204 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
that they were Aleutian Terns. I have even known of several of them having been 
collected for this species and their identity not discovered until some time later. 
In view of the above facts it seems as if the probable breeding of the Aleutian 
Tern in southeastern Alaska is open to doubt unless specimens of the birds were actually 
taken.—F. Seymour Hersey, Taunton, Massachusetts, August 14, 1920. 
Comments upon the Safety of Sea Birds and upon the “Probable” Occurrence of 
the Northern Bald Eagle in California——In THe Conpor for May-June, 1920, appear two 
articles upon which the undersigned seeks the privilege of commenting. 
The article by J. Grinnell on page 101, entitled “The Existence of Sea Birds a 
Relatively Safe One,’ appears to the writer, after a number of years careful study of 
this very question, to be most timely and accurate and not open to any criticism what- 
ever. The only reason for taking up the matter here is a desire to enlarge somewhat on 
the theme of the original article. 
We are all familiar with the frequent allusions to the “sea birds killed by storms” 
that have appeared in print in times past. A number of years ago the writer began to 
visit the California beaches after severe storms, expecting to find dead and crippled sea 
birds plentiful. This was not found to be the case, however, and, after several years 
observation along the beaches and the examination of hundreds of dead birds, the con- 
clusion was arrived at that the storms have nothing whatever to do with the birds found 
dead along shore. In fact the greatest numbers of dead birds were noted at times when 
there had been no storms for weeks. Another point to be considered is that birds killed 
or crippled by storms blowing on-shore would still be fat when they reached the beach. 
On the contrary, a great percentage of the shearwaters, fulmars and other birds found 
dead along our beaches are in a more or less emaciated condition, evidence that they 
died of disease. Furthermore, in many cases their internal organs were swarming with 
parasites. It is the writer’s belief that sea birds, particualrly those that migrate in 
companies, are at times subject to epidemics to which large numbers succumb and that 
this fact is responsible for the numbers of dead birds on the beaches at certain times, 
storms having nothing whatever to do with it. 
The most striking example known to the writer of the ability of sea birds to 
withstand severe weather conditions is that of the young of the Ancient Murrelet (Syn- 
thliboramphus antiquus). At midnight, with the aid of the light of a lantern, the writer 
has watched these downy chicks, not more than three or four days old, dive through the 
surf in response to the cry of the parent bird and head out to sea into the teeth of a 
southeasterly gale, and this at a time when boulders weighing a hundred pounds or 
more were being rolled up and down the beach like so many pebbles. Furthermore, all 
evidence points to the fact that these young birds remain on the open sea many miles 
from land until fully grown, in spite of the fact that in this latitude severe gales are 
frequent through the summer months. In eight seasons spent in this region the writer 
has never seen a young murrelet anywhere near the shore after it had once taken to 
the water. In fact, the half-zgrown young had never been noted at all until this season 
(1920), when, on July 21, A. M. Bailey and the writer secured a pair of adult birds} and 
a pair of young about two-thirds grown in the middle of the channel between Forrester 
and Dall islands, ten or twelve miles off-shore. 
The second article upon which the writer desires to comment is the one by Mr. 
J. H. Fleming, entitled “The Northern Bald Eagle as a Probable Californian Bird” (page 
110). Now, with all due regard to the high ornithological standing of the author of 
this note, it seems to the writer that the evidence submitted is far too inconclusive to 
serve as a basis for recording the Northern Bald Eagle as a “probable” Californian bird. 
Let us consider briefly the evidence as presented. In the beginning of the article 
Mr. Fleming states that the Northern Bald Eagle “should occur at least as a migrant”. 
This statement is made arbitrarily without presentation of any facts tending to show 
that the Northern Bald Eagle in the southwestern portion of its range is to any extent 
migratory. The writer, whose experience with this bird in southeastern Alaska covers 
a period of eight years, finds that. it is, in the extreme southeastern part of Alaska at 
least, resident throughout the year, being fully as abundant in winter as in summer. 
Near Craig, Prince of Wales Island, during the winter of 1919-20, several pairs of birds 
