The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-08
i'm. and some fisherman miles away sees him

him, and some fisherman miles away sees him
scaling over the water.
We sit on the summit OF the clin and watch
this whir OF ever passing birds, the movement
Of the sea and clouds. scanning the abyss below
and IL Is a strong stomach that does NOT ieel
a growing nausea. First one is In Tear
and one may soon be recOnciled 10 accompany
ing the obising keeper on u tour OF Inspection,
down ladders. along narrov shelves To whtrr
INJURIES and gannets lay. wNere he would not
dream OF going a. first. Most Of the Cllf + OF
soft sandstone. and masses Getach themselves
from time 10 time, 50 that one must be cir,
cumsrsct For all mat there IS no re'yru
Doubtless every visitor attempts an estimate
Of the numbers in this colony; II i easy, 10
multiply thousands 20 tell a big story Bui
10 say two thousand ~gannets, five tho'iNlhd
INJURIES, several hundred each of razor bul,
kittiwake and putin. and a few score Of I%rtrels'
: 4 very conservative gusNs-tro much 20
Is the opinion Of Keeper Bourpue, II" e>'!-
mates that eight thousand. egRs have been
taken, already this season by the fishermen
and IN. birds have been laying hut a month,
The gannetS. he thinks. constantly decrease,
but the Others, on, the whole increase,
a. most Of them now lay in very inaccessible"
positions. The keeper. Of the lieht ought 70
stop ,pade after Tat the w miGSie o. S"J June sS each s"I'" Year
or, not. later than the first Of july: Tn" birds
robbed 81 early layingS lay again. aho any
r"aS1nsble demand for thee beautiful eHRS
could thus he supplied without injury.
The POPULATION Of the colony y not rs noisy
rs ono would expect. All j. silent NJ NIGHT
except for petrol chatter, and that i inandthle
unless listened for. Rv day the harsh grating
cry Of the 1annets. Ike a wntchman's rattle,
tn, accumulated "ki,tiwake. k%ittiwnke" Of the
sill. the basso- human "murre" 81 the, bird
with that title. the g%runtlng Of aiks and pu'-
ms. and other casual sounds, with the under
tone, OF wind and ocean. give q general sub
diad murmur. with occasional, clarion calls
when something exCitHs a part OF The colony,
\. mil" north Is a smaller island called North
Bird. divided now by the war ot the elements
into three grim rocks. whose tors are snowy
white all over with brooding gannets and rs
sides lined with INJURIES and k~ittiwakes. The
keeper and HIS son rowed Ms over there one
morning We, managed 70 scramble m the
ladgeS thirty feet 10 the summit Of the larger
rock, and had lust time to glance, at the bed
OF gannet, nests and take a few photographs,
when a black sqpaIl doomed ,ur 70 the north,
ward. the treachrrous wind increased. and
We had 10 fly for safety. run the breakers and
get hoi.ted NJ In the crate before the squat
struck. In the afternoon II was all c!"ar again
and We were lowered down again in the crate,
to hang In midair and fire harmless photographic
shots at the wondering birds on their nests,
many OF them almost within roach.
Various wandering land birds get blown
against the light AZ night and killed. or are
stranded here In a semi-eyhaustad condition.
4 pair Of white winged croSsbills have been
worms and soma oats We gave them. They
are 80 tame that We stroke them a thav feed.
take, them in our hands, and when We let them
20 they fit on a few yards and go on feeding.
\ Savannah sparrow made its ann~arance. and
down near the bottom Of the cllN sat n most
disconsolats bittern that would not move even
when We tossed pebbles on its back, This
afternoon We caught a black billed cuc'roo
in one Of the buildings. and when let 60 II few
on 10 the eastward, a. did a long-eared owl
that started from under the lighthouse as We
went in 10 light the great lamp.
Bird Rock and the Magdalens have a cool,
bracin9 climate. Ffty-hve degrees IL about
the usual summar-day temperature, down at
night into the forties. and Cant. BonrOue, who
keeps the Government meteorological record,
remembers only one occasion when the mer-
curry climbed 10 y. Light clothing brought
has lain idle. and winter fannels and sweater
are the regulation wear. with an overcoat to-
ward night.
The Rock IL. NJ course. too remote To at
tract the multitudes. but il is an ocean gem OF
the rarest kind and will no doubt he visited
more and more by tho~a who, for the love OF
nature. can brave a few discomfortS. Simply
to set eyes for a few minutes from the deck Of a
vessel upon thosa ~frownins clifs and that won
derful ever->hifting panorama of bird life Is
vorth all that II would cost, The visitor r. re-
csived with royal courtesy by tho~e who are
only too glad In look into a human face on that
lonely rock and departing again AM watch
ing the islet fade In the distance. leaving the
newly made friends alone with the birds and
the great Creative Spirit, the tenderest and
most wlstful OF thoughts thrOng the mind.