Bird-Life ill Lahrdilor. Oo 



flew frdm tliem to join the dense l)laek ring that wound around 

 and around tlie ishind. Tlieir burrows extended far into the 

 loamy earth of which the isbtnd was composed, notwithstand- 

 ing the inij)ediments in the shape of rocks everywhere, above 

 and beh)w the ground. I doubt if man or animal could have 

 picked its way across this island without stepping upon or 

 breaking the earth's crust into one of these holes. They are 

 made by the bird itself, aided by its strong bill and simrp and 

 powerful claws. They are about the sis^e of the body of the 

 bird or a little larger, and generally from two to three feet 

 (leej). They wind and bend and often intermingle, much as 

 in the case of t!ie well-known bank swallow. At the extrem- 

 ity is a very little dried grass and a single white i"^^, with sel- 

 dom any other marks exee])ting perhaps a few obsolete scrawls 

 •or spots, and a general bluish or brownish tint often re])lacing 

 the otherwise white shell. My notes add a few remarks which 

 may be of interest : A great trick of the I^abradorians is to 

 get a greenhorn to stick his hand into one of the burrows of 

 this bird when the bird is supposed to be within. If you ex- 

 amine carefully the bill — of horn, nearly two inches in length 

 and about the same in height — you will see that a most alarm- 

 ing pair of forceps may be thus put into motion, and, as the 

 bird is one of the fiercest of its kind, can readily imagine Avhy 

 the victim never repeats the experiment. The number of 

 birds that I saw on Greenley Island was simply immense, and 

 c(')uld never have been counted. I have often seen the water 

 covered with a clustered flock, all engaged in making the 

 hoarse, rasping sound that has been mentioned before and is 

 not unlike the filing of a saw, that is made by both the auks, 

 and which gives all alike the name of " gudds." When on 

 the wing I seldom if ever saw them mix with other birds. 

 Though they appear in large numbers at stated times, they 

 disappear or rather disperse after breeding almost as suddenly 

 as they came ; yet stragglers do not leave until the harbors 

 are nearly or quite blocked up with ice. Ki Greenley Island, 

 although there is a large Hsh-canning establishment, houses, 



