43 



THE OOLOGIST. 



is mass(Ml iu one spot measuriug l^xi 

 in. and some half dozen minute dots, 

 the whole effect being very peculiar. 

 Set d. Least Tevn{Sterna antiUarun). 

 Two eggs. No. 1, ground color pale 

 greenish-blue, resembling the Least 

 Bittern's, Pigment all confined to one 

 spot, nearly round, about \ inch in 

 diameter. The color is black and very 

 thick like a drop of oil paint. No. 3 

 resemoles No. 1, but spot is larger, 

 being nearly f inch in diameter, its 

 edges sliarply defined. 



There is a noticeable deficiency in the 

 amount of pigment in sets a and b and 

 this I think admits of a ready explana- 

 tion. The eggs of Gulls and Skimmers 

 are commonly taken for food and the 

 colonies from Avhich the above men- 

 tioned sets were ol)tained had previous- 

 ly been systematically han-ied for sev- 

 eral weeks, until the reproductive pow- 

 ers of the birds were well nigh ex- 

 hausted. 



In case of sets c and d the pecularities 

 are not accounted for so easil3\ Here 

 the color is normal in quantity but ab- 

 normal in its distribution, probal)ly 

 owing to some slight malformation iu 

 the oviduct of the female, and if so it 

 would be interesting to know whether 

 the same cause would pi'oduce similiar 

 effects in a series of sets from the same 



parents. 



Theodore W. Richards, 



Washington, D. C. 



Collecting on the Farallone Islands- 



About noon on June 2d, my friend, Mr. 

 Chamberlain, and 1 reached San Fran- 

 cisco and spent the afternoon in mak- 

 arrangements for our trip, having 

 previously obtained permission to col- 

 lect on the Farallones through the kind- 

 nessof Lieut. Perry, U.S. Lighhouse 

 Inspector. 



Next morning at two o'clock we re 

 paired to the wharf and embarked on a 

 "tug" which was getting up steam, pre- 



paratory to going to the I.slaml iu 

 search of incoming vessels. 



We had passed the bar, which is at 

 the entrance of San Francisco Bay, 

 and were very much excited at catch- 

 ing a glimpse of the Islands, when sud- 

 denly, by some strange means, the ex- 

 citement all left us and the remainder 

 of the voyage was passed in excrutiat- 

 ing agony. 



On the near approach to our destina- 

 tion, we became aware of an incessant 

 glamor of voices coming from the dif- 

 ferent birds, which produced a very 

 wierd sound, and, at times, was, so 

 loud, that one's voice could not be 

 heard for any distance. 



At seven o'clock we diseml)arked and 

 rested a few houi's. 



The main island known as the South 

 Farallone lies about twentj" eight miles 

 west of San Francisco. It is about one 

 mile long and one-third as wide. The 

 light-house is situated on the highest 

 point which is 340 feet. 



The Island contains numerous caves 

 washed out by the surf thousands of 

 holes made between the rocks, by the 

 rabbits and some of the birds, and pre- 

 sents the appearance of a large barren 

 rock with manj' crags and points, with- 

 out a sign of vegetation, and has no in- 

 habitants except the light-house kdepers 

 and families, sea lions, a great many 

 rabbits and countless numbers of sea 

 birds. 



The life of the light-house keeper is a 

 very monotonous one. The sounds that 

 he hears by day and night are always 

 the same— the ceaseless ocean's roar, 

 the wild screaming of the sea-birds, and 

 the occasional howl of a sea-lion. 



In the eai'ly spring the islands are 

 covered with a plant called the "Faral- 

 lone weed," but in a few months it dies 

 on account of the drought and is used 

 by most of the birds to construct their 

 rude nests. 



Some years ago, a Frenchman 

 brought a ])air of rabbits to the islands, 



