1917 BIRDS OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ISLANDS 39 
May 1, 1908. H. Wright (22) records a few pairs nesting on the cliffs of Ana- 
capa, July 5, 1912. At Santa Cruz Island a small number nest near Scorpion 
Harbor, and they probably breed on or near Santa Rosa Island, but as there 
has been so little work done in this locality, this is merely a supposition on my 
part. On Prince Islet, San Miguel, G. Willett (79) found several large rooker- 
ies. In the morning of June 15, 1910, he passed a colony of about a hundred 
nests with eggs, but in the afternoon the gulls had left not a dozen eggs. He 
took a set of six there. 
I believe that as a rule these birds begin nesting slightly in advance of the 
Farallon Cormorant. The nest is a rather compact but not bulky affair of sea 
weed, and is always placed in colonies on a low cliff or shelf of rock, from fif- 
teen to a hundred or more feet above the water. From three to five eggs, and 
very rarely six, constitute a full set. At the approach of an intruder the young 
exhibit great stupidity, the half grown ones unconcernedly walking off a high 
ledge to fall on the rocks below, mortally disabled. During the winter they will 
often gather in flocks numbering thousands of individuals, to roost at night in 
some favorite spot, dispersing in the morning in quest of food. I have seen an 
incredible number in the early morning leaving a sand flat on which they had 
spent the night. 
40. Phalacrocorax pelagicus resplendens Audubon 
BatRD CORMORANT 
Graculus violaceus var. bairdi (1) Cooper, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 1v, 1870, p. 79. 
Phalacrocorax pelagicus resplendens (2) Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water Birds N. 
Am., 11, 1884, p. 162. (3) Blake, Auk, tv, 1887, p. 329. (4) Streator, Orn. & Ool., 
x11, 1888, p. 54. (5) Grinnell, Pasadena Acad. Sci., 1, 1897, p. 26. (6) Grinnell, Pas- 
adena Acad. Sci., 1, 1898, p. 9. (7) Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avif., 3, 1902, p. 16. (8) 
Linton, Condor, x, 1908, p. 83. (9) Linton, Condor, x, 1908, p. 126. (70) Osburn, 
Condor, x1, 1909, p. 137. (11) Willett, Pac. Coast Avif., 7, 1912, p. 20. (72) Wright 
and Snyder, Condor, xv, 1918, pp. 87, 90. (13) Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avif., 11, 1915, 
p. 30. 
Phalacrocorazr violaceus (14) Streator, Proc. Sta. Barbara Soc. Nat. Hist., 1, 1887, p. 23. 
Phalacrocoraz pelagicus (15) Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxvr, 1898, p. 362. 
Baird Cormorant (16) Beck, Bull. Cooper Orn. Club, 1, 1899, p. 85. (17) Willett, Condor, 
x11, 1910, pp. 170, 172. 
P{[halacrocoraz]. pelagicus resplendens (18) Breninger, Auk, xx1, 1904, p. 219. 
Phalacrocoraxzr resplendens (19) Willett, Condor, x11, 1910, p. 178. 
Fairly plentiful resident among the islands, though not nearly as numerous 
as the last two forms. Rather rare in the southern part of the territory covered 
by this paper, but increasing in numbers towards the northern part. H. W. Hen- 
shaw (2) found them congregated in great numbers on the channel islands in the 
early days, but since that time they must have decreased, for at present I do 
not think that anyone could describe their numerical standing in such words. 
I know of one rookery on the Coronados of perhaps a dozen scattered nests, 
and there may be others. C. B. Linton (8) records seeing a few pairs in breed- 
ing plumage near Mosquito Harbor, San Clemente, during March, 1907. Near 
a large detached rock off the southwest end of the same island, D. R. Dickey and 
