THE FARALLONES 



277 



Dr. W. 0. Ayres, more than five hundred thousand eggs 

 were collected in the Farallones in less than two months ; 

 but in 1896, according to L. M. Loomis, the number had 

 dropped to ninety-odd thousand and the price to twelve and 

 a half cents per dozen. 



Murres 

 " Thousands lived in the wave-washed caverns " 



Under the more systematic method of collecting, em- 

 ployed at the later date, the comparatively small number of 

 eggs then secured doubtless only in part indicates the 

 decrease in Farallone bird-life which had occurred in forty 

 years. To prevent further decimation of this bird colony, 

 the United States Government, at the solicitation of the 



