12 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE OCEAN AND ITS BIRDS. 



"And having took a view of Ipswich 1 found it to be situated by a fine River ; .... it 

 Issueth forth into a large Bav, (where they fish for Whales,) due east over against the Island of 

 Sholes, a great place of fishing ; the Mouth of that River is barr'd." — John Dunton, ^'■Letters 

 from Nevj England" i6S6. 



The birds of the ocean can be studied from the shore or from boats. 

 Provided with a good pair of binoculars and a telescope, the observer will find 

 the study of these birds from the shore most fascinating, using the binoculars 

 as the low pow-er with which the field is swept, and the telescope as the high 

 power with which the individual birds are examined. With a little practice, one 

 can easily find and follow a single bird, even on the wing, with a good telescope, 

 and its advantages will well repay the difficulties of its use. From the top of a 

 high sand dune or rock close to the shore, the hours slip by rapidly at this inter- 

 esting sport. So swiftly do many of the water birds swim and dive, that the 

 water may suddenly be filled with them, where only a few minutes before there 

 were none to be seen. 



For some years I have found this use of the telescope of the greatest value, 

 and often am able to make out the colors and exact markings of birds that, even 

 through a pair of strong prismatic binoculars, appear merely as dark silhouettes. 

 In addition to the markings, one can note many of the motions and habits, 

 which are displayed without restraint, owing to the distance of the observer. 

 My telescope is 29 inches long and magnifies 20 diameters. I use it even for 

 birds on the beach. In gradually stalking a bird I sometimes use first the 

 telescope, and on nearer approach, the binoculars, while it sometimes happens 

 that I finally get so near that the binoculars cannot be focussed on the bird, and 

 I watch it almost at my feet with the naked eye. When armed with a telescope, 

 one can approach a bird much more closely than when a gun is the weapon ! 

 With the telescope, except for short glimpses, a firm support or rest is very 

 desirable, and a stick can be carried for this purpose. 



The bird-watcher on the shores of Essex County often sees the dark heads 

 of the harbor seals {P/ioca vitidina) raised above the water as they swim by, 

 peering about inquisitively, and sometimes for a moment mistakes them for 



