372 Bailey, Notes on Birds of Western Mexico. [crt^ 



the ranch house engaged my attention for a number of mornings. 

 The trees and palms overlapped, forming a complete canopy for 

 the streams, and it was down this shady way that the birds were 

 wont to pass daily in their search for food, at about 8 a. m. 

 Although it seemed as though thousands passed me, I was never 

 able to find out where they went on reaching the mouth of the 

 estero. 



While in San Bias, on March 1, I was fortunate in meeting Mr. 

 Geo. Beermaker, manager for the Union Fertilizer Company of Los 

 Angeles, Cal., and as he was sailing for the Tres Marias Islands 

 that night, I engaged passage and board on the island for the 

 trip. When we left, at 10.30 p. m., the wind was fair and light, 

 as it always is at night at that time of year, and after a good night's 

 sleep, rolled up in a blanket on top of the cabin trunk, we arose to 

 find the islands still many miles away. That day and most of that 

 next night we were rolling on the long easy swells without a breath 

 of air to fill our sails, and bird life seemed also to have vanished 

 with the wind. A few Heermann's and Western Gulls came near 

 the boat, and a few pairs of Man-o'-War Birds and Red-billed 

 Tropic Birds were sailing gracefully high in the air. After beating 

 back and forth in the light wind that sprung up toward daybreak, 

 we arrived off White Rock about 5.30 a. m. and cast anchor. 

 Some fifteen men and two women were already settled in palapi 

 houses on the small stretch of sandy beach at the foot of the highest 

 cliff, and the white tents of the 'boss' looked very inviting at that 

 hour of the morning. We landed in a small canoe, reaching the 

 beach without getting much wet, and the little twenty-ton schooner 

 1 Concha Sofia ' set sail for San Bias, to return for us in about ten 

 days, with supplies, mail, etc., from the mainland. White Rock 

 lies almost directly between Magdalena and Cleofa Islands sepa- 

 rated from the latter by a narrow rough channel of about half a 

 mile in width, and about ten miles from the former, in longitude 

 106°-107°, latitude 21 -2l£°. As one would infer from its name, 

 this island is solid rock, the highest point of which is about 200 

 feet above sea level, and the top for the most part is a nearly level 

 plateau. The walls rise almost perpendicularly from the sea, and 

 outside of a small stretch of sandy beach on which our camp was 

 placed, it is almost impossible to land. The natives had already 



