236 OCEANIC BIRD LIFE 



While cruising in the rich Cahfornian current we saw several birds of 

 passage both from the Bering Strait in the Arctic and from the Antarctic, 

 including the tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) and the horned puffin 

 (Fratercula corniculata), both off San Francisco. A little further south, 

 as already mentioned, we saw hundreds of sooty shearwaters (Piiffinus 

 griseus) from the Antarctic. 



One dark and misty afternoon in May 1952 we anchored near the San 

 Benito Islands off Lower California, with the intention of trying to catch 

 one of the northern elephant seals. In this we were unsuccessful, but our 

 lights attracted hundreds of small petrels and small Calif ornian auks (two 

 species), the beams being quite flecked with black. 



In the x^tlantic we saw very few birds, as much of our voyage 

 was through the birdless trade-wind belts and the Sargasso Sea. Our 

 most remarkable experience here was of the autumn migration of the 

 Tristan great shearwater (Puffinus gravis). This bird, which breeds on 

 Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, crossed our course in the Sargasso 

 Sea on its northward flight to winter quarters in the North Atlantic. 



It will be clear from the foregoing that the great oceans are by no means 

 birdless regions. Varying food conditions, variable temperatures and winds, 

 and various types of breeding ground provide the basis for a varied 

 and abundant bird life. Bird-lovers could do a great deal to improve our 

 knowledge of sea-birds if they would study them on their sea journeys 

 and make notes of their observations. Bird life at sea is as interesting as 

 bird life on land, and is much less familiar. 



