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JULY,. I9O3 [ THE CONDOR 97 be taken in its removal, because auklets have very sharp toes! When once out from its dark burrow and brought into the bight light, the bird had some trouble in getting its bearings; it would flutter about hopelessly a few moments and then, suddenly righting itself, dart quickly over the cliff toward the ocean. I watched several during a performance of this kind and found I could follow them with my eye until they struck the water, when the color of the bird and that of the floating kelp blended so nicely, that, at a distance, one could not be distinguished from the other. In many of the nests there were young birds ranging in age from those newly hatched to ones nearly full grown, having only a little down clinging to the fea- thers about the neck. The little fellows were of more interest than the others; they looked for all the world like little black chickens, downy and soft, but too dainty to handle. When brought into the light they would sit blinking at you with the wise expression of the proverbial owl. We examined in all a great number of nests and found very few empty ones; in those containing young birds, the parent bird was always absent, as there would be hardly room for the old bird and a young one half grown. Our observation extended only to this one colony. I have no doubt that the birds nested else- where on the island; but our time was limited to part of one afternoon and the next morning, so we could not do as much exploring as we wished. We finished off nicely, and having plenty of specimens, were anxious to set sail for Santa Mon- ica, where we could get a square meal and a good wash. Our captain, while an expert oarsman, was a headstrong sailor, and no doubt questioned the old adage that "a miss is as good as a mile." His curiosity respecting the truth of this often carried us into some ticklish places, and we were heartily glad to scramble up on the wharf at Santa Monica and feel something solid beneath our feet again. Notes from Santa Barbara, California BV JOSEPH- MAILLIARD HILE in Santa Barbara, recuperating from illness, from the middle of April until the latter part of July of last year, I utilized my time in doing what little my health would allow in the way of collecting birds and notes appertaining to them. My efforts being greatly restricted by circumstances the results were not by any means as great as could be desired, yet it was my in- tention to publish a list of the birds not noted in Jeffries' article, Auk, V. April, t888. On second thought, however, the probability of being able to do more and better work in this vicinity at futute dates leads me to postpone doing so until my notes are more voluminous. Later on, with the assistance of Mr. A. P. Redding- ton oi Santa Barbara, I hope to be able to publish an annotated list that will be of greater interest and value. Birds seemed to me to be very scarce that spring, and this idea was confirmed by residents interested in such matters. My observations were necessarily confined mostly to the outskirts of the town, and in this territory the apparently abnormal destruction of birds' nests was most noticeable. Though not making a specialty of nests a good many were noted. Not being allowed to climb trees, those above reach could not be observed, but of the many recorded for the purpose of noting