278 
202. Podilymbus podiccps, (Linn.).—Carolina Grebe. 
Present in numbers on many of tbe fresh-water ponds of the interior ; found also on 
the coast. The P. cornutm was not recognized by us, though it, too, is found numer¬ 
ously in fall. 
Alcidve.— Auks. 
203. Fratercula cirrhata, (Pallas).—Tufted Tuffim 
This Puffin, though more commonly known as a resident of the far north, was ascer¬ 
tained by us to inhabit the islands of the Santa Barbara group in summer. It was 
not uncommon, and was nesting apparently in the crevices of the cliffs, from which I 
frequently saw it flying back and forth. Heermann likewise found it breeding in 
numbers on the Farallone Islands. 
204. Uria Columbia, (Pallas).—Western Guillemot. 
The Santa Barbara Islands form, too, it is probable, about the southern limit for this 
species in summer ; among them it is, however, numerous—breeding in tbe caves and 
hollows of the generally inaccessible cliffs. Early one morning, while out collecting, I 
noticed many of these birds frightened at the report of my gun, streaming out of a 
little ravine hemmed in by high rocky cliffs, and terminating at the upper end in a 
low narrow cave. The tide being at its lowest, I succeeded in gaining the entrance, 
and, crawling on my hands and knees for a short distance, I soon had the satisfaction 
of placing my hands on the eggs. Their housekeeping arrangements are of the sim¬ 
plest kind. No nest at all is prepared to receive the eggs; but these were deposited on 
the sandy floor of the cavern, and at its farther end, where it was so dark that I had 
to strike a match to see them at all. Other pairs had availed themselves of the nooks 
and fissures in the face of the wall, and laid their two eggs on the bare rock. I suc¬ 
ceeded in finding a few only of the many eggs that must have been deposited here, as 
ike shelves of the rocks were, in many instances, too high to be reached. The birds 
submitted to the pillage without a murmur, though not without solicitude, as their 
anxious manner as they swam back and forth at the entrance to the ravine, keeping, 
however, well out of gunshot, sufficiently evinced. 
The eggs are a faint greenish white, spotted mostly at the larger end with irregular 
blotchings. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, 
Corps of Engineers, in Charge. 
H. W. Hensiiaw. 
