Patrolling the Beach, 



saving patrolman to kick as he passes 

 along the beach. 



Hurrying on, with numb hands and 

 ears stinging from the cold wind, our 

 attention is presently arrested by the 

 body of another dead bird. At first 

 sight it might well be mistaken for a 

 gull with a broken beak, for it has the 

 web-feet, the gull's blue-gray back, and 

 the white breast. The bill, however, is 

 not broken, but curiously indented, with 

 two tubes for the nostrils upon the top, 

 like a double-barreled shotgun. It is 

 the Pacific fulmar petrel, a relative of 

 the albatross, although much smaller in 

 size. It appears to be one of the most 

 frequent victims of the winter gales, 

 despite its powerful and sustained flight, 

 I have seen it in its Alaskan summer 

 home, nesting upon the bare rock cliffs of 

 Bering Sea, or lightly skimming the waves 

 on outstretched pinions, motionless save 

 for an occasional flutter; but here it has 

 found a last resting placeupon the wave- 

 swept sands of our inhospitable coast, 



56 



