354 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Fulmar, which species Dr. Cooper has reported from 

 Monterey Bay during the palmy days of the whale fish- 

 eries (Am. Nat., iv, p. 758). A few Dark-bodied Shear- 

 waters and Ashy Petrels were also noted. As the island 

 was neared the Albatrosses became less numerous, finally 

 giving place to wedge-shaped flocks of Murres returning 

 to their rookeries — their course apparently so well deter- 

 mined that the fog was no obstacle. 



Guided by the compass, we had almost reached the 

 island before we caught the first glimpse of it through a 

 rift in the fog. Half an hour later the schooner was 

 anchored in Fisherman's Bay. The cries of the Murres 

 on the mist-hidden cliffs, the scent of guano that pervaded 

 the air, and the busy activity of the eggers about the little 

 wharf, gave a momentary impression that our port was a 

 center of population and trade, and not a mere bird-rock 

 in the Pacific Ocean. 



The field-notes that follow were taken during the brief 

 interval between the 8th and 16th of July, my stay on the 

 island terminating with the last trip of the schooner for 

 the season. 



I. INDIGENOUS BIRDS. 



Lunda cirrhata. Tufted Puffin. — ' Sea Parrots ' were 

 far more abundant than I had supposed they would be 

 from the accounts I had read of the bird life of the island. 

 They rivaled the Western Gulls, and were outnumbered, 

 in the daytime, at least, only by the California Murres. 

 Perhaps they have increased in abundance, for they have 

 no enemies among their kind, and the eggs are not 

 marketable. The season for eggs was apparently about 

 over, nearly all those examined during my stay being 

 hard-set. 



'Sea Parrots' are very courageous when brooding. 

 Instead of seeking safety in flight when intruded upon, a 



