The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1910-05-07

level have been taken possession Of
by the auklets. the punin burrows be-
ginning at an elevation Of 100 feet.
and continuing to the tops Of the slop-
ing cliffs. The top Of the island II
again taken up by the auklets. ~ the
punins seem to dislike level ground.
In the many holes which We dug out
in various parts Of the island. no other
burrowins bird was discovered. OF
the other seabirds which breed in the
cliffs and on the beaches. the most
plentiful was the Californian munro
(Uria troile californica). but not ap.
preaching in quantity to the number
Of birds to be seen on the guillemots'
nesting clif1s In England or Scotland.
The pigeon guillemot (Cepphus column
bal. indistinguishable 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
u It's family nesting on the island.
and not particularly numerous; but
oystsr-catchers were plentiful enough.
nesting on every beach. aud keeping
mp perpetual clamof.
OF the predatory birds which make
"a easy living on the pufhns and aux.
lets. we found few pair Of white
headed eagles. two pair Of falcons and
. family Of ravens. There were no
wiidfowl Of any kind except = few
harlequin ducks and common scoters,
evidently non-breeding birds. Small
landbirds were Unexpectedly plentiful,
~ the thick brush and long grass ON
the higher levels afford IN excellent
nesting ground. There were two
species Of sparrow, the painted thrush.
. small warbler and wren. Another
unexpected sight was 4 flock Of cross
bills; but ~ there II NO timber on the
island suitable to their nesting hab-
it,. W concluded that they were sim.
ply visitors from some Of the neigh
boring islands. with regard to the
actua1 numbers Of the ,puhins and
auklets, conservative estimate,
formed By taking the number Of holes
to tho acre and the total acreage Of
the island, gave the result that there
were half q million OF each Of these
two species on an island roughly
three miles in circumference. When
the other Indicating birds arc taken
Into consideration. and. also the large
herds OF hair seals and sea lions, the
weight Of the daily supply Of nsh
yielded by the ocean for this one
island must b enormous.
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 DE young cubs. which
were about . couple of weeks old at
the time Of our visit. are left unat-
tended throughout the day on the
shingle beaches Of the main island.
Hers they lie absolutely dsfenseless
In = deathliks stupor. but luckily
without any natural enemies. BY
/ standing to windward Of them and
poking them freely with 4 stick, yo,,
| can rouse them sufficiently to below
and finally to take to the water; but
they are inexpert in the breakers, and
are evidently mot allowed to frequent
the outlying rocks, over which the
surf breaks with violencs. during thu
first few weeks Of life.
Among the piles Of drift logs with
which every beach 10 encumbersd
there IL much evidence Of the strength
Of the Japan current in the form Of
strange woods from China and japan
mixed with the cedar. fir and hemlocl
Of native growth. There IL also much
wreckage. but We saw no indicatios
that any vessel had been actually cas-,
away on the island. the most omfnou,
sign being = piece OF ironwork from
a derrick weighing several hundred
pounds.
During our stay Of IA days on tn,
island, the weather was frixhtful
especially for the middle Of summer
We had three southeast gales Of xrea
sioience. always accompanied an.
succeeded BY . heavy downpour o
rain. At the beginning Of .he In.
gale our Danes appeared ana apchore,
their boat in the hest shelter avail
able behind reef Of rocks whicj
broke the swell At low water, bu
] failed to give much protection 4
hfsA ta1e.
u wARBuRroN HIDE