The Ordway new era., 1910-01-28


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
puffins 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
the other seabirds which breed in the
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.
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
Harus glaucescens) was the only one
Of Its family nesting on the island.
and not particularly numerous; but
oyster-catchers were plentiful enough.
nesting on every beach. and keeping
up perpetual clamor.
or the predatory birds which make
an easy living on the pufiins and aux.
lets. we found few pair OF white
a family OF ravens. There were no
wildfowl OF any kind except few
harlequin ducks and common scoters
evidently non.breeding 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,
q small warbler and n wren Another
! unexpected sight was n flock OF cross.
bills: but rs 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. With regard to the
actual numbers OF the pufIins and
auklets. conservative estimate,
formed by taking the number OF holes
to the acre and the total acreage Of
the island. gave the result that there
were half million Of each OF these
two species on an island roughly
three miles In circumference. When
the other fisheating birds are taken
into consideration. and also the large
herds OF hair seals and sea lions, the
weight OF the daily supply OF fish
yielded by the ocean for this one
island must be 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 the young cubs. which
were about n couple OF weeks old n,
the time Of our visit. are left unat.
tended throughout the day on the
shingle beaches Of the main island
Here they lie absolutely defenseless
In deathlike stupor. but luckily
without any natural enemies. By
standing to windward OF them and
poking them freely with stick, yor
can rouse them sufficiently to below
and finally to take to the water; bu,
they are inexpert In the breakers. ant
are evidently not allowed to frequent
the outlying rocks. over which tn,
, SUIT DTeakS WIN violence, during thu
first few weeks OF life.
Among the piles OF drift logs witt
, which every beach is encountered
} there Is much evidence of the strength
Of the Japan current In the form O
strange woods from China and Jana,
mixed with the cedar. fir and hemloc)
of native growth. There is also mucl
wreckage. but we saw no indicatio,
$ that any vessel had been actually cas-
away on the island. the most ominou
sign being n piece OF ironwork from
n derrick weighing several hundre,
: pounds.
0 During our stay of IA days on th
e island. the weather was friphtfu
!. especially for the middle of su,nme,
e We had three southeast gales of grea
Q 'iolence. always accompanied mn
l succeeded by heavy downpour n
e rain. At the beginning Of the las
|. gale our Danes appeared and anchore
J, their boat in the best shelter ayai
= able behind a reef OF rocks whic
} broke the swell at low water. bu
8 failed to give much protection q
I high tide.
, wARBuRToN HYDE.