A Trip to the Farallones, 



feathers. It seems not improbable, how- 

 ever, that the murre Is gradually losing 

 the power of flight, just as the great 

 auk lost it, in order to gain greater 

 freedom in swimming under water. Its 

 difficulty in rising from the surface of 

 the wave and its habit of awkwardly fall- 

 ing back into it would seem to argue in 

 favor of this view, despite its swift 

 flight in a strong wind. 



In all this digression it must not be 

 forgotten that the breeze was still blow- 

 ing and our little craft tumbling about 

 as it approached the bar of the Golden 

 Gate. An occasional Brandt's cormo- 

 rant flapped past, its long neck stretched 

 far ahead of the clumsy, black body, as 

 if trying its best to part company with 

 so slow a companion. When a little 

 way out at sea, we noticed, slightly iso- 

 lated from the mainland, a large rock 

 completely whitened with the guano of 

 this bird, a fact indicating the presence 

 of a large rookery. 



The wind, which had been uncom- 



69 



