PUrriNTS ALiDUBONI. 37 



Spottie, my dog, at once ran into this opening and we followed; swinging aroimd the 

 jagged rocks that formed the walls of the entrance, wo found that the tloor sloped up- 

 ward at a consideral)Ie angle. Looking toward the top of the elevation, I saw the dog 

 chase a Shearwater from the nest, or i-ather the egg, for there was very little nest, the 

 egg heing deposited in a, slight depression of the scanty soil tliat l)arely covered the rocks. 

 The bird defended herself for a moment against the dog by biting at her, but finally 

 scrambled tln-ough an orifice near by and tlew off over tlie water. Almost innnediately 

 after, I found three or four more nests placed behind angles of rocks, and easily captured 

 the birds. 



Leaving the cave, we came upon the rows of scattered pieces of rocks; here my dog 

 began to find the birds beneath the stones, where they occujjietl cavities, indicathig the 

 spot where they were hidden by putting her nose to the ground and persistently wagging 

 her tail, or hy giving a scratch or two on the rock witii her paw, and whenever she jtoint- 

 e-d out a place in this manner we were sure to find a bird and egg there. Usually there 

 were nests and these were composed of fine bits of sticks, shells, and other rubliish; they 

 were placed in all sorts of positions beneath the pieces of rock, or occasionally in crevi- 

 ces beneath the solid rock, lint this latter named situation was rarely chosen. Some 

 ziests were within six inches of the outside, while others were far beyond the reach of ray 

 arm beneath large slabs. Some had entrances toward the sea, some toward the land, 

 and some had two or three modes of ingress and exit. Exceptions to this rule of nestint^r 

 beneath rocks were, first, in the cave already mentioned, but although we found several 

 caves similar to the first, there were no nests in them; second, a nest placed in a c\lin- 

 drical hole in the rock, bored perpendicularly, and which had an orifice top and bottom 

 both of which were so small that I could not remove the bird through them, and third, 

 two nests that Spottie came across, built beneath a peculiar creeping shrub that grt-w in 

 abundance on the rocks, especially toward the southern end of the island. 



In the case of the two nests last mentioned, when the dog came up to one of them 

 the bird began an outcry and scrambling oflTthe egg, made its way through the thick 

 brush Avith difficulty, reached the edge of the cliff, then launched out over the water, liv- 

 ing in a perfectly straight line until it disappeared in the distance. Li the other case I 

 •captured the bird. In many instances the birds would bite severeh' when I put my hand 

 into the holes to take them off the nests. Some simply retreated a little oll'the egg and 

 pressed themselves against the rock; others escaped through another entrance, iflliere 

 chanced to be one, or retreated further beneath the rock. Some uttered harsh cries 

 when I took them in my hand, at the same time L'iting savagely, and all would resist to 

 the utmost in their ])o\ver when I'oughly handled. 



AVheu they emerged from the hole, they scrambled off into the bushes where they 

 endeavored to hide. In moving, these Shearwaters u.'^e l)oth wings and feet, ;nid l)y tluir 

 joint aid, manage to ]»nigress Ciuite rajiidly, but none of them are ea])able of rising fn)Mi 

 the ground \\ithout ha\ingan elevation from \\ liicli to lanncli ont. At twilight the 

 bii'ds appear to l)e a. little more li\ely, and one that Spottii- drove off the nest that did 

 not contain an q^\s. mo\ed nuieh more (piiekl\' than those started in fnll <la_\light, at 

 which time they seem dazed; this hidividual bird managed to outmaneuver the dog, all 



