22 SANTA BARBARA SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



to be covered'with beautiful crystals of sulphate of lime, but 

 the cave was not so extensive as we had at first supposed. 



On coming out to the edge of a cliff we saw a' great number 

 of the Uria Columba. (Pigeon Guillemots), flying in and out 

 of a still larger cave in a position near by, but very difficult 

 of access. Fortunately the tide was low and no waves beating 

 against the rocks, so we ventured around the sides of the cliffs, 

 and there being many crevices in the rocks that assisted us in 

 climbing, we soon found our way into the cave. The birds 

 were yet breeding, and scores of them were flying in and out 

 when we entered, but we were luck} 7 enough to secure half a 

 dozen specimens of the birds and a dozen and a half of their 

 eggs. They seemed to prefer the darkest parts of the cave 

 for their nests, where we could not see without the aid of a 

 candle. The examination was hurried, we fearing that the 

 tide would rise and shut us in. 



There are very few birds that breed on the main island, as 

 a little fox, about the size of a house cat, abounds and destroys 

 their eggs . When the breeding season arrives, they repair to 

 two small islands of about ten acres each in extent, and situ- 

 ated about a mile from the main Island, one of which is called 

 Gull Island and the other Flea Island. We visited both, and 

 found that by far the greater number breed upon Gull Island. 

 Upon approaching, the birds began flying over our boat before 

 we landed, and no sooner had I fired my gun than thousands 

 upon thousands flew into the air, and the noiss they made 

 was almost deafening. It was one of the most wonderful 

 sights I have ever seen, the sun being obscured from view, 

 and the thousands of young ones that were scrambling to get 

 out of the way only helped to make the sight more interesting. 

 We did not loose much time, however, in getting on the highest 

 point of the Island, where we found plenty of fresh eggs of the 

 cormorants, of which we collected quite a quantity. 



The following is a list of the birds as I observed them upon 

 this island: Haematopus niger (Black Oystercatcher), not 

 very common; Larus occidentalis (Western Gull), very com- 

 mon; Larus Heermannii (Heremann's Gull), common; 



