May 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



71 



drop quickly dowiiwaid to a level with tlieii" 

 nest, and tlien fly into it. 



We returned to Custlett on the 2Sth, and 

 here an incident occurred which niijiht have 

 changed the entire current of my life. A 

 wiiinan offered me tlie hand of one of her 

 dausliters and a good piece of land if I would 

 only settle down here; but I declined witli 

 thanks and hastened away. 



.Saw Eagle and Hawk.s" nests and shot a 

 Hairy Woodpecker. Heard .Snipe calling and 

 saw one next day. 



On July 1st I got young Fox Sparrow, Pine 

 (Jrosbeak, Wilson's IJlack-eap Warbler and 

 Summer Yellow Bird. 



A young whale about twenty feet long was 

 captured by the fishermen, and pulled up on 

 the beach. The bull and cow swam olf, with- 

 out an attempt to save the youngster. 



To-day wo found a magnificent cave one 

 liundred feet deep, cut into the side of a solid 

 cliff 1.50 feet lugh. Tiiere wa.s a sandy beach 

 at its extremity, upon which the rollers broke 

 with great force. 



We now exiiericnce our first trouble from 

 the police about shooting. The Steamer In- 

 grahani came in this afternoon, aiul we went 

 on bi>ard, hoping to see Mr. Magrath, the 

 '• Uait Protection"' commodore, but instead 

 found Serjeant Sullivan, who is making most 

 of the fuss. Mr. Gaboon had a long confab 

 witli liim, and he promised that he would say 

 1111 mure until we could write home and get a 

 written guarantee from Blaink that we were 

 collecting for scientific purposes. 



Shot a Redstart to-day. 



.July :5d was rainy, and the Glorious Fourth 

 started in with a dense fog. It seems very 

 ijueer not to hear fire-crackers, etc. The 

 storm of the night before had driven in thous- 

 ands of "Hags" (Sooty and Common Shear- 

 waters), and the air seemed filled with them; 

 but they iiuickly disappeared as siion as the 

 fog rose. 



When night came wo were dotermiiied not 

 to let the day go by without some manifesta- 

 tion of our remembrance of our fatherland, so 

 we fired a 5l)-roLind fusilade, built a bon-fire 

 on tlio beach, had a war-dance around it, and 

 hurrahed for the occasion, until all the inhab- 

 itants stuck out their lieads and joined the 

 chorus with a hearty good will, for nearly all 

 tlie natives favor the United States, and seem 

 to have very little regard for John Bull. 



On Tuesday, the Sth, we loaded the dory, 

 and at 4 A.u. started for Cape St. Mary's. At 

 Little Perch Cove tlie cliffs rise up co a great 



height and as abruptly as tlio side of a house. 

 The strata shows as plainly as if it was jjainted, 

 and in the crevices are tlie breeding places of 

 the sea-birds. 



The young birds are now out, and the old 

 ones are going back and forth, bringing " Cap- 

 lin " to feed them. The fisli are often half 

 way down the throat and must be disgorgeil 

 when they arrive at the nest. 



At St. Brides we visited a breeding place of 

 the Gulls on cliffs 300 feet high. 



On arriving at Bird Island we found the 

 men shooting Miirres, and the young swim- 

 ming all about. We would row up to them 

 and hit one a "bat" over the head with an 

 oar, but often they would regain consciousness 

 before we could pick them up, and dive out of 

 sight. Their power of staying under water is 

 wonderful, often not showing for twenty or 

 thirty seconds. 



We stayed at the cape until the 17th, witli 

 very fair success, considering the fact that I 

 was sick for three days, getting Murres, Auks, 

 Gannets, Kittiwakes and Horned Larks. 



Returning to Custlett we made all ready and 

 on the 22d left for St. Johns. 



The 24th saw us on board the Steam.ship 

 Volunteer, bound north for the Exidoits. Wo 

 were passing icebergs all the time, when we 

 were outside the islands, and all the yusk over 

 the "beautiful play of prismatic colors" 

 seems to be all bonh. The sun melts the sur- 

 face, which forms a wliite, snowy coating, but 

 perhaps the colors might be seen if they were 

 breaking up. 



We arrived at Exploits Harbor on the 2(ith, 

 and on the 20th started for the river thirty- 

 four miles away, with a native and his boat as 

 assistance. 



Wo run along among hundreds of small 

 islands, and it is difficult to imagine that we 

 are not on an immense lake, for we seem to be 

 entirely surrounded by laiul. We got a few 

 Terns and landed on an island to look for their 

 eggs, and shot a Red-breasted Merganser and 

 a Yellow-legs. 



We made twenty-two miles this day, and on 

 the 30th made our destination at High Point, 

 stopping at Hall's Mill for dinner, and to pro- 

 vide ourselves with "black-fiy gulch," which 

 was eminently necessary, for these little 

 wretches are perfect terrors. 



Our first move was to find fresh water, but 

 no water was there, and we vainly searched 

 along the coast for some time. At last a fish- 

 erman informed us that there was a small 

 stream of water near by, and as there was a 



