ZOOLOGY. 407 



run for the most productive egging-grounds. The gulls (Larus 

 occidentalism Western gull) understanding, apparently, what is 

 about to occur, are on the alert, hovering overhead, and await- 

 ing only the advance of the party. The men rush eagerly 

 into the rookeries ; the affrighted murres have scarcely risen 

 from their nests, before the gull, with remarkable instinct, 

 not to say almost reason, flying but a few paces ahead of the 

 hunter, alights on the ground, tapping such eggs as the short 

 time will allow, before the egger comes up with him. The 

 broken eggs are passed by the men, who remove only those 

 which are sound. The gull, then returning to the field of its 

 exploits, procures a plentiful supply of its favorite food." 



A diver, found in the bays and rivers of the State, gray on 

 the back and white below, is valuable for its skin, which is 

 stretched and dried with the feathers on, and then used for 

 muffs and collars. The meat is so fishy and tough, that it is 

 not fit for the table. 



324. Fishes. The fishes of the coast and rivers of Cali- 

 fornia are all different from those of the Atlantic side of the 

 continent, with the exception, perhaps, of one species of the 

 halibut. The cod and shad, two of the most important fishes 

 of the sea of the Eastern shore, and the lobster among crus- 

 taceans, are here wanting, , as also the cat-fish kind in the 

 rivers. Otherwise, our waters are probably as rich in game 

 for the fisherman as those of any country. 



325. Salmon. The most important fish of California is 

 the quinnat salmon, (Salmo quinnat) a species found from 

 Point Conception to the Columbia River. Its color above is 

 olivaceous brown, changing to salmon-color beneath. The 

 largest one ever caught weighed sixty-two pounds ; the 

 common size is from ten to thirty pounds. The salmon are 

 born in the rivers, but go down to the sea, where they spend 

 part of every year. They commence to enter the Bay of San 

 Francisco in November, and continue to come in for three or 

 four months. They ascend the Sacramento and San Joaquin 



