pelican must catch enormous num-
bers of small fish.
Audubon (1840) speaks of finding “several hundred fishes, of the
size of what are usually called minnows in the stomach of one bird;”
and he says:
Among the many which I have at different times examined, I have never
found one containing fishes as large as those commonly swallowed by the brown
species, which, in my opinion, is more likely to secure a large fish by plunging
upon it from on wing, than a bird which must swim after its prey.
Dr. P. L. Hatch (1892) says:
Whether seizing a minnow, or a pickerel weighing three and a half pounds,
as in one instance, the fish is grasped transversely, when it is tossed into the
air and invariably received with its head foremost in its descent into the
pouch.
The white pelican frequently feeds on large fish, such as trout,
bass, chub, carp, catfish, suckers, pickerel, and pike, which it must
catch by some other method than that described above; probably the
larger fish are caught by swimming with the head partially or wholly
submerged. In the breeding colonies on Lake Winnipegosis the
ground around the nests was strewn with large numbers of the heads
of pike and jackfish of great size; many of these must have belonged
to fish weighing between twenty and thirty pounds; these large pike
are very abundant in this lake, but I can not understand how the
pelicans could have caught such large fish or have transported them
to the islands, yet I can not see what else could have brought them
there.
Mr. C. J. Maynard (1896) says of the food of a captive white
pelican:
Johnny ate not only fish but meat, and the quantity which he devoured was
surprising, for he often consumed six or eight pounds at a meal. Not that
he was a glutton, for when he was satisfied no temptation would induce him
to take another morsel. His favorite method of eating was to have his
food thrown to him, when he would catch it in his beak, slip it into his pouch,
then he would wait until I grasped him by the bill, when I would raise it and
shake his head until the food passed downward into his stomach.
Behavior—The white pelican is, all things considered, one of the
largest birds in North America, and it maintains the dignity of its
position in the grandeur of its flight. I know of no more magnifi-
cent sight, in American bird life than a large flock of white pelicans
in flight. Its enormous expanse of wing is sufficient to lift its great
290 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
weight easily and quickly from either land or water; its light hollow
bones and the large air sac under its skin give it great displace-
ment. The effort to rise seems labored at first, and is accomplished
by rapid flappings, with a great swishing of powerful pinions beating
the air; the great wings are thrown well forward at every stroke; the
feet are dangling and the neck is only half extended. In a moment,
as the bird gains headway, the feet are held out straight behind, the
head is drawn back upon the shoulders, and the bird proceeds upon
its way with slow majestic wing strokes. At intervals it sails for
long distances on motionless, decurrent wings, a perfect picture of
aerial grace and dignity. In the teeth of the strongest gale it soars
aloft in majestic circles until almost out of sight, adjusting its aero-
planes to the wind and moving at will in any direction, without the
slightest apparent effort. White pelicans are particularly fond of in-
dulging in aerial exercise. Mr. Finley (1907) describes their daily
performance as follows:
After returning from the fishing grounds and lounging about the nests for
a while the pelicans began to circle over the colony in a large company, rising
higher and higher till they were almost lost in blue. By watching we could
occasionally see the faint flashes of white as the snowy breasts reflected a
gleam of the sun. For hours the sky would glitter with these great birds as
they soared about. Then it was thrilling to see some of them descend with
rigid, half-closed wings. They used the sky as a big toboggan slide and dropped
like meteors, leaving a trail of thunder. Several times when we first heard
the sound we were deceived into thinking it was the advance messenger of a
heavy storm and jumped up expecting to see black clouds rising from behind
the mountains.
Doctor Chapman (1908) gives the following account of one of
their aerial feats:
On the afternoon in question a thunderstorm developed rapidly, the sky be-
came ominously black and threatening, and a strong wind whipped the tules into
a rustling troubled sea of green. This atmospheric disturbance acted upon the
soaring birds in a remarkable manner, stimulating them to perform aerial feats
of which I had no idea they were capable. They dived from the heavens like
winged meteors, the roar of the air through their stiff pinions sounding as
though they had torn great rents in the sky. Approaching the earth they
checked their descent by an upshoot, and then with amazing agility zigagged
over the marsh, darting here and there like swallows after insects,
On land the white pelican is not graceful, but it walks well; with
a stately and dignified air. On the water it floats lightly as a cork,
on account of its great displacement, and it swims rapidly and easily,
but it is not built for diving. It looms up large and white even at a
great distance. Its color pattern is somewhat similar to that of three
other large birds, the gannet, the whooping crane, and the wood ibis,
but in size and shape the four are distinctly different.
White pelicans are particularly silent birds; the only notes that I
have heard them utter are the low-toned grunts or subdued croaking
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 291
notes heard on their breeding grounds and not audible at any great
distance. Doctor Chapman (1908) refers to this note as “a deep
voiced, not loud, murmuring groan,” and Doctor Grinnell (1908)
calls it “a grunting quack.” Audubon (1840) likens it to a sound
“produced by blowing through the bunghole of a cask.”
Dr. P. L. Hatch (1892) says:
This immense bird usually signals his arrival in the early part of April
by his characteristic notes from an elevation beyond the range of vision ex-
cept under the most favorable circumstances. The sound of those notes is
difficult to describe, but unforgetable when once certainly heard from their
aerial heights. I have sometimes scanned the heavens in vain to see them,
but am generally rewarded for my vigilance and patience if the sky is clear,
and if cloudy, also, when I watch the rifts closely with my field glass.
This seems to be a loud note, which I have never heard or seen
described elsewhere. Doctor Chapman (1908) describes the note
of the young bird as “a low, coughing whining grunt,” a chorus
of such cries from a large colony creates quite a volume of sound.
In spite of its great size and superior strength the white pelican
is a gentle bird of mild disposition; like most giants it is good nat-
ured. It is easily tamed and makes an interesting and devoted pet
in confinement; in fact no confinement is necessary if raised by
hand in captivity. It never makes any trouble for its neighbors
on its breeding grounds, where it is often intimately associated with
cormorants and gulls. Aside from the damage done to eggs and
young pelicans by gulls, it seems to have no enemies. Its habits
of nesting on islands, probably developed by natural selection, saves
‘it from certain extermination by predatory animals. It has not
suffered materially from hunting for the millinery trade, although
at one time a few skins were sold in the New York market; the de-
mand did not seem to warrant the risk involved.
Winter.—From its breeding grounds in the fresh water lakes of
the interior, the white pelican migrates southward in the fall through
the interior valleys of our large rivers, lingering to feed or rest on
the way and finally spreads out both east and west to spend the
winter along our warmer sea coasts. Along the south Atlantic and
Gulf coasts, it is fairly common all winter; many individuals re-
main until late in the spring and some stay all summer on the coasts
of the Gulf of Mexico. It has been said to breed on the coast of
South Carolina and Florida in the past and Capt. W. M. Sprinkle
told me that it had bred recently on some islands near the mouth
of the Mississippi River; it is undoubtedly common on the coast at
times in summer, but birds seen there at that season are probably
nonbreeding birds which have lingered in their winter resorts.*
In its winter home it is associated with the brown pelican, frequent-
1A breeding colony has recently been discovered near Corpus Christi, Texas.
292 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
ing salt water bayous, estuaries, and shallow bays, where it is very
conspicuous at a long distance standing in the shoals or on the sand
flats, looming up large and white among its smaller companions.
It finds abundant food in the warm and shallow waters of the Gulf
coast and secure roosting places on the sand bars and small islands,
where it often congregates in large numbers, pursuing its own pe-
culiar methods of fishing and indulging in its favorite pastime of
aerial evolutions.
In closing I must quote Doctor Chapman’s (1908) tribute to the
antiquity of pelicans:
We must also accord to pelicans that respectful attention which is the due
of extreme age. Pelicans became pelicans long before man became man, a
study of the distribution of the eleven existing species leading to the conclu-
sion that at least as late as the latter part of the Tertiary period our white
pelican, and doubtless also other species, presented much the same appearance
as it does to-day.
Of the eight Old World species, the one inhabiting southern Europe so
closely resembles our American white pelican that early ornithologists regarded
them as identical. Nevertheless, the localities at which their ranges are nearest
are separated by some 8,000 miles. Such close resemblance, however, is neither
an accident of birth or breeding. Pelicans did not appear independently in
the two hemispheres. Birds so like each other and so unlike other: existing
birds must have a common ancestry. Common ancestry implies, at some time,
continuity of range, and with the European and American white pelican we
may well believe this to have occurred in that later portion of the Tertiary
period, when a warm-temperate or even subtropical circumpolar climate existed.
At this time, the pelican, from which we assume that the European and Ameri-
can white pelicans have both descended, inhabited the shores of the Arctic
Ocean.
Eventually, by those climatic changes, resulting from a continuously decreas-
‘ing amount of heat and culminating in the Ice Age, the individuals of this
hypothetical polar pelican were forced southward, some in Europe, some in
America, but whether at the same time or not is unknown.
Should some swing of the temperature pendulum ever reestablish the pre-
glacial polar climate, the European and American pelicans, following in the
wake of an advancing favorable isotherm, may meet again on the shores of
the Polar Sea (whether as two species or one, who can say?) ; but in the mean-
time we look on them with special interest as but slightly differentiated from
the bird which fished in the Arctic Ocean before, so far as we know, man ap-
peared upon the scene.
.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Lake regions of the western interior. East and
south to central Manitoba (Lake Winnipegosis), central North Da-
kota (Chase Lake), northwestern Wyoming (Yellowstone Lake),
northern Utah (Great Salt Lake), western Nevada (Pyramid Lake),
and southern California (Salton Sea). Formerly south to north
central Wisconsin (Lincoln County, 1884), central western Minne-
sota (Grant County, 1878), South Dakota, and Colorado. West to
the interior of California (Buena Vista, Tulare, Eagle, and Tule
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 293
Lakes) and southern Oregon (Klamath Lakes). North to central
British Columbia (Chilcotin) and Great Slave Lake. An outlying
breeding colony exists in Laguna de la Madre, south of Corpus
Christi, Texas. Breeding grounds protected in the following reserva-
tions: In Oregon, Lake Malheur and Klamath Lake; in North Da-
kota, Chase Lake; and in Nevada, Anaho Island, Pyramid Lake.
Winter range.—North to southern California (Ventura and River-
side Counties), southwestern Arizona (Yuma), the coasts of Texas
and Louisiana, and northern Florida (mouth of the St. John River).
South through the Greater and Lesser Antilles (Cuba, Isle of Pines,
Antigua, Trinidad, etc.) and along both coasts of Mexico, as well
as in the interior, as far south as Panama.
Spring migration—Northward through the interior, beginning in
March. Early dates of arrival: Kansas, Cimmaron, March 9; Iowa,
Mount Pleasant, March 18; Nebraska, April 8; South Dakota, Fort
Sisseton, April 20; North Dakota, Huron, April 3; Saskatchewan,
Indian Head, April 28; Manitoba, April 29 to May 4; Mackenzie,
Pelican River, May 9. Late dates of departure: Louisiana, April 2;
Missouri, May 9; Kansas, May 22; Minnesota, Heron Lake, May 12.
West of the Rocky Mountains the migration route is comparatively
short. Migrants pass through southern California in April and
May; Fresno County, April 6; Los Angeles County, April 27 to
May 25.
Fall migration—Early dates of arrival: Iowa, Grinnell, Septem-
ber 13; Missouri, St. Louis, September 14; Arkansas, Helena, Sep-
tember 3; Texas, Galveston, September. Late dates of departure:
Manitoba, Waterhen River, October 3; South Dakota, Fort Sisseton,
October 30; Iowa, Sioux County, October 4; Kansas, Emporia, Octo-
ber 13; Missouri, St. Louis, October 7; Arkansas, Turrell, November
15. On the Pacific slope migrants reach the coast of Washington,
Bellingham Bay, as early as September 5 and linger in southern
California through November; Pasadena, November 25; Fresno
County, December 5.
Casual records——Has wandered on migrations to practically every
Province in Canada and nearly every State in the United States.
Eastern records include: New Brunswick (Cape Spencer, April,
1881), Maine (Saponica Lake, May 28, 1892, and Eliot, June 8, 1897)
and Massachusetts (North Scituate, October 5, 1876, and Sandwich,
May 13, 1905). Recorded once on the Arctic coast of Mackenzie
(Liverpool Bay, summer, 1900).
Egg dates.—Utah and Nevada: Thirty-four records, May 1 to June
25; seventeen records May 16 to June 3. Manitoba and Saskatche-
wan: Nine records, June 4 to July 18; five records, June 4 to 19.
Oregon: Three records, April 16 to July 8.
83969—22——20
294 BULLETIN 121; UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
PELECANUS OCCIDENTALIS OCCIDENTALIS Linnaeus.
BROWN PELICAN,
HABITS.
My first morning in Florida dawned clear, calm, and hot, a typical
April morning. The rich, varied whistle of the cardinal and the
striking song of the Florida wren attracted me outdoors to explore
my surroundings and ‘make new ‘acquaintances. An attractive path
led through a dense hammock of large, grotesque live oaks, festooned
with hanging mosses and a forest of heavily booted palmettos toward
the shore. I had hopéd to enjoy the cool of the early morning hours,
but I had not then learned that the morning is the hottest part of
the day on the east coast, before the cool sea breeze of midday brings
relief. The heat was intense as I crossed a broad tract of saw pal-
mettos back of the beach, and I was glad to seek shelter under an
old bathhouse. The sea was smooth as glass and the horizon hardly
visible, but the ocean swell rose and fell on the white sand in a long
line of rolling breakers. Way off to the southward, in the shimmer-
ing heat which obstructed the shore line, I made out a long waving
line of black specks, a flock of large birds coming toward me; they
were flying close to the water and just off the beach over the breakers;
with slowly measured wing beats they came on in regular forma-
tion. They were pelicans, of course, for at regular intervals they all
set their wings and’ scaled along, barely skimming the tops of the
waves or sailing along the valleys between them. With grotesque
and quiet dignity they passed, and with the military precision of
well-drilled soldiers they alternately scaled or flapped their wings
in perfect unison, as if controlled by a common impulse. Before they
had disappeared. to the northward another flock was in sight, and
so they came and passed on as long as I cared to watch a with
one or more flocks constantly in sight.
Nesting—Whence they came and whither they were going we
learned a few days afterwards when we visited their breeding
grounds at Pelican Island, from which pelicans were constantly de-
parting for their fishing grounds up and down the east coast and
returning with food for their young. “At the time of our visit,
April 16, 1902, the breeding season was at its height and the colony
was in flourishing condition. Pelican Island, long famous in the
annals of American ornithology, is a small triangular island of less
than 3 acres in extent, conveniently located in the quiet waters of
Indian River, the long narrow lagoon which separates the east coast
of Florida from the main land. Although not essentially different
from the many other small islands in the same region, it has been
occupied practically continuously since the earliest records we have
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 60
ed
Bulls Bay, South Caro!ina.
BROWN PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 295
as the only breeding resort of brown pelicans on the east coast of
Florida. “In 1858” Doctor Bryant (1859) wrote:
The most extensive breeding place was in a small island called Pelican
Island, about twenty miles north of Fort Capron. The nests here were placed
on the tops of mangrove trees, which were about the size and shape of large
apple trees. Breeding in company with the pelicans were thousands of herons,
“Peale egret, the rufous egret, and little white egret, with a few pairs of the
great blue heron and roseate spoonbills; and immense numbers of man-o-war
birds and white ibises were congregated upon the island.
At the time of our visit all but a few scattered dead or dying black
mangrove trees and one cabbage palmetto had disappeared and even
. those have since succumbed. All of the birds but the pelicans have
long since gone, leaving the silent, dignified and stupid birds in sole
possession of what is now a Government reservation for their pro-
tection. I know of no more favorable place for the intimate study
of the home life of an interesting species than Pelican Island, where
continual protection has made it possible to watch and photograph
the birds at short range, even without concealment. When we landed
in our small sailboat the nearest pelicans of course took wing, but
they circled about the island and soon came scaling back to settle
again upon their nests or stand in solemn rows upon the shore.
Many settled upon the water near us, floating buoyantly upon it in
their characteristic attitude, with head and neck erect and with
bill pointing downward against the breast. The same pose is as-
sumed when standing or walking, but when fully settled upon the
nest or when sleeping the head is drawn down between the shoulders
and the bill points forward.
The breeding season at Pelican Island is very much prolonged,
sometimes covering the greater part of the year. Ordinarily the
birds arrive in November or December, but sometimes as early as
October, congregating about the island in large flocks. Nest building
soon begins, and by December egg laying is well under way. This con-
tinues all through the winter and spring uninterruptedly and often
well into the summer. We found plenty of fresh eggs in April, as
_ well as young of all ages up to fully grown birds on the wing, show-
ing at a glance the whole life history of the young bird. Whether
their prolongation of the breeding season is due to protection or to
the fact that this is the only breeding resort to which the pelicans of
so many miles of coast have access, I am unable to say; but probably
both causes have had their effect and certainly the vast number of
pelicans which rear their young on this island could not do so in a
breeding season as short as prevails elsewhere. It has been suggested
that the later layings are second broods of the same birds that had
bred earlier, but-I doubt if this has been satisfactorily proven, and
there seems to be no evidence of second broods elsewhere.
296 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
On the west coast of Florida the normal breeding season begins in
April and on the Louisiana coast in February, only one brood being
raised in these localities, so far as I know. The pelicans of the Louisi-
ana reservation are well protected, but they are not overcrowded and
can all breed at one season. On the South Carolina coast their nest-
ing season begins in May, fresh eggs having been taken by Mr. C. S.
Day, of Boston, on May 8, 1904, and, according to Mr. Arthur T.
Wayne, the breeding season is extended into August. Here the nests
are placed on the ground on small islands barely above high-water
mark, so that the eggs are frequently washed away by spring tides.
That the brown pelicans of Pelican Island formerly built their nests
in trees is shown by Doctor Bryant’s (1859) report of the conditions °
prevailing in 1858, but with the disappearance of the trees the birds
gradually adopted the habit of nesting on the ground, though on two
occasions they resorted to nearby islands and built their nests in the
mangroves. On the west coast of Florida there are still several large
colonies of brown pelicans nesting in trees. In the reservations at the
mouth of the Mississippi there are several immense and many smaller
colonies of brown pelicans breeding on the mud lumps where there
-are No trees.
The ground nests vary greatly in size and structure from prac-
tically nothing to large well-built nests of sticks, reeds, straws,
palmetto leaves and grasses, this material being selected from what
is most readily available; the remains of old nests are frequently
used and often fresh material is stolen from newly constructed nests
provided the owner is not on hand to defend its property. The
average nests on Pelican Island measured from 18 to 24 inches in
diameter and were built up usually 4 or 5 inches but sometimes as
high as 10 inches. Arboreal nests are more firmly constructed of
similar materials on substantial platforms of sticks securely in-
terwoven with the branches of the mangroves which are well adapted
for supporting them, even with the additional weight of the fully
grown young.
Courtship.—Mr. Stanley Clisby Arthur has sent me the follow-
ing notes on the courtship of the brown pelican, which I have never
seen :
The courtship of the pelican is quite what one would expect from a bird
of its other undemonstrative habits. I witnessed it once on Isle Grand-
gosier and it marks the only time I have seen a pair of brown pelicans to-
gether when I could unhesitatingly identify the male from its mate, The
female squatted close to the bare ground while the male slowly circled her
with ponderius, elephantine tread. While he circumnavigated the course he
lifted his wings slightly and tilted his neck far back, but there was none of
the pronounced strutting usually indulged in by other birds, particularly those
of the gallinaceous order. Both wore most lugubrious expressions during the
whole of the courtship and the occasion was more befitting the solemnity of
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 61
Pelican Island, Florida. A.C. Bent.
Pelican Island, Florida. A.C. Bent.
BROWN PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 335.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 297
a funeral than the joyous display attending most nuptials. Neither uttered
an audible sound while the male pursued his dignified circuitous meandering.
Suddenly she rose from her squatting position with a gruff-gruff of wing-
strokes and flew to the ocean, but a short distance from the shore, and after
stolidly watching her going, he followed, still wearing his mask-like expres-
sion of weighty solemnity, to the consummation of the courtship on the surface
of the quiet swelling waters of the gulf.
E'ggs.—The brown pelican normally lays three eggs, though two
eggs often constitute a full set; I have found four and on one occasion
five eggs in a nest, though in the latter case the eggs were apparently
laid by two different birds. The eggs are dull, lusterless, dirty white,
usually more or less nest stained, and with a rough granular surface.
The measurements of 46 eggs in the United States National Museum
average 73 by 46.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure 83 by 49, 81.5 by 54, 68 by 47, and 70.5 by 45 millimeters.
Young—tThe period of incubation is about four weeks. When
first hatched the young are far from attractive, looking more like
shapeless masses of half-dried meat than young birds, with swollen
protuberances for heads which they are unable to hold up; the livid,
dark reddish naked skin gradually turns to dull black; the eyes
open during the first few days and by the end of a week the young-
ster is able to sit up and take notice. When about two weeks old the
black goose-flesh produces little tufts of white down which rapidly
covers the whole body. When about half grown the wing quills
begin to sprout and are soon followed by the light brown first plu-
mage of the back. The fully grown young are light brownish gray
above, darker on the wings and white below. This first or juvenal
plumage is probably worn for about a year. Subsequent molts and
plumages are undoubtedly the same as in the California brown
pelican, which I have been able to work out more satisfactorily and
to which I refer the reader.
The feeding of young pelicans is a most remarkable performance
and in a thickly populated colony where the struggle for existence
is keen it is not lacking in excitement. The youngest birds are
fed on regurgitated or semidigested food which is allowed to flow
to the tip of the parent’s bill, where it can be readily reached by the
almost helpless little bird. As the young increase in size they are
gradually weaned and soon learn to thrust their heads and necks,
sometimes two at a time, deep down into the innermost recesses of
the parental pouch, where with much struggling and squawking they
find a hearty meal of fish in various stages of digestion. The old
birds have evidently learned by experience just what kind of food is
best suited to the age of the young, feeding larger fish as the young
increase in size, but occasionally they make a mistake and give the
little pelicans more than they can swallow, which means that the
298 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
objectionable morsel must be removed by the parent or left to be
gradually swallowed as the lower end is digested. The parents evi-
dently know their own young and attempt to drive away others in
the wild scramble which follows the arrival of a pelican with a well-
filled pouch. Young pelicans reared in tree nests remain in the nests
until nearly ready to fly, which simplifies the feeding problem for
their parents, but where they nest on the ground the young leave
the nests as soon as they are able to walk and wander about in great
droves. This makes the work of the parents both difficult and
strenuous and many an exciting struggle occurs in which the poor
parent is besieged by a hoard of lusty young, fully her equal in size,
and either overwhelmed by the excited mob or forced to retreat.
Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1908) describes in this connection an
interesting performance which I have never witnessed, as follows:
The parent does not, of course, always have to fight its way through a mob
to feed its offspring. Often only a bird or two is to be driven off and on
such occasions the rightful young assist, the method of attack employed by
both being thrusts of the bill from which no harm appears to follow. The
actions of the rejected young bird are remarkable. With an only-son air
he prances confidently up to the food-bearing adult and without so much as by
your leave attempts to insert his bill. When, however, he receives a blow
where he expected a fish, his demonstrations of disappointment are uncon-
trolled. He acts like a bird demented, swinging his head from side to side,
biting one wing and whirling around to bite the other in the most ludicrous
manner.
It is inexplicable that the same performance, in an exaggerated degree, is
gone through with by the bird which has been permitted to feed, after it emerges
from the parent’s pouch. For a moment it seems dazed, perhaps because of
lack of air as well as by the size of the meal it has secured. It lays its
head on the ground as though it had received a violent blow, but soon this
apparent semiconsciousness is followed by the most violent reaction as the
bird arising to its feet grasps its wing, waves its head and behaves in the same
crazy way as the bird which has been denied a meal. Possibly this surprising
exercise may aid the bird in swallowing, when the same exhibition after the
bird has attempted and failed to get a meal, should be considered the result of
suggestion.
His account in the same chapter of the ceremony of nest relief,
which I have never seen, is also worth quoting.
Brown pelicans do not differ in color sexually. It is impossible, therefore,
to determine by external appearance the sex of the sitting bird. Observation
from a blind, however, reveals the fact that both sexes incubate, the change
of places being usually preceded by an interesting little performance which I
have called the Ceremony of Nest Relief. Asa rule the bird on the nest is not
attended by its mate, who may be feeding, bathing, resting on the shore, or
sailing high in the air. The returning bird alights near the nest and, with
bill pointed to the zenith, advances slowly, waving its head from side to side.
At the same time the sitting bird sticks its bill vertically into the nest, twitches
its half-spread wings, and utters a low, husky, gasping chuck, the only note I
have ever heard issue from the throat of an adult wild brown pelican. After
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 62
Louisiana. S.C. Arthur.
te,
Louisia: a. S.C. Arthur.
BROWN PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS, 299
five or six wand-like passes of its upraised head, the advancing bird pauses,
when both birds, with apparent unconcern, begin to preen their feathers, and a
moment later the bird that has been on duty steps off the nest, and the new
comer at once takes its place. This was the “ ceremony ” in its full develop-
ment; often it was not so complete. Doubtless it possesses some sexual sig-
nificance, and observation points to the conclusion that the relieving bird is
the male and that the ceremony is omitted when he gives place to his mate.
F ood.—The food of the brown pelican consists entirely of fish,
chiefly menhaden, mullets, and other fish unfit for human food.
Complaints that it is very destructive to food fish, and therefore un-
worthy of protection, have been proven as not well founded by an
exhaustive investigation conducted by the Department of Conserva-
tion in Louisiana, in cooperation with the Biological Survey.
Its methods of fishing is more effective than it is graceful; it ap-
pears to be quite awkward and clumsy, even ludicrous, but it is
nearly always successful in accomplishing the desired result. It flies
along over the water at’heights varying from 10 feet to 50 feet above
it. Mr. John T. Nichols (1918) has published the following in-
teresting observations, made by Dr. Russell J. Coles:
When these birds are feeding, the distance of their flight above the surface
of the water is carefully regulated by the depth at which the fish are swimming
and one, who has not especially studied this point by many careful observa-
tions, does not realize how accurately this is gauged.. I have often seen a
brown pelican suddenly dart forward and upward ten to fifteen feet higher
and circle back over his prey before making his plunge, indicating that the fish
was swimming at a greater depth than expected.
The plunge is interesting in that it is always headed down wind. As it
thrusts its neck down, its wing are three-quarters closed and extended back-
ward as far as possible, thus throwing the center of gravity in front of any wing
support, and the following wind instantly catches in the partly closed wing tips
and completes the inversion, then by deft manipulation of its almost closed
wings, it maintains its perpendicular position as it volplanes downward.
It is necessary for such a heavy, bird to rise against the wind, therefore, it
is only a case of instinctive preparedness that the brown pelican always rises
to the surface headed up-wind, in order to be ready for instant flight.
Thus, by entering the water down wind and emerging from it up
wind, the pelican makes a complete turnover or turnabout under
water; many writers have referred to this, and almost every observer
has noticed it. The buoyancy of the bird’s body brings it quickly to
the surface, where it shakes the water from its plumage, points its
bill first downward to drain out the water, and then upward to swal-
low the fish. It is then ready to rise against the wind and look for
more fish. As it emerges from the water with a well-filled pouch it
is often preyed upon by its companions, the laughing gulls and man-
o’-war-birds. The former have even been seen to alight upon the
pelican’s head and steal the fish protruding from its bill.
300 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Behavior—Adult brown pelicans are practically voiceless, but the
young are exceedingly noisy at all ages. They begin to make them-
selves heard during the hatching process with a grunting sound, as
the young bird emerges from the shell; this develops into a barking
note and finally into a shrill, piercing scream as the young birds
struggle for their food, making feeding times on Pelican Island
both boisterous and noisy.
The flight of brown pelicans when well under way is strong, grace-
ful, and well sustained on their long and powerful wings, but when
starting from either land or water the first few efforts to overcome
the inertia of their heavy bodies seem awkward and labored. They
fly long distances to their feeding grounds, relieving their slow
sweeping wing strokes with frequent periods of soaring or scaling.
At times they may be seen sailing about high in the air, apparently
for sport or exercise, but they are by no means equal to the white
pelicans in this respect.
Fall.—Brown pelicans are not strictly migratory, as they are gen-
erally resident in the near vicinity of their breeding grounds, but
after the cares of the nesting season are over they become more or
less nomadic and some few of them, generally young birds, often
wander long distances.
Winter—But the greater number spend the remainder of the
summer, fall, and winter traveling about in large flocks, young and
old usually in flocks by themselves along the coasts of Florida and
the Gulf States, resorting to the inland lakes to fish and resting in
long lines on the sand bars, mud flats, or beaches of the outer islands.
They are particularly abundant among the shallow bays of southern
Florida, among the Florida Keys, and in the great bird reservations
of the Louisiana coast, where food fish are abundant and where they
spend their leisure season in the congenial, if not always friendly,
companionship of the royal terns, laughing gulls, man-o-war-birds,
and Florida cormorants.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range.—Mainly on south Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the
United States, from South Carolina (Bull’s Bay) to southern Texas
(Padre Island). Probably breeds among the Greater Antilles (Cuba,
Jamaica, and Porto Rico). Said to breed in the Bahamas and on the
coasts of Central and South America, as far south as Brazil. Breed-
ing grounds protected in the following reservations: In Florida,
Pelican Island ; and in Louisiana, Breton Island, and East Timbalier.
Winter range——From the Bahamas, Florida, and the Gulf coast
of the United States southward, including all the West Indies and
the eastern coasts of Central iad South America, as far south as
Brazil.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 68
Pelican Island, Florida. H. K. Job.
S.C. Arthur.
Pass au Loutre, Louisiana.
BROWN PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION GEE PAGE 886,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 301
Casual records.—Accidental in Bermuda (April, 1850). Has
wandered as far east as Nova Scotia (Pictou, three records, and Cape
Breton, Louisbourg, May 19, 1904), as far west as Michigan (St.
Joseph, June 7, 1904), Wyoming (Cheyenne, July 12, 1899), and
Colorado (Thomasville, June, 1908).
Egg dates—Florida: Thirty-four records, February 1 to June
30, seventeen records, April 16 to May 15. Texas: Fifteen records,
April 4 to May 28; eight records April 16 to May 28. South Caro-
lina: Nine records, May 8 to June 23.
PELECANUS OCCIDENTALIS CALIFORNICUS Ridgway.
CALIFORNIA BROWN PELICAN,
HABITS.
Although long regarded as a distinct species, perhaps at no very
distant epoch in the history of evolution, this large Pacific coast
species was connected by intergrading forms with the common
brown pelican of our tropical and subtropical coasts, for it is not
difficult to imagine the former existence of a continuity of range
across the isthmus of Panama. The California brown pelican dif-
fers from its eastern relative chiefly in its much larger size, the
darker color of its hind neck, which is nearly black, and the color
of its pouch, which is largely reddish at certain seasons.
On the coast of southern California and Lower California peli-
cans are almost as common and conspicuous as they are on the coasts
of Florida, grotesque and striking features in the landscape. The
habits of the two species are so much alike and their life histories
are so nearly identical that it would involve much useless repetition
to do more than to describe the nesting habits of this species and
add a few points of interest.
Nesting—The California brown pelican breeds from the Santa
Barbara Islands southward. On these islands and on Los Coro-
nados Islands it seems to prefer to nest on steep rocky slopes, build-
ing a bulky nest of sticks, grasses, and rubbish; such sites seem
strange when compared with the low flat islands in which we are
accustomed to find the eastern bird breeding; the California birds
also seem to be much shyer than our birds and to nest in smaller
or more scattered colonies.
Mr. A. W. Anthony (1889), writes:
The largest colony that I have found thus far was discovered on San
Martin Island April 12, 1888. The island of San Martin lies about 5 miles
offshore and nearly due west from San Quentin, Lower California, in about
Lat. 30° 33’ N. With the exception of a few acres of sand on the east and
northeastern sides, it is composed entirely of lava, which hag escaped from
an extinct voleano on the southern end of the island; the greatest elevation
is found at this point, which is perhaps 450 feet above the sea. The entire
3802 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
island comprises about 1,200 acres. Three days were spent here in investigat-
ing the bird life, most of which time was expended in making life a burden
to a colony of about 500 pelicans, which were found nesting on the north end
of the island. The nests were located in groups of 20 or 30 about a quarter of
a mile from the beach and about 250 feet above the sea. They were largely
composed of the accumulated filth of. several generations of pelicans, and many
of the older ones had obtained a height of. 3 feet, evidently having been
added to from year to year. Most of the nests were built on the tops of low
bushes, but many were resting on the bare ground or placed upon blocks of
lava. ‘Sticks, twigs, kelp, sea grass, and in a few cases bones of defunct sea
birds, were used as building material, and a little sea grass spread over the
top as a lining, no attempt being made to form anything more than a mere
platform 18 inches or 2 feet in diameter, and in nests of a single year’s growth
4 or 5 inches in depth. At this date, April 12th, most of the nests contained
young ranging from those just hatched to the full-fledged birds capable of
flying. The birds at this colony did not appear to be very wild, only flying
up when we had approached to within 50 or 60 yards and settling down
again as soon as we had passed by. Hundreds of pounds of small fish were
scattered all about the colony, in little bunches or singly, having been dis-
gorged entirely undigested. I could not see that the young were making any
use of these provisions, nor did any of the birds of the island except the
gulls. They were probably designed, however, for the nearly fledged young
that were still unable to fish for themselves.
To illustrate variations in the choice of nesting sites and irregu-
larities in breeding dates, the following observations of Mr. Edward
W. Gifford (1913) in the Galapagos Islands are interesting:
I saw a pair copulating on their nest at Tagus Cove, Albemarle Island, on
April 1. They had no eggs in the nest. All of the other nests of the colony of
ten or twelve had single birds on them. Some had eggs, others none. The nests
were bulky affairs of sticks built in bushes on a steep hillside close to the water.
The area occupied was about one hundred yards by twenty-five yards. The
birds were somewhat wary, some flying upon the near approach of the boat.
At South Seymour Island, on November 22, three nests were seen in a low
tree near the shore. Two had one youngster each, and the third two. On north-
ern Indefatigable, November 25, nests with young were observed in the man-
groves and also on the ground. On Jervis Island, December 18, a young bird
in the down was found in a nest in a low bush at the top of the beach. At
Academy Bay, Indefatigable Island, in early November, young were observed
in nests built at least twenty feet above the ground in the mangroves. In the
middle of the following January the same birds were observed fishing, ap-
parently under the supervision of their parents, whose example they followed
in diving into the water. ,
On March 12, a few miles west of Villamil, Albemarle Island, four occupied
nests were found in the low mangroves fringing the rocky shore. They were
built in the usual bulky style, and the two which were examined each contained
three incubated eggs. At Banks Bay, Albemarle, April 11, three nests were
found in some small mangroves about eight feet high. They were shallow, built
of sticks, lined with grass, and placed very little above the high-water mark.
One had naked youngsters in it; the second contained three eggs; and the third
was new.
In the middle of July, at Academy Bay, the same nests which had young in
them the previous November, again contained partly fledged, squawking young-
PL. 64
121
BULLETIN
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
"98E 30Vd 33S NOILdINoSaa yoy
"NVOIIAad NMOYG VINYOSIIVD
‘ODTXAW ,SPULIST SOPRUOIO,) So'T
“AOI “YU -A
=
73
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 3038
sters, eight months only having elapsed since the previous brood. They. were fed
by running their bills well into the parent’s pouch and gulping in the food.
Hggs.—The eggs are like those of the brown pelican, but decidedly
larger. The measurements of 48 eggs, in various collections, average
78.5 by 50.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
85 by 51.2, 78 by 54, 69 by 49, and 75 by 47 millimeters.
Young.—Mr. A. B. Howell has sent me the following notes on the
behavior of the young:
They are noisy little fellows, clucking to themselves continuously, and with a
flirt of the wings at each cluck. In spite of their tender age they are very
pugnacious, and they need to be, even though it does not do them much good
when the western gulls take a notion to peck out their brains. When two-
thirds grown they remind one of partly plucked geese, especially as they are
given to flocking before an intruder. They are only too ready with a vicious
lunge of the bill and they disgorge at a suspicion of danger; which act the gulls
accept as the act of a kind Providence. They are always willing to step off a
ledge into a patch of cactus, where they flounder around in a most helpless way.
If one is induced to take his maiden flight under slight excitement, he will
launch out on slow unsteady wings with feet fully extended, teeter a moment
and return, but he is unable to check his speed and brings up against the cliff
with a shock that Kills him instantly, much to the amusement of the audience
of gulls, who troop down to investigate.
Plumages.—The sequence of plumages to maturity is apparently
the same as in the eastern brown pelican. The juvenal, or first year,
plumage is characterized by the dull, light-brown upper parts and
the white under parts. It is worn for about a year, or until the
first postnuptial molt, when the young bird is about 14 or 15
months old. A complete molt, prolonged through the summer and
fall of that year, produces the second winter plumage. In this
plumage the silver-gray feathers are, at least partially, acquired on
the back, wings, and scapulars, but not in the perfection of the adult;
the head and neck are similar to those of the adult, but are more or
less mottled with dusky; the under parts are of a somewhat lighter
shade of the same brown as in the adult, more or less mottled with
white on the belly, and the brown feathers have each a central streak
of white. A partial molt during the winter and spring produces
the second nuptial plumage, in which the birds begin to breed. At
this season the under parts become browner, but still with white
median streaks, the head becomes whiter, and some dark brown
appears in the hind neck. At the next complete molt, the second
postnuptial, the adult winter plumage is assumed, when the young
bird is 26 or 27 months old.
Adults have a partial molt in the late winter and early spring,
involving mainly the head and neck, which produces the well-known
nuptial plumage, and a complete postnuptial molt in the summer
and fall, which produces the winter plumage, in which the hind neck
304 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
becomes white instead of dark brown. Probably the fullest develop-
ment of plumage, with such nuptial adornments as the yellow crown
and golden breast patch, is not acquired until the bird is three years
old or older.
Food.—The food consists largely of fish, but not wholly so, as
the following quotation from Mr. Gifford’s (1913) notes will show:
in the Galapagos Islands brown pelicans serve as scavengers. On several
occasions they were observed to pick up the bodies of large birds, after we
had skinned them and thrown them overboard. In one case an immature
pelican had got the bodies of two Galapagos hawks into its pouch, and was
unable to swallow them. Likewise it was unable to fly on account of the
weight. It was probably grateful when we rowed up to it, where it was sitting
on the water, and removed the impedimenta, for it flew away joyfully enough
afterwards.
We never saw a pelican make a graceful dive. Invariably they just tum-
bled into the water from a few feet above it. They often fished along the
line of small breakers close to the shore, and after making such a dive, fre-
quently had to get up hurriedly to avoid being overwhelmed by a wave.
Mr. H. R. Taylor (1893) describes the pelicans’ fishing methods,
as follows:
These curious “ troopers of the raging main” are great fishers. A thoughtful
looking pelican comes flapping along, perhaps about fifteen feet above the
water, and when there is a good fish near the surface you see him pause un-
certainly in the air and point his long, spear-like bill down to the almost per-
pendicular, and in a second his wings slant back, and down he goes with a
rush, sending the spray in every direction and stunning his finny quarry be-
fore it has time to wink. The great splash hides the fisher entirely from
view, and as he reappears he is observed gulping the big mouthful into his
convenient pouch, All this occupies but a brief space of time, and with a
lumberly struggle of wings, touching the waves with his feet for a short dis-
tance, he is off, carrying an important air, as though he had remarkably press-
ing business in hand. Occassionally the pelican rests on the water awhile
after the capture, looking very sedate and pensive, with his great bill dropped
down closely to his breast. Sometimes the fish is found to be so large that
the bird is compelled to go through a ludicrous struggle before he can dispose
of it, and trying to rise from the water he seems to exert himself painfully.
Behavior.—Referring to the daily flights of this species to and
from its feeding grounds, Mr. Anthony (1889) writes:
Flocks of from five or six to twenty were constantly arriving from far out
at sea, flying in one long line, each following directly in the track of the one
next in front, and but just keeping above the water until within a few hun-
dred yards of the island, when they rose gradually to the elevation of their
nests. Toward night the flocks grew larger, as the birds that had been over
to San Quentin Bay for the day’s fishing began to arrive. These birds after
fishing until sunset along the southern shore of the bay, gather in large
flocks, and most of them fly directly up the bay, or almost at right angles
with the course taken by those birds that fly directly toward the island. For
some time I was at a loss to know where these flocks were going, as I knew
that there was no resting place in that direction; but I found that after
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 65
si
Anacapa Island, California. D. R. Dickey.
D. R. Dickey.
Los Coronados Isiands, Mexico.
CALIFORNIA BROWN PELICAN.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 305
reaching the head of the bay, ten miles from the feeding grounds, they turned
through a pass between the hills, and after flying five miles over land, reached
the ocean at a point opposite the island, having flown eighteen or twenty miles
to reach a point ten miles distant, rather than fly two miles over a range of
hills one hundred feet high. Above ten per cent of the birds, however, were
wise enough to take the shorter route.
Mr. A. B. Howell (1912) noted a very interesting flight perform-
ance of the California brown pelican, which he describes as follows:
At 4 o’clock I noted a very large flock of pelicans feeding, and shortly after-
wards the school of fish which they were pursuing left. Some of the birds
settled down upon the water while others began circling in the air on motion-
less wings. A moderate breeze was blowing. Singly the ones in the water took
wing and joined the circling throng until there must have been a hundred and
fifty birds in the air, forming an irregular but clearly defined column or rather
cylinder, some hundred yards in diameter. Gradually some birds mounted
higher until they were specks in the sky, while others were but fifty yards
above the water. More than an hour elapsed between the start and finish of
this flight. The flock remained over almost the same spot, and at no time
did a bird show indications of diving or looking for fish. Their soaring was
very even, and I noticed no flapping at all after a bird was fairly launched.
Slowly, as darkness approached, the pelicans left toward the north, singly or
in twos and threes.
Pelicans are not always allowed to fish for themselves in peace,
as several observers have noted. Mr. William L. Finley (1907)
says:
One day while standing on the wharf at Santa Monica I saw a brown peli-
can flapping along with a pair of gulls a few feet behind. A moment later
the big bird spied a fish, for with a back stroke of his wing he turned to dive.
He gathered speed as he went and with wings partly closed and rigid, he hit
the water with a resounding splash. The lower mandible of his bill contracted
and opened his pouch that held about as much water as the weight of his body.
He came to the surface and was in a helpless condition till the water ran out,
and at this moment he was pounced upon by the swift-moving gulls, who
snatched the fish and were away before the slow pelican could retaliate.
At another time I saw a band of a dozen pelicans hovering over a school
of fish. The birds rose from the surface, swung around till about twenty feet
above, and two or three of them dropped into the water at a time. A bevy of
twenty gulls were fluttering around to pounce on every pelican that dove.
The instant one dropped and came up with fish he was surrounded by a bunch
of gulls, each scrambling to get a nose in the pelican’s big fish bag.
Mr. Gifford (1913) writes:
Brown pelicans bathe after the manner of most water birds, by beating the
water with their wings. They were occasionally ‘“ decoyed”” to wounded birds.
One day two or three of this species and several man-o’-war birds flocked
about when a blue-footed booby was shot. As a rule the pelicans did not
associate with other species. Once or twice, however, they were observed
fishing along with blue-footed boobies, and at times roosting with them.
It was not unusual to see several noddies fluttering excitedly about a pelican
when it was fishing, and often sitting on its head while it swallowed the fish.
Once I saw two on a pelican’s head at one time. The pelicans never seemed
306 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
to be annoyed, nor did the noddies ever get any fish so far as I could see.
Dusky shearwaters would occasionally fly about a pelican, apparently to pester
it, for one day I observed a pelican take refuge on the top of a cliff from a
number of them,
The California brown pelican is practically nonmigratory, like its
eastern relative, but it is much given to wandering both north and
south of its breeding range between nesting seasons.
DISTRIBUTION,
Breeding range.—Islands off the Pacific coast from the Santa
Barbara Islands (San Miguel, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, etc.) south-
ward along the Mexican coast to the Tres Marias and Galapagos
Islands.
Winter range.—Between breeding seasons it extends its range
northward along the coast to southern British Columbia (Burrard
Inlet) and in the interior to central British Columbia (Chilcotin
District) and southward along the Pacific coast of South America
to Chile (Atacama and Valdivia).
Migration—Irregular and prolonged. Main, northward move-
ment seems to come in July. :
Casual records—Rarely wanders inland in California; Stanislaus
County, September 19, 1913.
Egg dates—Los Coronados Islands: Thirty-three records, March
29 to June 22; seventeen records, April 4 to May 6.
Family FREGATIDAE, Man-o’-war-birds.
FREGATA MAGNIFICENS ROTHSCHILDI Mathews.
MAN-0O’-WAR-BIRD,
HABITS.
This well-known buccaneer is widely distributed over the warmer
waters and tropical coasts of both hemispheres, where several species
and subspecies have been recognized by recent investigators, all of
which are closely related. Its popular names, man-o’-war-bird,
frigate bird, or frigate pelican, reflect its well-known character as a
pirate and a tyrannical freebooter. But, with all its faults, it is a
picturesque character and one can not help admiring its wonderful
aerial evolutions, for which it is so highly specialized, and which
make it such a noticeable and an interesting feature in the bird life
of tropical seas.
Courtship——One of the most curious traits of this species is the
inflation of the great red pouch of the male, which plays such a con-
spicuous part in his courtship. Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) gives
a very good account of it as follows:
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 121 PL. 66
California. D. R. Dickey
Galapagos Islands. R. H. Beck,
CALIFORNIA BROWN PELICAN.
FoR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 307
The man-o’-war-bird proved scarcely less entertaining than the albatrosses.
The curious and excessively bizarre appearance of the male at this season of
the year compels attention. His antics are as extraordinary as his looks, and
when engrossed in the task of making himself attractive his self-absorption and
apparent vanity are highly diverting. During the courting period the gular
pouch of the male is enlarged, and before the brooding cares have begun he
inflates it to a large size, and at the same time it becomes a bright red color.
The bird looks as if there were a balloon, such as children dangle on a string,
fastened to its throat.
The pouch is apparently a large air-sac, connected only indirectly with the
lungs, which can not be emptied readily nor inflated instantly. It varies in
the intensity of its carmine or crimson, and catching on its surface the sheen of
the sky, shows at times bluish hues, or, becoming somewhat collapsed, turns a
translucent orange about the sides. It is no uncommon occurrence to see a male
bird sitting on the nest with the sac blown out, obscuring the whole front of the
creature, only the bill and eyes appearing over the top. For hours he sits on
a newly-made nest without once leaving, or scarcely altering this position.
But if the female appears somewhere overhead, sailing to and fro, he suddenly
arouses himself from the lethargy, and as she passes he rises partially from
a sitting posture, throws back his head, spreads his wings, and protruding the
brilliant pouch, shakes his head from side to side, uttering a hoarse cackle,
Occasionally, when the female alights near, he waves his pouch from side to
side, the head being thrown well back and the wings partially spread. At the.
same time the long, greenish, iridescent, scapular feathers are fluffed up and
the creature presents a most unusual and absurd appearance. In this posture
he chuckles again and again, and rubs his pouch against his mate, who usually
ignores him completely and flies away. These performances take place before
the egg is laid; afterwards the male ceases to inflate his sac.
Nesting —Prof. Homer R. Dill (1912) estimated that the number
of man-o’-war-birds nesting on Laysan Island was about 12,500, and
says: “They nest in colonies in the tops of low bushes which, if
placed near together, would cover about 6 acres. As it is, however,
they appear to cover many times that amount of space.” This seems
like a large colony, but it looks very small beside the immense
colonies of other sea birds on this wonderful island.
Of their nesting habits on this island Doctor Fisher (1906) says:
At Laysan the birds live in colonies varying from a few pairs to many, and
the nests are always built on the tops of low bushes, sometimes very close to-
gether. The species has congregated almost entirely on the eastern half of the
island, and their villages are spread over the inner slope of the old atoll basin.
The nests, which are sometimes so old that they have become mere masses of
filth, are scarcely more than platforms of sticks, not entirely devoid of leaves,
woven together loosely with morning-glory (Ipomaea insularis) vines.
Both parents take turns in covering the egg, which is a necessity, for if the
nest were left without an occupant other frigate birds would quickly appro-
priate its material, especially if the nest were new. Consequently, even before
the egg is laid, either bird holds down the property, as it were, against
marauding neighbors. After the nestling is out this vigilance is all the more
necessary, for if left unprotected a young bird would very likely serve as food
for some watchful reprobate of the vicinity. Mr. Snyder saw an old frigate
bird snatch up and fly away with a young of the same species, whose parent had
s
808 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
been frightened off the nest. According to Henry Palmer, who visited the
island a few weeks later in 1891, this is a very common occurrence, but the
young were so scarce we considered the accidental demonstration mentioned
above as sufficient evidence of the heartless trait.
On the west coast of Mexico, Mr. H. H. Bailey (1906) found them
nesting on Isabella Island, of which he writes:
The nests on the island were placed on the top of the bushes or on crotches of
limbs, the nests being a loosely made platform of sticks and twigs, with gen-
erally a few straws or grasses on the inner surface. In some cases the nests
were not more than from eighteen inches to two feet above the ground, as on
the west side of the island where the bushes are low and stunted, while on the
south and eastern sides they were sometimes placed as high as twelve and
fifteen feet above ground, the bushes and scrubby trees here permitting of it.
At the time of my visit the majority of these birds had eggs, one being a com-
plete set. A few young birds were, however, found on the western side of the
island, and it did not take the hot sun long to kill any small young that the
parents left unsheltered for even a few moments. The majority of these birds
were very tame, allowing one to approach within a few feet of them.
Great numbers of dead birds, hanging from the bushes by wings, feet, or
beads, were scattered over the island, the cause of which I discovered when
flushing one from its nest. Their short legs and extremely long wings make
it a hard matter for the birds to rise from their nests, especially so when the
nest is placed on the top of the bushes, and their wings come in contact with
other branches in their effort to rise. A number of times as I watched them
in their attempts to alight on or depart from their nest I saw them become
entangled in the foliage, from which position they were unable to rise. The
odor from the dead birds, with that given out by the birds themselves, was far
from agreeable,
On the Galapagos Islands the man-o’-war birds nest in colonies
on the ground or on the rocks, as well as on low bushes. But on the
islands off the coast of British Honduras, Capt. D. P. Ingraham
writes, in his notes sent to Major Bendire, that he found them nest-
ing in the high mangrove trees, 60 or 70 feet from the ground, several
nests in a tree.
Referring to some of the breeding colonies in the Bahamas, Dr.
Henry Bryant (1861) writes:
I found a few man-of-war birds breeding at the Biminis. Their nests were
placed upon the mangroves, amidst those of the brown pelican and Florida
cormorant. As these birds are much disturbed by the inhabitants, their breed-
ing places will probably be given up in a few years. On the central and highest
part of Booby Key a colony of about 200 pairs was breeding. The nests here
were on the bare rock and closely grouped together, the whole not occupying
a space more than 40 feet square. There were no boobies amongst them,
though thousands were breeding on the key. The largest breeding place visited
by me is situated on Seal Island, one of the Ragged Island keys, and is 5 or 6
acres in extent. The nests, thickly crowded together, were placed on the tops
of prickly pear, which covered the ground with an almost impenetrable thicket.
On the 8th of April the young were hatched in half of the nests, the largest
about one-third grown; the other nests contained eggs more or less hatched.
Out of many hundreds, I procured only 7 that were freshly laid.
U.
Ss.
NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN
121
PL. 67
R. H. Beck.
San Benedicto Island, Mexico.
MAN-0O’-WAR-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 309
I have visited the breeding places of many sea birds before, and some well
worth the trouble, but none so interesting to me as this. It was a most
singular spectacle. Thousands and thousands of these great and ordinarily
wild birds covered the whole surface of the prickly pears as they sat on their
nests or darkened the air as they hovered over them, so tame that they would
hardly move on being touched; indeed, the specimens that I procured were all
taken alive with my own hands. When I had penetrated as far among them
as possible, I fired my gun; the whole colony rose at once, and the noise made
by their long and powerful wings striking against each other was almost deafen-
ing. In a moment they commenced settling upon their nests and were soon
as quiet as before.
From Dr. Frank M. Chapman’s (1908a) contribution to the life
history of this species, in the Bahamas, I quote as follows:
The luxuriant growth of cactus among the sea grapes in which the man-o’-war
birds nested added to the difficulty with which these thickly branched, shrubby
trees were penetrated, and we did not attempt to make a census of the number
of birds of this species which were breeding on Cay Verde. We estimated, how-
ever, that there were between 200 and 300 pairs.
The man-o’-war birds awoke at about the same time as the boobies and at
5.30 a. m. were sailing over their rookery. From this time until they retired,
considerably before the boobies, and while it was yet light, a flock of birds
was constantly over the sea grapes. The birds may be said to have perched
in the air above their homes. Only one bird is in attendance on the young at
the same time. Both sexes assumed this duty, as well as the task of incuba-
tion; but there appeared to be no regularity as to when male or female should
be on guard.
The nests are frail, open-worked, slightly hollowed platforms, composed of
small sticks and twigs placed in the tops of the sea grapes, at a height of 6 or 7
feet, or among the cactuses within 2 feet of the ground. Several nests are
often placed in one bush within reaching distance of one another. They become
matted with filth as the young increase in size. One adult was seen carrying
nest-building material in its bill.
Eggs.—The man-o’-war bird lays but one egg, which is approxi-
mately “elliptical ovate” in shape and pure dead white in color.
The shell is very thin for an egg of its size, smooth and lusterless.
The measurements of 50 eggs, in several collections, average 68.4 by
46.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measures 74 by
48.5, 72.5 by 50, 64.5 by 46, and 66.5 by 43.5 millimeters.
Young—Doctor Chapman (1908a) says of the development of
the young:
The man-o’-war bird lays but one egg, and in a number of nests fresh eggs
were found. The young are born naked and are brooded by the parents. As
they increase in size and become covered with white down, their wings seem
to be much too large for them to hold close to the body, and relaxing are
permitted to rest on the nest. Their whole attitude suggests extreme de-
jection; not only do the wings droop, but the head often hangs over the edge
of the nest. When approached they utter a squealing, chippering call, and
snap their bills with a rattling sound, both the note and action strongly sug-
gesting similar habits of the young brown pelican,
83969—22——21
310 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
The black feathers of the interscapular region appear imme-
diately after the down on this portion has pushed through the skin,
and “before there is any evidence of the remiges and rectrices they
cover the back like a mantle * * *. Not only are the wing feath-
ers late in appearing, but the secondaries precede the primaries; the
former averaging 2 inches in length, with the greater and median
coverts showing, when the latter are just observable.” This seems
remarkable and contrary to the rule with birds of great wing and
tail development.
Plumages.—The sequence of molts and plumages in this species
are puzzling and their study is complicated by the prolonged and
variable breeding season, which makes it difficult to estimate the
age even approximately. In the juvenal or first-year plumage, the
head, neck and under parts are white, in both sexes, with dusky
flanks and sometimes more or less brownish mottling on the head and
neck; the lesser wing coverts are brownish and the upper parts are
dull, dark brown, without any luster; the tail is comparatively short
and the lateral rectrices are not much longer than the others. I
have seen birds in this plumage in January, May, July, and Oc-
tober, from which I infer that it is worn for one year, but the date
of the molt into the next plumage is very variable, depending, I sup-
pose, on the date at which the young bird was hatched. An interest-
ing phase of this first year plumage of the male which I have seen
in nearly every Pacific specimen that I have examined and have
never found in any Atlantic specimen, is the rich “cinnamon” suf-
fusion which -partially or largely covers the breast, neck, and head.
Mr. Edward W. Gifford (1913) says of the birds collected for the
California Academy of Sciences, in the Galapagos Islands: “ Birds
in juvenal plumage, have the entire head and neck a rich cinnamon-
rufous. No exception to this is found in the academy series.” I
have also seen cinnamon-headed birds from Lower California,
Necker Island, Madagascar, Laysan Island, and the Phillipines.
That this character should hold constant in the large series of birds
that I have examined from both oceans is confirming evidence that’
they are distinct species. This plumage is also probably worn
throughout the first year, as I have seen it in January, March, May,
September, and October birds.
After the first year the sexes become dissimilar in plumage. The
male becomes much darker on the upper parts, almost black, but still
lacks the glossy tints of the adult; the lateral rectrices become more
elongated; and the head, neck, and under parts become mottled with
dusky and white. The female acquires more dusky on the head and
neck, as well as on the belly, but the breast and sides still remain
white. During the third year, probably at the second postnuptial
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 12! PL. 68
Laysan Island. W. K. Fisher.
Galapagos Islands. R. H. Beck.
MAN-0’-WAR-BIRD.
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 336,
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 811
molt, when the birds are a little over two years old, the adult plum-
ages of the male and female are assumed. The plumage of the male
is then entirely black, with its beautiful metallic luster and lanceolate
feathers on the upper parts; and the flight feathers have reached their
fullest development; the bright red gular sac of the male is an
adornment of the nuptial season only. The female in full plumage
has the head and neck clear blackish brown and the breast and sides.
pure white; she is less glossy above than the male, there is more or
less brownish in the wing-coverts, and the feathers of the upper parts
are less lanceolate.
Food.—The food of the man-o’-war bird consists largely of fish,
but it includes much of the varied bills of fare indulged in by the
various species of boobies, pelicans, cormorants, gulls, and terns on
which it makes its piratical raids. It is not wholly predatory in its
feeding habits and obtains much of its food by its own efforts from
the surface of the sea at which it is very skillful. Doctor Fisher
(19046) says:
Frigate birds glean a portion of their livelihood from the host of creatures
which live at the surface of the ocean—flying fishes, ctenophores, jelly fishes,
vellela, janthina, and in fact anything that may attract their fancy. I even
observed one bird aimlessly carrying a splinter of wood, uncertain of its
utility, yet unwilling to release it. As they never alight on the water they
seize such bits of food by swooping down in a broad curve. They:are able to
measure distance so accurately that no disturbance is created when the object
is grasped.
Prof. William A. Bryan (1903) has given us an excellent account
of the frigate bird’s attacks on the boobies of Marcus Island, as
follows:
I have before referred to the large colonies of common brown boobies about
the north point of the island. It was in the vicinity of this colony that the
man-o’-war birds were most abundant. Here they would lie in ambush for the
old boobies and tropic birds as they returned from the sea heavily laden with
fresh food for their young. Sitting quietly on the tree tops, or more often
wheeling high overhead industriously patrolling the island, out where the surf
broke on the reef, these birds would keep a sharp lookout to sea for a sight of
the returning fishing fleet of boobies. Sighting one (sometimes consisting of
one, Sometimes of several individuals), as many as half a dozen hawks would
make for them under full sail, and without a moment’s warning would engage
a helpless bird in battle. Swooping down upon it from every side, buffeting it
with their wings, snapping at it with their long hooked bills, flying now above,
now before, now below it, the hawks would so confuse their victims that
eventually, feeling that the only safety for its life lay in letting go part of its
store of supplies as a sop for its assailants to quarrel over, the booby would on
a sudden drop one of its fish, whereat a hawk would swoop down, more rapidly
than the eye could follow, and catch the food before it had touched the wave,
then taking it securely in its bill would fly majestically off to feed its own ever-
expectant offspring. The unfortunate booby meanwhile was farther pursued
by the less fortunate hawks until, reft of her quarry, she was allowed to
return to her young.
312 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Audubon (1840) gives the following graphic account of its fishing
prowess:
Yonder, over the waves, leaps the brilliant dolphin, as he pursues the flying-
fishes, which he expects to seize the moment they drop into the water. The
frigate-bird, who has marked them, closes his wings, dives toward them, and
now ascending, holds one of the tiny things across his bill. Already fifty
yards above the sea, he spies a porpoise in full chase, launches toward the
spot, and in passing seizes the mullet that had escaped from its dreaded foe;
but now, having obtained a fish too large for his gullet, he rises, munching it
all .the while, as if bound for the skies. Three or four of his own tribe have
watched him and observed his success. They shoot toward him on broadly
extended pinions, rise in wide circles, smoothly, yet as swiftly as himself.
They are now all at the same height, and each as it overtakes him, lashes him
with its wings, and tugs at his prey. See! one has fairly robbed him, but
before he can secure the contested fish it drops. One of the other birds has
caught it, but he is pursued by all. From bill to bill, and through the air,
rapidly falls the fish, until it drops quite dead on the waters, and sinks into
the deep. Whatever disappointment the hungry birds feel, they seem to deserve
it all.
Behavior.—The flight of the man-o’-war-bird is an inspiration;
the admiring observer is spellbound with wonder as he beholds it
and longs for the eloquence to describe it; but words are powerless
to convey the impression that it creates. It is the most marvelous
and most perfect flying machine that has ever been produced, with
7 or 8 feet of alar expanse, supporting a 4-pound body, steered by a
long scissor-like tail. It is not to be wondered at that such an aero-
plane can float indefinitely in the lightest breeze. I shall never
forget an exhibition I once saw among the Florida keys. We had
anchored for the night near a small mangrove key, a famous roost-
ing place for this species, and saw that it was black with hundreds
of the birds sitting on the low trees. As we rowed toward it they
all arose into the air and hung over it in a dense cloud, as thick as a
swarm of insects. Gradually they spread out, floating without the
slightest effort on motionless wings, separating into three great
flocks and then into five flocks. By counting and carefully esti-
mating the flocks, we concluded that there were between 1,000 and
1,200 birds in all. For over an hour we watched them as they
floated out over us in a leisurely, dignified manner and slowly drifted
away. At times they seemed to be almost stationary and never
once did we detect a flap of the long, half-flexed wings, though it
was almost calm. Like painted birds upon a painted sky they faded
into the shadows of the night.
The active flight of the frigate-bird‘and its control of its powers
is fully as wonderful as its passive sailings. While floating high
in the air, almost out of sight, its keen eye detects some morsel of
food in the water below it; with wings half closed it shoots down-
ward like a meteor, and so accurately does it gauge its speed and
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN [21 PL. 69
Galapagos Islands.
Ye Uh es a
Yj — 4 $
PE NS
Bahama Islands.
F. M, Chapman.
MAN-0O’-WAR-BIRD.
For DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 236.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 313
distance that, just as it seems as if it must plunge like a falling arrow
into the water, it checks its momentum with a marvelous twist of its
great wings and lightly picks up the morsel from the surface with its
bill without wetting a feather. It indulges in some startling, playful
antics in the air, performs much of its courtship on the wing, and
caresses its mate as gracefully in mid-air as on the ground. It strikes
terror into its victim by darting at him at such speed that it is useless
for him to attempt to escape; over, under, and around him at will,
as if playing with his powers of flight; it is mere sport for the
man-o’-war, the swift frigate, to overtake the fastest flier, and when
the poor victim drops its fish, the frigate bird quickly catches it and,
perhaps, tosses it in the air, drops and catches it again as if it en-
joyed the game.
While soaring, either in a calm or in the teeth of a howling gale,
the long tail feathers are held parallel and close together, and are
moved only slightly to steer or balance the bird, but when fighting in
the air, as the males often do, or when courting or playing they are
frequently opened and closed like a pair of scissors. The man-o’-
war-birds’ wings have been developed at the expense of its feet,
which are very small and weak; it can hardly stand upon them, and
can hardly walk; it never dives and is a very poor swimmer; it be-
comes wet and helpless in the water. But in the air it is a past
master.
Harsh grating cries indulged in by fighting males, a clucking note
heard during the mating season, and a rough croak are about the
only sounds made by these birds as they are usually silent. The
young birds are often quite noisy in the rookeries.
Enough has already been said above about the behavior of the
man-o’-war-bird toward other species, by whom it is justly dreaded
and cordially hated. But it is apparently sometimes moved by un-
selfish motives toward birds of its own species, as the following
incident, related by Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898a) seems to illustrate:
At a considerable distance from the colony a bird was found that was
unable to fly, and thinking that it had been recently injured, and must neces-
sarily starve, where food was not easily obtained by even the best of flyers,
I killed the cripple and made an examination of its injuries. One wing was
withered and useless; evidently the bird had never enjoyed its use, though it
was fat and its stomach was well filled with flying fish. Those who know
the feeding habits of Fregata need not be told that all their food is obtained
on the wing, and a bird deprived of the use of its wings would speedily starve
if not fed by its fellows. The precipitous sides of San Benedicte aiso made
it impossible for a man-o’-war-bird to gain the top of the island if deprived
of its wings. So it was quite evident that the pensioner had never left the
island, but had been dependent on the bounty of its fellows all of its life.
From its excellent condition it was evident that even in that busy community
of thousands some of them found time to feed the unfortunate.
314 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
This remarkable exhibition of altruistic unselfishness hardly seems
to be in keeping with its well-known habit of eating its neighbors’
young.
Winter—The man-’o-war-bird is not a migratory species and is
practically a resident throughout the year in the general vicinity
of its breeding range. But between’ nesting seasons it is apt to
wander far from home and has often been noted or taken in most
unexpected places, even in the interior of the continent. During
the summer, fall, and winter it is often as gregarious as during the
breeding season, especially in its roosts at night, where it gathers
in enormous rookeries, frequenting the same roost regularly. Large
flocks of man-o’-war-birds may often be seen resting on the man-
groves during the daytime, in company with pelicans, cormorants,
and other water birds. It is also a common sight to see them
perched in flocks on sand bars, coral reefs, old wrecks, or abandoned
structures, lazily digesting their food or waiting for another meal.
Since the above life history was compiled and long since most of
the above observations were made, the species then known as Fregata
aguila has been split into various species and subspecies, some of
which are undoubtedly worthy of recognition. But rather than at-
tempt to discuss or separate them, the author prefers to let-the life
history stand as it is, for the habits of all of them must be prac-
tically the same.
DISTRIBUTION.
Breeding range—The North American form breeds on some of
the Bahama Islands (Cay Verde, Biminis, Seal Key, Atwood’s Key,
etc.), Cuba (Puerto Escondido), Isle of Pines, Porto Rico (Mona
and Desecheo Islands), some of the Lesser Antilles (Guadeloupe,
Battowia, Carriacou, etc.), on islands off the coast of Venezuela
(Margarita, Los Hermanos, Los Testigos, etc.) , and in the Caribbean
Sea as far west as Honduras (Little Cayman and Swan Islands).
The birds breeding on islands in the tropical Atlantic, and in the
Pacific and Indian Oceans are now regarded by some authorities
as distinct species or subspecies, but others regard the birds which
breed on islands off the west coast of Mexico (as far north as-Santa
Margarita Island) as identical with the birds of the West Indies.
Breeding grounds protected in Porto Rico, Desecheo Island Reser-
vation.
Winter range.—Includes the breeding range and adjacent seas, ex-
tending northward, more or less regularly, to northern Florida and
the coast of Louisiana. Birds which wander to the coast of Cali-
fornia, as far north as Humboldt Bay, may be referable to one, or
perhaps more, of the Pacific forms.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 315
Casual records—Accidental in Bermuda (four records). Has
wandered as far east as Nova Scotia (Halifax, October 16, 1876),
as far north as Quebec (Manicouagan, August 14, 1884) and Wis-
consin (Humboldt, August, 1880), and as far west as Kansas (Os-
borne County, August 16, 1880).
Egg dates—Bahama Islands: Twenty-one records, February 3
to May 11; eleven records, March 3 to April 16. Off west coast
of Mexico: Eighteen records, January 15 to June 1.
REFERENCES TO BIBLIOGRAPHY.
ALEXANDER, Boyp.
1898—An Ornithological Expedition to the Cape Verde Islands. The Ibis,
1898, p. 74.
ALLEN, GLOVER Morrix,
1918—An Essex County Ornithologist. The Auk, vol. 80, p. 19.
ALLEN, JOEL ASAPH.
1904—Black-capped Petrel in New Hampshire. The Auk, vol. 21, p. 383.
1905—Report on the Birds Collected in Northeastern Siberia by the Jesup
North Pacific Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of
Natural History, vol. 21, p. 219.
ANTHONY, ALFRED WEBSTER.
1889—Nesting Habits of the California Brown Pelican (Pelecanus cali-
fornicus). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences,
Second Series, vol. 2, p. 83.
1895—The Fulmars of Southern California. The Auk, vol. 12, p. 100.
1896a—Eggs of the Black Socorro and Least Petrels. The Nidologist, vol.
4, p. 16.
18960—The Black-vented Shearwater (Pufinus opisthomelas). The Auk,
vol. 18, p. 223.
1898—Four Sea Birds New to the Fauna of North America. The Auk, vol.
15, p. 38.
1898a—Avifauna of the Revillagigedo Islands. The Auk, vol. 15, p. 311.
18980—Petrels of Southern California. The Auk, vol. 15, p. 140.
1898c—Two New Birds from the Pacific Coast of North America. The Auk,
vol. 15, p. 36.
1898d—-Two New Birds from the Pacific Coast of America. The Auk, vol.
15, p. 36.
1898e—The Boobys of the Revillagigedo Islands. The Osprey, vol. 3, p. 4.
1900—Nesting Habits of the Pacific Coast Species of the Genus Pufinus.
The Auk, vol. 17, p, 247.
1900a—A Night on Land. The Condor, vol. 2, p. 28.
1906—Random Notes of Pacific Coast Gulls. The Auk, vol. 23, p. 129.
AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES.
1840—The Birds of America, 1840-44.
AUDUBON, Maria REBECCA.
1897—Audubon and His Journals.
BAILEY, FLORENCE MERBIAM.
1902—Handbook of Birds of the Western United States.
BaiLey, Harotp Hargis.
1906—Ornithological Notes from Western Mexicn and the Tres Marias and
Isabella Islands. The Auk, vol. 23, p. 369.
Bairp, SPENCER FULLERTON, BREWER, THOMAS Mayo, and Ripeway, Rosert.
1884—The Water Birds of North America.
Bancs, OUTRAM.
41902—The Occurrence of Boobies in Numbers on the East Coast of Florida,
during a Storm. The Auk, vol. 19, p. 395.
317
318 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
BANNERMAN, Davip ARMITAGE.
1914—An Ornithological Expedition to the Eastern Canary Islands. The
Ibis, 1914, p. 38.
Barlow, CHESTER.
1894a—Nesting of the Ashy Petrel. The Nidiologist, vol. 1, p. 171.
Barnes, R. Macoon. ;
1890—List of Birds Breeding in Marshall County, Ill. Ornithologist and
Oologist, vol. 15, p. 113. a
Breck, RoLtto Howarp.
1904—Bird Life among the Galapagos Islands. The Condor, vol. 6, p. 5.
1910—Water Birds of the Vicinity of Point Pinos, California. Proceedings
of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series, vol. 3, p. 57.
BEEsr, C. WILLIAM.
1945—Two Bird Lovers in Mexico.
BEwDIRE, CHARLES EMIL.
1882—Malheur Lake, Oregon. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol. 7, p. 137.
Bent, ARTHUR CLEVELAND.
1918—Pterodroma gularis in North America, The Auk, vol. 35 p. 221,
BergtepscuH, Hans, GRAF VON.
1906—On a New Form of Oceanodroma Inhabiting San Benito Island, off
the Coast of Lower California. The Auk, vol. 23, p. 185.
Bewick, THOMAS.
1847—A History of British Birds.
Bonuotr, JoHn LEwIis.
1908—On a Collection of Birds from the Northern Islands of the Bahama
Group. The Ibis, 1903, p. 272.
BowpisH, BEECHER SCOVILLE.
1909—Ornithological Miscellany from Audubon Wardens. The Auk, vol. 26,
p. 116. :
Braprer. Tuomas 8.
1906—Audubon’s Shearwater and Peale’s Petrel Breeding in Bermuda.
The Auk, vol. 23, p. 217.
Brewster, WiILLItAM.
1881—-Critical Notes on a Petrel New to North America. Bulletin of the
Nuttall Ornithological Club, vol. 6, p. 91.
1883—Notes on the Birds Observed during a Summer Cruise in the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History, vol. 22, p. 364.
1886—Additional Notes on Peale’s Petrel (Aestrelata gularis). The Auk,
vol. 8, p. 389.
Brown, Frank A.
1911—Machias Seal Islands. Bird-Lore, vol. 18, p. 239.
Bryan, WILLIAM ALANSON.
19083—A Monograph of Marcus Island. Occasional Papers of the Bernice
Pauahi Bishop Museum, vol. 2, p. 77.
1912--Report on Conditions cn Laysan, with Recommendations for Pro-
tecting the Hawaiian Islands Reservation. United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 42.
Bryant, Henry.
1859— (On some birds observed in East Florida.) Proceedings of the Bos-
ton Society of Natural History, vol. 7, p. 5.
1861—A List of Birds seen at the Bahamas, from January 20 to May 14,
1859. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. 7,
p. 102.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 319
Bryant, Henry—Continued.
1862—Remarks on some of the Birds that breed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. 8, p. 65.
BRYANT, Water EB. :
1888—Birds and Eggs from the Farallone Islands. Proceedings of the Cali-
fornia Academy of Sciences, Second Series, vol. 1, p. 25.
BULLER, WALTER LAwey.
1888—History of the Birds of New Zealand, Second Edition with Supple-
ment, 1888-1905.
CAMPBELL, A. G. and Marrinatey, A. H. B.
1906—A Rookery of Storm-Petrels. The BHmu, vol. 6, p. 185.
CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD JAMES,
1901—Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds.
1904—At Phillip Island, Western Port. The Victorian Naturalist, vol. 20,
p. 166.
Cassin, JoHN.
1858—United States Exploring Expedition. Mammology and ornithology.
CHAMBERLAIN, CoRYDON.
1895—An Inland Rookery of Phatacrocorax d. albociliatus. The Nidol-
ogist, vol. 8, p. 29.
CHAMBERLAIN, MONTAGUE.
1891—A Popular Handbook of the Ornithology of the United States and
Canada, based on Nuttall’s Manual.
CHAPMAN, FRANK MICHLER.
1902—List of Birds Collected in Alaska by the Andrew J. Stone Expedi-
tion of 1901. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, vol.
16, p. 231.
1908—Camps and Cruises of an Ornithologist.
1908a—A Contribution to the Life Histories of the Booby (Sula leuco-
gastra) and Man-o-War Bird (Fregata aquila). Papers from
the Tortugas Laboratory of Carnegie Institution of Washington,
vol. 2, p. 141.
1912. Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America.
CLARK, AUSTIN HopBart.
1903—Notes on the Habits of certain Venezuelan Birds. The Auk, vol.
20, p. 285.
CLARKE, WILLIAM EAGLE.
1905—On the Birds of Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Ornitho-
logical Results of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.
The Ibis, 1905, p. 247.
1905a—Birds of the Flannan Islands. Annals of Scottish Natural History.
1906—On the Birds of the South Orkney Islands. Ornithological Re-
sults of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The Ibis,
1906, p. 145. é
1907—On the Birds of Weddell and adjacent Seas. Ornithological Re-
sults of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The Ibis,
1907, p. 325.
1912—Plumage of the Fulmar. British Birds, vol. 6, p. 165.
Ciay, CH4BLEs Irvin.
1911—Some Diving Notes on Cormorants. The Condor, vol. 13, p. 188.
320 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
CoLLins, JOSEPH WILLIAM.
1884—Notes on the habits and methods of Capture of Various Species of
Sea-birds that occur on the fishing banks off the Eastern coast
of North America, and which are used as bait for catching Codfish
by New England fisherman. United States Commission of Fish
and Fisheries. Report of the Commissioner for 1882, p. 311.
1899—The Shearwaters and Fulmar as Birds and Bait. The Osprey, vol.
4, p. 35.
Cory, CHARLES BARNEY. :
1881—Description of a New Species of the Family Procellariidae. Bulletin
of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, vol. 6, p. 84.
Darwin, CHARLES.
1889—A Naturalist’s Voyage.
Davies, R. H.
1848—Some Account of the Habits and Natural History of the Sooty
Petrel (Mutton Bird). The Tasmanian Journal, vol. 2, p. 13.
Dawson, Wittiam LEON,
1908—The New Reserves on the Washington Coast. The Condor, vol 10,
p. 45.
1909—The Birds of Washington.
1911—Another Fortnight on the Farallones. The Condor, vol. 13, p. 171.
Dict, Homer R. and BRYAN, WILLIAM ALANSON.
1912—Report on Conditions on the Hawaiian Bird Reservation with List
of the Birds found on Laysan. United States Department of
Agriculture, Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 42.
Dixon, JOSEPH.
1907—Some experiences as a Collector in Alaska. The Condor, vol. 9,
p. 128.
DutcHmr, Basi Hicxs,
1889—Bird Notes from Little Gull Island, Suffolk Co. N. Y. The Auk,
vol, 6, p. 124.
Ex.iortr, Henry Woop.
1875—A Report upon the Condition of Affairs in the Territory of Alaska.
1880—Report on the Seal Islands of Alaska.
Emerson, WILtiamM O7To.
1886—Egg of the Yellow-nosed Albatross. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol.
11, p. 21.
1906—Oceanodroma leucorhoa and Its Relatives on the Pacific Coast. The
Condor, vol. 8, p. 53.
Frivpen, Henry WEmyYss.
1889—On the Breeding of Pufinus auduboni in the Island of Barbados.
' The Ibis, 1889, p. 60.
Frery, JOHN FARWELL.
1910—Birds observed in Saskatchewan during the Summer of 1909. The
Auk, vol. 27, p. 185.
FIntey, Wittiam LOovELL.
1905—Among the Seabirds off the Oregon Coast. The Condor, vol. 7, pp.
119 and 161.
1907—-Among the Pelicans. The Condor, vol. 9, p. 35.
FisHer, WALTER KENRICK.
1903—Notes on the Birds Peculiar to Laysan Island, Hawaiian Group.
The Auk, vol. 20, p. 384,
1904—On the Habits of the Laysan Albatross. The Auk, vol. 21, p. 8.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 321
FIsHer, Waren Kenrick—Continued.
1904e—The Albatross Dance at Sea. The Condor, vol. 6, p. 78.
1904b—The Home Life of a Buccaneer. The Condor, vol. 6, p. 57.
1906—Birds of Laysan and the Leeward Islands, Hawaiian Group. Bul-
letin of the United States Fish Commission, vol. 23, Part 3, p. 769.
Forbes, HENRY Occ.
1893—A List of the Birds inhabiting the Chatham Islands. The Ibis,
1893, p. 521.
FRAzAR, MARTIN ABBOTT.
1887—An Ornithologist’s Summer in Labrador. Ornithologist and Oologist,
x vol. 12, p. 1,
GIFFoRD, EDWARD WINSLOW.
1918—The Birds of the Galapagos Islands. Proceedings of the California
Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series, vol. 2, p. 1.
GoDMAN, FREDERICK DUCANE.
1872—Notes on the Resident and Migratory Birds of Madeira and the
Canaries. The Ibis, 1872, p. 209.
1907—A Monograph of the Petrels, 1907-1910.
Goopwin, S. H.
1904—Pelicans Nesting at Utah Lake. The Condor, vol. 6, p. 126.
Goss, NATHANIEL STICKNEY.
1888—Feeding Habits of Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. The Auk, vol. 5,
p. 25.
1888a—New and Rare Birds Found Breeding on the San Pedro Martir Isle.
The Auk, vol. 5, p. 240.
GouLp, JOHN.
1841—The Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle.
1865—Handbook to the Birds of Australia.
GRINNELL, JOSEPH.
1897—Petrels of Sitka, Alaska. The Nidologist, vol.. 4, p. 76.
1908—Birds of a Voyage on Salton Sea. The Condor, vol. 10, p. 185.
1909—Birds and Mammals of the 1907 Alexander Expedition to South-
eastern Alaska. University of California Publications in Zoology,
vol. 5, p. 171.
1918—The Status of the Whiterumped Petrels of the California Coast.
The Condor, vol. 20, p. 46.
GRINNELL, JosEPH, and DaccETt, FRANK SLATER.
1903—An Ornithological Visit to Los Coronados Islands, Lower California.
The Auk, vol. 20, p. 27.
Gross, ALFRED O.
1912—-Observations on the Yellow-billed Tropic-bird (Phaethon americanus
Grant) at the Bermuda Islands. The Auk, vol. 29, p. 49.
GuRENEY, JOHN HENRY.
1918—The Gannet.
HALL, ROBERT.
1900—-Field Notes on the Birds of Kerguelen Island. The Ibis, 1900, p. 1.
1902—On a Collection of Birds from Western Australia. The Ibis, 1902,
p. 180.
Hatcu, PHiLo Lvols.
: 1892—Notes on the Birds of Minnesota.
HEADLEY, FREDERICK WEBB.
1907—Life and Evolution.
822 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
HeatH, Haroxp.
1915—Birds Observed on Forrester Island, Alaska, during the Summer of
1918. The Condor, vol. 17, p. 20.
Howe Li, ALFRED BRAZIER,
1912—Notes from Todos Santos Islands. The Condor, vol. 14, p. 187.
Howet., ArtHuUR H.
1911—Birds of Arkansas. United States Department of Agriculture, Bio-
logical Survey, Bulletin No. 38.
Huprois, J. L.
1850—Ornithology of the Bermudas. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithol-
ogy, p. 37.
HUuTTON, FREDERICK WOLLASTON,
1865—Notes on some of the Birds inhabiting the Southern Ocean. The Ibis,
1865, p. 276.
1908—Remarks on the Flight of Albatrosses. The Ibis, 1903, p. 81.
JONES, LYNDS. 5
1908—June with the Birds of the Washington Coast.. The Wilson Bulletin,
vol. 20, pp. 19, 57, and 189, and vol. 21, p. 3.
JOSSELYN, JOHN.
1674—An Account of Two Voyages to New England.
KAEDING, Henry B.
1903—-Bird Life on the Farallone Islands. The Condor, vol. 5, p. 121.
1905—Birds from the West Coast of Lower California and Adjacent Islands.
The Condor, vol. 7, p. 105.
KIpDER, JEROME HENRY.
1875—Contributions to the Natural History of Kerguelen Island. Bulletin
of the United States National Museum, No. 2.
KNIGHT, OrA WILLIS. ‘
1908—The Birds of Maine.
Kosst, WILLIAM HOFFMAN.
1900—The Birds of Cape Disappointment, Washington. The Auk, vol. 17,
p. 349.
KuMutsEn, Lupwie.
1879—Contributions to the Natural History of Arctic America. Bulletin of
the United States National Museum, No. 15.
LABAT, JEAN BAPTISTE,
1722—Nouveau voyage aux isles de ’ Amérique contenant l’histoire naturelle
de ces pays, l’origine, les moeurs, la religion, et le gouvernement
des habitans anciens et modernes, etc. Vol. 2, pp. 349-353.
LAWRENCE, GEORGE NEWBOLD.
18538—Additions to North American Ornithology, No. 3. Annals of the
Lyceum of Natural History, vol. 6, p. 4.
1878—Catalogue of the Birds of Dominica from Collections made for the
Smithsonian Institution by Frederick A. Ober, together with his
Notes and Observations. Proceedings of the United States Na-
tional Museum, vol. 1, p. 48. :
1889—An Account of the breeding habits of Pufinus auduboni in the
island of Grenada, West Indies, with a note on Zenaida rubripes.
The Auk, vol. 6, p. 19.
1891—Description of a New Subspecies of Cypselidae of the Genus Chae-
tura, with a Note on the Diablotin. The Auk, vol. 8, p. 59.
Linton, CLARENCE BrockMAN,.
1908a—Pacific Fulmars and Pacific Kittiwakes at Long Beach. The Con-
dor, vol. 10, p. 238.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 3823
Loomis, LEverrrr MILLs.
1895—California Water Birds, No. 1. Proceedings of the California Acad-
emy of Sciences, Second Series, vol. 5, p. 177.
1896—California Water Birds, Nos. 2 and 3. Proceedings of the Cali-
fornia Academy of Sciences, Second Series, vol. 6, pp. 1 and 3538.
1900—California Water Birds, Nos. 4 and 5. Proceedings of the Cali-
fornia Academy of Sciences, Third Series, Zoology, vol. 2, pp. 277
and 349.
1918—Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos
Islands, 1905-1906. A Review of the Albatrosses, Petrels, and
Diving Petrels.
Lowe, Percy R.
1911—A Naturalist on Desert Islands.
Lucas, FREDERIC AUGUSTUS.
1897—The Nostrils in Young Cormorants. The Auk, vol. 14, p. 87.
MACGILLIVRAY, WILLIAM.
1852—A History of British Birds.
Mackay, GEoRGE HENRY.
1894—Habits of the Double-crested Cormorant in Rhode Island. The
Auk, vol. 11, p. 18.
MacPHERSON, HENRY ALEXANDER.
1898—British Birds with their Nests and Eggs, Order Tubinares, vol. 6,
p. 206.
MAILLIARD, JOSEPH.
1898—Notes on the Nesting of the Forked-tailed Petrel (Oceanodroma fur-
cata). The Auk, vol. 15, p. 2380.
Mawson, Dovucias.
1914—The Home of the Blizzard.
MAYNARD, CHARLES JOHNSON.
1889—Description of a Supposed New Species of Gannet. Ornithologist
and Oologist, vol. 14, p. 40.
1896—The Birds of Eastern North America.
McGrecor, RicHARD CRITTENDEN.
1906—Birds Observed in the Krenitzin Islands, Alaska. The Condor, vol.
8, p. 114.
MontTcoMEery, HENRY HUTCHINSON.
1898—On the Habits of the Mutton-bird of Bass Strait, Australia (Pufinus
tenuirostris). The Ibis, 1898, p. 209.
Morris, FRANCIS ORPEN.
1903—A History of British Birds. Fifth Edition.
MurpHy, RosestT CUSHMAN.
1914—-Observations on Birds of the South Atlantic. The Auk, vol. 31,
. 4389.
uae Atlantic Range of Leach’s Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa
[Vieillot]). The Auk, vol. 32, p. 170.
1922—Notes on Tubinares, Including Records which Affect the A. O. U.
Check-list. The Auk, vol. 39, p. 58.
NELsSon, EpwarpD WILLIAM.
1883—The Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
1887—Report upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska.
1899—-Birds of the Tres Marias Islands. North American Fauna, No.
14, p. 21.
1908—Notes on the Mexican Cormorant. The Condor, vol. 5, p. 139.
324 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Newton, EDWARD.
1861—Ornithological Notes from Mauritius. The Ibis, 1861, p. 180.
NicHoLs, JOHN TREADWELL.
1918—Notes on Offshore Birds. The Auk, vol. 30, p. 505.
1918—Bird Notes from Florida. Abstract of Proceedings, Linnaean So-
ciety of New York, No. 30, pp. 20-27.
NICHOLS, JOHN TREADWELL, and Mowsray, Louis L.
1916—Two New Forms of Petrels from the Bermudas, The Auk, vol. 38,
p. 194.
NicHoLs, JOHN TREADWELL, and Murpuy, Roperr CUSHMAN.
1914—-A Review of the Genus Phoebetria. The Auk, vol. 31, p. 526.
Nicott, MicHarL JOHN.
1906—On the Birds collected and observed during the Voyage of the
Valhalla, R. Y. S., from November, 1905, to May, 1906. The Ibis,
1906, p. 666.
Nosie, GrorcE KINGSLEY. :
1916—The Resident Birds of Guadeloupe. Bulletin of. the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, vol. 60, No. 10.
Norton, ARTHUR HERBERT.
1881—Leach’s Petrel. The Ornithologist and Botanist, vol. 1, p. 50.
NUTTALL, THOMAS.
1834—A Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada,
Water Birds.
OBERHOLSER, Harry CHURCH.
1917—-A Review of the Subspecies of the Leach Petrel, Oceanodroma leu-
corhoa (Vieillot). Proceedings of the United States National
Museum, vol. 54, p. 165.
OGILvin-GRANT, WILLIAM Roperr.
1896—On the Birds observed at the Salvage Islands, near Madeira. The
Ibis, 1896, p. 41.
1905—-On the Birds of the Azores. Novitates Zoologicae, vol. 12, p. 80.
PALMER, WILLIAM.
1899—The Avifauna of the Pribilof Islands. The Fur-Seals and Fur-Seal
Islands of the North Pacific Ocean, Part 3, p. 355.
Patrerson, R. L.
1880—The Birds of Belfast.
PEARSON, THOMAS GILBERT.
1899—Notes on some of the Birds of Eastern North Carolina. The Auk,
vol. 16, p. 246.
1905—-The Cormorants of Great Lakes. Bird-Lore, vol. 7, p. 121.
PEARSON, THOMAS GILBERT, BRIMLEY, CLEMENT SAMUEL, and BRIMLEY, HEEBERT
HUTCHINSON.
1919—Birds of North Carolina. North Carolina Geological and Economic
Survey, vol. 4.
PENNOCK, CHARLES JOHN.
1889—Nesting of the Florida Cormorant. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol.
14, p. 154.
PLATH, KARL.
1913—The Tropic Birds of Bermuda. Bird-Lore, vol. 15, p. 345.
PUTNAM, FREDERIC WARD.
1856—Catalogue of the Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Proceed-
ings of the Essex Institute, vol. 1, p. 201.
a
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELIVANS. 325
Ray, Miron Surru.
1904—A Fortnight on the Farallones. The Auk, vol. 21, p. 425.
RED, Savire G.
1884—The Birds of Bermuda. Part 4 in contributions to the Natural
History of the Bermudas. Bulletin of the United States Na-
tional Museum, No. 25.
REINHARDT, J.
1824—Gronlands Fugle ester de nyeste Erfaringer. Tidskrift fur Natur-
videnskaberne, vol. 3, p. 52.
RICHARDS, THEODORE WRIGHT.
1909—Nesting of Diomedea nigripes and D. immutabilis on Midway Is-
lands. The Condor, vol. 11, p. 122.
Ripeway, Rosert.
1885—A New Petrel for North America. The Auk, vol. 2, p. 386.
Riey, JosePH HARVEY.
1905—List of the Birds Collected or Observed during the Bahama Ex-
pedition of the Geographic Society of Baltimore. The Auk, vol.
22, p. 349.
ROTHSCHILD, LIONEL WALTER.
1893—Avifauna of Laysan.
SAUNDERS, HowArp.
An Illustrated Manual of British Birds.
Scott, Ropert F.
1905—The Voyage of the Discovery.
Scott, WILLIAM Harz Dopce.
1891—Observations on the Birds of Jamaica, West Indies. The Auk,
vol. 8, p. 249 and p. 253. i
SEEBOHM, HENRY.
1890—On the Birds of the Bonin Islands. The Ibis, 1890, p. 95.
-1891—On the Birds of the Volcano Islands. The Ibis, 1891, p. 189.
SELous, EDMUND.
190i—Bird Watching.
1905—The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands.
SHUFELDT, RoBEeRT WILSON.
1916—The Bird Caves of the Bermudas and their Former Inhabitants. The
Ibis, 1916, p. 623.
SMITH, FRANK. :
1911—-Double-crested Cormorants Breeding in Central Illinois. The Auk,
vol. 28, p. 16.
SmITH, JOHN.
1629—General History of Virginia.
Swopcrass, RosertT Evans, and HELLER, EDMUND.
1902—The Birds of Clipperton and Cocos Islands. Proceedings ae the
Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 4, p. 501.
Spinney, HerBertT L.
1903—The Stilt Sandpiper in Knox Co., Maine. The Auk, vol. 20, p. 65.
Strap, E. F.
1906—The Wry-bill Plover of New Zealand. Bird-Lore, vol. 8, p. 185.
STEIJNEGER, LEONHARD,
1885—Results of Ornithological Explorations in the Commander Islands
and in Kamtschatka. Bulletin of the United States National
Museum, No. 29.
83969—22——22
326 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Stockarp, CHARLES R.
1905—Nesting Habits of Birds in Mississippi. The Auk, vol. 22, p. 146.
STREETS, THOMAS HAtE, :
1877—Contributions to the Natural History of the Hawaiian and Fanning
Islands and Lower California. Bulletin of the United States Na-
tional Museum, No. 7.
Tarr, Wr1aAmM C.
1887—A List of the Birds of Portugal. The Ibis, 1887, p. 372.
TAVERNER, PERCY ALGERNON.
1915—The Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorar auritus) and its Re-
lation to the Salmon Industries on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Museum Bulletin, No. 18, Geological Survey, Canada.
Taytor, Henry REED.
1898—Observations on the California Brown Pelican. The Nidiologist,
vol. 1, p. 37.
DU TERTRE, JEAN BAPTISTE.
1654—Historie générale des isles des Christophie, de la Guadeloupe, de la ‘
Martinique, et autres dans 1’Amérique.
TuayYEx, JoHnw Exiot, and Bangs, OUTRAM.
1908—-The Present Status of the Ornis of Guadaloupe Island. The Condor,
vol. 10, p. 101.
TOWNSEND, CHARLES HASKINS.
1890—Birds from the Coasts of Western North America and adjacent
Islands, collected in 1888-90, with Descriptions of New Species.
Proceedings of the United States National Musum, vol. 13, p. 181.
TOWNSEND, CHARLES WENDELL.
1905—The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Memoirs of the Nuttall
Club, No. 3.
TuRLE, Wir1r1amM H.
1891—A Visit to the Blasket Islands and the Skelling Rocks. The Ibis,
1891, p. 1.
Turner, Lucien McSHan.
1886—Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska.
Van Kamen, I. I.
1916—Whale Birds. The Oologist, vol. 33, p. 172.
VERRILL, ADDISON EMoRY.
1902—The Bermuda Islands. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of
Arts and Sciences. Vol. 11, part 2.
VeRRILL, ALPHEUS Hyatt.
1901—Notes on the Birds of the Bermudas with Descriptions of two New
Subspecies and Several Additions to the Fauna. The Osprey, vol.
5, p. 83.
VERBILL, GEORGE ELLIOT.
1895—Notes on Birds and Eggs from the Islands of Gough, Kerguelen and
South Georgia. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy, vol.
9, part 2.
WALTER, WILLIAM.
1902—More about Mutton Birds. The Emu, vol. 2, p. 219.
Wayne, ARTHUR TREZEVANT.
1894—-Effect of the Great Cyclone of August 26-27 upon certain Species
of Birds. The Auk, vol. 11, p. 85.
1910—-Birds of South Carolina. Contributions from the Charlestown
Museum, I.
i
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 827
WELLS. JoHN GRANT.
1902—Birds of the Island of Carriacou. The Auk, vol. 19, p. 239.
WILLErT, Grorcer,
1912—Report of G. Willett, Agent and Warden, Stationed on St. Lazaria
Bird Reservation, Alaska. Bird-Lore, vol. 14, p. 419.
Witson, Epwarp A.
1907—National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904. Natural History, vol. 2,
Zoology, part 2, Aves.
Woop, WILLIAM.
1634—New England's Prospects.
WricHT, CHARLES A.
1864—-List of the Birds observed in the Islands of Malta and Gozo. The
Ibis, 1864, p. 42.
WricHT, Howarp W.
1918—The Birds of San Martin Island, Lower California. The Condor,
vol. 15, p. 207.
YARRELL, WILLIAM.
1871—History of British Birds. Fourth Edition, 1871-85, Revised and
enlarged by Alfred Newton and Howard Saunders.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES.
HALFTOND PLATES,
PLatTE 1,
Black-footed albatross, adult and downy young, Laysan Island, a photograph
presented by Mr. Alfred M. Bailey.
PLATE 2,
A nesting colony of black-footed albatrosses, Laysan Island, Pacific Ocean, a
photograph presented by Mr. Alfred M. Bailey.
PLATE 3.
Upper: A nesting colony of Laysan albatrosses, mostly young birds, Laysan
Island.
Lower: Adults and young Laysan albatrosses, Laysan Island. Both photo-
graphs presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher and referred to on page 12.
PLATE 4,
‘Upper: Nuptial dance of Laysan albatross, first step.
Lower: Nuptial dance of Laysan albatross, second step, Laysan Island. Both
photographs presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher and referred to on page 12.
Pate 5.
Upper: Nuptial dance of Laysan albatross, finale, Laysan Island.
Lower: A more common method of ending the dance. Both photographs pre-
sented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher and referred to on page 12.
PLaTE 6.
Upper: Young Laysan albatross, Laysan Island.
Lower: Adult Laysan albatross feeding its young, Laysan Island. Both
photographs presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher and referred to on page 18.
PLATE 7.
Upper: Adult and young sooty albatross, South Georgia.
Lower: Group of sooty albatross in the Brooklyn Museum. Both photographs
presented by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy and published by courtesy of the
Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.
Pirate 8.
Nesting colony of giant fulmars, Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, a photo-
graph by Mr. Rollo H. Beck, presented by the American Museum of Natural
History. a0
330 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Pave 9.
Upper : Giant fulmar, in the white plumage, on its nest, South Georgia, a photo-
graph by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy.
Lower: Giant fulmar, in the ordinary dark plumage, on its nest, Sea Lion
Island, Falkland Islands, a photograph by Mr. Rollo H. Beck. Both photo-
graphs presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
Puate 10, .
Upper: Young giant fulmar, one day old, Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, a
photograph by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
Lower: Young giant fulmar, nearly full grown, South Georgia, a photograph
by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy. Both photographs presented by the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History.
Prats 11.
Left: Fulmar on its nest, St. Kilda, Scotland, June, 1907. va
Right: Nest and egg of fulmar, same locality and date. Both ne pre-
sented by Mr. C. H. Wells.
PLateE 12,
Upper: Rodgers fulmar on its nest, St. Matthew Island, Bering Sea, July 9,
1911; referred to on page 43,
Lower: Nest and egg of Rodgers fulmar, Semidi Island, Alaska, July 1, 1911, a
photograph by Mr. Johan Koren, presented by Col. John H. Thayer.
PiaTE 13.
Left: Nesting burrow uf Cory shearwater, in sandy soil, Montana Clara, Canary
Islands.
Right: Nesting site of Cory shearwater, in caves in outer wall of crater, 600 feet
above sea level, Graciosa, Canary Islands. Both photographs presented by
Mr. David A. Bannerman and referred to on page 56.
PuatTeE 14,
Upper: Nesting site of pink-footed shearwater, Juan Fernandez Island.
Lower: Pink-footed shearwater in its nest, Goat Island, off Santa Clara, Chile.
Both photographs by Mr. Rollo H. Beck, presented by the American Museum
of Natural History and referred to on page 62,
Puare 15.
Upper: Young Audubon shearwater, Washerwoman Key, Bahama Islands.
Lower: Adult shearwater, leaving its nest, same locality. Both photographs
by Dr. Frank M. Chapman, presented by the American Museum of Natural
History.
PLATE 16,
Mr. Rollo H. Beck digging out burrows of Townsend shearwater on Clarion
Island, Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, a photograph presented by him and
referred to on page 84. :
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 8381
PLATE 17,
Upper: Mr. Rollo H. Beck collecting a sooty shearwater and egg, on Wollaston
Island, Chile, 15 miles north of Cape Horn.
Lower: Sooty shearwater, its nest and its egg in above locality. Both photo-
graphs presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
PLaTE 18.
Nesting burrows of wedge-tailed shearwater, San Benedicto Island, Revilla-
gigedo Islands, Mexico, a photograph presented by Mr. A. W. Anthony and
referred to on page 97.
PLATE 19.
Upper: Pair of wedge-tailed shearwaters, Laysan Island, Pacific Ocean, a
photograph presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher.
Lower: Nesting colony of same in same locality, a photograph by Mr. C. T.
Albrecht, presented by the Biological Survey.
PLATE 20,
Left: Young Peale petrel, a photograph of a mounted specimen loaned to the
author by the Park Museum, referred to on page 119.
Right: Nesting site of Bulwer petrel, under huge boulders just above high-
water mark, Montana Clara, Canary Islands, a photograph presented by Mr.
David A. Bannerman.
PLATE 21,
Upper: Nesting burrow of Leach petrel, Big Spoon Island, Jericho Bay, Maine,
July 12, 1915.
Lower: Same burrow, opened to show bird, nest and egg. Both referred to on
page 138.
PLATE 22.
Upper: Burrows of Leach petrel, in the woods, Seal Island, Nova Scotia,
July 4, 1904, referred to on page 139.
Lower: Downy young and egg of Leach petrel, Matinicus Rock, Maine, July,
1906, a photograph presented by Mr. Herbert K. Job.
Pate 23.
Upper: Nest and eggs of Beal petrel, Three Arch Rocks, Oregon.
Lower: Beal petrel on its nest, same locality. Both photographs by Bohl-
man and Finley, presented by Mr. William L. Finley.
Piate 24,
Upper: Nesting site of yellow-billed tropic-bird, Morgan’s Island, Bermuda
Islands. ;
Lower: Yellow-billed tropic-bird on its nest, same locality. Both photographs
presented by Dr. Alfred O. Gross and referred to on page 182.
Piate 25.
Upper: Young yellow-billed tropic-bird, four days old.
Lower: Young of same, twenty days old. Both photographs presented by Dr.
Alfred O. Gross and referred to on page 184.
382 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
PLATE 26.
Upper: Young yellow-billed tropic-bird, thirty-four days old.
Lower: Young of same, sixty days old. Both photographs presented by Dr.
Alfred O. Gross and referred to on page 184.
PLATE 27,
Upper :, Red-billed tropic-bird on its nest, Isabella Island, Mexico, April 9,
1905, a photograph presented by Mr. Harold H. Bailey.
Lower: Red-billed tropic-bird on its nest, Galapagos Islands, a photograph
presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
PLATE 28,
Upper: Red-tailed tropic-bird on its nest, Laysan Island, Pacific Ocean, a
‘photograph presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher.
Lower: Red-tailed tropic-bird and young, Laysan Island, a photograph by
Mr. C. T. Albrecht, presented by the Biological Survey.
PLATE 29.
Upper: Blue-faced booby, guarding eggs.
Lower: Blue-faced booby, brooding young. Both photographs taken on Lay-
san Island, Pacific Ocean, and presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher.
PLATE 30.
Upper: Pair of blue-faced boobies guarding young.
Lower: Blue-faced booby feeditig young. Both photographs taken on Laysan
Island, Pacific Ocean, and presented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher.
Puate 31.
Upper: Blue-footed booby and egg, Galapagos Islands.
Lower: Blue-footed booby and young, Galapagos Islands. Both photographs
presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
PLaTE 82,
Upper: Boobies on the wing.
Lower: Booby colony, adults and young, Cay Verde, Bahama Islands. Both
photographs by Dr. Frank M. Chapman, presented by the American Museum
of Natural History.
PLATE 33.
Upper: Booby, nest, and eggs.
Lower: Pair of boobies and young. Both photographs taken by Dr. Frank M.
Chapman, on Cay Verde, Bahnria Islands, and presented by the American
Museum of Natural History.
PLATE 34,
Upper: Red-footed booby alighting on its nest, Laysan Island, Pacific Ocean, a
photograph by Mr. C. T. Albrecht, presented by the Biological Survey.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 333
Lower: Another bird on its nest, same locality, a photograph presented by Dr.
Walter K. Fisher.
Pate 35.
Left: Main gannet ledge, Bonaventure Island, Quebec, June 21, 1920, referred
to on page 218.
Right: Gannets on Ailsa Craig, Scotland, a photograph by Mr. B. Beetham,
presented by Mr. J. H. Gurney.
PLATE 36.
Upper: Gannet ledges, Bonaventure Island, Quebec, June 24, 1920, referred to
on page 218.
Lower: Nesting gannets on one of the above ledges.
Prare 37.
Upper: Gannets’ nests, North Bird Rock, Quebec, June 25, 1904, referred to on
page 219.
Lower: Nesting gannets, Bird Rock, Quebec, June 25, 1904, a photograph pre-
sented by Mr. Herbert K. Job, and referred to on page 219.
PLATE 38.
Upper: Young gannet, recently hatched.
Lower: Adult and young gannet, downy stage. Both photographs taken on
North Bird Reck, Quebec, July 24, 1915, and referred to on page 221.
PLatTE 39.
Upper: Gannet feeding young, about half grown, a photograph by Mr. J. M.
Campbell.
Lower: Young gannet, fully grown and nearly fledged, a photograph by Mr.
A.C. Adams. Both photographs presented by Mr. J. H. Gurney.
Pate 40.
Upper: Nesting colony of water turkeys, St. Johns River, Florida, April 21,
1902, referred to on page 231.
Lower: Nests in above colony.
Pate 41.
Upper: Nests of water turkeys, showing eggs and young, St. Johns River,
Florida, April 21, 1902. ;
Lower: Young water turkeys in nest, Cuthbert Lake, Florida, a photograph
presented by Mr. Herbert K. Job.
PLATE 42.
Nesting colony of common cormorants, Lofoten Islands, Norway, a photograph
by Professor Robert Collett, loaned by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.
PLATE 48.
Left: Nesting site of common cormorant, Isle of Man, England.
Right : Common cormorant and young, same locality. Both photographs pre-
sented by Mr. C. H. Wells.
384 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Prats 44,
Upper: Nest and eggs of double-crested cormorant, Stump Lake, North Dakota,
May 31, 1901.
Lower: Group of nests in above colony.
Puate 45.
Upper: Nesting colony of double-crested cormorants and murres, Gull Island,
off Cape Whittle, Labrador, July 14, 1916, a photograph presented by Dr.
Charles W. Townsend.
Lower: Nests of double-crested cormorant in the largest colony in Lake Winni-
’ pegosis, Manitoba, June 18, 1918, referred to on page 245.
Prats 46.
Upper: Young double-crested cormorants in the nest, Lake Winnipegosis, Mani-
toba, June 18, 1918.
Lower: Young birds in same colony, later on, fully grown, but flightless, a
photograph presented by Mr. Herbert K. Job.
PLATE 47,
Upper: Nesting colony of Florida cormorants, Ellis Lake, North Carolina.
Lower :. Adult feeding young in above colony. Both photographs presented by
Mr. P. B. Philipp.
PiLatE 48,
Upper: Nesting colony of white-crested cormorants, Carroll Islet, Washington,
June, 1907, a photograph presented by ‘Dr. Lynds Jones.
Lower: Nest and eggs of white-crested cormorant, coast of Washington, a
“photograph presented by Mr. W. Leon Dawson.
PLATE 49,
Upper: Nesting colony of Farallon cormorants and -white pelicans, Tule Lake,
Oregon, a photograph by Finley and Bohlman, presented by Mr. William L.
Finley.
Lower: Farallon cormorant on its nest, Los Coronados Islands, Mexico, a
photograph presented by Mr. Donald R. Dickey.
PLate 50.
Upper: Nesting colony of Farallon cormorants, Salton Sink, California, a
photograph presented by Mr. W. Leon Dawson. ;
Lower: Nest and eggs of Farallon cormorant, Salton Sea, California, April 20,
1908, a photograph by Dr. Joseph Grinnell, presented by the Museum of
Vetebrate Zoology.
Priare 51.
Left: Nests of Mexican cormorant, Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico, December
25, 1902.
Right: Mexican cormorant on its nest in above colony. Both photographs
by Mr. EH. A. Goldman, presented by the Biological Survey and referred to
on page 261.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 885
PLate 52, ‘
Nesting colony of Brandt cormorant, Los Coronados Islands, Mexico, a photo-
sraph presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
‘Pirate 53.
Nests and eggs of Brandt cormorant, Los Coronados Islands, Mexico, a photo-
graph presented by Mr. Donald R. Dickey.
Puate 54,
Left: Brandt cormorants, nest and young, one young bird asleep.
Right: Young Brandt cormorants. Both photographs by Finley and Bohlman.
Three Arch Rocks, Oregon, presented by Mr. William L. Finley.
Pate 55.
Left: Nesting site of Baird cormorant, Carroll Islet, Washington.
Right: Nest and eggs of same in above locality. Both photographs presented
by Dr. Lynds Jones and referred to on page 276. ‘
Prats 56.
Upper: Red-faced cormorants at their nests, Walrus Island, Bering Sea, July
7, 1911. :
Lower : Nest and eggs of same in above locality, referred to on page 280.
Puate 57,
Upper: Nest and eggs of white pelican, Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba, June
19, 1918, referred to on page 284. ;
Lower: Another nest of same in above locality, containing four eggs of double-
erested cormorant. Note also the heads of large pike.
PLATE 58.
Upper : Nests and eggs of white pelican, Salton Sea, California, April 19, 1908.
Lower: Nest and eggs of same in above colony. Both photographs by Dr.
Joseph Grinnell, presented by the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
Pate 59.
Upper: Pair of white pelicans and small young, Malheur Lake, Oregon.
Lower: Adult and young of same in above locality. Both photographs by Finley
and Bohiman, presented by Mr. William L. Finley.
Pate 60.
Upper : Nesting colony of brown pelicans, Pelican Island, Indian River, Florida,
April 15, 1902, referred to on page 295.
ict Nest and eggs of brown pelican, Bull’s Bay, South Carolina, May 23,
1915, referred to on page 296.
Puate 61.
Upper: Small naked young of brown pelican, Pelican Island, Indian River,
Florida, April 15, 1902.
336 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Lower: Adult and large young of same, in tree nests, in above locality, referred
to on page 297.
PLATE 62,
Upper: Brown pelican feeding small young, two days old.
Lower: Brown pelican feeding large young, fully grown. Both photographs
taken on the coast of Louisiana, June 11, 1918, and presented by Mr. Stanley
Clisby Arthur.
PiLate 63.
Upper: Drove of young brown pelicans, Pelican Island, Indian River, Florida,
a photograph presented by Mr. Herbert K. Job.
Lower: Nesting colony of brown pelicans, Pass au Loutre mud lumps, Louisiana,
June 11, 1918, a photograph presented by Mr. Stanley Clisby Arthur.
Prare 64,
Nesting colony of California brown pelicans and Farallon cormorants, Los
Coronados Islands, Mexico, a photograph presented by Mr. Donald R. Dickey.
Pruate 65.
Upper: Nests and eggs of California brown pelicans, Anacapa Island, Cali-
fornia.
Lower: Nest, eggs, and newly hatched young of same. Both photographs
presented by Mr. Donald R. Dickey.
Piate 66.
Upper: California brown pelican flying, a photograph presented by Mr. Donald
R. Dickey.
Lower: California brown pelican on its nest, Galapagos Islands, a photograph
presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
Piate 67.
Nesting colony of man-o’-war birds, San Benedicto Island, Mexico, a photo-
graph presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
PLATE 68.
Upper: Male man-o’-war bird on its nest, Laysan Island, a photograph pre.
sented by Dr. Walter K. Fisher.
Lower: Nest and egg of man-o’-war bird, Galapagos Islands, a photograph
presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
Prate 69,
Upper: Male man-o’-war bird and small young in nest, Galapagos Islands, a
photograph presented by Mr. Rollo H. Beck.
Lower: Young man-o’-war birds in nests, Cay Verde, Bahama Islands, a photo-
graph by Dr. Frank M. Chapman, presented by the American Museum of
Natural History.
INDEX
aethereus, Phaethon ea
22
black-footed _.._--- 1
Daysane 2s oo 9
pink-footed _________ 19
short-tailed 6
yellow-nosed ____________ 16
albatrus, Phoebastria__________ 6
Alexander, Boyd—
on Hawaiian petrel__________ 154, 155
on North Atlantic white-faced
Pethel soe se 180
Allen, G. M., on cormorant_______ 241
Allen, J. A., on pelagic cormorant__ 271
American white pelican 282
Anhinga anhinga_______ 229
anhinga, Anhinga ___ 229
Anhingidae _________ 229
antarctica, Priocella 46
Anthony, A. W.—
on Baird cormorant________ 277, 278
on black petrel________ 156, 157, 158
on black-vented shearwater___ 80, 81,
82, 83
on blue-faced booby___________ 194
on California brown pelican_ 301, 302
304, 305
on Guadalupe petrel__________ 152
on Kaeding petrel____________ 147
on least petrel. 123, 124, 125
on man-o’-war-bird__--________ 313
on Pacific fulmar_________ 40, 41, 42
on Socorro petrel________-____ 164
on Townsend shearwater__-___ 84, 85
on wedge-tailed shearwater___ 97, 98,
99, 100
Ardenna carneipes_____--_-----___ 60
creatopus—__-___-_-__--_ 62
STAVIB --2-225ss2255 ss 65
Arthur, 8. C., on brown pelican.- 296, 297
Ashy petrel 159
Atlantic allied shearwater_________ 17
Audubon, J, J.—
on American white pelican_- 289, 291
on Audubon shearwater__—__-~ 74, 75
on booby_----------~--_ 201, 206, 207
on cormorant ---------~---__ 237, 238
on Cory shearwater___-.--_--_ 58
on Florida cormorant___---~ 251, 252
on fulmar 32
on gannet ___--~------------~ 217, 226
on greater shearwater___----_~ 69
on Leach petrel -_.---- == 143
on man-o’-war-bird-__--------- 312
on Manx shearwater__.------- 71
on slender-billed fulmar_—---~~ 46, 47
on stormy petrel_----------- 125, 126
Audubon, J. J.— Page.
on water-turkey_ 230, 232, 238, 234, 235
on Wilson petrel______________ 166
on yellow-nosed albatross______ 17
Audubon shearwater-.____________ 14
sooty albatross_._____________ 22
auricularis, Puffinus _..___________ 84
auritus albociliatus, Phalacrocorax__ 257
auritus, Phalacrocorax______ 243
cincinatus, Phalacrocorax.._._ 255
floridanus, Phalacrocorax-.... 251
Bailey, Florence M—
on short-tailed albatross ______ 9
on sooty shearwater —_---______ 85, 86
Bailey, H. H.—
on blue-footed booby._________ 198
on Brewster booby ____-.___ 208, 209
on man-o’-war-bird ~-___. --~ 808
on red-billed tropic-bird 188, 189
Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway—
on Audubon sooty albatross____ 24
on black-footed albatross
on booby ----__-_______-
on fork-tailed petrel__________
on fulmar __~__--__o-__.______
on Manx shearwater__________
on pink-footed shearwater_____ 64
on white-bellied petrel______ 173,174
on Wilson petrel _____________ 166
on yellow-nosed albatross______ 17
Baird cormorant. 276
Bangs, Outram, on_ red - footed
Le) are 214, 215
Bannerman, D, A.—
on Atlantic allied shearwater__ 77, 78
on Bulwer petrel__._.-.______
on Cory shearwater_____.__-__ 55, 56
Barlow, Chester, on ashy petrel__ 160, 161
Barnes, R. M., on double-crested cor-
morant 246
bassanus, Morus-._--_____________ 216
Beal petrel = 147
Beck, R. H.—
on New Zealand shearwater. 102, 103
on pink-footed shearwater__ 62, 63, 64
on red-billed tropic-bird_____ 188, 189
on white-bellied petrel______ 174, 175
Beebe, C. W., on Mexican cormorant_ 265
Bendire, C. E., on American white
286
Bent, A. C., on greater shearwater_ 65, 66
Bewick, Thomas—
on cormorant __--__-_________ 242
on Manx shearwater__________ 13
black petrel 156
black-capped petrel _.__.___ 106
black-footed albatross__. 1
black-tailed shearwater_.__________ 103
3838 INDEX.
Page. Page
black-vented shearwater______-----_ 79 | capense, Daption_____-_--___----- 49
blue-faced booby--_._------------- 193 | carbo, Phalacrocorax 236
hlue-footed booby_-__------------- 197 | carneipes, Ardenna --_-_-_~ 60
Bonhote, J. L., on Audubon shear- Cartier, Jacques, on gannet. 217
water sais 15
booby 222522662 cower osec weeess. 200
blue-faced ____._------------ 193
blue-footed______--__-------- 197
Brewster __---~------ 208
red-footed 211
Bowdish, B. S., on Leach petrel___- 144
Bradlee, T. S., on cahow. - 1138
Brandt cormorant____.-__--__--.- 265
Brewster, William—
on cormorant _--__~-_----~-~---~
on Peale petrel__________~--
_ on Wilson petrel
Brewster booby -----~---~--------
brewsteri, Sula = 208
Brown, F, A., on Leach petrel____-_ 144
Brown, W. W., on Guadalupe pe-
trel ee 152, 153
brown pelican___----------..--___ "294
Bryan, W. A.—
on Laysan albatross_______-__ 11
on man-o’-war-bird --_-.___-__ 311
Bryant, Henry—
on Audubon shearwater__-____ 15
0% pooby waasuce so scccsecs 206, 207
on brown pelican______ 295
on man-o’-war-bird 308, 309
Bryant, W. E.— £4
on ashy. petrel________. on eee 159
on Baird cormorant 277
Buller, W. L.—
on Atlantic allied shearwater__ 78, 79
on Audubon sooty albatross___ 22, 24
on giant fulmar_____-________ 29, 30
on Peale petrel ___._--__--____ 119
on pintado petrel_.____________ 49
on slender-billed shearwater___ 94
on sooty shearwater_______ 86, 87, 88
bulleri, Thyellodroma_____________ 101°
Bulwer petrel 120
bulweri, Bulweria_____.______-___ 120
Bulweria bulweri_____--__________ 120
Buxton, N. G., on pelagic cormorant_ 271
cahow 112
Pterodroma 112
California brown pelican _-_.______ 301
Calonectris kuhlii borealis-_.______ 54
kuhlii kuhlli--_.--_____ 59
Campbell, A. G., and Mattingley,
A. H. EB, On North Atlantic
white-faced petrel_ 176, 177, 178, 179, 180
Campbell, A. J.—
on black-tailed shearwater_-_ 104, 105
on blue-faced booby_-..______ 196
on gannet. 221
on North Atlantic white-faced
petrel 179
on short-tailed albatross______ 7
on slender-billed shearwater ___ 91
94, 95
on sooty shearwater __________ 86
Cassin, John—
on Pacific fulmar __--_---~--~ 41
on short-tailed albatross aw 7, 8,9
on Wilson petrel__~— 170,171
eastro, Oceanodroma____._-_------ 153
Chamberlain, Corydon, on Farallon
cormorant —-_-__.------------ 259, 260
Chamberlain, Montague, on yellow-
“nosed albatross ___.---_----_--- 17
Chapman, F. M.—
on American white pelican____ 290,
291, 292
on booby ~~---_ 201, 202, 204, 205, 206
on brown pelican____-_-_-__ 298, 299
on Leach petrel__-_ -. 148, 144
on man-o’-war-bird _---.---_ 809, 310
on pelagic cormorant____._.__ 274
ehlororhynchus, Thalassogeron ____~ 19
chrysostomus culminatus, Thalasso-
geron pele! 16
cinereus, Priofinus__.._.____-_---_- 103
Clark, A. H., on booby------------ 206
Clarke, W. H.—
on Audubon sooty albatross___ 22, 23
on fulmar__-._-..s-=+===-- Bes 84
on giant fulmar_______-~
on pintado petrel
on stormy petrel
on Wilson petrel___ 166, 167, 168, 171
Clay, C. I, on Baird cormorant-___ 278
Colardeau, St. Felix, on black-
capped petrel ___-___._-______ 106, 107
Coles, R. J., on brown pelican__---_~ 299
Collins, J. W., on fulmar_______ 35, 36, 37
’ on greater shearwater____.____ 66,
67, 68, 69, 70
on sooty shearwater_______ 87, 89, 90
on Wilson petrel ee, TD
cormorant _________-_ = 236
Baird__ = 276
Brandt_______ _— 265
double-crested_ -~ 243
Farallon _____ =; 257
Florida ___ - 261
Mexican. ooo 2ssesss-eRes 261
Pelagic! ~ 2. owe see 271
red-faced _.----_-_--___. 279
white-crested _-_-.______ 255
Cory shearwater _.____-_-________ 54
creatopus, Ardenna -______________ 62
dactylatra, Sula___.__-____________ 193
Daption cap = 49
Darwin, Charles—
on black-tailed shearwater_____ 105
on giant fulmar__.___________ 30, 81
Davies, R. H., on slender-billed shear-
water __ --. 95,96
Dawson, W. L.—
on ashy petrel_______.___!_ 159, 160
on Baird cormorant______.____ 277
on Beal petrel_____ 148, 149, 150, 151
on Brandt cormorant__.____ 269, 270
INDEX. 839
oa hes ck ee Fuge Gifford, DH. W.—Continued. Page.
Piet es 2, on red-billed_ tropic-bird_-.-- 189, 190
ue-faced booby_—-________ 196 on red-footed booby _.--------~ 214
on Laysan albatross__ a | 26
on man-o’-war-bird___________ 307 | giganteus, ee
on wedge-tailed shearwater____ 100 Gilbert, C. H., on black-footed alba-
Diomed ele ate ane ee Seo. che
Dixon, J. : | glacialis glacialis, Fulmarus__~-__-
ee oseph, ha pelagic ae set glupischa, Fulmarus_-_--- 38
double-crested cormorant _.________ "243 Godman, F. D.—
Dutcher, B. H., on Cory shearwater_ 58 on Audubon shearwater___.__ 74, 75
Elliott, H. W.— | on black-capped petrel__------ 107
on Rodgers fulmar________ 44, 45, 46 on Bulwer petrel______------- 121
on short-tailed albatross______ 6 on Hawaiian petrel____-____-_-- 154
Emerson, W. 0.— on New Zealand shearwater___ 101
on ashy petrel__-._-__ 161 on North Atlantic white-faced
on Farallon cormorant________ 258 petrel _ 179
on yellow-nosed albatross_____ 17 on Peale petrel_._-_-------- 119, 120
erythrorhynchos, Pelecanus________ 282 on pale-footed shearwater __--- 60
Farallon cormorant_______________ 257 on pink-footed albatross______- 21
Feilden, H. W., on Audubon shear- on pink-footed shearwater___-- 62
water _____ eer 16 on pintado petrel______-----__- 53
Ferry, J. F., on American white on short-tailed albatross __---- 7,8
pelican-ts205222 30 ee 287 on slender-billed fulmar____-__ 47, 48
Figgins, J. D., on pelagic cormorant_ 274 on sooty shearwater__
Finley, W. L.—
on American white pelican__ 285, 286,
287, 290
on California brown pelican-___ 305
Fisher, W, K.—
on black-footed albatross______ 2, 4,5
on blue-faced booby___--____ 194, 195
on. Bulwer petrel--—..=-..=- 122, 123
on Laysan albatross____ 9, 10, 11,12,
18, 14, 15, 16
on man-o’-war-bird__ 306, 307, 308, 311
on red-footed booby-____ 211, 212, 213
on red-tailed tropic-bird_. 191, 192, 193
on wedge-tailed shearwater___ 98, 99,
100
Flinders, on slender-billed shear-
water____ — 2 91 |
Florida cormorant_.__-_--~------- 251
Forbes, H. O., on North Atlantic
white-faced petrel______------_- 179
forked-tailed petrel___.-_---------- 132
Frazar, M. A., on cormorant—__~-- 237
Fregata magnificens rothschildi---_ 306
Fregatidae 2 bees, 306
Fregetta leucogastris_.----------- 173
fulmar = 31
giant 26
Pacifie___----------------- 38
Rodgers___--_----- 43
slender-billed 46
Fulmarus glacialis glacialis -_.---- 31
glupischa_-_---~ 38
rodgersi__.-_----------- 43
furcata, Oceanodroma 132
gannet__--~---------- 216
giant fulmar-----~---------------- 26
Gifford, E. W.—
on blue-footed booby------- 197, 198,
199, 200
on California brown pelican_ 302, 303,
304, 305, 306
on man-o’-war-bird ----------- 810
on stormy petrel____----
on white-bellied petrel____---- 174
on yellow-nosed albatross______ 17,19
godmani, Puffinus assimilis --.____- 17
Goodwin, S. H., on American white
pelican .n.2c see Sees 287
Goss, N. S.—
on American wkite pelican__ 288, 289
on Brewster booby__-..----_-- 208
on red-billed tropic-bird _-.-___ 188
Gould, John—
on Audubon sooty albatross____ 24, 25
on pink-footed aibatross 21
on pintado petrel________ 52
on red-tailed tropic-bird__.-___ 190,
191, 192, 193
on slender-billed fulmar_______~ 47,48
on white-bellied petrel________ 175
on yellow-nosed albatross______ 18
gravis, Ardenna______--_________-_ 65
greater shearwater_________--~_____ 65
Grinnell, Joseph—
on American white pelican__ 285, 201
on Farallon cormorant___---_~ 259
on fork-tailed petrel__-_ 138, 184,136
on Leach petrel__._ 140, 142, 144, 145
on pelagic cormorant__-______ 272
Grinnell, Joseph, and Daggett, F. S.,
on Socorro petrel__. Cheval 163, 164
griseus, Puffinus___-_____-----___~ 85
Gross, A. O., on yellow-billed tropic-
bird 225 -52.5.2u 182, 183, 184, 185, 186
Guadalupe petrel _.__--_--..----__ 151
Gurney, J. H.—
on gannet 217,
220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 228
Hall, Robert—
on Audubon sooty albatross___ 23
on giant fulmar______-_-______ 27, 28
on North Atlantic white-faced
petrel ose nese 179
340
Hall, Robert—Continued.
on pintado petrel______------ 51, 52
on Wilson petrel______- 167, 168, 169
on yellow-nosed albatross____- 17
Halocyptena microsoma —.._-~------ 123
hasitata, Pterodroma____-------_- 106
Hatch, P. L., on American white
pelican 289, 291
Hawaiian petrel____-_-___---.---- 153
Headley, F. W., on cormorant__---- 240
Heath, Harold—
on Leach petrel____-.--_-__ 140, 141
on pelagic cormorant__._.---~ 274
Hewitson, W.C.,on stormy petrel_ 125,126
Hobbs, F. M., on blue-faced booby__ 196
homochroa, Oceanodroma_-_~__--.-~ 159
Hornby petrel 129
hornbyi, Oceanodroma ~---~------- 129
Howell, A. B.—
on black petrel___-____ 156, 157, 158
on black-vented shearwater_-_-— 83
on Brandt cormorant____---~- 269 |
on California brown pelican__ 303, 305
on Farallon cormorant_______-
Howell, A. H., on double-crested
cormorant. 246,
Hutton, F, W.—
on black-tailed shearwater___.- 104,
on giant fulmar.
on pintado petrel_____
on short-tailed albatross_
Hydrobates pelagicus __--~-.. 125
Hydrobatidae __--_________--_____ 26
immutabilis, Phoebastria 9
inexpectata, Pterodroma _._-_.____ 117
Ingraham, D, P., on man-o’-war-bird- 308
Jones, Lynds—
on Baird cormorant____--___ 276, 277
on Beal petrel_______-_-_____ 150
on white-crested cormorant._ 255, 256
Josselyn, John, on cormorant____ 241, 242
Jourdain, F. C. R., on greater shear-
water. 65, 66
Kaeding, H. B.—
on ashy petrel _-______ peso ooe 161
on Guadalupe petrel____--____ 152
on Socorro petrel__
Kaeding petrel__--._-___________-
Kidder, J. H.—
on Audubon sooty albatross... 23, 24
260 |
on Socorro petrel__ 162, 163, 164, 165 |
on giant fulmar___.__--______ 29 |
Knight, 0. W.—
on double-crested cormorant__. 244
on Leach petrel_____---__-___ 145
Kobbé, W. H.—
on pelagic cormorant_________ 275
on white-crested cormorant___.. 257
kublii borealis, Calonectris________ 34
kuhlii, Calonectris___..-____ 59
Kumlien, Ludwig—
on cormorant _.--~--.--_---__ 242
on fulmar 2-222------..s.--.. 32
Labat, J. B., on black-capped pe-
1. ea ee 107, 108, 109, 110
INDEX.
Lawrence, G. N.—
on black-capped petrel__—--- 106, 107
on black-tailed shearwater___-— 103
Laysan albatross —_ ue 9
Leach petrel____--__------------- 137
least petrel 123
Leptophaethon lepturus catesbyi___~- 181
lepturus catesbyi, Leptophaethon___ 181
leucogastris, Fregetta 173
Sula:-------s-=. 200
leucorhoa beali, Oceanodroma 147
kaedingi, Oceanodroma-_-_-_-_ 146
leucorhoa, Oceanodroma--_ 137
Therminieri therminieri, Puffinus____ 74
Linton, C. B., on Pacific fulmar____ 41
Loomis, L. M.—
on ashy petrel___.-_---__---_ 159
on black-vented shearwater _-_ 81, 82
on Brandt cormorant_____- 266, 267,
268, 269, 270
on Hawaiian petrel________-__ 154
on New Zealand shearwater__ 101,
102, 103
on
on
on
on
Peale petrel
Pale-footed shearwater
pink-footed shearwater
sooty shearwater__--____--
on wedge-tailed shearwater____ 99
Macgillivray, Willlam—
on fulmar ---_--.--__-- 33, 35, 36, 37
on gannet 227
on stormy petrel_________-_ 127,128
Mackay, G. H., on double-crested
cormorant ~--~-_----_-------- 248, 249
Macpherson, H. A., on stormy pe-
. trel Ss 126, 127
macrodactyla, Oceanodroma________ 151
Macronectes giganteus _-_____ 26
magnificens rothschildi, Fregata____ 306
Mailliard, Joseph, on fork-tailed pe-
El ae cctcecceenacu 1338, 134
man-o’-war-bird — 306
Manx shearwater. 71
marina hypoleuca, Pelagodroma____ 176
Mawson, Douglas, on slender-billed
fulmar___-_ 48
Maynard, C. J., on American white
pelican 289
McGregor, R. C., on fork-tailed pe-
trel --- 185
Mediterranean shearwater ___-_____ 59
melania, Oceanodroma 156
Mexican cormorant ._.____-.------ 261
Meyer, G. Ralph, on wedge-tailed
shearwater 98, 99
microsoma, Halocyptena_.-____-___ 123
monorhis socorroensis, Oceanodroma_ 162
Montgomery, H. H., on slender-billed
shearwater __-_-----____- 91, 92, 93, 94
Moore, N. B., on water-turkey_____ 234
Morris, F. 0.—
On TORU acon a caccoeiendan 34, 36
on gannet ______
on stormy petrel
Morus bassanus
INDEX. 341
Murphy, RB. C.— Page. | Ogilvie-Grant, W. R.—Continued. Page.
on black-tailed shearwater_____ 106 on Cory shearwater_..-- 655, 56, 57, 58
ou Hornby petrel_______ 180, 181, 132 on Hawaiian petrel__..--.---- 154
on Mediterranean shearwater__ 59 on North Atlantic white-faced
on pintado petrel_.-_--___ 53 petrel 178, 179, 180
on Wilson petrel._....__ 172 19
nebouxii, Sula. 197 38
Nelson, E. W.— pacifica, Thyellodroma ____________ 97
on blue-footed booby________ pale-footed shearwater..________.- 60
on Brewster booby___ Palmer, William, on red-faced cor-
on fork-tailed petrel___._...___ morant =e 281
RD, SE aces ile 32,33 | Ppalpebrata auduboni, Phoebetria____ 22
on Hornby petrel____ — 130 | Peale, T.R.,on short-tailed albatross. 7, 8,9
on Mexican cormorant________ 261, | Peale petrel__._--__-------------- 117
262, 263, 264 Pearson, T. G.—
on red-billed tropic-bird_______ 187, on double-crested cormorant_-__ 250
188, 189 on Florida cormorant__— 252, 253, 254
on red-faced cormorant________ 282 | pelagic cormorant ____..--_---_~_- 271
on Rodgers fulmar_____ = 45 | pelagicus, Hydrobates_-__--_____-- 125
on short-tailed albatross_______ 6 pelagicus, Phalacrocorax- 271
on wedge-tailed shearwater____ 100 resplendens, Phalacro-
Newton, Edward, on_ red-tailed conan, 276
tropic-bird___________ __ 191. 192° Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca____. 176
i Relecan 1daiei..- se ees eees 282
New Zealand shearwater____ 101
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos____-_-.. 282
Nichols, J. T.— occidentalis californicus-__ 301
on Audubon sooty albatross___. 24 occidentalis__ 294
on black-capped petrel_-__- - 111 | pelican, American white____-_-_--_ 282
on black-vented shearwater____ 82 brown 294
on brown pelican__------- ~ 299 California brown_-_- 301
on Florida cormorant - 254 | penicillatus, Phalacrocorax -------- 265
on fulmar_-—-~---~- Boa 36 | Pennock, C.J.,on Floridacormorant. 258
on pintado petrel_______ - 51, 52,53 | petrel, ashy_---__-_--____-_______ 159
on slender-billed fulmar_ = 48 Beal____ _ 147
on white-bellied petrel_- - 175 black________ _ 156
OG Wilson perrel......- 170 black-capped __ _ 106
on yellow-nosed albatross____-~ 18, 19 Bulwer ______ — 120
Nichols, J. T., and Mowbray, L. L., fork-tailed _ _ 182
on cahow 114 Guadalupe __--__--____-___ 151
Nichols, J. T., and Murphy, R. C., on Hawaiian -- 153
Audubon sooty albatross____--__~ 25 129
Nicoll, M. J., on red-footed booby_— 213 146
nigripes, Phoebastria __..__-------- 1 137
Noble, G. K., on _ black-capped least - 123
petrel 110, 111 North Atlantic white-faced-. 176
North Atlantic white-faced petrel__ 176 Peale sseccoc eee e 117
Norton, A. H., on Leach petrel__- 138, 142 pintado______-__--_--_____ 49
Nuttall, Thomas, on cormorant-.-. 236 Socorro_-.----.-_--_-----_- 162
Ober, F. A., on black-capped petrel_. 106 stormy ---.--_____________ 126
Oberholser, H. C., on Peale petrel_-_ 118 white-bellied _-___------.-- 173
occidentalis californicus, Pelecanus- 301 Wilson 165
occidentalis, Pelecanus- 294 | phaethon aecthereus__.._.________ 187
oceanicus, Oceanites __------------ 165 | Phaethontidae _____ 46 -- 181
Oceanites oceanicus_-------------- 165 | phalacrocoracidae —.__. _uu----- 288
Oceanodroma castro__------~------- 153 | Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus__ 2574
furcata.---~ 132 auritus —.--- 243)
homochroa 159 eincinatus._, 255
hornbyi 129 floridanus el. 261
leucorhoa beali_------ 147 carbo__-_--_-_ wi--. 236
kaedingi.-.. 146 pelagicus pelagicus-. 271
leucorhoa-__ 137 .- Fesplendens. 276
macrodactyla ~------- 151 penicifiatus _.-_..-_- 265
melania -_.---------- 156 urile _--.-.--- awaenee = 279
monorhis socorroensis_ 162 _cylgua mexicanus--.-- 261
Ogilvie-Grant, W. R.— Phoebastpfa albatrus_...----.----- 6
on Atlantic allied shearwater—- 78 immutabilis__ Jewaconaas 2
on Bulwer petrel_-.---------- 122 nigripes___.------.--- 1
83969—22—28
342 INDEX.
: Page. | shearwater—Continued. Page.
Phoebetria palpebrata auduboni____ 22 black-vented eae 19
Pickering, C.— Cory a=--.2 54
on fork-tailed petrel__._.___-__ 135 greater — 65
on Wilson petrel_.___.-__-- 170, 171 Manx ________ G1
pink-footed albatross .- = 19 Mediterranean _ 59
shearwater_ = 62 New Zealand__ 101
pintado petrel —_----L---------~-- 49 pale-footed__-__----.-- 60
piscator, Sula 211 pink-footed____
Plath, Karl, on yellow-billed tropic slender-billed_
bird 183, 186 sooty._.._-
Priocella antarctica___.____--.--.- 46 Townsend__
Priofinus cinereus 103 wedge-tailed
Pterodroma cahow..-----.-----.-- 112 | short-tailed albatross_-_
hasitata___--.--...---- 106 | Shufeldt, R, W., on cahow---_--_
117 | slender-billed fulmar____--
Puffinus assimilis godmani —---..-_ 17 shearwater__
auricularis 84 | Snodgrass, R. E., and Heller, Bd-
risCUS noe racine ene neue 85 mund, on blue-faced booby---~- 196
lherminieri lherminteri ~~ 74 | Socorro petrel_- 162
opisthomelas ~--..------_- 19 | sooty shearwater__--..--_---_--_- 85
puffinus puffinus — Ti | Spinney, H. L., on Wilson petrel___. 170
tenuirostris ____.--__----- 90 | Stead, BH. F., on cormorant__--,-. 239
puffinus puffinus, Puffiinus_.._-___._- 71 | Steganopodes 181
Ramsay, E. P., on pale-footed shear- Stejneger, Leonhard—
water 60, 61 on forked-tailed petrel_.____ —= 138
Ray, M. 8.— on Pacifie fulmar_-----_.---- 389, 40
on Brandt cormorant__-----~~- 268 on pelagic cormorant___ 272, 278, 274
on Farallon cormorant-_-~.--- 258 on short-tailcd albatross----._ 6,7
red-billed tropic-bird___-__-----.--- 187 | Stockard, C. R., on water-turkey_._.. 231
red-faced cormorant ~~ 279 | stormy petrel_-___-_.----------_- 125
red-footed booby _----- 211 | Strects, T. H—
red-tailed tropic-bird_.-._.----.---_ 190 on blue-faced booby--_-----_
Reid, 8. G.— on red-footed booby-
on Audubon shearwater----_.- 76 | Sula brewsteri _.._--.--_---------
on cahow-------~---- dactylatra --2.----2-----2-+:<
on Manx shearwater. leucogastris
Rich, W. H.— nebourl ee ei es
on greater shearwater_ piscator oot. 2225 - ooeS
on Leach petrel______ Sulidae
on sooty shearwater_--_------ Tait, W. C., on Cory shearwater___ 59
Richards, T. W.— Taverner, P, A., on double-crested
on black-footed albatross._.___ 2,3 cormorant 249
on Laysan albatross_....--.- 12,13
Ridgway, Robert, on North Atlantic eee Ee ee ee”, oe
whitedaced petrel___..-__---_-_ 176
Riley, J. H., on Mexican cormorant. 262 | teauirostris, Puffinus ------------_ 90
Rodgers fulmar__-.-___-___-..--- 43 | Tertre, J. B., du, on black-capped
rodgerst, Fulmarus __...--._-..-._ 43 petrel -- 110
Rothschild, Walter, on Laysan alba- Thalassogeron chlororhynchus-._--_ 19
tross__---- 18 chrysostomus culmi-
rubricaudus, Scaeophaethon_._.--.. 190 natus.__.--_..___ 16
Sabine, E., on fulmar_—--------~- 32 Thayer, J. E., and Bangs, Outram,
Saunders, Howard— on Guadalupe petrel.._.-_..- 152, 158
on Bulwer petrel_.___._-_.-.-_
on Manx shearwater Thyeliodroma, duller]... ...cu.sn4 101
Scaeophacthon rubricaudus_____.-_ 190 pacifica._..--..--~-. 97
Scott, R. F., on Wilson petrel_____ 166 | Townsend, C. W.—
Scott, W. E. D., on yellow-billed on Audubon shearwater _.. 74, 75, 76
tropic-bird..-.....-.-+.. ~ 182, 183, 186 on cormorant. ____ 236, 237, 238, 239,
Seebohm, Henry— 240, 241, 242, 243
on Bulwer petrel__.-..-_._._- 122 "on gannet__-----__ 218, 219, 225, 226
on short-tailed albatross_._.._ T on greater shearwater__-_---. 65
237 ' on Manx shearwater .._ 71, 72, 78, 74
17 on Wilson petrel__ 165, 166, 167, 168,
14 169, 170, 171, 172, 173
103 | Townsend shearwater .----..-..._ 84
INDEX. 343
Page. Page.
‘tropic-bird, red-billed ___._.....___ 187 | Wetmore, Alexander, on booby--- 202, 203
a Sceeeene os 190 | white-bellied petrel__..._-_-------- 173
ellow-billed _-_._-___ 181 | white-crested cormorant.___----~~- 255,
Tubinares ___ 1 | Willett, George—
Turle, W. H., on Manx shearwater_ 12 on fork-tailed petrel_____...-- 184
Turner, L. M.— on Leach petrel 140
on fork-tailed petrel___.-_____ 185 on pelagic cormorant__----- 272, 274
on fulmar 82 ) Willughby, F., on Manx shearwater- 73
on pelagie cormorant _________ 275 | Wilson, E. A.—
on short-tailed albatross _ 6 on Audubon sooty albatross_.- 25
urile, Phalacrocorax______________ 279 on black-tailed shearwater __ 103, 104
Van Kammen, I. I., on Leach petrel. 145 on giant fulmar —.._----.-.-- 28, 29
‘(Verrill, A. E., on cahow______-__ 115, 116 on pintado petrel ------------ 52
Verrill, A. H., on yellow-billed tropic- on slender-billed fulmar_._.--- AT
bird 181 on 175
Verrill, G. B— on 167, 168, 169
On giant fulmar______________ 27 | Wilson 165
on pink-footed albatross ______ 20 | Wood, William, on cormorant_._--- 237
vigua mexicanus, Phalacrocorax_.___. 261 | Wright, C. A., on Manx shearwater. 13
Walter, William, on slender-billed Wright, H. W., on Farallon cor-
shearwater = 95 MOLANt ose ee ee 258, 259
water-turkey__ 229 | Yarrell, William—
Wayne, A. T., on double-crested on Bulwer petrel__._.-------~ 122
cormorant 250 68 cormorant... - 238, 239
“wedge-tailed shearwater__--._____-_ 97 on Manx shearwater..-------- 13
Wells, J. G., on Audobon shear- yellow-billed tropic-bird._-~-- mel ee
water 75,76 } yellow-nosed: albatross _.---------- 16
ADDITIONAL COPIES
‘OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM
THE SUPERINTENDENT O¥ DOCUMENTS
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D. C.
AT
80 CENTS PER COPY
v
4
/
> bam
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11