The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1910-01-29

| a certain amount of disappointment
! in the fact that we were unable to
! discover anything of great rarity. The
| island is well suited to the seabirds,
which lay their eggs in holes in the
ground; but these birds have a taste
for forming colonies of their own
species on separate islands Thus the
burrowing grounds of Triangle island,
which extend over its whole surface,
are occupied by two species only
the crested puffin Uunda cirrhata)
and Cassin's auklet (Ptychoramphus
aleuticus), both Of which are present
in almost incredible numbers, The
lower slopes beginning from the beach
level have been taken possession of
by the auklets, the putin burrows be-
ginning at an elevation of 100 feet,
and continuing to the tops of the slop-
ing cliffs. The top Of the island is
again taken up by the auklets, as the
pufflns seem to dislike level ground.
In the many holes which we dug out
In various parts Of the island, no other
burrowing bird was discovered. OF
cliffs and on the beaches, the most
plentiful was the Californian murre
(Uria troile californica), but not ap-
preaching In quantity to the number
Of birds to be seen on the guillemots'
nesting cliffs In England or Scotland.
The pigeon guillemot (Cepphus colum-
ba), indstinguishabe from the Eng
lish black guillemot, was rather
scarce; but the cormorant (Phala-
crocorax pelagicus robustus), was
abundant, nesting together in fairly
accessible places, mostly on the out
lying rocks. The glaucous-winged gull
(Larus glaucescens) was the only one
Of its family nesting on the island,
and not particularly numerous; but
Oyster-catChers were plentiful enough
OF the predatory birds which make
an easy living on the puffins and aux.
lets, we found few pair Of white
headed eagles, two pair of falcons and
family of ravens. There were no
wildfowl of any kind except a few
harlequin ducks and common scoters,
evidently nonbreeding birds. Small
landbirds were Unexpectedly plentiful,
as the thick brush and long grass on
the higher levels afford an excellent
nesting ground. There were two
species of sparrow, the painted thrush,
a small warbler and a wren. Another
unexpected sight was flock of cross.
bills; but as there Is no timber on the
island suitable to their nesting hab-
its, we concluded that they were sim
ply visitors from some of the neigh
boring islands.
There are two main resorts for the
sea lions on outlying rocks, one on
the east and one on the west side of
the island; but the young cubs, which
were about a couple Of weeks old at
the time OF our visit, are left unat-
tended throughout the day on the
shing1e beaches OF the main island
Here they lie absolutely defonsel.ss
in a deathlike stunon, but luckiIy
";ithout any natural enemies Nv
standing to windWarG OF them end
poking them freely with a stick gou
can rouse them sufficiently to below
and finally TO take to the water; but
they are ineXpcrt IN the breakers. and
are evidently not allowed TO fraqrcpt
the outlying rocks, over which the
surf breaks with violence, during the
first few weeks Of life
During our stay Of IA days On the
island. the weather was frIghttYl
especially for the middle Of sumner
yJ-e heH roo southeast z91o- ~ ~