158 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNLV 



up of sticks, collected from the beach, kelp weed, old 

 rope, even a tin can and parts of a wrecked boat. 

 Professor Joseph Grinnell found a nest that had a sort 

 of lid of grass, intended to protect the eggs when the 

 bird left them. There were usually three eggs in a 

 nest, and the nesting time appears to be from the 

 twenty-ninth of March on. 



Mosquito Canon, where we had our mess tent and 

 where there was water, was a favorite place for birds, 

 and the sweet notes of various species, with the mourn- 

 ful note of the dove upon the fig trees, could be heard 

 every morning. Some of the notes of birds unknown 

 to me were very attractive and melodious. A common 

 and neighborly fellow about the camp was the belted 

 kingfisher, whose harsh laughter or chatter was often 

 heard. It took its station on the rocky points over- 

 hanging the ocean, into which it made many dashes 

 after prey. 



The white-throated swift was often seen, and I 

 think it nested in our canon. At Catalina, on the 

 west of Grand Cafion, I have watched this attractive 

 bird for hours, as it flew along the summit of the divide. 



The commonest birds on the island, strange to say, 

 were humming-birds — Costa's and Allen's, and I 

 caught a glimpse of a third variety with a long tail. 

 Allen's humming-birds were constantly in evidence on 

 the cactus patches along Mosquito Canon, just above 

 the beach. Professor Grinnell found nests in March. 

 They were made mostly of sheep's wool, which is 

 commonly seen caught on the brush. 



These little gems, gleaming and scintillating among 

 the green leaves of the cactus, are very ornamental, 

 and I found them very tame. The tameness of hum- 



