THE OSPKEY. 



39 



cotirse, it catches at or near the surface of the 

 water. I have opened many hundreds of them, 

 and have never, to my recollection, failed to find 

 in their stomachs either portions of the squid, or. 

 at least, squid's bills. It may be interestinj^- 

 also.to mention the fact that in the fall of lcS7o, 

 when the giant Ccphalopods, or "big- squid", 

 were found on the eastern part of the Grand 

 Bank between the parallels 44° and 45° north 

 latitude, and the meridians of 49° 30' and 50° 30' 

 west longitude. Hocks of hagdons were invari- 

 ably found feeding on the dead "devil-fish" 

 which were floating on the water. In nearly all 

 cases these "big squid" were found in a mutil- 

 ated condition, usually with their tentacles eaten 

 off almost to their heads, and the fishermen soon 

 learned to detect their presence by the large 

 .flocks of birds collected about them. The small 

 species of fish which frequent the waters of the 

 eastern fishing-banks, such as the lant. capelin, 

 etc., also furnish Piiffinus with a portion of its 

 food. But birds of this species, as well as most 

 all others found at sea, are excessively fond of 

 oily food, and especially the livers of the Gadkicc, 

 cod, hake, etc., and this extreme fondness for 

 codfish livers, which they swallow with great 

 avidity, renders their capture possible by the 

 fishermen with hook and lijie. "Hag-fishing", 

 as it is called, can be carried on either from the 

 side of a schooner or from dories, though usually 

 better results are obtained by the men going out 

 in the latter at some distance from the vessel. 

 When it is desirable to obtain these birds for 

 bait the morning is usually selected to effect 

 their capture, since at that time they are generally 

 more eager for food than later in the day, when 

 they are frequently gorged with the offal thrown 

 from the fishing vessels, or with food obtained 

 from other sources. It is generally the case, 

 therefore, that two men engaged in hauling a 

 trawl in a dory, after having obtained a suffi- 

 cient number of cod to supply them with the 

 requisite amount of livers, stop hauling their 

 gear and proceed to "toll" up the birds. In 

 order to do this pieces of liver are thrown out, 

 which immediately entice the ever-present pet- 

 rels or Mother Carey chickens that gather in 

 flocks around the floating morsels and dancing 

 up and down upon the water, tear the swimming 

 particles into pieces small enough for them tcj 

 swallow. If the weather is clear the keen eye 

 of the nearest hagdon quickly detects this 

 gathering of small birds near the boat, and 

 thither he wends his way to scatter the little 

 Mother Carey chickens right and left by his 

 audacious aggression, while he swallows, with 

 indescribable eagerness, the pieces of floating 

 liver, uttering, meanwhile, his harsh and dis- 

 agreeable note. Not many minutes elapse be- 

 fore other birds — hagdons, j^'gers, and other 

 species, perhaps — may be seen coming from all 

 points of the compass, and in a short time a large 

 flock collect about the boat. If the weather is 

 thick the programme is slightly varied. The 

 birds are then attracted by the fishermen imitat- 

 ing their cries, and also, perhaps by their scent- 

 ing the oily liver floating on the waves. I ani 

 assured by an excellent authority — Dr. Elliott 

 Cones — that all the birds of this family are pro- 

 vided with imperfect organs of smell; but, never- 

 theless, both the hag and the Mother Carey 



chicken exhibits some peculiarities which so 

 strongU' resemble those of a dog working up a 

 scent that it may not be out of place to call at- 

 tention to the subject here. On many occasions, 

 during the prevalence of a fog, when not a bird 

 of any kind had been seen for hours, I have 

 thrown out, as an experiment, pieces of liver to 

 ascertain if any birds could be attracted to the 

 side of the vessel. As the particles of liver 

 floated away, going slowly astern of the 

 schooner, only a short time would pass before 

 either a Mother Care}- chicken or a hag, general- 

 ly the former, could be seen coming up from the 

 leeward out of the fog, flying backward and for- 

 ward across the vessel's wake, seemingly working 

 up the scent until the floating pieces of liver were 

 reached. If the first bird to arrive should be a 

 Mother Carey chicken, and the liver too large for 

 it to attack alone, which was generally the case, 

 the petrel would at once fly away, and in a few 

 minutes three or four could be seen returning. 

 This suggests a question as to whether the pet- 

 rel went to seek assistance or not in order that 

 he might share with his coadjutors the feast 

 which he could not well obtain unassisted; but 

 should the first one to appear be a hag he does 

 not seek companionship, but with a greedy 3'ell 

 he pounces upon the pieces of liver and swallows 

 them with the voracity characteristic of the 

 species, and no sooner has he devoured one mor- 

 sel than he is off on the wing seeking for more. 

 However, it is generally the case that a flock of 

 hagdons soon gather, whatever ma3' be the den- 

 sity of the fog, unless birds are very rare on the 

 Bank or, perhaps, rendered indifferent to food by 

 a recent feast. 



Having made this seeminglj- necessary digres- 

 sion to explain the method of "tolling up" and 

 gathering the flocks of birds about the dory, I 

 shall now proceed to describe the fiiodus operandi 

 of their capture. 



The two men in a dory, one aft and the other 

 forward, are each provided with a line 5 or 6 

 fathoms in length, and a small hook, such as is 

 ordinarily used for catching mackerel. The 

 bait, consisting of pieces of codfish liver, is 

 large enough to float the hook as well as to 

 cover its point. The hooks are baited and 

 thrown out as soon as a flock of hagdons have 

 collected about the boat, and there also may be, 

 and generally are, birds of other species. 

 Should there be a large number of hags, and 

 more especially if they have been without food 

 for a short time, they display- an almost inde- 

 scribable voracity. In their eagerness to obtain 

 the large pieces of liver, which they swallow at 

 a gulp, as they fight among themselves, they 

 do not seem to care whether a hook is concealed 

 within the bait or not. At such times the birds 

 may be easily caught, and are rapidly pulled in 

 by the fishermen, who usually derive much grati- 

 fication from the sport, not only from the excite- 

 ment it affords, but also on account of the pro- 

 spective profits which may result in obtaining a 

 good supply of birds for bait. When a victim 

 has been hooked, and is being pulled towards 

 the boat, it struggles most energetically to make 

 its escape by vainU' endeavoring to rise in the 

 air, or by spreading out its feet to hold itself 

 back as riiuch as possible as it is dragged uncere- 

 moniously over the water, while its vociferous 



