26 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



time one was lured within range by the familiar manoeuvre 

 of tossing - a dead Gull into the air. When wounded in 

 the wing and cut down to the water it screamed with rage 

 and viciously bit the disabled member. On being ap- 

 proached it turned fiercely toward the boat and seemed 

 eager to attack the occupants. 



Fulmarus glacialis glupischa. Pacific Fulmar. — 

 On the morning of January 2d, there was an ' oil slick ' 

 on the bay about thirty yards wide and two miles long, 

 extending from Point Pinoj northeastward. The bay was 

 placid and this narrow strip of oily water appeared almost 

 as distinct as a traveled road through a field. Congre- 

 gated upon it were over a hundred dark Pacific Fulmars, 

 a few light ones, and several Rodgers's Fulmars. They 

 were scattered about in groups and seemed to be feeding 

 on a slimy substance floating on the surface. With the 

 exception of a few on wing none were seen away from 

 the ' slick.' Several times during my sojourn, the bay 

 became a rendezvous, and in each instance the dark 

 phase far outnumbered the light, not more than one of 

 the latter being seen to ten of the former. 



The fearlessness of Fulmars is proverbial. On one 

 occasion a Pacific Fulmar instead of becoming frightened 

 when a comrade was shot by its side, immediately began 

 to pick at the body, apparently endeavoring to get at the 

 intestines, for individuals had been observed at different 

 times feeding on these soft parts in birds that had been 

 thrown away. The Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls 

 were also inclined to cannibalism. It would seem from 

 this that decoying is not altogether an act of sympathy. 



In a dozen specimens, selected from a considerable 

 series, the transition from the light to the dark phase is 

 nearly or quite complete, apparent young birds of the 

 former bridging over the gap. A single specimen of an- 



