This book was conceived over three decades ago while I sat in a blind on a small island in Rosario Strait, Washington, surrounded by blue sky and water. Through my telephoto lens and binoculars I viewed Black Oystercatchers, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Tufted Puffins, and Pigeon Guillemots. It was an exciting day and a highlight of my biological experience. I decided then to write a book on the family of birds to which the guillemots and puffins belong.

Since those days on Williamson Rocks near Anacortes, Washington, my studies have been delightful adventures. There were weeks spent on islets off the Oregon Coast, and months on the Farallon Islands of California and Teuri Island in northern Japan. There was a year spent on islands in New Zealand comparing the habits of the Diving Petrel with northern auks and shorter visits to bird colonies in Alaska and Newfoundland. To visit a large seabird colony is an awe- inspiring experience. The sight is even a little bewildering, and certainly among the great wonders of the natural world. Upon setting foot on a bird island one immediately realizes that man is not the only creature inhabiting the earth, and I have always felt a sense of reverence and that perhaps I did not belong there. Yet man, bird and beast inherit the earth together.

\ Somehow, all these years have gone by and perhaps it is as well, for we now know much more about these fascinating seabirds, the auks. During the last twenty years, scores of investigators around the world's northern seas have recorded thousands of pages of notes on the habits of the auk family; nevertheless, we may never fully understand the ways of even a single species. At best we can guess and hint at the meaning of their actions. In this book, I draw freely from the reports of both amateur and professional ornithologists of the USSR, Europe, Great Britain, Japan, and North America.

At the XIV International Ornithological Congress at Oxford, England in 1966, a standing committee was formed for the coodination of seabird research. This committee organizes discussions at each congress on current topics of seabird biology and has thus stimulated greater interest in the birds of the world's oceans. In December 1972, a dozen participants in a seabird symposium held in Arcata, California organized the Pacific Seabird Group, dedicated to the study of the seabirds of the Pacific Basin. Now several hundred researchers are members of this group and are actively contributing to our knowledge of seabirds. Other groups have been formed to promote the interest of water birds in eastern North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia.

It is obvious that seabirds are greatly endangered by the rapid increase in offshore oil drilling, mining, gas exploration, fisheries development, and the use of chemical pollutants. The recent impetus given to the study of seabirds is undoubtedly prompted by this awareness. This is encouraging, for it shows that some people care.

It is the hope of the author and the publisher that this book will inspire everyone who enjoys birds and promote more enthusiasm for alcids in those who have been casually interested. The author aims to describe what the birds "do", rather than giving lengthy descriptions of structural features. It is hoped, too, that the inclusion of comparative data will be of reference value to the professional ornithologist who has little time to search through the scientific literature and summarize it for himself. For the layman, technical terms have been kept to a minimum; and for the ornithologist, the graphs and tables in the appendices are intended to provide concise comparisons of the species. Numerals associated with the text refer to the list of references at the end of the book and are intended as documentation and for those who wish to locate additional information.

I am indebted to many people who gave their time and assistance during the writing of this book. First, I wish to thank E. Suzanne Vannell and Edward Down for initial editorial comments. My wife Shirley, and the secretaries of the Biology Department of Andrews University deserve special thanks for the hours they spent typing and retyping the various chapters. Dr. David Nettleship and Dr. Jean Bédard invited me to join them on their seabird research islands in eastern Canada and gave excellent advice and critique of the manuscript. Dr. Nettleship was especially helpful in locating and providing literature sources. Dr. David Manuwal, Dr. Douglas Nelson, Dr. Dwight Smith and Dr. Timothy Birkhead suggested ways of improving the accuracy of the script. Dr. Duff H.S. Wehle critiqued the Tufted Puffin chapter. Dr. Robert M. Chandler kindly reviewed the chapter on fossil auks, and Dr. David Manuwal assisted with the information on the Cassin's Auklet. Minoru Inada and Akira Chiba translated the information from Japanese literature kindly sent to me by Yukio Higuchi, while Dina Novak and Zaravko and Bozana Stefanovic translated Russian papers. Any errors existing in the text are however, the responsibility of the author.

Paul Kelly, Robert Pitman, Kathy Winnet-Murray, Kelvin Murray, William Rodstrom, and Maura Naughton, all graciously hosted me and provided enthusiastic insights into the lives of the various species on Santa Barbara Island, California, and the Pribilofs, Alaska. I wish to thank, too, the administrators of Andrews University for providing leave time and travel funds to visit widely separate areas of North America.

Lastly, I am indebted to all those who so willingly provided the photographs which make this book beautiful.