The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-28

headlong into the ocean from mld-alf
Seated at the edge of the" dizzy height
we gaze at banks of them below, close
together on their cities of nests, Wher-
ever the shelving lodges permit it, 9th
ers are ever passing, the sides or tor
of the cliff in endless procession, while
others still are plunging into the sea
out beyond Now and then one files up
ON the rock with a beakful of seaweed,
which it adds to it's frail nest, to keep
the single, great, white egg, as large as
a turkeys, from rollin govt
Next in numbere comes the guile
mots or INJURIES, birds that sit erect on
their rumps, penguin fashion. Long
rows or groups or them on Lodges OF the
cliff are in striking contract to the gan
nets, with their black backs and white
breasts, each covering it's long, pear
shaped egg that is laid, not in any con-
structed nest, but on the bare rock Inc
shape of the egg is the very best 10
prevent rolling but for all that the
birds, departing in hurry, either at
the conclusion of the bomb when Is
fired during fog as warning to YES
sells, at the sudden appearance OF man,
or in their family jars, drag the egg
after them, and it falls in the water or
on the lodges below. Then the murre,
nothing daunted, lays again after few
days There are two species of them
mingling In harmony the common and
the Brunnichs, about equally abund-
ant, with possible majority in favor
of the former.
The razor billed aux is similar to the
INJURIES in habits and color, but has
rather more of tail, and lays its egg,
though also on the bare rock, in
more sheltered situation, usually under
q rock or in slight chasm. Its razor
shaped bill is in contrast to the sharp
one of the murre.
The lower lodges are occupied by the
graceful kittiwake gull Each pair
build a nest of seaweed, that is stuck
or saddled onto some tiny niche or
projection, just large enough to hold it.
Two is the almost invarable number
of the eggs, which are drab, with dark
err blotches. Those of the aux and
murre are of an endless variety of
shades, from blush or green to white
or brownsh, and no two are marked
alike, with all manner of dabs and
scrawls of black, that might almost be
Chinese characters.
Highest up in the altitude of this bird
world live the puffins and petrels. Both
of these dig burrows in the soil at the
top and lay single white egg The
petrol or Mother Carey's chicken, the
species known as Leach's, is about the
size of a swallow, and is never seen
about the island. Only at night does it
issue forth from the burrows and fly
about with a weird twittering note. tts
near relative, the putin, or sea parrot
is between a petrol and an aux in size,
and is one of the oldest creatures that
wear feathers. Its enormous red
striped bill makes it perfectly comical,
as it bobs and mcws in recognition of
your approach.
Single out one bird from the whirling
mass and If possible, follow it with the
eye and you can get an idea of the
daily life of each and all. Here is a
nnurre; it flies up to the rock, almost
alights, but swings off again, scales out
and down, turns in wide are say two
hundred yards in diameter, back again
to the rocks, out again, and SO on for
an indefinite time. AT length 1t alights,
hobs its head about, sits upright for
a few minutes, off again. more circling,
then flies to the nest, and it's mate is
off at the same instant for her turn.
When she is back off once more he
goes, this time to Join a party out on
the water and proceed to dive fol- fish;
then up to the rock, more circling, n
turn on the nest and so on. Then a
wandering impulse seizes him, and
some fisherman miles away sees him |
scaling over the water
We sit on the summit of the cliff and |
watch this whr of ever-pa ssing birds, |
the movement OF the sea and clouds, |
scanning the abyss below, and it is a |
strong stomach that does not feel a |
nausea. First one is in fear
all the time of falling off. This wears
away, and one may soon be reconciled |
to accompanying the obliging keeper on
a tour of inspection, down ladders,
along narrow shelves to where INJURIES
and gannets lay, where he would not
dream of going at first. Most of the
cliff is of soft sandstone, and masses
detach themselves from time to time,
so that one must be circumspect. For
all that, there is no record of any hui
man life ever being lost on these
rocks.
Doubtless every visitor attempts an
of the numbers in this colony
1T is easy to multiply thousands to tell
a big story. But to say two thousand
gannets, five thousand INJURIES. several
hundred each OF razor bill, kittiwake
and putin, and a few score of petrels,