110 ZOOLOGY. 



COLYMBUS GLACIALIS. 



Loon. 



The loon inhabits all the waters of California and Oregon. The mountain lakes of the Cascade 

 range we generally found occupied by one or more of these birds. Sometimes a single one, the 

 only living thing visible, sailing slowly around over the surface, and from time to time raising 

 its wailing cry, seemed the very embodiment of solitude. 



When encamped beside one of these lonely lakes the silence of the night was frequently bi oken 

 by the quavering cry of the loon, which came to us echoed from forest or mountain with an eftect 

 indescribably touching and sad, 



PODICEPS OCCIDENTALS 

 Western Grebe. 



I obtained specimens of this beautiful grebe on San Pablo bay, California, in November. On 

 the lakes of the interior we saw nothing of it. It is probably nearly confined to the immediate 

 vicinity of the coast. It occurs at the mouth of the Columbia. 



PODICEPS ? 



Exceedingly abundant about San Francisco, and extending up the streams far into the interior. 

 It is also common on the Columbia and the interior lakes of Oregon. This and the next species 

 are sometimes brought into the markets of San Francisco, but are so &quot;fishy&quot; as to be uneatable, 



PODICEPS CALIFOBNICUS. 

 Common in the bays and streams of California and Oregon. 



URIA TROILE. 

 The Foolish Guillemot. 



This guillemot is exceedingly abundant along the coast of California, particularly in the rocky 

 islands which lie in the Pacific, near the coast. At the Farallones they exist in great numbers, 

 exhibiting the same tendency to congregate at the breeding season, and the same stupidity or 

 devotion to their duties which has elsewhere earned them the name they bear. In the absence 

 of domestic fowls in California, the demand for eggs in San Francisco has been almost entirely 

 supplied from these islands, and a trade amounting to many thousands of dollars a year is kept 

 up in eggs alone. The greater part of these eggs are those of the foolish guillemot. 



URIA - -? 

 This small guillemot is not uncommon on the California coast. 



MORMON CIRRHATUS. 

 Puffin. 



I saw this bird only on two or three occasions in California. It is confined to the coast, 

 and chooses in preference the rocky islands off shore. At the Farallones it is abundant, still 

 more so along the coast northward. 



