x24 THE CONDOR [ VOL. VII

C.IILL IN FLIGHT a slippery place to the next colony. At this point, there was a projecting knob, where one could look straight over the drop for a hundred and fifty feet, and around which one had to edge his way. A piece above that was a portion of the rock that was broken and crumbling, up which we had to scramble, climbing from the nest of one cor- morant to another, till we reached the slope, and then dambet on up to the pinnacle of the rock where we could get our first concep- tion of what the island really was. Th4 dil'erent nests that we found on these rocks may be divided into three classes: the grass nests, burrow nests, and nests that were no nests at all. Under the first group would come the western gull (Larus occidentalis) and three kinds of cormorants, Brandt, Baird and the Fatallone (Phalacrocorax peniciilalzts, Ph. pelagicus resplendens, Ph. dilohus albociliatus). In the second class would come the tufted puffin (Lnnda cirrhata), Kaeding petrel (Oceanodroma leaedingi), and the forked-tail petrel (Oceanodronza furcata). Those having no nests at all would be the California murre (Uria troile californica) and the pigeon guillemot (Cepphus kolumba). Of the last bird, we only found a few pairs nest- ing on the rock. The forked-tailed petrels were rather rare on the rock, where we caiped. but a little more common on the middle rock where they nested right in among the Kaeding petrel, but not so com- mon. There were also a few pairs of black oyster-catchers (Ha. matopts bachmani) nest- ing among the ledges. There were no ashy petrels or Cassin auklets as on the Farallones. One of the prettiest sights about the rock was the gulls that filled the air like so ninny tinthered snow-flakes. Their immaculate white bodies and soft, pearl-grey wings, tipped witIt black, are as catching as ransic strains wafted over the river. I liked to watch them, because they were masters of the air. There was aconstant adjustment of the wings to meet every air current that swept the rock, but in a steady breeze the movement was too slight to see. and they hung as motionless as if painted in the blue. They tacked straight into the teeth of the wind. I saw one rethin a perfect