The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-01-28

lower slopes beginning from the beach
level have been taken possession Of
by the auklets, the puffln 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-
ba). 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
Uarus glaucescensJ 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
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
a family OF ravens. There were no
wildfowl Of any kind except a 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.
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-
it's, we concluded that they were sim
ply visitors from some Of the neigh
boring islands. With regard to the
actual numbers OF the pufflns 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 flsh-eating 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 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.
Here they lie absolutely defenseless
in a deathlike stupor, but luckily
without any natural enemies. BY
standing to windward of them and
pOking them freely with stick, you
can rouse them sufficiently to below
and finally to take to the water: but
they are inexpert in the breakers. and
are evidently not allowed to frequent
the outlying rocks, over which the
surf breaks with violence, during the
first few weeks of life.
Among the piles Of drift logs with
which every beach is encumbered,
there is 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 hemlock
of native growth. There is also much
wreckage. but We saw no indication
that any vessel had been actually cast
away on the island, the most ominous
sign being piece of irOnwork from
derrick weighing several hundred
pounds.
During our stay OF IA days on the
island. the weather was frightful.
especially for the middle of summer
We had three southeast gales Of great
violence. always accompanied and
succeeded by heavy downpour of
rain. At the beginning Of the last
gale our Danes appeared and anchored
their boat in the best shelter avail.
able behind reef of rocks which
broke the swell at low water. but
failed to give much protection At
high tide.