ALBATROSSES 109 



Twice I came across an unattended egg lying abso- 

 lutely in the open on the level, red lava soil, without 

 the slightest hint of nest. Not far away were six 

 pairs of birds sitting close together. 



Coming over a low rise of ground we suddenly 

 saw the shore close at hand, and a most wonderful 

 panorama to east and west. Two headlands curved 

 around before us to the right, while straight ahead 

 a third ended in a high arched natural bridge of 

 lava. Everywhere, from our feet to the tip of 

 the headlands, were nesting birds — thousands of 

 pairs of olive-footed white boobies, with small 

 colonies of frigatebirds here and there, and occas- 

 ionally a pair of blue-foots. Galapagos gulls were 

 sitting on their eggs beneath the arch of the bridge, 

 and shearwaters swooped in and out of the foam. 

 The boobies were well along in their nesting season, 

 for the ground was covered with half-grown, 

 snowy-white nestlings, which unceasingly snapped 

 and squawked at us (Fig. 23). 



Back of the headlands and all along the shore, 

 somewhat removed from the main mass of nesting 

 birds, were the scattered albatrosses, probably a 

 thousand all told, two or three pairs close together, 

 or a single bird quite isolated. Some were casually 

 resting, and these rose to their feet at my approach 

 and waddled slowly off. But most had alreadj^ 

 chosen their nesting site and refused to leave either 

 the bare eggless space upon which they squatted, 

 or the great oval shell which they kept so close 

 beneath them. The difference between the alba- 

 trosses and the other breeding birds, in respect to 



