Jan., 1920 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 41 
The next morning (December 5), fortunately clear and calm, Little and I sallied 
torth to again search the beach, which we did for about two miles, covering a little 
more ground than he had gone over the previous day, with the idea in view of identi- 
fying all the birds we could find that had been washed ashore after the storm. Little 
said that the surface of the beach had been considerably changed since he had been 
there, and that some of the bodies he had noted had disappeared, while others had either 
been uncovered again by the waves at high tide or had been blown ashore since his 
visit. 
Some of the birds were lying out in plain sight on the beach, while in other 
cases perhaps only a feather or two showed above the sand. Many gave evidence of 
having been sadly buffeted by wind and waves and none were in a condition to allow 
of preservation except three Sanderlings, which seemed quite fresh and probably were 
killed only the night before. Only the birds that were fresh enough to be without doubt 
the victims of this storm were given consideration, but there were a few older car- 
casses here and there, of other species than those enumerated herein. 
The numbers and species of these recent victims were as follows: 1 Tufted Puffin 
(Lunda cirrhata), 4 California Murres (Uria troille californica), 1 Pacific Kittiwake 
(Rissa tridactyla pollicaris), 1 (immature) Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens), 
1 Western Gull (Larus occidentalis), 1 Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), 1 Ring-billed 
Guil (Larus delawarensis), 1 Short-billed Gull (Larus brachyrhynchus), one gull so 
soaked with oil as to be unidentifiable, 1 Pacific Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis glupischa), 
1 Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus), 1 California Brown Pelican (Pelecanus califor- 
nicus), 1 Brandt Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillaius), 1 White-winged Scoter (Oide- 
demia degiandi), and 3 Sanderlings (Calidris leucophaea). About two miles of shore 
were covered on these two mornings, the total number of birds found dead being 32. 
Doubtless there were some others buried in the sand, and as it is hardly reasonable to 
suppose that all those killed off-shore in these two miles of latitude had been washed 
up on the beach, the actual toll of this storm must have been greater therein than the 
count of the victims on the beach would show. 
The species above enumerated were almost all. if not entirely, of those that in- 
habit the waters adjacent to the coast or near-by islands, and on this coast their winter 
habitat is a narrow belt of comparatively few miles in width for a long distance north 
and south of San Francisco Bay. If the storm raged as furiously over a large part of 
this habitat, the mortality must have been great, judging by the results of our two 
miles search. 
It was most discouraging to find the beach strewn with cakes of solidified crude 
oil. the sizes of these cakes varying from only a few drops stuck together to as large as 
a big frying pan, showing that ships are still dumping the oil refuse from their tanks 
in our waters. Some of the birds found were either partly or entirely incapacitated by 
coming in contact with it, a couple being absolutely saturated with the oil.—JosrEPn 
MaILuiarD, San Francisco, December 9, 1919. 
Clarke Nutcracker at Carmel.—I am indebted to Mrs. Edward A. Kluegel for the 
following notes on the Clarke Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) as occurring in Car- 
mel, Monterey County, California. The first one observed was on November 7, 1919, in 
a tall pine. On November 9 one was watched hopping about on the ground, appearing 
quite tame and unafraid. Since then, varying numbers have been observed, until on 
November 30, twenty-seven were counted in one company.—JANE L. SCHLESINGER, Oak- 
land, California, December 6, 1919. 
Habits of Oceanodroma leucorhoa beali versus O. socorroensis.—Following direc- 
tions kindly furnished me by Mr. C. I. Clay, I visited on July 16, 1919, an island of 
about six acres extent which lies one mile southwest of Crescent City. Del Norte Coun- 
ty, California, and spent the day investigating its bird life. I estimated that there 
were close to ten thousand pairs of petrels nesting there, and one may well imagine 
that the day proved to be one of the most enjoyable of my life. Every foot of soft 
ground was not only occupied, but the tunnels were two and three layers deep, and 
freely intercommunicated. Indeed, it was impossible to dig more than an inch or two 
