CALIFORNIA WATER BIRDS. 189 



Western Gulls on the kelp. A few California Murres 

 passed south on each of the three days, but none were 

 seen on the water. A small flock of Killdeers was found 

 one morning on the kelp, and Long-billed Curlews, on 

 wing, began to be conspicuous about the bay. Both cir- 

 cumstances seem to point to migration, for there is general 

 dispersion during migration, and birds are stranded in all 

 sorts of situations after the passage of a migratory wave. 

 Two Dark-bodied Shearwaters — the only ones noticed 

 since the 9th — were seen on the i6th, following the shore 

 line south. 



The lull in the migration of California Murres, which 

 began at the end of June, was broken July 19th, wh"en 

 solitary individuals and companies of less than half a 

 dozen passed down the coast at short intervals during two 

 hours I spent in the morning off Pt. Pinos. They shaped 

 their course so that it brought them near to Pt. Pinos, 

 then they diverged from the land, taking a direction that 

 would carry them several miles out from shore as they 

 passed Pt. Cypress. Not a single one was seen on the 

 water. On the 19th also, it was very apparent that the 

 adult Heermann's Gulls were more numerous than the 

 Western Gulls or the immature Heermann's, an extensive 

 inroad having taken place within a few days. There was 

 a similar intrusion of adult Heermann's Gulls about the 

 middle of July, 1892. Both instances furnish examples 

 of migration indicated solely by increased abundance, as 

 in neither case were the birds observed in transitu. A 

 Dark-bodied Shearwater was shot and another was seen. 

 Both were moving southward. 



From the 20th to the 25th I did not make any observa- 

 tions, but my boatman, who was out each day, informed 

 me that on the 20th and 21st a good many California 

 Murres went down the coast, and that Pigeon Guillemots 



