Breeding Biology of Crested, Least, and Whiskered Auklets on Buldir Island, Alaska

Home , Buldir Island, Least auklet, Whiskered auklet

Condor84: 197-202 0 The CooperOmthological Society 1982

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF CRESTED, LEAST, AND WHISKERED AUKLETS ON BULDIR ISLAND, ALASKA

ERIC P. KNUDTSON

AND G. VERNON BYRD

ABSTRACT. -Nest site characteristics, breeding phenology, productivity, and mortality factors were evaluated from 1974 to 1976 for the CrestedAuklet (Aethia cristatella), the Least Auklet (A. pus&~), and the Whiskered Auklet (A. pygmaea), which nested together in a colony at Buldir Island in subarctic Alaska. These specieswere compared and data from Buldir were compared with those from previous studies at an arctic colony. The auklets actively competed for nest sites and differed in their choice of site substrates.Crested Auklets, the largestof the three, used the largestnest crevices. Breeding activities occurred on Buldir from mid-May to mid-August. Crested Auklets had a slightly longer nesting period than the other species.Reproductive success(fledglings/eggs) was approximately 50% for Crested and Least auklets, and apparently higher for Whiskered Auklets. Little predation on eggsor chicks was recorded, but avian predators were the major causeof adult auklet mortality.

The three speciesof the genusAethia nest pri- and duration of the breeding cycle at high lat- marily on islandsin or near the Bering Sea and itudes. We also tested the premise, developed the Sea of Okhotsk (Fig. 1). Crested (A. cris- at St. Lawrence, that Crested and Least auklets tatella) and Least (A. pusillu) auklets nest to- are segregatedin the talus habitat by the sizes gether in mixed colonies throughout most of of boulders (hence, crevices). their ranges (A.O.U. 1957). The Whiskered Auklet (A. pygmaea) has a more restricted STUDY AREA AND METHODS range, but it occurs with the other two species at some coloniesin the Aleutian Islands(Murie Buldir Island (52”21’N, 175”56’E) is the west- 1959). The biology of these three species of ernmost island in the Rat Island group, Aleu- auklets is poorly known, except at St. Law- tian Islands, Alaska (Fig. 1). It is the most rence Island, Alaska, where Crested and Least isolated island in the Aleutians, being 113 km auklets have been studied intensively (Fay and west of the nearestisland. Buldir (6.4 km long, Cade 1959; Bedard 1967, 1969a, b; Sealy 3.2 km wide) has an area of about 2,000 ha. 1968, 1973, 1975; Searing 1977). Stejneger Volcanic in origin, the island has three dom- (1885) and Kozlova (1957) presented limited inant peaks, the tallest being 655 m. data on all three speciesof auklets from the The main island of Buldir has about 8 ha Commander Islands. Murie (1959), Gabriel- of talus slopes,and Middle and Outer Rocks, son and Lincoln (1959), Sekora et al. (1979) 2 km offshore, have a combined area of 1 ha and Byrd and Gibson (1980) have provided of talus. All talus areas on the island are in- information on the distribution of auklets in habited by auklets. The island has 20 km of the Aleutian Islands, but few data are available coastline including 7.8 km (39%) of large-di- from this region on breeding biology. ameter boulders. This boulder habitat was During avifaunal investigations on Buldir used by auklets, but to a lesser extent than Island from 1974 to 1976, certain aspectsof talus. The Main Talus colony, our primary the biology of Crested, Least, and Whiskered study area, is located on the north-central side auklets were studied in a mixed colony in- of Buldir Island (Fig. 1). This talus slope en- cluding over 250,000 birds (Byrd et al., in compasses4.3 ha and ranges from 0.5 to 4.0 press). In this paper, we summarize data on m deep. nest site characteristics, breeding phenology, Buldir is one of the few Aleutian Islands productivity, and mortality of the three species where no land mammals have been intro- and compare these data with those from pre- duced. Twenty speciesof seabirds nest there, vious studies at St. Lawrence Island in arctic including 12 speciesof alcids (G. V. Byrd, un- Alaska. We compared breeding schedulesat publ. data). The most common birds nesting Buldir and St. Lawrence islandsin order to test in the talus slopes with the three species of the hypothesisthat climate dictates the timing Aethia are Parakeet Auklets (Cyclorrhynchus

[I971 198 ERIC P. KNUDTSON AND G. VERNON BYRD

BERING SEA

COMMANDER

FIGURE 1. Location of Buldir Island and the Main Talus study area, psittacula) and Horned Puffins (Fratercula laying on the surface occurred, presumably by corniculata). mature birds unable to obtain suitable nest Investigations were conducted at Buldir sites.At Buldir, we found suggestiveevidence from mid-May through late August in 1974 that auklets were limited by a shortageof nest and 1975, and mid-May through late Septem- sites. In February 197 5 an earthquake caused ber 1976. In 1974 and 1975 observations of a small rockslidenear the east side of the Main aukletswere incidental to more intensive stud- Talus. In June 1975 we found auklets nesting ies of other species,but in 1976 biologistsvis- in the new area in addition to the previously ited the study area at least weekly. During the inhabited areas. This suggeststhat an excess laying period, crevices in a specified area of of adults was present,who had previously been the study area were searched approximately unable to obtain nest sites. In addition, we every three days to determine the distribution found eggson the surface of talus slopes each of egg-laying dates. Egg fates and hatching year of the study. dates were determined by checking eggs in Bedard (1969a) examined the segregation marked crevicesweekly during incubation and between Crested and Least auklets at St. Law- every three days during the hatching period. rence. He noted that the density of Crested To calculate the sizes of nest site, three mea- Auklets was positively correlated with boulder surements, perpendicular to each other, were size, and that the density of Least Auklets de- made in 107 nest crevices. creased in areas with large-diameter surface boulders. Assuming that the size of surface RESULTS AND DISCUSSION boulders was related to the size of rock crev- HABITAT USE ices, Bedard (1969a) suggestedthat Crested Crested, Least, and Whiskered auklets nest in and Least auklets selected different nest sites rock crevices throughout their ranges (Murie because of the large differences in their body 1959, Bedard 1969a). At Buldir, Crested and size. Least auklets nested mostly in talus slopes. We measuredthe volume of nest spaces,and Whiskered Auklets used the talus and also determined that Crested Auklets had signifi- nested under beach boulders above the high- cantly (P < 0.01) larger nest sites than Least tide line. and Whiskered auklets (Table 1). Whiskered Lack (1968) suggestedthat alcids may com- Auklets used sites that did not differ signifi- pete intensely for nest sites and that nesting cantly from those of Least Auklets (P > 0.01). habitat may limit breeding populations. Ro- Evidence of displacementwas noted at Buldir. wan (196 5) proposed a similar idea for bur- On 29 May 1976 a Crested Auklet was found row-nesting petrels in a colony where abortive incubating an egg in a crevice that had been BREEDING BIOLOGY OF AUKLETS 199

TABLE 1. Comparison of volumes of nest crevices for Auklets preferred depressions for nest sites, three auklet specieson Buldir Island. but Least and Whiskered auklets most frequently choseflat surfaceson which to deposit Mean adult Nest crevtcevolume (cm’) eggs (Table 2). The depressions used by Species weight(g) MeaIl SD Crested Auklets apparently were dug by the Crested Auklet 264* 1567.7 (55)** 342.1 birds. Crested Auklets are larger and therefore Least Auklet 84 117.6 (40) 65.5 probably better able to dig depressionsthan Whiskered Auklet 121 162.5 (12) 70.3 the smaller auklets. Their eggsare relatively * G. V. Byrd, unpubl.data. ** Number of nestsin parentheses large, so a depression may lessen the chance that they will be dislodged from precarious sites. Crested Auklets nested below contact used by a pair of Horned Puffins the previous points between boulders much less frequently season.Five days later (2 June) a Horned Puf- than the other two species,probably because fin was found incubating at the same site, and these sites tended to be too small for them. no evidence of the Crested Auklet or its egg We found Crested Auklets nesting in two was seen. Another time, a Least Auklet was lo-m3 “talus caves” or chambers, up to 4 m incubating an egg on 28 May 1976, and on 2 deep in the Main Talus. Each chamber con- June it had been replaced by a Crested Auklet tained lo-20 Crested Auklet nests, but no incubating its egg. As before, we saw no in- Least or Whiskered auklet nests.A singlecom- dication that the Least Auklet had been there. munal entrance led into each cave. For nests Active displacement according to body size in sight of each other, nearest-neighbor dis- and the size of the nest entrance may be a fairly tances were 1 m or more, but where visual common means by which birds compete for barriers occurred, eggswere found within 15 nest sites. Miller (1968) found that in hole- cm of each other. nesting passerines,a larger speciesprevented a smaller one from using holes suitable for NESTING PHENOLOGY either, while the smaller speciesnested in holes On 30 April 1974 we saw thousandsof auklets that were only large enough for it. resting on the sea within 5 km of Buldir, but On Buldir and St. Lawrence islands(Bedard none were seen on the Main Talus. All three 1969a) social dominance among species of specieswere present on the Main Talus study auklets seemsto depend on the differences in area by 15 May (1974-1976) when the talus body size. On Buldir, Crested Auklets always was mostly snow-free. In contrast, at St. Law- displaced Least and Whiskered auklets in en- rence Island, approximately 1,200 km farther counters (n = 38). The outcome of encounters north (63”46’N), auklets first arrive on the between the two smaller auklets was less pre- nestingslopes by 20-29 May, when snow usu- dictable, but Whiskered Auklets displaced ally still covers most of the rock crevices (Sealy Least Auklets in 70% of the encounters we 1968, 1975; Searing 1977). observed (n = 25). This suggeststhat Crested Egg-layingfor all three speciesof auklets was Auklets should be able to use the nest sites highly synchronous; most individuals laid they prefer. within a period of 10 to 12 days (Table 3). We examined the relative useof nestingsub- Although sample sizesare small, our data sug- strate by each speciesto further evaluate in- gestthat the peak of laying for Crested Auklets terspecific preferencesfor nest sites. All three may have been slightly later than for the other speciesof auklets used rock and soil substrates two species.The peak of hatching for Crested (Table 2). Whiskered Auklets showed a sig- Auklets was clearly later because the species nificant preference (x2, P < 0.0 1) for rock sub- had a longer incubation period than the two strates,while the other speciesshowed no sig- smaller species.Laying and hatching dates at nificant preferencesfor either substrate.Crested Buldir are approximately two weeks earlier

TABLE 2. Relative use of various substratesby nesting auklets at Buldir Island.

Rock substrate Soil substrate

Unmodifed DepP510Il Unmodified Depresston Species rocks in pebbles Total rock soil in soil Total sod

Crested Auklet (52)* 14** 35 49 21 30 51 Least Auklet (26) 35 4 46 15 61 Whiskered Auklet (11) 73 9 18 0 18 * Samplesize in parentheses. ** Valuesrepresent percent of total for eachspecies. 200 ERIC P. KNUDTSON AND G. VERNON BYRD

TABLE 3. Distribution of laying and hatching dates for auklets on Buldir Island in 1976.

Date laid Date hatched 24-26 27-29 30 May- Swcies n May May 1June 2-5June 5-7June n 2430 June I-4 July 5-8 July 9-12 July 13-16 July Crested Auklet 30 5* 7 6 11 1 36 0 6 13 16 1 Least Auklet 11 2 5 2 1 :, 15 3 8 3 1 Whiskered Auklet 6 2 2 1 1 6 4 0 2 0 * Number of eggs than those recorded by Sealy (1968) and Sear- Buldir (Table 4). Since most of the eggs we ing (1977) at St. Lawrence. Sealy (1975) con- monitored were found after incubation was cluded that snow cover was the proximate fac- underway, our estimate of hatching success tor influencing the timing of egg laying of at may be excessive. Fledging successestimates least some pairs at St. Lawrence. At Buldir our are based on small samples because chicks study area was snow-free by mid-May each became inaccessibleas they grew more mobile. year of the study, but snow in late springs On St. Lawrence, Searing (1977) found a might delay nesting. lower hatching successfor Crested (30%) and Since we did not know the exact dates of Least (60%) auklets than we found at Buldir. laying or hatching (our data were k3 days), Searing was unable to determine the fate of we were able to determine only minimum in- most Crested Auklet chicks. He found that cubation periods. Crested Auklets incubated Least Auklet fledging successwas only 34%, at least 40-4 1 days (n = 7) and Least and half that estimated for the speciesat Buldir in Whiskered auklets incubated approximately 1976. 35-36 days (n = 5 and 3, respectively). It ap- pears that incubation was more protracted at MORTALITY FACTORS Buldir than at St. Lawrence, where Sealy Eggs. In 1976, infertility of the egg or death (1968) found average periods of 35.6 days of the embryo were the primary causesof mor- (range 34-47) for Crested Auklets and 3 1.2 tality of Crested (89%) and Least (93%) auklet days (range 28-36) for Least Auklets. eggs;the remaining dead eggswere unaccount- The first fledglingsof each specieswere seen ably cracked. Disturbance of birds by investi- on the sea at the end of July each year, but gators may have increased egg mortality by most chicks fledged during the first 10 days of causing frightened adults to crack or tempo- August. As might be expected, Whiskered and rarily abandon eggs.Most embryo death oc- Least auklet chicks fledged slightly earlier than curred during the early stagesof incubation. Crested Auklets. Sealy (1968) found the same None of the eggswe studied was taken by pred- situation on St. Lawrence, where Crested Auk- ators, but Glaucous-wingedGulls (Larus glau- lets fledged from mid-August to early Septem- cexens) might prey upon a small number of ber. Stejneger(1899) found Whiskered Auklets auklet eggsat Buldir. still present in the central Kuril Islands 22-25 Chicks. Crested Auklets suffered higher August. At Buldir most auklets had departed chick mortality (35%) than Least Auklets by mid-August, but a few individuals of each (25%); none of the three Whiskered Auklet specieswere seen as late as 22 August. chicks died (Table 4). Most chick mortality occurred within the first week of life. Ther- PRODUCTION moregulation begins in Crested Auklet chicks We recorded an overall reproductive success at three to four days and in Least Auklets at of 5 1% for Crested and Least auklets and 86% five to six days of age (Sealy 1968). It seems for a small sample of Whiskered Auklets at likely that chick mortality decreasesabruptly after birds develop the ability to thermo- TABLE 4. Productivity of auklets on Buldir Island in regulate. Also, severe congenital problems 1976. would be expected to cause death within the first week. In 1976 we noted ticks (up to 11 Repro- per bird) parasitizing two Crested Auklet ductive Total Hatching Total Fledging suc- chicks and three Least Auklet chicks. In most Species eggs success* chicks success**CCSS*** cases,these ticks were attached to webs of the Crested Auklet 36 76 21 67 51 feet or the eyelids. We were unable to learn if Least Auklet 28 68 12 75 51 ticks influenced mortality, but we doubt that Whiskered Auklet 7 86 3 100 86 such low-intensity parasitism is a significant * Percentof total eggslaid that hatched. ** Percentof chicksthat fledged. cause of chick mortality. *** Hatching successx fledgingsuccess. Most auklet chicks fledged during darkness. BREEDING BIOLOGY OF AUKLETS 201

TABLE 5. Number of auklet remains found in eyries of pothesized that the longer growing seasonin Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagleson Buldir Island. the subarcticwould selectfor a longer breeding season, yet we found the breeding season at Total items Whis- Buldir lasted as long as that at St. Lawrence. exam- Total Least kered Predator ined auklets %i% A&let Auklet The start of the breeding cycle, however, was

PeV?gliIle two weeks later in the arctic, probably due to FalCOn 75 61 (79)* 7 (II)** 52 (85) 2 (3) snow cover on nest sites. This suggeststhat Bald Eagle 83 33 (40) 24 (73) 8 (24) 1 (3) climate at high latitudes may dictate the tim- * Percentof total food itemsin parentheses. ** Percentof total aukletsin parentheses. ing, but not the duration of breeding. Interspecific competition for nest sites, which has previously been recorded in the arc- Glaucous-wingedGulls took two Least Auklet tic, probably limited nesting populations at fledglingsthat remained near shoreuntil dawn, Buldir. Crested Auklets, owing to their large as well as a few nestlingsthat were visible from size, probably were able to securenest crevices the surface of the talus (R. H. Day, pers. of a suitable size, leaving the smaller auklets comm.). crevices that Crested Auklets could not use. Adults. Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregri- nus), Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephah), ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and Glaucous-winged Gulls were major pred- We thank the following friends who helped with the field ators of adult auklets on Buldir. Auklets, par- work: Christian P. Dau, Robert H. Day, Matthew H. Dick, ticularly Least Auklets, were an important part Elaine B. Rhode, William E. Rodstrom, Michael A. Spin- of the diet of Peregrine Falcons (Table 5). dler, Theodore G. Tobish, John L. Trapp, D. H. S. Wehle, and Dennis W. Woolington. Carl. E. Bock, Robert H. Day, White (1975) has related the distribution and George J. Divoky, Wayne Hoffman, David A. Manuwal, abundance of Peregrine Falcons in the Aleu- Spencer G. Sealy, Gary F. Searing, John L. Trapp, and tian Islands to the distribution of auklets. Bul- Clayton M. White offered helpful suggestionson the dir Island supportedfour or five breeding pairs manuscript. Heidi Russell prepared the figure. Captain of falcons, a particularly dense population, George Putney, crewman Dave Clemens, and others on the staff of the Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge probably due to the large auklet population. provided excellent logistical support. This project was Bald Eaglesdepended lesson auklets than Per- sponsoredby the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. egrines, and unlike falcons, eagles favored Crested over Least auklets (Table 5). LITERATURE CITED Glaucous-winged Gulls hunted alcids daily AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS ’ UNION. 1957. Check-list at the Main Talus, and we saw gulls catch auk- of North American birds. 5th ed. Am. Omithol. lets on over 50 occasions. Auklets made up Union, Baltimore. only 6% of the food items of gulls over the BEDARD, J. H. 1967. Ecologicalsegregation among plankton feeding Alcidae (Aethia and Cychlorrhynchus). whole island (Trapp 1979), while storm-pe- Ph.D. diss., Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver. trels (Oceanodroma spp.), which nested abun- BEDARD, J. H. 1969a. The nesting of the Crested, Least, dantly over the entire island, provided the and Parakeetauklets on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. major food source. In contrast, Trapp (pers. Condor 71:386-398. BEDARD, J. H. 1969b. Feeding of the Least, Crested, and comm.) found that Crested and Least auklets Parakeetauklets around St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. comprised 67% and 33%, respectively, of the Can. J. Zool. 47:1025-1050. auklets taken by gulls at Main Talus, percent- BYRD, G. V., E. P. KNUDTSON, AND R. H. DAY. In press. agesalmost identical to the estimated relative Patternsofcolony attendanceand censusingof auklets abundance of Crested and Least auklets nest- (Aethia spp.)at Buldir Island, Alaska. Condor. BYRD, G. V., AND D. D. GIBSON. 1980. Distribution and ing there (Byrd et al., in press).No Whiskered population statusof Whiskered Auklet in the Aleutian Auklet remains were found in gull pellets ana- Islands, Alaska. West. Birds 11:135-140. lyzed from the Main Talus, but one pellet FAY, F. H., AND T. J. CADE. 1959. An ecologicalanalysis found in another area contained the remains of the avifauna of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 67:3-l 50. of such a bird. GABRIELSON,I. N., AND F. C. LINCOLN. 1959. The birds ofAlaska. StackpoleCo., Harrisburg, PA and Wildlife CONCLUSIONS Management Inst., Washington, DC. Climate, predation, and the temporal and spa- KOZLOVA, K. V. 1957. Charadriiformes, SuborderAlcae. tial availability of food exert important selec- Fauna of USSR: Birds, 2(3): l-140. Israel Prog. Sci. Transl., Jerusalem(196 1). tive pressureson the breeding biology of auk- LACK, D. 1968. Ecological adaptations for breeding in lets. Our study focused on a subarctic colony birds. Methuen and Co., London. that differed from those previously studied at MILLER, A. H. 1960. Adaptation of breedingschedule to St. Lawrence Island in the arctic. Buldir and latitude. Proc. XII Int. Ornithol. Congr. (1958):513-522. St. Lawrence differ in their climatic conditions MURIE, 0. J. 1959. Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and and may differ in the availability of their food Alaska Peninsula. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. N. Am. resourcesand abundanceof predators. We hy- Fauna 6 1. 202 ERIC P. KNUDTSON AND G. VERNON BYRD

ROWAN,M. K. 1965. Regulation of seabird numbers. and D. N. Nettleship [eds.], Conservation of marine Ibis 107:54-59. birds of northern North America. SEALY,S. G. 1968. A comparative study of breeding STEJNEGER, L. 1885. Results of ornithological explora- ecology and timing in plankton-feeding alcids (Cy- tions in the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka. clorrhynchusand Aethiu spp.) on St. Lawrence Island, U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 29: l-382. Alaska. M.Sci. thesis, Univ. of British Columbia, STEJNEGER, L. 1899. The birds of the Kuril Islands. Proc. Vancouver. U.S. Natl. Mus. 21:269-296. SEALY,S. G. 1973. Adaptive significanceofpost-hatching TRAPP,J. L. 1979. Variation in summer diet ofGlaucous- developmental patterns and growth rates in the Al- winged Gulls in the western Aleutian Islands:An eco- cidae. Omis Stand. 4: 113-l 2 1. logical interpretation. Wilson Bull. 9 1:412-4 19. SEALY,S. G. 1975. Influence of snow on egg laying in WHITE, C. M. 1975. Studies of Peregrine Falcons in the auklets. Auk 92:528-538. Aleutian Islands, p. 33-50. In J. R. Murphy, C. M. SEARING,G. F. 1977. Some aspectsofthe ecologyofcliff- White and B. E. Harrell [eds.], Population status in nestingseabirds at Kongkok Bay, St. LawrenceIsland, raptors. Raptor Research Foundation, Vermillion, Alaska, during 1976, p. 263-412. In Environmental SD. assessmentof the Alaskan Continental Shelf. Vol. 5. U.S. Deps. Commerce and Interior, Washington, DC. 624 Fountain Ave., Redlands, California 92373. Address SEKORA,P. C., G. V. BYRD, AND D. D. GIBSON. 1979. of secondauthor: Aladdin Rt. Box i60 E, Colville, Wash- Breeding distribution and status of seabirds in the ington 99114. Received 26 October 1979. Final accep- Aleutian Islands, Alaska, p. 33-46. In J. C. Bartonek tance 25 January 1982.

Condor84:202 (c The CooperOrnithological Society 1982

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

An Annotated Bibliography of the Red-cockadedWood- addressesof breedersand suppliers.A usefulreference not pecker, Picoides bor&lis. - Jerome A. Jackson. [ 19811. just for poultry geneticistsbut for other scientistswho use SavannahRiver Plant. National Environmental Research poultry for their research. Park Program, U.S. Dept. of Energy. 290 p. Paper cover. Source: Librarian, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 2980 1. This well-compiled bibliography lists nearly 1,800 publications pertaining to the The Wading Birds of North America (North of Mexico).- Red-cockadedWoodpecker, ranging from researcharticles Text by Allan W. Eckert, paintings and drawings by I&l to a bare mention. Each entry is coded to show its partic- E. Karalus. 1981. Doubledav & Co.. Inc.. Garden Citv. ular subject; reciprocally, an index lists the entries ac- NY. 252 p. $49.95. This is a cbffee-tadlebook about Nor& cording to subject category. American ciconiiforms, gruiforms, and flamingos, some 31 species.The sDeciesaccounts touch on the scientific and colloquial names, external morphology and color- International Registryof Poultry Genetic Stocks;a Direc- ation, habitat, enemies and defenses,feeding and nesting tory of SpecializedLines and Strains, Mutations, Breeds habits, migration, and economic role. Much space is de- and Varieties of Chickens,Japanese Quail and Turkeys.- voted to subspecies,yet no measurementsare given and Ralph G. Somes, Jr. 1981. Bulletin 460, Department of the taxonomy is not considered.Overall, the treatment is Nuiritional Sciences,University of Connec&ut, Storrs. superficial.diffuse, and undocumented. The list of refer- 97 D. Paoer cover. $3.00. Source:author. Dent. of Nutri- ences contains nothing later than 1975, and omits many tional Sciences,Univ. Connecticut,Storrs; CTb6268. This pertinent works, notably Volume 1 of Palmer’s Handbook. fourth edition of the Registry now includes stocks from That book and others (e.g., Terre& Encyclopedia[noticed 17 different countries. Of its seven sections,Sections I, II, in Condor 83:170]) are more detailed and up-to-date and V list, describe,and give sourcesfor specializedforms sourcesof information about thesebirds. The illustrations of the three poultry speciesconsidered. Section III lists are attractive, especiallythe sketches,but they are far from the known genetic traits and their gene symbols for these outstanding;the colors of many of the paintings seem too birds. Section IV presentsthe three chromosome linkage bright. The range maps are less accurateand current than maps. Section VI describes the chicken plumage colors those in the Handbook or in field guides. The book has groupedaccording to the E locus.The last sectionlists the little to recommend it, especiallyat such a high price.