Page:Condor17(1).djvu/34

Jan., 1915 BIRDS OBSERVED ON FORRESTER ISLAND, ALASKA 33 their route it is certain that they are most rapid flyers, and in the dim even- ing and morning light it is a difficult feat to follow their bullet-like flight against the sky. If the day be foggy or dark the usual early morning depart- ure may be delayed for an hour or so. Under such circumstances they rest in front of their burrows, or wander about the neighborhood, uttering their curi- ous nasal cry of four short notes rapidly repeated. In former times the Rhinoceros Auklet was far more numerous than it is at the present time, according to the reports of the indians. As late as fifty years ago many of the slopes now untenanted afforded nesting sites for these and other birds, and the hills now occupied had a far greater population than one finds today. In those earlier times the sky was literally darkened as they put out to sea, and the sound of their cries was a veritable babel. The dimin- ution might naturally be ascribed to the activity of the natives, who relish this species above all others, but the natives themselves meet such a claim with the evidence of many scores of years when, with a much larger tribe than at Fig. 15. EGG AND NEST OF RHINOCEROS AI'KLET WITH SIDE OF BURROW CUT AIVAY present, they gathered eggs and birds in vastly greater numbers without any appreciable decline in the bird colony. Their explanation rests solely upon the belief that the decrease is due entirely to the rank growth of underbrush and ferns which form a tangled mat too dense to permit of ready flight to and from the burrows. In former times, even within the memory of some of the older men of the tribe, the country was much more open; and it is certainly a readily observed fact that this species avoids the thickets and seeks out more open ground. Occasional nests are found in salmon berry patches, but well worn runways invariably lead into the open. The food of the Rhinoceros Auklet, whether young or old, consists wholly of sand launces, according to the reports of the natives, and an examination of a few stomachs supports their claim. The young birds are fully developed and able to fly before leaving the nest. 4. Ptychoramphus aleuticus. Cassin Auklet. Although several attempts wm'e made to distinguish the burrows of the Cassin Auklet from those of the