THE KAEDING PETREL. 875 



are available: but whether this ottering is intended for a ransom or only the 

 result of fright, one cannot certainh- tell. 



W'e had been working in the turf plot looking only for fresh eggs and 

 taking pains to replace the chicks — tiny balls of slate-colored down with feet 

 of a deathly pallor and bills jet black, stupid also as balls of mud — wherever 

 found. But after having waded thru the heavily grassed portion of the 

 island once or twice, the thought (jccurred to us that there might lie Petrels 

 there. Judge of our surprise, however, when we found the vegetable mold a 

 perfect labyrinth of Petrel burrows! So light was the accumulation in point 

 of density (once the growing blades were penetrated ) and so abundant the 

 birds that one had only to dig with the hands, dog-fashion, and birds, eggs, 

 and young were the in\-ariable result. The whole half-acre oi grass ])roper 

 was a sccihinc/ mass nf Petrels. Vet ftdui all that host not a sound to betra\- 

 their presence! The sun shone caliuly and the breeze blew benignly. Nothing 

 disturbed the serenity of the day sa\'e the restless C|ua\erings of the alwavs 

 hostile gulls. There was nothing, in short, to indicate that beneath our feet 

 lay a btiried city, not once populous and now deserted, but now teeming with 

 life, a city of storm-waifs, gathered from an expanse of a thousand watery 

 leagues, a city perhaps more populous than an}- other colonv of the class .\ves 

 within the limits of ^^'ashington, l}"ing silent where the eve saw onl\- waving 

 grass. The promise of the situation so wrought upon us that we determined 

 to return at evening some time later, and did so on Alonday evening following, 

 July 23rd. 



We. arri\ed a little after nine 1 /clock, provided with matches, bedding, 

 and water, and prepared to spend the night. ^Ve found the island still silent, 

 but we used the remaining moments of twilight to further determine the limits 

 of the colony; and found that the dense saluKui-berry thicket was likewise 

 occupied by Petrel burrows. 



At about ten o'clock the first nnte was snuiided — from the gruund. In 

 qualitv like that of a tiny cockerell. in accent like that of a glib paroquet, came 

 the cry, PcttcrcttcrcttcrcU. cttcrcttcrcttcrcU. The sec(jnd phrase is slightly 

 fainter than the first, and is, therefore, just suggesti\e!y an echo of it. .\fter 

 ten minutes, or such a matter, one sounded in the air. Bv and b\' came anc )ther 

 and another. And so the matter grew until liv eleven p. m. the air was a-flutter 

 with sable wings, and the island a-hum with t's jmd r's and Ts. This hour was 

 typical of the entire night, altlm tlie pace was perhaps a little more furious at 

 one o'clock, when we roused for another obser\-ation. \\'e had s]iread our 

 Ijlankets in t]:e center of the grass field, regretful of the fact that the portion 

 of the ]>opulation under us must needs go supperless for that night. Perhaps, 

 therefore, it was our presence which stirred the birds to unusual demon- 

 strativeness, but I am not at all certain that this was the case, or that our 

 presence affected the situation in the slightest degree. 



