The California Gull 



but they varied from this negligence, or haste, up to elaborate structures 

 an inch or more in thickness, composed of twigs, frayed stems and bark of 

 atriplex or sage, and especially of feathers. 



At the Black Rocks colony on Paoha we found a very different physi- 

 cal setting. The point consists of an exceedingly rough lava field whose 

 cooling surface has been eroded into most fantastic forms of knob and 

 minaret, — a veritable devil's post-pile. The lower hollows have in many 

 instances been filled up by a combination of pumice and guano, and these 

 false floors, in many places undermined by the rising waters of the lake, 

 would suddenly give way beneath our feet. 



Nesting was for the most part conducted along a strip within twenty 

 feet of the water, and on a ridge a hundred yards in length, which pro- 

 jected itself into the water. Some minor detached rocks had tenants, and 

 a gravel bar at the extreme tip of the island was crowded. Some birds 

 had placed their nests so near the water's edge that the rise, very rapid, 



Taken on Paoha Island 



SCENE IN THE BLACK ROCKS NESTING COLONY 



P holo by the A ulhor 



I40J 



