NONSUCH 



gods whose profiles are suggested — Chubu, Bud- 

 dha, Kib, Anubis, Hanuman. 



This islet I found the metropolis of these birds. 

 They proved to be Dusky or Audubon Shearwaters, 

 and are to Bermuda what the Flightless Cormorant 

 is to Albemarle, and the Heath Hen to Martha's 

 Vineyard — a bird on the point of extinction. Fos- 

 sil remains of this and a very closely related petrel 

 have been found in crevices and caves of all the 

 surrounding islands. I have unearthed, or rather un- 

 sanded, a half dozen on Nonsuch. 



On this tiny Idol Island I found five successes 

 and five failures among the shearwater nests. On 

 my first visit, a parent bird was sitting on an empty 

 nest, next time both birds were present and the third 

 time the crevice was vacant; two white eggs dis- 

 covered the first time were later found to be de- 

 serted, although one was about to hatch and the 

 other was fresh. Two downy young with no parents 

 to guard them during the day, grew apace and at 

 last flew safely away, and a third young bird which 

 was constantly attended by one parent also sur- 

 vived. One shearwater had chosen a nesting place 

 in a deep crevice which could not possibly be 

 reached, but by sighting through lateral slits I 

 watched the young bird, and saw it last just before 

 it climbed up the narrow chimney and flew. Finally 

 an easily accessible shearwater was found on a half- 

 grown young. It was lifted up, examined, measured 

 carefully and replaced, and successfully reared the 

 youngster. 



144 



