158 



THE MUSEUM. 



tree, and although it was far too hght, 

 it would fly to a distance of i 50 feet; 

 but to my disappointment it would not 

 return! Probably the best wood we 

 have in this country for boomerang- 

 making is the common persimmon, but 

 any hard and heavy wood will answer 

 for your first experiments.- — CJias. H. 

 Coe in Populai- Science News. 



West Coast Species of Haliotis. 



The recent revision of the genus 

 Haliotis and the changes of some spe- 

 cific names since the publication of my 

 little book on West Coast Shells, make 

 it proper to place the matter anew be- 

 fore the members of our Chapter. 

 Those who have the opportunity of 

 consulting Vol. XII of the "Manual 

 of Conchology," will find a full discus- 

 sion of the subject; but as there are 

 some who cannot consult that excel- 

 lent authority, I propose to use some 

 of the statements of Prof. Pilsbry in 

 connection with this report. 



There are six species of the genus 

 in question to be found upon our 

 Western coast, only three of which, 

 however, are sufficiently abundant to 

 be called common. The first of these 

 species, and probably the best repre- 

 sented in respect to the number of 

 specimens, is Haliotis Craehei-odii 

 Leach. This is the common "black 

 abalone," so called on account of the 

 dark color of the outer layer of its 

 shell. The "Manual" gives the limits 

 of locality as "Fallarones Is. to San 

 Diego." Probably the Farallones Is. 

 off San Francisco are meant, a natur- 

 al mistake having been made in the 

 spelling, but I think the species reaches 

 much farther to the northward than 

 the latitude of these islands. I should 

 like to have my suspicions confirmed 



or refuted by those who have made 

 northern observations. 



One morning during the last sum- 

 mer I took advantage of the low tide 

 and explored the granite rocks that 

 form the promentory beyond the Point 

 Finos lighthouse near Monterey. The 

 waves have been breaking for ages 

 over those venerable cliffs, and the re- 

 sults of their work are distinctly seen. 

 Out in the water, quite far from land, 

 you get glimpses of sunken rocks, the 

 very bones of the ancient cape. Near- 

 er are a series of small and precipitous 

 islands, most of which you can reach 

 at low tide. Strewn all over the bases 

 of the cliffs are masses of granite, some 

 of them loose boulders, while others 

 are the seamed and weather-worn out- 

 croppings of the underlying ledges. 

 Many of the rocks are covered with a 

 thick mat of sea-weed, but others are 

 gray and bare. 



Venturing out as far as safety would 

 allow, I was amazed to find the avail- 

 able roosting on some of the cliffs al- 

 most literally covered by young speci- 

 mens of the species under considera- 

 tion. The shells averaged, perhaps, 

 three inches in length; a few were 

 twice that size, but many were much 

 smaller. Their keen instinct teaches 

 these animals to seek the least expos- 

 ed positions, a deep and narrow cleft 

 in the rock being the favorite retreat, 

 and there away from danger, they con- 

 gregate in great numbers. As the 

 tide came in I was obliged to leave 

 them, and so could not continue my 

 observations, but I fancy that when 

 they were well covered with water 

 they loosened their firm hold upon the 

 surface of the rock and began to move 

 around in search of food. It is evident 

 that this species is very prolific, and 



