14 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



haps such winds may to some extent be a factor in the 

 wandering and migratory movements of birds over the 

 deep. 



Fishermen know the breeze is coming when landsmen 

 can detect no sign of it. The Yuma trailer performs 

 feats that would be incomprehensible to a Broadway busi- 

 ness man. Is it passing strange that migratory birds whose 

 very existence depends on their being able to find their 

 way to their winter and nesting abodes should have their 

 faculties so keenly developed as to discern guiding marks 

 where our duller senses perceive only a pathless sea? 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



iEchmophorus occidentalis. Western Grebe. — The 

 closing weeks of summer gave promise that Western 

 Grebes would be plentiful later in the season. This 

 promise was abundantly fulfilled, numerous companies of 

 them being found at times on the bay during my winter 

 visit. They were very unsuspicious, and, if specimens 

 had been desired, line shots would often have yielded 

 several. 



Colymbus holbcellii. Holbcell'sGrebe. — This species 

 was apparently uncommon, for a female obtained Dec. 

 31st on the bay near the Seaside Laboratory was the only 

 individual observed during my sojourn. 



Colymbus auritus. Horned Grebe. — While common, 

 this Grebe was seemingly not as numerous as its near 

 relation, C. 11. calif ornicus. The immature specimens in 

 the Academy's collection having the distinctive shape of 

 the bill obscured are readily distinguished from examples 

 of the latter species in winter dress by the coloration 

 of the sides of the head. The dark color of the pileum 

 scarcely invades the auriculars and does not shade into 

 the white, presenting an abrupt line of demarcation. 



