256 



THE OOLOGIST. 



specimen vies well with most sea birds 

 in one's collection. I suppose there are 

 few collectors who have not one or more 

 MiUTes' eggs iu their cabinets, yet I 

 know that by some they are considered 

 quite rare, owing probably to the fact 

 that they are usually found away from 

 the mainland and are therefore more 

 difficult to obtain. Probal>ly a major- 

 ity of the people of the United States 

 are not aware that the collecting of 

 Murres' eggs for food, by organized 

 parties of men, is a business, so the 

 operations of one of these "egging' 

 parties may prove of interest to the 

 readers of the Oologist. 



Tlie Farallones and other groups of 

 islands farther down the coast of Cali- 

 fornia, are the principal collecting 

 grounds. The party of "eggers" who 

 collected at the Farallones this year 

 were Greeks, and a more hardy and 

 healthy set of men I never savsf. They 

 ranged in number from five to eight 

 at different parts of the season. The 

 light-house keeper and his three assist- 

 ants also engage in egging during the 

 greater part of the months of May and 

 June. 



An industrious "egger" in full uni- 

 form, and hard at work, is not the 

 handsomest sight iu the world, for 

 the uatuie of the work does not war- 

 rant his wearing fine clothes. To be- 

 gin with, their shoes are made of can- 

 vass and the soles are of woven rope. 

 This makes a durable shoe and one 

 that will not slip on the steep, rocky 

 cliffs. The ordinary It^at her shoe lasts 

 but a few days on the sarhp, granite 

 rocks. A i)air of ovei-alls and a loose 

 cotton blouse, tucked up at the bottom 

 and drawn tightly al)out the waist, in 

 order to hold the eggs, completes the 

 costume. 



The MurriS begin to nest in May and 

 in consequence of the (hq^rcdatioiis 

 made on their rookeries, they continue 

 laying until the I'arly ]).irt of July. 

 when the "eggers" <'eMse collecting. 



Each pair of birds then manage to 

 hatch one (jr two eggs, and by the 

 time the young are grown it is their 

 migi'ating time. On come portions of 

 the islands there are small caves and 

 nooks where the "eggers" do not go, 

 and here many of the persecuted 

 Murres find peace. The caves are usu- 

 ally crowded with birds, squatting on 

 their single egg on the bare rock, 

 but they hudtlle into the most remote 

 corner when a person enters. The foul 

 odor arising from the damp caves and 

 the l)irds, make too long a visit quite 

 unpleasant 



A few days before the "eggers" in- 

 tend to begin operations, they select 

 routes covering all the cliffs wliere the 

 Murres lay, and go carefully over them, 

 breaking all the eggs in order to des- 

 troy any that may be incubated. In 

 a day or two anotlier lot of eggs have 

 l>een laid, which can be collected as 

 fresh. As the Murres nest on the same 

 cliffs throughout the season, it enables 

 the "eggers" to keep the same routes. 

 Let us start out' with the "eggers" in 

 the morning and follow them through 

 a collecting trip. They have no occas- 

 ion to huriy in their woik, so it is usu- 

 ally' 8 or 9 o'clock before they start. A 

 few minutes walk across the level"flat" 

 of the island, Avhich is covered with 

 stones and bowlders, brings us to the 

 foot of the cliff's. 



We wind in and out among the gul- 

 lies, now clambering o^•er the wreck- 

 age old ocean has cast up; then walk- 

 ing for a lew moments on a level 

 stretch of rot'k. This brings to an art- 

 iticial suspension liridge of wire and 

 rope, stretching across a small yet 

 rocky channel of water. Carefully 

 crossing, we find a well-beaten path 

 over the cliff's and rocks which leads to 

 our destination. The party divides, 

 and each man lakes a separate ground. 

 With iheir canvass shoes they scale the 

 elitVs with fMSi' a:id safety. 



As an '"eggei'" approaciies a tleck of 



