. The Canadian field-naturalist. 616 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 118 flutter, or fly to the water from their burrows (Lockley 1934; Richai-dson 1961; Gaston and Jones 1998), where- as fledgUng Cassin's Auklets {Ptychorainphus aleuti- cus) fly to the sea after making short "practice flights" (Manuwal 1974). Leschner (1976) found Rhinoceros Auklet fledglings that were too smaU to fly "crouched under rocks or crevices in the morning" on Destruction Island, Washington; this suggested to her "that fledg- lings walk or flutter to the ; Similarly, Wilson (19
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 616 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 118 flutter, or fly to the water from their burrows (Lockley 1934; Richai-dson 1961; Gaston and Jones 1998), where- as fledgUng Cassin's Auklets {Ptychorainphus aleuti- cus) fly to the sea after making short "practice flights" (Manuwal 1974). Leschner (1976) found Rhinoceros Auklet fledglings that were too smaU to fly "crouched under rocks or crevices in the morning" on Destruction Island, Washington; this suggested to her "that fledg- lings walk or flutter to the ; Similarly, Wilson (1977) observed fledgling Rhinoceros Auklets on Pro- tection Island, Washington, "walking down the grass covered slopes" to the sea. But Richardson, (1961) who also worked on Protection Island, wrote that "flight [capability] ... appears to develop precociously," and that like the "half-grown young" of murres, fledgling Rhinoceros Auklets "fly down to the ; On Protection Island, hundreds of Rhinoceros Auk- lets nest along a sandy cUff that rises above Violet Point, a gravel spit that contains a large Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) colony. Each summer, scores of auklet fledglings are found dead within a relatively defined area of the gull colony, across an artificial channel and marina from the cliff. The distribution of dead fledglings and the unique semi-natural geography of Protection Island allowed us to evaluate Richard- son's fly-down hypothesis. Methods Protection Island, Jefferson County, Washington (48°08'N, 122°55'W), consists of a 35-76-m high pla- teau surrounded by steep, grass-covered, sandy cliffs ideally suited for Rhinoceros Auklet burrowing. The largest Rhinoceros Auklet colony in Washington is located here, with approximately 27 549 burrows (Wfl- son and Manuwal 1986). Violet Point, a gravel spit that extends 800 m east from the upper island, contained around 5 100 of Glaucous-winged Gull nests during this
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Keywords: ., bookauthorottawafi, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1919
