260 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



were several containing nests but none having tlie bare appearance of the two 

 described. There were probably a hundred nests in this rookery all built in 

 the very highest places in the trees. I found no nest lower than 75 feet from 

 the ground, while the average height was about 80 feet. These measurements 

 were made with a tape from the treetop. One tree, which contained a few 

 nests, looked to be considerably over a hundred feet high, though I did not 

 climb it to verify my estimation. 



Of the two trees described the dead one contained a single nest and the 

 other one 19. As I climbed the latter tree all the cormorants left their nests 

 and perches and went wheeling around until I descended, when they imme- 

 diately settled down on their empty nests seemingly as contented as ever. Of 

 the 19 nests in the tree all but one contained complete sets of eggs, the usual 

 number being four, though sets of three and of five were common. All of the 

 sets were incubated slightly, though not enough to cause trouble in blowing. 

 The nests were solid, well-built affairs, having a width of from 15 to 20 inches 

 and a depth of about 6 or 8 inches. They were built of oak twigs and the 

 stalks of marsh weeds as a base, some of the oak twigs having leaves on them ; 

 and dead tules and other green weeds from the lake as a lining. Some had 

 a further lining of green oak leaves. The birds continue to put on nest mate- 

 rials after the eggs are laid. Some birds could be seen flying around with great 

 ribbonlike tules streaming from their mouths. 



Mr. A. B. Howell writes to me : 



June 8, 1912, C. C. Lamb and I found them breeding abundantly at Buena 

 Vista Lake, California. Their nests were either near those of the white peli- 

 cans or in the standing dead timber in the mouth of the Kern River, and held 

 eggs in various stages of incubation. At Salton Sea they also breed in the dead 

 trees in the water near the shore, and as the sea is receding rapidly, tlie 

 height of the water from year to year may be gauged accurately by the position 

 of the old nests on the shore. 



Eggs. — The eggs of the Farallon cormorant can not be distin- 

 guished from those of the double-crested cormorant, though eggs 

 from northern latitudes average larger than those from southern 

 localities. The measurements of 71 eggs, in the United States Na- 

 tional Museum, average 62.9 to 38.8 millimeters; the eggs showing 

 the four extremes measure 69.5 by 40.5, 68.5 by 42.5, 54 by 37, and 

 67.5 by 36 millimeters. 



The sequence of plumages, the behavior and other details of the 

 life history of the Farallon cormorant are apparently similar to 

 those of the double-crested cormorant. It is a common and well- 

 known bird throughout its range. Together with the Brandt cor- 

 morant, with which it is often associated, it is a familiar feature at 

 all seasons along the California coast, frequenting all suitable fishing 

 grounds about the islands or perching conspicuously on buoys, posts, 

 or floating timbers about the harbors. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Pacific coast region of United States and Mexico. 

 On inland waters from southern Oregon (Lake Malheur and Klamath 



