Page:Condor14(5).djvu/34

188 THH; CONDOR Vol. XIV and still more so with fleas, making a stay in the locality a perfect nightmare. One has but to stand still for a moment and upon looking down, dozens of the little. pests are to be seen crawling up one's legs. A number of Cassin Auklets (Ptychorc?m[?hus c?leuticus) and a specimen each of Xantus Murrelet (Brc?chryc?m[?hus hy[?oleucus) and Black Petrel (Oceano- dromc? melc?nic 0 were seen on the way. from Ensenada. I searched diligently for nests of the two former species, and was convinced at the time that no small sea- birds bred upon the islands because of the plague of rats, but on April 25, 1912, Mr. George Willett found several nests of Cassin Auklets, which proved that they do breed there in limited numbers. Larus occidentalis. Western Gull. These had finished the construction of their nests in several small, well-defined colonies, and were jealously guard- ing them, either singly or in pairs, from the thievery of their neighbors, but no eggs had been laid when I left. Larus heermanni. Heermann Gull. A few seen. Sterna maxima. Royal Tern. Two noted. Puffinus griseus. Sooty Shearwater. As we were steaming past the islands down the coast April 12, vast flocks of what I took to be this species were seen flying half a mile out to sea. Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus. Farallon Cormorant. Nests of this bird and the pelican were commingled in two colonies on the south island. Only a very few birds visited the rookery during the first two days of my stay, but by the last day flocks of them were coming in from the .sea, and standing about the old nests; and an individual could occasionally be seen carrying seaweed. Phalacrocorax penicillatu$. Brandt Cormorant. Many old nests were lo- cated in the niches of the low cliff along the shore, and the birds were common on the surf-washed rocks, but they showed no signs of breeding yet. On a rock twenty miles farther south some of these birds had eggs. Pelecanus californlcus. California Brown .Pelican. A few of these also were to be found inspecting the old nests, but here at least no eggs had been deposited. On the farther end of the north island, however, there was a very' large colony, as could be seen by the birds in the air. The fishermen informed me that the pelicans had eggs there at this date. I wish to describe here the actions of a flock o{ these birds, evidently from Tbdos Santos, which I witnessed April 13 some fifteen miles down the coast. I saw the same thing several times during 1910, but to a less marked degree. Having done no work on any of the islands during the fall I am unable to state whether this is a form of nuptial or courtship flight, but should judge this to be the case. At four o'clock I noted a very large flock of pelicans feeding, and shortly afterwards the school of fish which they were pursuing left. Some o{ the birds settled down upon the water while others began circling in the air on motionless wings. A moderate breeze was blowing. Singly the ones in the water took wing and joined the circling throng until there must have been a hundred and fifty birds in the air, orming an irregular but clearly defined column or rather cylinder, some hun- dred yards in diameter. Gradually some birds mounted higher until they were specks in the sky, while others were but fifty yards above the water. More than an hour elapsed beween the start and finish of this flight. The flock remained over almost the same spot, and at no time did a bird show indications of diving or looking for fish. Their soaring was very even, and I noticed no flapping at