SOMETHING ABOUT BIRDS [15] 



an exhausted condition, but those not fortunate enough to find a ship 

 inevitably perish, although we get only an occasional hint of such 

 occurrences. 



In Oregon, some of the losses that have come under our observation are 

 as follows: In December 1912. and early January 1913, Jewett and Murie 

 found many dead birds at Netarts Bay, among them many common and 

 semirare species of seafowl. In November 19x1 , following one of the most 

 severe storms in a decade, Gabrielson found thousands of live but exceed- 

 ingly emaciated Red Phalaropes and many dead ones on the beach along 

 the coast of Tillamook County. With them were hundreds of Pacific 

 Fulmars and a miscellaneous collection of other birds. In the winter of 

 1931-33, in a period from Christmas to early March, tens of thousands 

 of birds were washed dead and dying onto the Oregon beaches. Horned 

 Puffins, for which previously there had been only two records in the 

 State, were found by the hundreds. Ancient Murrelets were abundant, 

 although we had previously considered them a rather infrequent bird 

 along our coast. With them were many Tufted Puffins, hundreds of 

 California Murres, gulls of several species, including the rather rare 

 Pacific Kittiwakes, the various species of loons and grebes wintering on 

 the coast, and a few Paroquet Auklets. 



Late in October 1934 there occurred the greatest disaster to migratory 

 birds that either of us has ever seen. The great southward movement of 

 Red Phalaropes was caught off the Oregon coast by the worst storm in 

 many years. Before the three-day blow was over, phalaropes had been 

 blown inland for a hundred miles, carcasses lay in windrows on the 

 beaches, and dead and dying birds were found along the highways and 

 in every pool of water along the coast. Total casualties must have run 

 into tens of thousands in Oregon alone, and reports indicated that the 

 destruction extended along the entire Washington coast, as well as far 

 south into California. In January 193 5 , there was evidently a considerable 

 casualty list among the Pacific Kittiwakes and Slender-billed Shearwaters, 

 as many dead birds were found between Astoria and Newport. 



Mortality among birds during migration may be due to various agen- 

 cies. Some birds die as a result of being oil-soaked from wastes dumped 

 by offshore ships. Other deaths, as in the Red Phalarope disaster of 

 1934, are clearly the effect of violent storms. We are not able, however, 

 to correlate the tremendous destruction of birds that took place in 1932. 

 and 1933 with any particular cause. It is quite evident that there was 

 an above-normal southward movement of birds that normally winter on 

 the Alaska and British Columbia coasts. Horned Puffins, Paroquet Auk- 

 lets, Ancient Murrelets, and Pacific Kittiwakes were present far more 

 abundantly than in any previous year of which we have any record. At 

 the same time, Tufted Puffins wintered in Oregon more commonly than 



