84 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Range. — Abundant off the California coast except during^ the 

 breeding season. Ranging northward more rarely to Washington 

 and British Columbia (off Albert Head, October 24, 1891). 



MigratAoTis. — Tlie main flight northward occurs in August and 

 September and the return flight in February, March and April. 



Egg dates. — Natividad Island : Twenty records, April 10. 



PUFFINUS AURICULARIS C. H. TowTisend. 



TOWNSEND SHEARWATER. 

 HABITS. 



This small shearwater, which resembles the black-vented shear- 

 Avater in general appearance, was discovered and described by Mr. 

 Charles H. Townsend (1890), Avho found it to be "a common spe- 

 cies about the islands of the Revillagigedo group," during the visit 

 of the United States Bureau of Fisheries' steamer Alhati^oss to that 

 remote region in 1888 and 1889. These islands lie way off in the 

 Pacific Ocean, several hundred miles southwest of Cape San Lucas. 

 To Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898) belongs the honor of having added 

 this species to the North American list, as he found it " fairly com- 

 mon April 23, and again in early June" about Cape San Lucas, 

 which brings it within the limits of our check list. 



We are also indebted to Mr. Anthony (1898a) for practically 

 all we know about the life history of this obscure species. He found 

 it breeding abundantly on San Benedicte Island (also spelled Bene- 

 dicto or Benedictu), in the Revillagigedo group. He says of this 

 island : 



The islands are all volcanic in origin and, in general, extremely roiigli and 

 l)rolven. On San Benedicte is found a lieavy growth of coarse grass, \\lierever 

 there is sufficient soil. But little other vegetation is found on the island. This 

 grass, growing to the heiglit of a man's head, made travel extremely disagree- 

 able, as the barbed seeds penetrated our clothing by thousands and caused us 

 much more trouble than the cactus thicljets which we encounteretl on Clarion 

 later. San Benedicte is a small island about three miles in lengtli with an 

 average width of half a mile. 



Nesting. — Of the breeding habits of the Townsend shearwater, Mr. 

 Anthony (1900) writes: 



On San Benedicto Island I found a few nesting the last week in May. At 

 tliis date most of the young were but a few days old, covered with sooty down 

 above, and paler-grayish below. With the smaller young I often found one of 

 tlie parents, but they were as frequently alone. The burrows were all con- 

 fined to tlie liigher parts of the island about 500 feet above the sea, wiiere they 

 were dug among the bunches of thick, tangled grass, and were v.'ell scattered, 

 a dozen or so being a large colony. The burrows were not so deep or long 

 as were those of P. opisthomelas of Natividad, averaging about 5 feet in length. 

 On Clarion Island this species was again found in a similar location, all of the 

 burrows being confined to a thick growth of grass, on the high parts of the 

 island. 



