18 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 12 



ands in numbers during the winter, as it does along the mainland, but unless espe- 

 cially hunted for, loons are most often seen at long range. As the several forms 

 are hard to differentiate under such circumstances, common loons may have been 

 noted about the islands and ascribed to the more numerous pacifica. 



6. Gavia pacifica (Lawrence) 



Pacific Loon 



Orinator pacificus (1) Grinnell, Pasadena Acad. Sci., ii, 1898, p. ft. 

 Pacific Loon (2) Grinnell, Bull. Cooper Orn. Club, i, 1899, p. 19. 



Gavia pacifica (3) Linton, Condor, x, 1908, p. 125. (4) Linton, Condor, xi, 1909, p. 193. 

 (5) Willett, Pac. Coast Avif., 7, 1912, p. 10. («) Dawson, Condor, xvii, 1915, p. 205. 



Abundant about the islands during migration, and not uncommon in win- 

 ter. C. B. Linton (4) reports having seen a few around San Clemente during 

 the winter of 1908, and J. Grinnell {!) took two specimens at Catalina during 

 the last -week in December, 1907. A. van Rossem and I found them to be present 

 at Santa Cruz Island during the last half of April, 1911. 



G. Willett (5) states that they arrive in September and leave in May, but 

 the bulk of the spring migration occurs from the middle to the last of April. The 

 main line of travel seems to be about twenty miles off shore, though in places it 

 is a trifle nearer. During a favorable morning I have watched thousands of 

 what must have been this species flying north in detached companies of from half 

 a dozen to thirty individuals, and all following exactly the same line of flight. 

 At this time the birds like to feed in the little coves along the shores of the isl- 

 ands, to which they are doubtless attracted by the spawning smelt. They are 

 fond of fishing in company with cormorants, and during the heat of the day, 

 mixed flocks of these several species may often be seen sleeping or playing a hun- 

 dred yards beyond the surf. 



7. Gavia stellata (Pontoppidan) 



RfED-THROATED LoON 



Gavia stellata (i) Dawson, Condor, xvii, 1915, p. 203. 



W. L. Dawson {1) states that during most of his stay on Santa Cruz Island, 

 April 3 to 22, 1915, there was a single individual of this species usually to be 

 found in the vicinity of Prisoner's Harbor. While it is hard to distinguish be- 

 tween this form and pacifica except at close range, there is every indication that 

 stellata is a regular and not rare winter visitant to the islands. 



8. Lunda cirrhata (Pallas) 



Tufted Puffin 



Lunda cirrhata (1) Henshaw, Rep. Wheeler Surv., 1876, p. 278. (2) Streator, Proc. Sta. 

 Barbara Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1887, p. 23. (3) Streator, Orn. & Ool. xiii, 1888, p. 53. 

 (.)) Grinnell, Pasadena Acad. Sci., i, 1897, p. 22. (J) Grinnell, Pasadena Acad. Sci., 

 II, 1898, p. 6. (6) Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avif., 3, 1902, p. 10. (7) Willett, Condor, xii, 

 1910, p. 172. (S) A. O. U. Check-list, 3d ed., 1910, p. 25. (.9) Howell and van Ros- 

 sem, Condor, xiii, 1911, p. 209. (10) Willett, Pac. Coast Avif., 7, 1912, p. 10. {11) 



