August 1.S91.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



127 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST^^OOLOGIST 



A ^lonthly Magazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESl'ECIALLY DEVI )Ti;i) T(.) THE STUDY OE 



THEIR XESTS AND Elil'.S, 



ami to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Eilitnrial .Manafrenient of 



FRANK li. WEIiSTER, 

 J. I'AUlvER MIRRIS, 

 FIIAXK A. liATES, 



Hyilc Park, M:is;s. 



l*llila(k>l[>hi;in Ta. 



Boston, iMass. 



PUBLISHED AT THE 



MUSEUM AND NATURALISTS SUPPLY DEPOT 



KltAXK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY, 



INCOHl'oltATKD, 



Hyde Park, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every imid sub- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



Brief Notes. 



A good story is beiii<; told of a f'oliimlms 

 aveiniB laily wlio one day last week dro|)i)ed into 

 a down town niillinery establishment to ])ur- 

 cliase the tail feather of a barn-yard fowl for her 

 hat. The tiist store she went into they did 

 not kc('|) tlie article, and the clerk jdilifely 

 inriiiiiied the fair customer that the ])ro]ier 

 tiling to call for was a "cock's feather" oi- 

 "cock's tail." To Ilon^hton Jt Dutton's she 

 next turned her steps, and bohlly marching 

 up to a da|)per monstached clerk she called 

 for "one small cocktail." The clerk flushed to 

 the eTid of his pompadour, regained his bal- 

 ance, and stamrnere(l out that the well-known 

 II. & U.'s was not a barroom. The jiosition 

 was nnist enibarrassiug for a few monicnfs, 

 but llnally satisfactory explanations wcrc^ 

 made on both sides, and the fair customer 

 de])ai(ed with the coveted "cocktail." — 

 Kecord. 



TiiK Farai.i.on Cookeries, — Tiik Bheeh- 

 iNfi Peace of Tiiousaxos of .Sk.v Biitns off 

 San Francisco. — Next to the Behring Sea 

 seal slaughter there is nothing that concerns 

 Californians so closely on the Niuthern Pacific 

 as the wholesale pillaging of the nests of the 

 birds on the Farallon Islands. Three millions 

 of e^gs weie brought into the Snn Francisco 

 market from the Farallones in four years. In 

 an immense majority of cases the jiarent birds 

 ]Moilnced oidy one egg; none more than three 

 eggs. The average import of sea birds' egirs 

 from the Farallones is 18n,0(i() annnally. By 

 courte.sy they are called the eggs of the Murre. 



The Farallon rookeries afford a wonderful 

 example of the prolific power of nature. The 

 principal island, the South Farallon, on which 

 the lighthouse is .situated, may run short of 

 pi (table water in every dry season, Init the 

 lighthouse people would never starve for want 

 of animal food. 



Of all the birds on the group the Puffins are 

 the most picturesque and entertaining to the 

 visitor and the ornithologist. Like most of 

 the Farallon sea birds the Puffin lays only one 

 egg, and that in a burrow. The Auk family 

 is, however, the principal contributor to the 

 egg poacher's wallet. In May there is a stir 

 among the small schooners and sailing craft in 

 San Francisco Bay, and each skipper woiks 

 his way out between the heads to the Faral- 

 lones. His crew, mostly composed of Giceks 

 and Italians, with a liberal sprinkling of 

 water-front castaways, land on the South 

 Farallon, usually on the ^ngar Loaf Rock, to 

 the northwest, because that is the spot where 

 the birds breed earliest. The cliffs are quite 

 rugged, with a perpendicular of nearly 180 

 feet. Accidents are not nnfrequent. Each 

 egg hunter has a shirt of special construction, 

 pi-ovided with an ojten front fiu' stowing away 

 the eggs, and a bed of soft seaweed about the 

 waist band tor the eggs to rest on. A good 

 hand will pick up and get away with 200 eggs 

 a day. In due course the egg jionchers gathi r 

 at the place of embarkation, and the unbroken 

 eggs are c(dlected in wicker baskets for ship- 

 ment on the schooners. 



The egi; poachers have formidable rivals in 

 the Gulls, which not oidy ruthlessly plunder 

 the nests and carry off the egL's but enjoy a 

 feast on the newly fledged birds. 



T'lie eggs of the "Murre," so called, aie 

 ipiite familiar objects in the grocery stores of 

 San Francisco about the end of Slay or tha 

 beginning of June. The earliest eggs are laid 

 two or three weeks befoie that, but the 

 poachers usually break them for feai' of biing- 

 ing addled or rotten eggs to maiket. The 

 egg of the Murre is distinctly conical in shape, 

 large at one end, small and pointed at the 

 other. The color of the egg varies remark- 

 ably. Some are of an ashy gray, with scant 

 brown strii)es, others of a full or sea uicen 

 with black stripes. Dealers often pick <nit 

 the brown and gray eggs and pass them off for 

 Plovers' efgs. 



It is not till September that the Murres 

 desert the Farallones for other climes. By the 

 end of October the Murre rookeries are de- 

 serted — indeed, scarcely a bird of this species 

 remains on the islands. The Murres. the Oidls, 

 the Anks proper and the Cormorants have 

 taken I'p special qnarteis on the South Faral- 

 lon. The trail across the island from west to 

 east, trending' to the north at the lighthinise, 

 passes through nearly all the rookeries. The 

 great rookery is at the west end. 



The (tuIIs are. next to the Mnrres, the most 

 populous of the colony. In April they swarm 

 on the Farallon group. It is to he said to tlie 

 credit of the Culls th.at they do not eat the 

 eggs or youuL' of their own kind, but they will 

 freely partake of the fishy eggs of the Cormor- 

 ant, and even carry off tiny rabbits as they 



