The Leach Petrels 



About a month later the author, in company with Mr. Clay, visited 

 a rock near Trinidad, variously known upon the maps as Off-Trinidad, 

 or Blank Rock. Here in a tiny colony of nesting Beal Petrels, Clay 

 unearthed a small gray "pincushion" which excited my suspicion. The 

 water was a little rough and landing difficult, but I demanded a turn 

 ashore, while my companion, poor chap, alternately "fed the fishes" over 

 the side of the drifting boat and waved a courageous "All's well!" The 

 note-book, sharing its owner's enthusiasm, tells the brief story of what 

 followed : 



"Off Trinidad Rock, June 18, 1916. Gulls and Puffins (Tufted) 

 galore, but cover scanty and the population as a whole depauperate. But 

 here — what's this? A petrel jammed into a rock-crevice with her tail 

 sticking out into a covered fern-way. Underneath her shins an egg. We 

 will get that first. Ummm ! Pretty big — and pretty hard set. Birdie, 

 I guess we'll have to have you too. There, there, now, don't be naughty! 

 You can't dig a hole in the rock where there isn't any, and I've got you 

 by the leg. Out you come! What! Gee Whillikins! It's a Fork-tailed 

 Petrel, the first I ever saw, and the southernmost breeding record for 

 the species!" 



The reader will better understand the author's enthusiasm when he 

 explains that three years spent on the Washington coast had failed to 

 discover any nesting site of this elusive species. We understand, however, 

 that others have had better luck; and Finley and Bohlman found the 

 species abundant off the coast of Oregon. 



Blank Rock yielded us another adult and two more chicks, which 

 we left. The station is about fifty miles south of the original discovery, 

 Whaler Island, and Mr. Clay still holds the record for "farthest south," 

 for the "pincushion" lay at least two rods south of my (addled) egg. 



This modest gray bird, which is rather the handsomest of the petrels, 

 is also the hardiest, since it breeds on the Aleutian and the Commander 

 Islands, and wanders into the Arctic Ocean. 



Beck found the birds at Monterey in June, 1895; and in the month 

 of November, both in 1903 and in 1909, so that it is probable that the 

 species passes the winter somewhere off our coasts. There is a San Pedro 

 record authenticated by Dr. Cooper. 



20/2 



