TO BIRD ROCK IN AN OPEN BOAT 167 
the northeast, and was beating down the sea. It was moder¬ 
ate, and very few birds were Hying, nearly all being at their 
nests. We took the opportunity, after working at various 
ledges, when the swell had materially lessened, of having 
a dory lowered by the steam winch from the top and rowing 
over to North Bird Rock. The sea was breaking upon it quite 
hard, but we ran the gauntlet, and landed safely on the spit 
of gravel. Meanwhile the birds were Hying off in wild confu¬ 
sion, the Gannets from the top and the Kittiwakes from their 
nests in the niches of the cliff, with some Murres and Razor¬ 
bills. We gained the summits of each of the main sections 
by scrambling up forty feet from ledge to ledge, aiding each 
other in turn. The first man up, as he raised his head above 
the summit, found himself face to face with a Gannet, which 
squawked with terror and launched forth in fiight — fortun¬ 
ately not into his face. The whole Hat area of both parts was 
covered with the rude seaweed nests of the Gannet, each with 
its dirty-white egg. No one had landed this year to rob them, 
either here or on the main rock, and the birds were having 
GANNETS NESTING ON THE TOP OF NORTH BIRD ROCK 
