THE OOLOGIST. 



43 



with the intention of supplying the San 

 Francisco market, and in the wintei*, 

 when the weed is gi-een, the island is 

 over run with rabbits, but, when the 

 weed dies, most of ihe rabbits, "follow 

 suit." 



The first set of eggs that we found 

 Was one of the Western Gull. The nest 

 was placed on the ground near the east 

 end. 



It was a mere platform of Farallone 

 weed, about eighteen inches in diame- 

 ter, with a very slight depression in the 

 center containing two eggs. Measur- 

 ing 2.80 X 1.95. It is very interest- 

 ing to watch this species trying to catch 

 a young rabljit. They will watch pa- 

 tiently at the rabl)it's burrow until the 

 victim comes out when the gull pounc- 

 es upon it and slowly devours it, 



I have watched a gull trying to catch 

 a rabbit by slowly walking up behind 

 the intended meal, but the rabbit would 

 invaria'>ly hop out of reach at the criti- 

 cal moment. 



This gull is the only one of its family 

 that nests on the Farallones.andit nests 

 indiscriminately over the entire Island. 

 An average set is three. 



The next nest found was that of the 

 Rock Wren and to me this is one of the 

 most interesting species found. The 

 bird reminds somewhat of the Dwarf 

 Hermit Thru.'-li. 



The nest is built in a hole generally 

 under a boulder, or in a I'ift of rocks. 

 The five nests that I examined were 

 made of cocoanut fibres and lined with 

 hair,(from the "Island Mule,") or feath- 

 ers, but the interesting feature is that 

 inside of the hole and all around the 

 entrance is paved with flat chips of 

 rock, and in one instance, with shell 

 and small l)ones. Thechipsof the rock 

 varied from one half to an inch in length 

 about one-half an ineh in breadth and 

 quite thin. 



They nest all over the island, more 

 frequently on the lower portions. This 

 is the only land i)ird that nests on the 

 Farallones. 



Out of the five nests, two contained 

 seven eggs each, two contained five 

 eggs and two young one's each, and the 

 last one, three eggs. They are pure 

 white with light brown spots, princi- 

 pally around the larger end. 



Average size is a .73 x .57. 



The Tufted Puffin, called "Sea-Par- ^ 

 rot," was found to be very abundant 

 principally near the west end, it slight- 

 ly resembles a Cockatoo. Their single 

 egg is laid in a horizontal burrow (often 

 made by themselves) from two to five 

 feet deep. Occasionally a few pieces 

 of weed are used for a nest. 



These Puffins keep up a growling 

 noise almost constantly, — in their bur- 

 rows, or out. 



A typical egg in my collection meas- 

 ures 2.75x1.95 inches. It is of a dull 

 whith color with indistinct purplish and 

 light brownish blotches, principally in 

 a wreath around the larger end. In 

 tome the marks are not discernable. 



One day was spent in hunting Coi'mo- 

 rant's eggs with great success, although 

 we onl,y found Baird's and Brandt's — nq 

 Farallones. They are called "Shags," -^ 

 and were most plentiful about the cen- 

 ter of the island, above 150 feet eleva- 

 tion. 



About forty nests of Baird's Cormor- 

 ant were examined, most of them con- 

 taining three eggs. The nests are 

 composed of Farallone weed and placed 

 on ledges of rock. The eggs are of a 

 light blue and covered with a chalky 

 substance. Average size of Baird's 

 is 2.20x1.45 inches. Brandts and Faral- 

 lone's are larger. 



Only a few sets of two eggs each of 

 the Pigeon Guillemot were found, al- 

 though the birds were very i)lentiful. 

 They are called "Sea-Pigeon" and nest 

 in any suitable hole among the rocks. 

 The eggs are beautiful; being of a light 

 greenish-blue, blotched, principally at 

 the larger end with dark-bro\vn and in- 

 distinct blotches of lilac. Measure- 

 ments are 2.43x1.(52. 



