Vol. XXI -j ^.\\, Fortnight on the Faralloncs. 433 



in a circle, and the extremely hard shell permits of much rough 

 usage. We found eggs almost everywhere — in inland caves, along 

 the rocky ridges, in damp sea grottoes and on low-lying shore rocks 

 — with no sign of a nest, and in places where one would marvel at 

 their perilous position. On the islands where an unlimited series 

 can be seen, with an endless variation in colors and markings, 

 some very grotesque looking specimens can be found, and on 

 some the strange scrawls have a remarkably close resemblance to 

 figures and other designs. The two most easily separable types, 

 those of white and greenish ground color, seem about equal in 

 abundance. Cinnamdn colored eggs were rather scarce, and 

 those of pure spotless white were but very rarely seen. 



Mr. Cane states that the birds depart in September, leaving 

 with the young at night, returning to the islands in December. 



Although the day of professional egging has passed, the islands 

 still ring with accounts of the egg-carrying feats and hair-raising 

 exploits in which, latterly, the light-house crew took the principal 

 part, and which netted them a neat income. An egger's outfit 

 consisted of a blouse-like 'egg shirt,' which, drawn tightly 

 around the waist, held the eggs, often as many as eighteen dozen 

 or more ; a pair of ' egging shoes ' with soles made of braided 

 rope and tops of canvas, which are still used by the islanders for 

 climbing steep rocks ; and lastly a long coil of stout rope for use 

 in the more dangerous places. Two lives have been lost in this 

 risky trade and minor accidents were common. One egger fell off 

 Saddle Rock with a shirt full of eggs and would have sunk with 

 the weight had he not had the presence of mind to begin breaking 

 them on striking the water. When the season started the main 

 and adjacent islands, including Sugar Loaf and Saddle Rock, 

 were gone over and all the murre's eggs in reach destroyed, thus 

 insuring only fresh ones. This and the regular egging days, when 

 the great colonies were flushed, were red-letter days for the rapa- 

 cious gulls who followed the eggers about in noisy flocks. Mr. 

 Cane stated that on mornings when a late start was made the gulls 

 would become impatient and start a reign of terror in the murre 

 rookeries by themselves. The available territory was divided 

 into two sections, each being worked every other day. There still 

 remain on the island stone sheds where the eggs were stored, 



