Page:Condor10(5).djvu/4

186 THE CONDOR VOL. X The first part of the voyage of the Vinegaroon over the Colorado Desert was thoroly enjoyable. There was a cool, gentle breeze from the east. On the north the bare rain-sculptured ridges of the Chocolate Mountains presented ever- changing shades of brown, .which give them their name. On the south rose the eastern spurs of the Santa Rosa. Mountains, a land of mystery to me then as re- gards its animal life; but later in the summer the scene of many weeks of field work. The western end of Salton Sea is very shallow, and over several square miles the water is dotted with protruding bushes; and here and there rows of cottonwoods, all dead, mark the site of former ranches. In passing one of these spots, our propeller caught in a section of chicken-wire fencing, which was buoyed nearly to the surface by an attached fence-l?ost. Fishes were plentiful---swarming by the hundreds along the railroad, where refuse was regularly thrown from the trains to them. There were carp, "bony- tail", or Colorado perch, and cat-fish. These formed a plentiful food-supply for the fish-eating birds. The partly submerged telegraph poles each served as a perch for from one to three cormorants; while Great Blue Herons were roosting on the bush tops. A good many ducks were seen in the brush tracts close to shore, but we found no evidence of their breeding. As we cruised along, further out on the open sea, we came up with flocks of from 20 to 50 American Eared Grebes (Colymbus cal?brn[cus). Fully fifteen such companies were encountered, their proximity being detected usually thru hearing their strange saw-filing calls. For,he birds themselves were difficult to see at any distance on the water because of the glassy glare, this .after the breeze began to die out. Donham steered us into some of the flocks, and we succeeded in shootiug several of the grebes, tho as soon as alarmed they easily dove beyond the reach of the clumsy Vinegaroon. Six Western Grebes (?Echmophorus occt'denlalis) were encountered, five in a company, and one lonely one. But they .all quickly disap- peared, as soon as the wheezing launch started in their direction. I have no reason to believe that either the Eared or Western Grebe nest anywhere in the Salton Sea region. They were probably at this date about to leave for their more northern breeding grounds, the former nesting in numbers as far south at least as Bear Lake, in the San Bernardino Mountains, only 60 miles away but in a much higher life zone. Fully a'dozen Common Loons ((]av?a ?mmer) in full plumage were seen singly at a distance. And several Caspian Terns (Slerna caspia) flew by out of range. Cormorants (Phalacrocorax aurt'ttts alboct'lt'alus} kept flying curiously across our bow, and the three we dropped kept us busy the rest of the day's voy- age scraping grease. About noon all vestige of a breeze vanished; the water be- came smooth and glary. We had no awning; and the desert sun beat down on our backs, leaving burns which constantly recalled the experience for a week after- ward. Scraping grease from fishy seabirds on an open boat in the frying snn is one phase of collecting well worth avoiding--if one can. All along our course a number of immature Ring-billed Gulls (Lar?ts de/a- warensis) were repeatedly seen, evidently keeping us iu view for the sake of the pieces of meat and fat we kept throwing overboard. About one o'clock a curious shifting mirage made its appearance ahead, an- nouncitig the location of our first objective point. But ?it was not until three- thirty that we reached it. Echo Island lies twelve miles or more south of the present station of Lano which is somewhere in the vicinity of the old station of Volcano, now submerged. As we neared the Island, a curious frosted patch became conspicuous on the