44 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. iS-No. 3 



wing, can swim and dive well, and is capa- 

 ble of extensive and long continued flights. 

 Its upper plumage is of a dusky hue, the 

 lower parts whitish. It receives the name 

 of Shearwater from its manner of procuring 

 its food, which is chiefly small fish and other 

 animal matter scooped up from the surface 

 of the water and the crests of the rolling 

 waves, over which it glides with remarkable 

 gracefulness and rapidity. In its native 

 haunts and home it is probably more a resi- 

 dent off the Asiatic shores than the coasts of 

 America, and in the nesting period it may 

 be found in tolerable abundance among the 

 more outlying of the Aleutian Islands. 

 Among naturalists little or nothing appears 

 to be known regarding its nesting habits, but 

 it is probable that it does not differ in this 

 respect from the other species of Shear- 

 waters which are known to nest in self-made 

 burrows and crevices of rocks in small 

 islands far out at sea, and to deposit as a 

 set one whitish-colored egg. 



Speaking of the Pacific Fulmars, Mr. 

 Turner says, " With these birds are asso- 

 ciated in a manner another bird of which I 

 obtained at Amchitka Island a single speci- 

 men, which had been thrown up dead by the 

 sea and so far advanced in decomposition 

 that to lift it separated the members of its 

 body. 



This dead bird resembled those associated 

 with the Pacific Fulmers, and was, so far as 

 possible to identify it, a specimen of Piiffi- 

 niis tcnnirostris. Natives of After, who 

 were with me on Amchitka Island, informed 

 me that birds of this kind (like the dead 

 one) breed plentifully on the Semichi Is- 

 lands. A short account of another species 

 of this genus, called the Mutton Bird { Puf- 

 finiis tristis), may still further illustrate 

 some of the peculiar habits of this species, 

 as in their general modes of life it is proba- 

 ble they differ but little. The Tristis in- 

 habits the southern seas. It is somewhat 

 larger than a pigeon and of a greyish-black 

 color. It frequents Australia, New Zealand, 



and other southern lands for the purpose of 

 breeding. In September it arrives at its 

 rookeries in such vast flocks as to darken 

 the sun, and spend some days in digging 

 and arranging the holes which are to serve 

 as its nest. It then returns to the sea. 

 Late in November, which is near mid-sum- 

 mer in those latitudes, the Mutton Birds 

 again appear on their nesting grounds, and 

 amid much screaming and quarreling, and 

 an indescribable hubbub, each female takes 

 possession of a hole, into which she re- 

 treats and lays a single egg. On this she at 

 once begins to incubate, and while so doing 

 goes out only at night. The flesh of these 

 birds is valued as food, their feathers are also 

 much prized ; they are therefore eagerly 

 hunted. Great numbers are destroyed, yet 

 no perceptible diminution is made in their 

 numbers by those wholesale slaughters. 



William L. Kclh. 



Our Talented Blue Jay. 



Billy first saw the light of day in the 

 spring of 1892. He had left the nest before 

 being captured, but soon became accustomed 

 to cage life and a diet of boiled potato and 

 bread and milk. 



About midsummer he began to show the 

 results of good training. His whistle often 

 brought the dog to the back door when he 

 was not wanted. It is the dog's duty to 

 keep the hens off the lawn, but he often 

 sleeps while on duty, — a " shee," "shee," 

 from anyone in the kitchen always had the 

 desired effect. Billy never slept during the 

 day and his ".shee," "shee" was as ef- 

 fectual as a human one. He never would 

 utter these notes unless the hens were on 

 the lawn or a team was passing by. His 

 setting the dog on teams was a trick we 

 could not appreciate. 



Little Frank, 12 years old, reported at the 

 house several times before he found that 

 Billy's " Whank, Whank" had enticed him 

 there. \\'hen Frank started for school 



