298 



CALIFORNIA BIRD STUDIES 



dead stalks, on which the birds nest. Some contain many 

 acres, others less than an acre; but large or small, all fur- 

 nish the essential requisite of insular isolation, and all 

 illustrate better than any other bird islands with which I am 

 familiar, the attraction of an island home for communal, 

 2-round-nestino- birds. 



" Low-lying snaky Cormorants " 



The White Pelicans find here no pebbles with which to 

 build their little mound-nests; the Caspian Terns do with- 

 out sand; the Cormorants without rocks; all must nest 

 under exactly the same conditions ; even the Great Blue 

 Herons, in default of trees, l)uilt their platform nests of 

 tules in the tules. 



I do not know how many islands were inhabited by birds, 

 but I counted fifteen on which Pelicans were nesting, and 

 there were at least a dozen more with Ring-billed and Cali- 

 fornia Gulls, Caspian Terns, Farallone C^ormorants, and 

 Great Blue Herons. In most instances the birds nested near 

 the water and were therefore easily visibk'. 



Most of the islands were separated l)y only nai'row chan- 

 nels, the canals in this Venice of bird cities, through which 



