THE MUSEUM. 



41: 



est most picturesque places wherein to 

 construct their nests and some which I 

 examined must have been within reach 

 of the spray in rough weather, for 

 they were built on the sides of a little 

 cove. The eggs are smaller than eith- 

 er Brandt's or Farallone's and are blu- 

 ish-green in color with a thick chalky 

 depositcovering the shell. Seven eggs 

 of this species average 2. 13X.90 inches 

 while a set of four eggs of the Faral- 

 lone Cormorant average 2. 37 x 1.53 

 inches. I have frequently found three 

 eggs incubated, and believe this num- 



ber constitutes a set as often as four. 

 I will here relate an incident which' 

 tends to show the instinct and natural 

 love which bird mates have for one 

 another. I saw a Baird's Cormorant 

 sitting on the the edge of its nest in a 

 niche of a perpendicular cliff perhaps, 

 fifty feet up and wishing to secure a 

 specimen shot it, supposing it would 

 fall outwards to the ground. Instead 

 it fell back into the nest and could not 

 be secured. While passing this cliff' 

 the following day the dead bird's mate 

 was seen sitting by the side of the 



A bit of shore - The rock in the ocean is completely covered by Calif. Murres, 

 but is unapproachable . 



nest, frequently craning its neck down 

 as if imploring its mate to join it. It 

 was one of those pathstic scenes which 

 one sometimes has occasion to witness 

 in bird life. We came upon a rook- 

 ery of young Farallone Cormorants, 

 which embraced 30ung of all sizes, 

 each seemimg to vie with its neighbors 

 in presenting an awkward appearance. 

 In their endeavors to avoid us a num- 

 ber of the 3'Oung birds worked them ■ 

 selves to the edge of the cliff and were 

 found dead at the foot later. Strew- 

 ed about among the nests were nu- 

 merous small fish which I took to be 

 sardines. The oder arising from the 

 rookery was anything but pleasant. 

 Thus far we have spoken of the 



birds which nest largely in colonies,, 

 but the pleasure and variety of collec- 

 ting lies not in these rookeries where 

 one might fill baskets with eggs in few 

 moments, but it is rather in climbing 

 about the cliffs peering into the bur- 

 rows and crevices that one experiences 

 the pleasure of sea-bird collecting. 



The Tufted Puffin and Cassin's Auk- 

 let are somewhat allied in manner of 

 nesting, and both are usually found in 

 the same locality, though the Auk nests 

 in all situations about the island. The 

 Puffin is at once noticeable by its for- 

 midable appearance as well as its strik- 

 ing plumage. It is found on the high- 

 er rocks and will not allow of close ap- 

 proach. They are very vicious when 



