10 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 12 
SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND 
San Clemente Island is 1964 feet high, and its southeastern end lies sixty 
miles from Point Loma, near San Diego, from which it is visible on a clear day. 
It is eighteen miles long in a northwest and southeast direction, with an average 
width of two and a half miles, the broader and higher part of the island being 
near the southeast end. The northeast side is straight and bold, with rocky, pre- 
cipitous cliffs, but the southwest side is lower and more broken. There is rather 
good grazing here, and large flocks of sheep are kept at this point. Near the 
southeast end, at Mosquito Harbor, there is water and a number of trees, but 
the northwest part is devoid of moisture for the greater part of the year, and 
there are no trees and very little brush. Back from the coast the land is rolling, 
and near the northwest end are two fresh-water ponds, which are dry during 
the summer. A Peromyscus and a fox occur, and in addition numerous house 
cats. The San Clemente Wool Company have several ranch houses on the island 
and it is necessary to obtain permission before staying and hunting in the local- — 
ity. There is no publié boat service. 
SAN NICOLAS ISLAND 
This island les fifty-three miles from the nearest part of the mainland, 
forty-three miles westward from San Clemente, and twenty-four from Santa 
Barbara Island. It is eight miles long in an east and west direction, with an 
average width of three miles, and is 890 feet high. Most of the island is very 
sandy, with no vegetation to speak of, but around the lower end there are a few 
patches of thorn, cactus and other scrub. Several alkaline springs occur, but the 
island is, nevertheless, very barren indeed, and animal life is correspondingly 
scarce. The high central mesa is the home of many sheep, to care for which there 
is a single herder. Very few boats visit this island. 
SANTA CATALINA ISLAND 
Santa Catalina Island lies about twenty miles southward from San Pedro. 
It is eighteen and a half miles long in an east and west direction, with a greatest 
width of seven miles near the east end; the highest peak, 2109 feet, lies about 
the middle of the island, near Avalon. The latter is a famous fishing ground and 
resort, with a resident population of several hundred. It is two and a half miles 
from the east end. About six miles from the western end is a deep cut that al- 
most divides the island. Catalina is rugged and mountainous, with steep, precip- 
itous shores, intersected occasionally by deep guleches and small valleys; good 
water occurs in a number of places. For the most part it is covered with brush 
and serub oak, with some fair-sized trees in the canyons. The uplands and hill- 
sides, however, are often bare, except for grass. Two species of mice, a ground 
squirrel, and a fox oceur here, but the latter is almost extinet because of con- 
tracting ‘‘seabies’’ from the sheep, which causes them to become blind. An ex- 
cursion boat makes a daily run from San Pedro to Avalon. 
