356 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



Morro Bay, at this season, but they do not resort to this coast before 

 early February so whatever feed it is tliat draws them there is prob- 

 ably not available or suitable before that time. We regretted very 

 much our inability, on account of lack of time, to visit this part of the 

 coast that day to count the birds. This should be done in taking future 

 brant censuses in the region when it would be highly desirable to 

 ascertain what factor is responsible for the birds' presence there. 



Censuses were made in 1934 at the same time on Drakes, Tomales 

 and Bodega bays in order to eliminate the possibility of birds shifting 

 from one to another of these neighboring bodies of water which fact 

 suggested itself in 1933 when the census on Tomales Bay was taken two 

 days later than were the counts on Drakes and Bodega bays. 



T. T. McCabe, Berkeley, California, again took the census on 

 Drakes Bay, this being the third year in which he has counted the brant 

 there on February 11. This year he was assisted by J. E. Cushing, Jr., 

 San Francisco. The tides on Drakes Estero (for map see California 

 Fish and Game, vol. 18, 1932, p. 302) were approximately the same as 

 those listed in the following paragraph for Tomales Bay. The census 

 was taken from 9 a.m. to 1.45 p.m. during which period a strong south- 

 west wind was blowing causing whitecaps to form on the Estero and 

 the birds to be restless. This condition rendered making an exact count 

 impossible, but the cooperators felt that they secured a reasonably 

 accurate census notwithstanding. No count was attempted on Estero de 

 Limantour and the results obtained apply solely to Drakes Estero 

 where a total of 2189 brant was noted by the census takers. 



The writer's attempt to count the brant on Tomales Bay the morn- 

 ing of February 11, 1934, from an outboard motorboat was frustrated 

 by a balky motor so an estimate of the birds' numbers was made from 

 shore from seven to ten o'clock. This count netted 5238 brant, but was 

 feared to be low because the wind that hindered McCabe 's and Cush- 

 ing 's work on Drakes Bay was also blowing on Tomales Bay where it 

 made accurate counting difficult and working from shore by necessity 

 made it hard to count brant on the opposite (westerly) shore, where, 

 fortunately however, no birds were seen with the glasses. About 2 p.m 

 the southwest wind that had been blowing strongly all morning, sud- 

 denly ceased and the brant all congregated in large flocks in smooth 

 water between Hamlet and Toms Point on the eastern shore of the Bay 

 where they were easy to count accurately from shore (see ma]i, Cali- 

 fornia Fish and Game, vol. 18, 1932, p. 301). Here 5565 individuals 

 were recorded between 2.45 and 4 p.m., which number was thought to 

 represent more accurately the total number of brant present on Tomales 

 Bay that day than did the morning's count and is therefore accepted 

 as the figure for the 1934 census. The tides on Tomales Bay on 

 February 11, 1934, were as follows: high tide, 8.36 a.m., 6.4 feet; low 

 tide, 3.51 p.m., -1.2 feet. The day was clear with wind and calm as 

 above noted. 



Dr. Jean Linsdale, assisted by W. H. Behle, Berkeley, took the 

 1934 census on Bodega Bay on February 11 (Linsdale took the 1932 

 and 1933 censuses at the same point on the same date). In commenting 

 upon the 1934 census Linsdale stated : "In spite of the strong wind, we 

 made a fairly satisfactory count, beginning at 8.45 a.m. The locations 

 of the birds and the point from which they were counted were much 

 the same as for last year. * * * By noon, the brant had con- 



