190 



THE CONDOR 



Vol. X 



nesting grounds of the pelicans. But now we found but three pelican's nests on 

 the Island, each containing" two eggs. One set was just hatching, one of the escaping 

 youngsters uttering a vigorous croak at measured intervals. 



A census of cormorant's nests showed 147 containing eggs, besides man}' 

 others partly built. The nests were tall, compact structures, composed altogether 

 of angular shrub-trunks, and lined with mesquite bark-strips and old feathers. 

 The outer basal sticks and the surrounding rocks were all white-washed with ex- 

 crement. A typical nest was 414 mm high and 552 mm across, slightly saucered. 

 The tendency seemed to be to locate the nests on prominent rock ledges or pinnacles. 

 The number of eggs in a nest ranged from one to six, commonly four or five. 



TVPICAI^ NEST OF FARALI^ONE CORMORANT, ON PELICAN ISLAND, SALTON SEA, APRIL 20, 190.S 



A number of Great Blue Herons had their headquarters on this Island. We 

 took one specimen, showing this to be a pale form probably meriting the lateh^ 

 proposed name Ardea Jicrodias treganzai. We found seven nests of this heron, 

 each containing three or four eggs in which incubation varied from fresh to nearly 

 complete. The nests were built on the rocks, usually on shelves beneath higher 

 prominences. They were made of large crooked drift-worn brush stalks, with a 

 few old weathered quill-feathers directly beneath the eggs. One set rested on the 

 bare rock-surface and was kept from rolling off by a partial rim of straggling sticks 

 on the lower side. 



There were a number of gulls {Lams dclawareusis) flying about the Island, 



