The California Gull 



to count the nests. An outlying ridge of rock, barely severed from the 

 main shore, we did not visit at all, although it was crowded with birds. 



The shore line at this place sloped rather sharply for, say, two-thirds 

 of the distance occupied by the colony, running from the water's edge up 

 to forty feet; but there was also a considerable flat which was densely 

 covered with breeding birds. The shore here, although of volcanic origin, 

 was largely covered with rounded rocks, probably water-worn, and 

 further mitigated by the guanos of long occupation. 



The variety of eggs presented was bewitching (the motif of our visit 

 was chiefly oological), but we were shut out of fully three-fourths of our 

 preferences by the fact that the eggs were near hatching. Of two sets 

 of four, for example, those of one were pipped, and the others, though 

 taken, presented only "tops" when finished. Significantly, the number 

 of fresh or savable eggs among the twos outnumbered those among the 

 threes, ten to one. 

 In fact, there was 

 scarcely a set of 

 three found which 

 we could be sure 

 of saving in per- 

 fect condition. 

 This leads quick- 

 ly to the suspi- 

 cion that sets of 

 two represent for 

 the most part 

 second attempts on 

 the part of those 

 whose previous 

 attempts have for 

 one reason or an- 

 other proved fu- 

 tile. That this is 

 not altogether the 

 case is, of course, 

 abundantly prov- 

 en bv the num- Taken in Mono County 



ber of twos ready 



to hatch. Many of the ones, in like manner, were perfectly fresh, the 

 beginning of new sets; but others, as certainly, were actually "sets," 

 and placed in nests which were intended to hold no more. 



One suspects further that a deficiency in the normal number of eggs 



CALIFORNIA BABIES 



Photo by the Author 



1409 



