A PASSING ISLAND 249 



rush into Coral Harbor at times, and fairly leap on 

 the sands; and the vast kelp beds shelter myriads of 

 fish. The largest rock bass I have ever seen I took 

 here. All are colored, in imitation of the kelp, a rich 

 dark green. 



Birds are not so common at San Nicolas as at the 

 other islands; yet the Pasadena Academy of Sciences 

 sent an expedition here some years ago to observe 

 the birds. This undertaking was made possible by 

 Mr. Hulett C. Merritt and others. Professor Joseph 

 Grinnell found a number of interesting birds, among 

 which were the mourning dove, bald eagle, American 

 osprey, white- throated swift, Western wood-pewee, 

 streaked horned lark, American raven, house finch, 

 rock wren, the last probably a distinct species. Among 

 the water birds observed by Professor Grinnell were 

 the Cassin's auklet, the Western gull, which breeds 

 here, black-footed albatross, black petrel, Farallone 

 cormorant, Brandt's cormorant (breeds on the north 

 side of the island), the California brown pelican, which 

 dives down from a height of twenty or thirty feet, the 

 great blue heron, the black-necked stilt, spotted sand- 

 piper, and the snowy plover (breeds here). Doubtless 

 if some one living on the island a year would take 

 observations, this list could be doubled or quadrupled, 

 as birds are blown offshore during their migrations, 

 and hundreds seem to follow the instinct of direct 

 flight over sea and land. 



The Indian implements taken here are of more 

 than orduiary interest. Some were found by Captain 

 Chappelle of Avalon in coffins of wood. But the 

 most interesting objects he found were abalones placed 

 face to face and soldered together with asphaltum, 



