The Occurrence of the Catbird {Mimtis carolinensts) on the Farallone 

 Islands, Pacific Ocean.— Our Catbird appears to be not only extending its 

 range, but wandering into very strange places. On the third of Septem- 

 ber, 1884, the U. S. Lighthouse Steamer 'Manzarrita' landed myself and 

 assistant on one of the Farallone Islands for the purpose of collecting sea 

 lions for the National Museum. We were rowed ashore amid the roar of 

 hundreds of sea lions, and the screams of myriads of birds. 



Immediately upon landing I accompanied the Inspector to the light- 

 house, which occupies the highest rocks three hundred feet above the sea. 

 Near the tower, surrounded by Murres, Puffins, and Gulls, I saw a bird 

 which of all birds was the least to be expected in such a place — a 'regular' 

 eastern Catbird. 



I rushed to the landing for my gun and was back on remarkably short 

 order, considering the number of times my unfortunate stomach had paid 

 tribute to Neptune on the passage out fi-om San Francisco, but the bird 

 had disappeared and could not be found. On the following day, however, 

 it was discovered among the rocks near the sea, and its skin is now in the 

 Smithsonian Institution, still surrounded, it is true, by Murres and Puffins, 

 but not noisy ones. The specimen is perhaps not appreciably different 

 from others of the same species with which it has been compared, its small 

 bill being matched in specimens from Key West, and its light colored 

 under parts not being exceptional. 



The occurrence of this species on these islands is the more remarkable 

 as it has not yet been recorded from California, being known on the 

 Pacific Coast of the United States only in the region of the Columbia 

 River. The Farallones (Spanish, meaning pointed rocks in the sea) are 

 disposed in three groups several miles apart, the largest being about a 

 mile long and lying thirty miles west of the Golden Gate. They are well 

 named, for there is neither soil nor vegetation upon them, except the 

 guano of the birds and three species of weeds. In summer the eggs of 

 the birds which swarm there to breed, are gathered by the barrel-full for 

 the San Francisco market.— Chas. H. Townsend, Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, Washington, D. C. Auk. 2. Apfil, 1885. P. / ^- ^ / O . 



