VOL. III.] Natural History of the F^arallones. i6i 



was no longei- menaced. Mr. Anthony called my attention to the 

 fact that the nests of Brandt's cormorant were decorated around 

 the sides with fresh seaweed, while the Farallon and Baird's cor- 

 morant built their nests exclusively of dried weeds, principally 

 Bceria maritima. 



We also visited the nesting place of Baird's cormorant, and ob- 

 tained specimens of the old and young. This bird is less common 

 than the other two cormorants and less communistic in its habits. 

 It appears to resort to steep cliffs upon which to build its nest, while 

 the other two species build upon a sloping hillside, as a rule. One 

 solitary Baird's cormorant was noticed sitting upon her nest on a 

 little shelf of rock only about fifty feet above the booming surf, and 

 completely isolated not only from other individuals of her own 

 species but from all the other birds of the island. A lonely life in- 

 deed amid the wild desolation of nature. Figures i and 2 of Plate 

 xxi indicate the differences in the bill of the Farallon and Baird's 

 cormorant. The former has a considerably longer bill, and there is 

 quite a well marked difference in shape, even at this early age. The 

 color of the skin is also quite distinct in the two species, being 

 almost black or dark slate colored in the Farallon, and a seal brown 

 in Baird's. 



The return from the morning's collecting trip was made under 

 difficulties for we had so many birds to carry that we could barely 

 walk und&r the weight of some twelve cormorants, together with a 

 few guillemots, puffins and auklets. The afternoon of the ' ' glori- 

 ous Fourth' ' was consumed in making rough skeletons of some of the 

 birds, and putting others away in alcohol, while the evening was de- 

 voted to writing up the notebook. The following morning was largely 

 taken up with collecting the shells and other marine life among the 

 rocks, together with some insects, but I also managed to visit the 

 nesting place of the puffins ( Lunda cirrhata), and Cassin's auklet 

 ( Ptychoramphics aleziticiis). The steep rocky hillside in which they 

 nested was composed of a sort of coarse shale-like granite in which 

 there were many fissures offering a safe retreat for the birds. Peer- 

 ing into some dark cranny a puffin would be barely visible at the 

 further end. I was immediately struck with the use of the con- 

 spicuous white patch upon the face as a socialistic recognition mark. 

 Were it not for this the bird would be completely invisible from the 

 entrance to the burrow, and it would doubtless be a matter of con- 



