Sept, 1908 



BIRDS OF A VOYAGE ON SALTON SEA 



189 



The material is thus pulled towards the sitter, but not from a farther distance than 

 828 mm from the center, beyond which the bird is evidently not able to reach. 

 The spacing of the nests in the colony, quite regular in places, seems to be de- 

 pendent on the reach and conflicting interests of the inhabitants. The sets of eggs 

 were never closer together than 828 mm, usually 1380 mm apart. The ground 

 between the nests was usually absolutely clear of even the finer fragments, these 

 having been scraped up onto the walls of the nests. On the upper hill-slopes, the 

 nests were more scanty, for material was scarce. Some were made wholly of 

 angular pumice or dried mud fragments, some of brush stems, and some of just 

 soft earth. But their diameter was an almost constant quantit3^ between 414 and 

 532 mm. The depression was 46 to 69 mm deep, so that there was nearly always a 

 well-defined rim to the nest. The higher nests, those in the drift, were mounds as 

 much as 276 mm tall. 



While gulls, cormorants and herons were seen in the vicinity, the pelicans were 

 the only water birds nesting on Echo Island. As long as we remained on the 

 Island, until late the next forenoon, the latter refused to return to their nests even 

 in the night. They remained in large "rafts" on the water a mile or so off-shore. 



WHITE PELICANS "rafting" OFF-SHORE NEAR ECHO ISLAND, SALTON 

 SEA, APRIL 19, 1908 



Occasionally a party would fly past overhead. From one of these, two of the big birds 

 were shot and Richardson and I skinned them out on the l)each, using the fine 

 pumice sand as an absorbent to very good advantage. 



During the night a stiff breeze came up from the east, and before we were 

 aroUvSed, the boat beached broadside on. We were wakened by the pounding of the 

 waves on her sides, and hurried out; but all our efforts failed to keep her from fill- 

 ing. The batteries were ruined, and our further explorations were curtailed. 

 After the wind went down, and after a vast amount of bailing and heaving, we got 

 the boat off the sand. But meanwhile we had enjoyed a prolonged bath in the 

 tepid brackish waters of Salton Sea. Before noon we took leave of Echo Island, 

 and bent to the oars heading for the station of Tano about north of us some 12 

 miles. Incidentall}^, without pulling much out of our way, we were able to land 

 on Pelican Island, a small rocky ledge three miles from Echo Island. 



Here we found a large breeding colou}^ of Farallone QormorQ.\\ts{P/ialacroroyax 

 aun'/iis alhociliatiis) . Eong before we reached Pelican Island, cormorants kept 

 flying past us towards it, each one carrying a stick or bark shred. As we landed 

 hordes of birds left their nests or roosting places and circled about close over us. 

 According to Donhara this was formerly (that is two and three years ago) the 



