TEE STORY OF THE CAEOW. 23 



At the time of the early settlements (1612 to 1615) it bred in great 

 numbers on some of the smaller islands and was easily captured at 

 night. It laid a single, large, white egg, described as like a hen's egg 

 in size, color and flavor. The nest was, according to all early writers, 

 except one, a burrow in the sand like a coney's, and not in crevices of 

 ihe rocks, like that of the shearwaters, with which many writers have 

 tried to identify it. Governor N"athaniel Butler, in his 'Historye 

 of the Bermudaes,' writing about 1619, states that its eggs and young 

 were found in crevices of the ledges, but he probably did not have the 

 advantage of personal experience. 



The time of laying its eggs is another very remarkable thing, in 

 which it differed from all other birds of northern latitudes. The 

 early contemporary writers all agree that it laid its eggs 'in December 

 and January' or 'in the coldest and darkest months of the year.' The 

 shearwaters, even in the West Indies, lay their eggs in spring (March 



Castle Island, looking south; a, ancient ruined fort or citaiul; b, barracks anh 



BATTERY ; C, ANCIENT WALL, BROKEN DOWN AT C' BY THE HURRICANE OF 



Sept. 12, 1899 ; d, main island of Bermuda. 



and April) and their eggs are so musky that they are not edible; cer- 

 tainly no one would compare them to a hen's egg. Their flesh has, also, 

 so strong a flavor of bad fish-oil and musk that no one would eat it, 

 unless on the verge of starvation. 



The bird itself was variously described as of the size of a pigeon, 

 green plover or sea mew; its bill was hooked and strong, and it could 

 bite viciously; its back was 'russet brown' and there were russet and 

 white quillfeathers in its wings; its belly was white. It was strictly 

 nocturnal in its habits, and could be called within reach of the hand 

 by making loud vocal notes. Its flesh was described as of excellent 

 flavor, and for that reason it was captured at night in large numbers, 

 while its eggs were constantly gathered for food. It arrived in October 

 and remained until the first of June. 



There is no known living bird that agrees with it in these several 

 characters. Most certainly it could not have been a shearwater, nor any 



