270 Dr. E. Coues.— From Arizona to the Pacific. 
the two first. But over the bay, though we saw many Ducks 
and Geese, they neither are so numerous as they are a little 
way from the sea on the lagoons and marshes of the San Gabriel 
river, or even (in the case of the Geese at least) on the dry 
bare plains. There is one exception to this, in Pelionetta per - 
spicillata, which never, I believe, leaves the sea and its estuaries ; 
they were in sight all day, rising and falling with the waves of 
the ocean. 
On the edges of the mud-flats sat rows of black uncouth¬ 
looking birds, bolt upright, with drooping wings, apparently 
enjoying the sun while digesting the mass of food with which, 
I have no doubt, their stomachs were overloaded. Gastric 
activity is usually, in birds as in man, in inverse ratio to mental 
acuteness; and these birds allowed themselves to be shot with a 
nonchalance highly amusing and gratifying. Graculus dilophus 
they were, in spite of their white breasts, which only indicated 
that they were not yet a year old. When older they are 
lustrous black, but still very different from G. penicillatus , 
which, by the way, is also found here, though rather rare. 
They have jealous (that is, green eyes), like all Cormorants; and 
the brilliant orange gular pouch and sides of the bill contrast 
finely with their dark plumage. 
Speaking of these Totipalmi naturally calls to mind some 
others of the tribe. Pelecanus fuscus is a constant feature of 
the air, land, and water of this bay. Strange-looking birds, 
“ all bill and wings/” as has been remarked of them, flapping 
lazily along high over head, and with a queer twisting gyration 
of the body, with stiffly extended wings and immoveable bill, 
down they splash into the water with more “vims” than one would 
imagine them capable of. They are concealed for a few 
moments in the spray they raise; when they reappear, it is to 
fly off if the dive has been bootless—to sit still, drain the water 
from the pouch, and, with a toss of the head, jerk the fish into 
their capacious gullets if perchance they have been successful. 
On the water their motions are easy gracefulness itself. Not¬ 
withstanding the bulk of their bodies, and the long head and 
neck to be supported, they sit on the water lightly as an egg¬ 
shell. 
