THE OOOLGIST. 



257 



Murres the gulls begiu tlu'ir harsh 

 screams, seemingly to assist in searing 

 the Murres from their eggs. The air 

 is often biaek with multitudes of 

 Gulls. As the "'egger" ncars the roo]<- 

 erj', the Murres stir uiu asily, but re- 

 main on their eggs until they are sure 

 their enemy is about to roll them, when, 

 with a last glance at tlieir treasures, 

 thej' shamble from tlu' rocks and soar 

 out over the ocean. The 'egger" rap- 

 idlj' gathers the eggs and puts them in 

 the folds of his blouse. The Gulls, 

 however, manage to get their share, 

 and should the collector overlook any, 

 Larus occidcntalis quickly discovers 

 them. Owing to the voracity of the 

 Gull, the Murre never leaves its egg for 

 a moment unless compelled to. 



As soon as the "egger" "cleans out" 

 a rookery, he goes to his baskets and 

 unloads himself, taking care to cover 

 the eggs securely before he leaves for 

 another collecting ground. Climliing 

 about on some of the high clifts is ex- 

 ceedinglv dangerous and ropes are used 

 for safety. A .solitary "egger" on the 

 summit of a high cliff at a distance, 

 with thousands of screaming Gulls hov- 

 ering about him is a weird scene to one 

 who has never witnessed such. The 

 Gulls are very fierce and many of th(! 

 eggers carry clubs, which X\wy wave 

 vigorously above their heads, in order 

 to prevent attacks from these birds. 

 I am told that one saucy (Jnll swooped 

 down on an unwary "egger" and, fast- 

 ening its talons in his straw hat, sailed 

 out over the ocean with it. I can bear 

 pi'oof to their attacks on persons dis- 

 turbing their young. 



As the eggs are collected the baskets 

 are put together iu some central spot, 

 and are securely covei'ed with weeds, 

 weighted down with rocks. They are 

 left here until all the rookeries hav.) 

 been visited, wlieii each man takes two 

 baskets and the party returns to the 

 egg-house. lleiV all the eggs are wash- 

 ed and then piled up. The egg-house 

 is a small structure with thick stone 



sides to make it cool, hi tiie middle of 

 the season 250 dozen eggs are sometimes 

 collected in a single day. When a suf- 

 licient number have been ol)tained they 

 are put loosel3' into comjiartments of a 

 large tishing-boat ami taken to the San 

 Fransisco market where they are sold 

 to hotels, restaurants and bakeries. 

 (5,000 dozen eggs were shipped from the 

 Farallones this year in a little over one 

 mouth's time. In San Fransisco, 

 Murres' eggs are usually known as 

 "tiulls" eggs. The latter are very pal- 

 pable but seldom reach the market. 



During my stay on the Farallones I 

 had an opportunity of testing Murres' 

 eggs as food. I could not detect any 

 lishy taste in the fresh eggs and liked 

 them fully as well as "hen fruit." 



I suppose it is almost unnecessary to 

 say that the Murres' eggs range in color 

 from a plain bluish-white, through 

 various shades of green into pure white 

 as aground color. The markings are 

 brown and black and often have the 

 sliai)e of l)eautiful scrolls. The varia- 

 tions iu color of Murres' eggs makes 

 a se"ies desirable for a cabinet. One 

 egg is the full complement. 



It is no wonder that the i)ersecuted 

 Murre seeks a nesting place "away 

 from the bu,«y haunts of men," for the 

 dcspoiler of their homes can i)ut be an 

 object of fear to them. At present, I 

 think the California Murre exceeds in 

 numbers any species on the Farallones, 

 l)ut whether the depredations of the 

 eggers will noticeably decrease these 

 birds, or not is a question that only the 

 future can solve. 



C. liAKLOW, 



Santa Clara, Cal. 



Will You Join Us? 



Hut a Tew tickets left to complete the 

 club to attend the World's Fair on the 

 United World's Fair Excursion Co. plan. 

 PayuMMits monthly or weekly, this is 

 the strongest coini)any in America, ap- 

 ply to Local Agent or write United 

 World's Fair Excursion Co., N. E. 

 Dep't, 40(5 f^xchange IVId'g, Boston, 

 Mass. 



