Page:Condor10(1).djvu/50

Jan., 1908 usually manages to find some inaccessible place to put.her eggs, but she quits the nest on the slightest provocation, or none, and the Raven laughs in his sable sleeve. An estimate of 6,000 would scarcely cover the Baird Cormorant population. 0ceanodroma ka?tlingi. K?eding Petrel. Petrel cities exist on Erin (off Gren- ville Point), Alexander Islet, Dhuoyuatzachtahl, Wishaloolth, Tatoosh, and Car- roll. The last named is a mere village of some hundreds. The metropolis is evidently on Dhuoyuatzachtahl, where in the space of an acre perhaps 40,000 of these eery sea-waifs nest. Very possibly other colonies may be found on such rocks as Cake, Rounded Islet, and Silversides, as these were not minutely inspected. Strangely enough, no Fork-tailed Petrels (Oceanodroma furcala) were seen along the entire coast, altho they are said to abound on the Oregon rocks. Lunda cirrhata. Tufted Puffin. Many of the' Olympiadic islets have sloping grass-covered sides and these are invariably occupied by Puffin burrows. Thirteen major warrens were noted, and of these the largest occurs on Carroll,' whose Puffin population in 1907 we estimated at 10,000. Puffin burrows are usually easy of access, inasmuch as the more precipitous rocks are generally denuded; but now and then one sees a high-hung colony as safe as tho transplanted to Elysium. Con- trary to the experience (?) of certain imaginative writers, 'I have .found these birds absolutely silent. Cerorhinca monocerata. Rhinoceros Auklet. The only colony of this bird appears on Destruction Island, whose slanting sides,. grass-covered,. brushy, or barren, are completely given over to them. This island, .unlike the. remaining members of the Olympiades, is composed of glacial, 0r glacio-aHtivial,. deposits in place, a mere detached bit of the mainland floor; of a piece with the I-lot valley four or five miles away. On this account, therefore, it offer s asylu m to birds which insist on driving long tunnels--ten. to fifteen feet long in some ':instances-- and the Auklets on Destruction must number close on to 10,000.. Ptychoramphus aleuticus. Cassin Auklet. Because of its early nesting this bird was overlooked in July, '06. In June we found them upon Dhuoyuatzachtahl, Alexander, and Carroll, and they doubtless occur in season at other places. Certain cries heard on Tatoosh Island on the night of June 4th we were not able to investigate because of weather conditions, but suspected Cassins. Cepphus columba. Pigeon Guillemot. Not common along this coast. Per- haps not above fifty pairs to be found--these chiefly at Grenville Arch, Willoughby, Destruction, and Carroll. One bird nesting on one of the .sandstone reefs which guard Destruction Island, had squeezed herself into so narrow a chink that she was glad to call one egg a "set." Uria troile californica. California Murre. Murres do not occur in great num- bers. More occur upon Carroll Islet and its adjacent pinnacle, Paahwoke-it, than elsewhere; but an estimate of a thousand would cover them. The crown of the Grenville Pillar holds perhaps 500, and 300 more find lodgment on Willoughby. Apart from these three stations only small groups of ten or a dozen pairs may be found. As a result of the July reconnoissance an estimate of 40,000 was placed upon the entire sea-bird population of the Olympiades, other than the Petrels. In June last we were inclined to scale up Gulls and Baird Cormorants one-fourth, Puffins and Rhinoceros Auklets one-half, leaving the total, including Cassin Auklets, at nearer 60,000. The Kaeding Petrels, of course, constitute the element of uncer- tainty, but an estimate of 100,000 will at least represent the "order of magnitude" of their numbers. Altogether an estate well worth preserving by Uncle Sam for Uncle Sam's nephews, of whom we are gratefully which. Seattle, Washington.