aggregations of other sea birds and of fish and 

 porpoises at 1he surface. On the voyage to 

 the Cocos Island we left it far behind, but 

 picked it up again off Cape San Lazaro, 

 Baja California, on Dec. 13- 



Fregata minor . Pacific man-o'-war bird. This 

 species; sometimes called the greater man-o'- 

 war bird (although it is smaller than 

 magnif icens ) , occurs also in the Indian and 

 South Atlantic oceans. It nowhere reaches 

 American continental shores. 



Both magnificens and minor , however, occur at 

 the Galapagos Archipelago, although perhaps 

 never at the same island. It has long been a 

 question as to which species is resident at 

 Cocos, a matter not solved until the visit of 

 Stranger . 



On Dec. 3, we were met by scores of F. minor , 

 all in immature plumage, some tens of miles 

 E by S of Cocos. They mingled with our 

 escort of red-footed boobies, both astern 

 and circling the masts. 



The adults at Cocos Island mostly soared high 

 above the hills and treetops. At times one 

 would swoop toward the water to harry a food- 

 laden booby. This ultimately enabled me to 

 shoot an adult breeding male. The species 

 was not seen elsewhere. 



Casmerodius albus egretta . American egret. 

 At noon on Dec. 1 one flew, out of gunshot, 

 past my skiff at 05°59' N, 79° >*8' W. The 

 position is on the open ocean about 9° miles 

 S of Cape Mala, Panama. 



Anas platyrhynchos . Mallard. A female duck, 

 apparently a mallard, alighted and then took 

 o-ff from the ocean, close to Stranger , on 

 Nov. 20, at 09°l6' N, 89°l8' W, about 200 

 miles off the Costa Rican coast. On Nov. IT, 

 12 similar ducks passed high above us at an 

 equal distance from the nearest land 

 (El Salvador) . 



Aythya af finis , Lesser scaup. Not observed 

 at sea, but on Nov. 28 a flock took off from 

 Gatun Lake, Canal Zone, in front of the 

 Barro Colorado Island Laboratory. The species 

 has apparently not previously been recorded from 



Barro Colorado. 



Phalaropus fulicarius . Red phalarope. 

 Observed along course, both near the coast 

 and far offshore, between Nov. 19 and 

 Dec. 1^. The northernmost record was 

 off Point San Juanico, Baja California. 

 Red phalarope6 were usually met with either 

 in pairs or in small flocks. One was once 

 6een standing on the back of a turtle. Our 

 only specimen, which was extremely fat, was 

 taken on Dec. 8 at 1V37' N, 100° 09' W. 



Lobipes lobatus . Northern phalarope. 

 More abundant than the foregoing species 

 and likewise usually found in either pairs 

 or flocks. It still ranged as far north as 

 the ocean off San Diego on the last day of 

 our voyage, Dec. l6. One was collected off 

 the Gulf of Tehuantepec on Nov. 15. 



Both species of phalaropes showed a 

 predilection for oily "slicks" on the 

 ocean. 



Stercorarius pomarinus . Pomarine jaeger. 

 The commonest of its family throughout the 

 cruise. Seen everywhere, and almost daily, 

 between San Diego and Panama, and in the 

 waters NW of Cocos Island. In the Gulf of 

 Panama it was parasitizing the laughing 

 gulls. An example was collected on Nov. 1^. 



Stercorarius parasiticus . Parasitic jaeger. 

 Less common than the pomarine jaeger, but 

 presumably as widely distributed. A 

 specimen collected to represent this species, 

 however, has proved to be the next. 



Stercorarius longicaudus . Long-tailed jaeger. 

 A very young, practically fledgling, male 

 jaeger, shot on Nov. Ik at l6°l6' N, 

 100*27' W, has turned out to be longicaudus . 

 The species was not noted elsewhere. 



Catharacta skua chilensis . Chilean skua. 

 Two brightly cinnamon skuas, seen at close 

 range from Stranger on Nov. 15, over a 

 "slick" off the Gulf of Tehuantepec, assuredly 

 were of this form, with which I became well 

 acquainted in Peru and Chile. The skuas 

 were in company with Sabine's gulls, boobies, 

 and storm petrels . 



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