8o THE CONDOR Vol, IX 



NATlVIDAD ISLAND 



"Natividad Island lies eight miles south of Cerros, and four miles from the 

 mainland. It is three and three-quarter miles long, from northeast to southwest, 

 and from half a mile to one and a half miles wide, widest at its southeastern end. 



"It is a barren island, composed of rock}^ hills which in the middle part rise to 

 a height of four hundred and forty-nine feet. The shores are steep and rocky 

 bordered by detached rocks and kelp, except at the southeastern end where there is 

 a sand beach about half a mile long. 



"The vegetation of the island consists chiefly of the ice plant, which forms a 

 carpet over the island, a tall species of cactus and a few small shrubs. 



"There were seals along the shore, and these and one species of PcroniyscKs'" 

 iPc}'oniysciis )iiaiiici(Iatiis g-e?'oiii)uciisis (Allen), kindly identified by Mr. W. H. 

 Osgood) "which was very abundant appeared to constitute the mammalian fauna 

 of Natividad. We saw several lizards. 



' 'The beach was the resort of thousands of cormorants, and the island is noted 

 for its guano deposits. The ground was honey-combed by the burrows of the 

 shearwaters and Cassin auklets; most of these burrows were about five feet long, 

 but one was ten feet. They were mostly deserted at the time of our visit, and we 

 found but two with birds in them. We stayed but a day on Natividad and noted no 

 small land birds." 



Ptychoramphus aleuticus (Pall. ). One adult, April 14. 



Puffinus opisthomelas Coues. One adult male, April 14. 



Phalacrocorax penicillatus (Brandt). One adult male, April 14. 



Falco peregrinus anatum (Bp. ). One adult male, April 14. 



Arenaria melanocephala (\^ig.). Three adult males, April 14. 



Haematopus frazari Brewst. Three specimens, one male and two females 

 (adults), April 14. 



Numenius hudsonicus I^ath. Two adult males, April 14. 



Calidris arenaria (I^inn. ). Four females, April 14. 



Larus heermanni Cassin. Two females, April 14. The males taken at this 

 time of year on Cerros Island have pure white heads; in these two females the head 

 is mottled grayish and brownish with a buff tinge; possibly they are not fully adult. 



THK vSAN Rl^NITO ISLANDS 



"The San Benito Islands are a group of three small, rocky, barren islands sur- 

 rounded by outlying rocks and kelp. Thev lie at their nearest point fifteen miles 

 west of the northern end of Cerros Island, and cover an area of nearly four miles 

 in longitude by one and a half miles in latitude. The}^ are about fift}' miles from 

 the mainland. West Benito, the largest, has bold, rocky shores and consists of an 

 elevated plateau with a mound near the centre six hundred feet above the sea. 

 Middle Benito is a low flat island, its highest part only eight,y-two feet above the 

 sea. It is separated from West Benito by a passage two hundred feet wide. East 

 Benito is the second largest and is marked by four prominent hills, the highest four 

 hundred and twenty-one feet in altitude. The vegetation consists of the tall cactus 

 and a few shrubs. During our stay of two da3^s we saw no mammals. Several 

 lizards were seen, but none were secured. Only five species of small land birds 

 were found, and only one of these was at all abundant — the large-billed sparrow. 

 They were quite common, and we found young just out of the nest, tho no 

 eggs. Cassin auklets were also very abundant and were breeding in burrows in 

 the ground. We took one Qgg. the other nests all containing one young one each. 



