Guide leaflet . COMMON MURRE AND the Group. Bay, and St. Paul Island in Bering Sea, are tenanted by countlessindividuals of these birds. Murres feed on fish, which they se-cure by diving, using both wings and feet in propelling themselveswhile under water. Their note is a hoarse call sounding somewhatlike the syllable murre, whence their common name. They makeno nest, but lay their one peculiarly shaped and colored egg on anexposed ledge of rock or in a similarly unprotected place. Theshape of the egg is supposed to be an adaptation to the require-ments of the nesting sites, from whic
Guide leaflet . COMMON MURRE AND the Group. Bay, and St. Paul Island in Bering Sea, are tenanted by countlessindividuals of these birds. Murres feed on fish, which they se-cure by diving, using both wings and feet in propelling themselveswhile under water. Their note is a hoarse call sounding somewhatlike the syllable murre, whence their common name. They makeno nest, but lay their one peculiarly shaped and colored egg on anexposed ledge of rock or in a similarly unprotected place. Theshape of the egg is supposed to be an adaptation to the require-ments of the nesting sites, from which a more elliptical or spheri- The Bird Rock (iron|». 17 cal egg would roll and tall. The pear-shaped Moms eggs, . er. when moved by the bird or wind, revolve about theirown j>oint, practically without change of position. The wide ::on in the colors of Maires eggs, DO two o£ which .irealike, is thought to aid the birds in recognizing their own BRUNNICHS (Iroup. When hatched th .ire covered with .1 sooty black down. In some instances they are taken to the water when stillyoung; in others they acquire the power of flight before leavingtheir birth-pl r this reason the) ire often gathered in large nut .>r. when they < an be ike a b I visiting the 18 The Bird Rock Group. haunts of the birds during the egg-laying season. It is statedthat some twenty years ago 30,000 dozen Murres eggs were gath-ered annually on the Farallone Islands and sold in the San Fran-cisco markets. As a result of this wholesale robbing, the birdsdecreased in numbers so rapidly that the United States Govern-ment forbade their further molestation. It is greatly to be hopedthat the Canadian Government will soon take steps to afford simi-lar protection to the Murres of Bird Rock. Two species of Murres inhabit Bird Rock, the Common Murre(Uria troile) and Briinnichs Murre (Uria lomvia). To thecasual observer the differences distin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnatural, bookyear1901
