The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-11-19

western gale thundered past the island, and all other sounds were blended in one majestic elemental chorus. The air was full of salt spray, but wind there was none where they stood, for the tempest, hurling itself against that
 narrow cleft, made a buffer of air through which no stress Of storm could pass. But as if entirely indifferent to
 the celestial war, as indeed they were,
 the pretty little birds finished their toi- let, and, crouchingI entered their tiny
 tunnel, cosiest of hooks, after their long
 wandering There was no nest-huild-
 ing to do; all was ready; and presently the male bird shot out from the gallery, and, like a gIeam, passed through the rift in the cliffs to the heart of the
 storm. o wonderful nature! here that wee creature was at home. Amid the thunderous rage of tormented seas he fitted, so easeful, so secure. His bright eyes never blinked as they ranged eve rywhere in quest of food, and continu- ally he stretched one slender leg and then another to touch the fretted sur face over which he sped. Never yet
 was observer keen enough to notice the feeding of the tiny petrel in a gale: but
 suddenly rising little, he made one
 curious movement with his tail and was gone, through the portals of the noun
 tain, to his waiting mate. So for three
 days he toiled to supply her needs and
 his own by day. and by night, close
 nestling by her side in the cosy dark. exchanged twitterings oe truest fellow ship. .
 Then came the anxious time of incu-
 bation, in which he took full share, sit- ting closely upon the whitish egg, while
 his mate took her mazy way among the
 pillows and around that rugged peak Never was partnership more perfect, equality of toll, of hope, of love, more equitably established. And then, amid
 excitement so intense that the two tiny
 creatures seemed temporarily frantic,
 brown puff-ball with beady eyes and wide gaping beak made its appearance.
 Pretty it was to see the assiduity with which each parent, forgetting distinc- tion of sex, took turn about in the fam fly cares, or how swift was the transi- tion from the darlssonne quiet of the lit tie home, where the crash of the war ring elements without was mellowed to
 a deep hum that vibrated through the bowels of the earth, to the crashing,
 shrieking, roaring conflict of storm and deep three yards away.
 The fedgling grew apace, and Its
 sturdy wings developed rapidly. Fath- CT and mother coaxed and performed
 assiduously in the narrow space at their f1isnncal5 pavay, 1,yaa ,.x,ipor auar pnfioinor how each lesson brought the learner a
 step forward. Till one bright day, with a low cry of delight, the father bird,
 closely followed by his pupil, shot out between the cliffs into the wilderness be- 1 yond, and in very ecstacyof rejoicing powers flashed from one breaker to an
 other, followed closely as his shadow by
 his son. Suddenly, as a climax to his | joy, the male bird saw his glossy mate
 shoot seaward also, the fruition of their long vigil attained They were perfect I ly happy. Back and forth they fitted,
 that happy trio, feasting royalty, for
 the waters were swarming with tiny
 medusac, squid, and all the minor sea folk upon whom such countless myr- iads subsist but who are rarely visible
 to man, except to one whose relentless
 desire for knowledge of the sea-people
 makes him wait and watch as closely
 as he who digs. for gold. And just as the great disc of the sun was slowly settling behind the western sea-rim the little family with one accord wheeled
 swiftly shoreward, and as uner1ingly as if fired from a gun by good marks man, shot between the riven rocks into their quiet burreW. sYfe
 Swiftly flew the days as the young ling grew and waxed strong, longer and
 longer were the hours during which it
 sped untiringly over the pillows, nc longer in imitation but in emulation of it's parents. until one stormy day the father petrel swooped for tasty squid enly to have it snapped up under his
 very heak by his son. Further proof 0 the self-sustaining powers of the new conner was unnecessary, and five min Iutes later the faithful pair, their tem- Iporary attachment to the shore over, were speeding northward with many a
 mazy whirl and loving dalliance with the spray, as if in sheer exuberance of physical powers marvellous to behold in
 such tiny birds. The next day saw |