ZooL.-VoL. II.] LOOMIS— CALIFORNIA WATER BIRDS. 289 



awing, were so numerous that they gave almost a winter 

 aspect to the bird Hfe of the bay. A few Black-vented 

 Shearwaters were skimming over the ocean, half a mile to 

 three miles northwest of Point Pinos. They seemed to be 

 looking for food, for individuals occasionally stopped for a 

 moment, apparently securing some coveted morsel from the 

 depths. A Red Phalarope suddenly appeared and decoyed 

 when three Northern Phalaropes were cut down from a 

 migrating company. No others, of either species, were 

 observed. Three miles at sea a dark Short-tailed Albatross 

 in coursing about came near the boat. 



October 16. The wind was light and variable and the 

 sky clear. The tide of movement, although slight, set 

 southward in Black-vented Shearwaters. Three Rhinoceros 

 Auklets and several Northern Phalaropes were found on the 

 water, resting perhaps after the journey. A company of 

 these Phalaropes, also, was speeding southward. 



Octobe7' 21. I was absent during the four days following 

 the i6th. My boatman, however, was on the water on the 

 17th and reported southward movement in large flocks of 

 Ducks, scattered Black-vented Shearwaters, and several 

 Dark-bodied Shearwaters. The surf was so heavy on the 

 morning of the 21st we failed in our attempt to get a boat 

 off. By the latter part of the afternoon the sea had gone 

 down considerably and two hours were spent on the bay 

 near the Laboratory. Between two and three a school of 

 sardines, driven by larger fish to the surf, attracted a great 

 concourse of Gulls and a small number of Black-vented 

 Shearwaters. At the same time an army of the Shear- 

 waters was filing by about half a mile offshore. The sar- 

 dines, in seeking safety, got in the track of the Shearwaters 

 and a vast flock congregated. Soon some detached them- 

 selves and resumed their course, disappearing in the direc- 

 tion of the ocean, apparently having appeased their hunger. 

 Others continued to arrive, and others still, further from 

 land, passed by without joining the melee. When the sar- 

 dines shifted again the Shearwaters did not pursue, but 



