I 82 ScHMiTT, A Summer Colony at Aiilicosti. [ ^pr 



of numerous birds which come here to breed. The steamer 

 'Savoy,' in visiting the different places around the island, is 

 sometimes obliged in stormy weather to seek shelter in this har- 

 bor. It was while the ' Savoy ' was at anchor that I chanced to 

 have the opportunity of observing the birds of Gull Cliff. 



When a mile out in the offing we could perceive with a telescope 

 about these abrupt rocks an incessant stream going and coming, like 

 an immense swarm of bees near a gigantic hive, usually forming 

 two parallel but opposite currents. On approaching we could bet- 

 ter determine these objects, and little by little could distinguish 

 the birds. Even some of them, going in pursuit of fish, would pass 

 near the steamer so that we could recognize the species. At last, 

 the depth of the sea being sufficient, the ' Savoy ' came to anchor 

 very near the shore. The approach of the boat disquieted the 

 colony, and it was all in confusion, as when the anchor is let go 

 the sound of the chain is echoed from the cliff. Then from every 

 jutting point of the rocks numberless birds fly off, but they soon 

 return again. If we land with the ship's boat there is a new dis- 

 quiet in the colony, but the birds quickly compose themselves and 

 soon begin again their continuous going and coming as if nothing 

 had happened. 



At low water it is possible to land at the foot of this rock, where 

 is light rubble, which is covered again at high water. This cliff, 

 cut perpendicularly and nearly 200 feet high, is composed of layers 

 of rock which offer numerous projections, every one of which 

 contains a nest. The jutting point is often so small that the bird 

 has just room enough to lay its eggs, and it often happens that 

 the young as they increase in size, a few days after birth, in spite 

 of wondrous equilibrium, cannot maintain themselves in the rudi- 

 mental nest, and fall down the cliff where they are quickly drowned. 



On carefully observing these birds, we find that the greatest num- 

 ber are Kitti wakes (^Rissa tridadyla) which occupy the rock from 

 the inferior third nearly to the summit. 



Among them we find grouped several families of Murres ( Uria 

 troile) and, especially on the southern portion, some Puffins 

 {^Fratercula arctica). Also here and there some Bonaparte Gulls 

 (^Larus Philadelphia) and above these and always near the top of 

 the rock several nests of Cormorants {Pha/acrocorax dilophus). 



