HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
Thirty-seven letters were received in answer 
to the above questions. A study of the contents 
of these letters points to* the following conclusions. 
I. The destruction of birds at the light- 
houses of the California coast is slight. Only ten 
of the stations reporting tell of any destruction at 
all, and at some of these ten th enumber of birds 
killed is very small. Many keepers, including one 
who has been at the same lighthouse forty years, 
state positively that no birds are ever killed at 
their station, t is of course possible that birds 
are killed at some stations and escape notice, but 
this could hardly be the case if they were des- 
troyed in any considerable numbers, and, more- 
over, careful count has apparently been made at 
several of the lighthouses of all birds found dead. 
One keeper reports ninety-one birds killed in three 
years, another four birds in three years. 
At two or three stations the destruction is 
evidently more serious. 
The keeper at the Point Arena light states 
that after "calm dark nights" from ten to thirty 
birds are found dead at his lighthouse. Another 
says that at his station the average is about six 
a night; still another reports an average of twelve 
a night in the migration season. The birds killed 
at these lighthouses would probably amount to 
quite a large number from year to year. But 
when we remember that there are twenty-seven 
other stations reporting no destruction at all, we 
see that the number of birds killed in this way on 
the whole coast must be comparatively slight. 
II. The destruction of birds at the light- 
houses of the California coast is confined almost 
entirely to Avater fowl and shore birds. Only two 
station sreport any land birds destroyed. Follow- 
ing is a list of the birds reported as having been 
found dead about the lighthouse stations: — 
No. of times 
Name of bird as reported. reported. 
1. "Small land birds" 2 
2. "Small sea birds" (possibly petrels) 3 
3. "Snipe" (probably some species of 
sandpiper) 2 
4. "Coot" 1 
5. "Shag" (cormorant) 1 
6. "Divers" (loons and grebes) 2 
7. "Ducks" 5 
8. "Spoonbill Duck" 1 
9. "Teal" 1 
10. "Wild Goose" 1 
11. "Curlew" 2 
12. "Sandpiper" 1 
13. "Grey Shore Bird" : 2 
The evidently small number of land birds 
killed at the lighthouses of the coast is surpris- 
ing, since we have been accustomed to think of 
them as perishing in great numbers at similar 
places in Europe, in the Great Lakes region, and 
on the Atlantic coast. It may be that the number 
so killed in the regions named has been overesti- 
mated, if, indeed, any careful and extensive study 
of the matter has been made. But, making all 
such allowances, it seems probable that the num- 
ber of birds killed on this coast is far below the 
usual quota elsewhere. The writers suggest the 
following reasons as offering a plausible explana- 
tion of the difference. 
1. The character of bird migration on the 
Pacific coast. It is a well known fact that western 
birds do not migrate with that concentrated wave 
movement common among the birds of our Eas- 
tern and Middle states. In that region we awake 
some fine spring morning to find forest and gar- 
den and wayside weeds melodious with song 
where all was wintry silence but yesterday. This 
does not happen in California. Migrations here 
are more leisurely and widespread, hence less 
dangerous to the bird travellers. 
2. The character of the California coast. A 
glance at the map will show that the portion of 
the North American coast comprised within the 
boundaries of California pushes out westward into 
the Pacific Ocean in one vast convexity. Birds 
travelling on this coast and taking "short cuts" 
will be thrown away from the ocean. On the 
other hand the Atlantic coast of our country con- 
sists of three great concavities and many lesser 
indentations of the sea. Birds travelling on the 
Atlantic coast have numerous sea trips, more or 
less extended, and will consequently be continually 
passing near lighthouse stations. 
3. The structure and locations of California 
lighthouses. The senior author has seen over hall 
of the thirty-six lighthouses from which reports 
have been received, and can say that for the most 
part they are comparatively low structures. The 
tall, brick-chimney type of lighthouse which one 
sees so often on the Great Lakes seems to be al- 
most wholly wanting on this coast. 
The returns seem to indicate that the danger 
to birds increases in direct proportion to the dis- 
tance of the lighthouse lantern above the ground, 
which the general elevation of the whole structure 
is also an important factor. Many of the light- 
houses are situated near sea level and at the foot 
of high bluffs, and not one so situated reports 
any bird destruction. But where the lighthouse is 
located on a height, even though it be not very 
high itself, there is considerable mortality. This 
is indicated by the fact that the average elevation 
of all the lighthouses reporting birds killed is 165 
feet, while the average elevation if all the light- 
houses reporting no birds killed is only eighty- 
eio-ht feet. 
