232 WHERE ROLLS THE OREGON 



it, or because of it, more courage, more intelli- 

 gence ? 



We took another step towards them, and one 

 of the two birds sprang into the air, knocking her 

 baby over and over with the stroke of her wing, 

 coming within an inch of hurling it across the 

 rim to be battered on the ledges below. The other 

 bird raised her wings to follow, then clapped them 

 back over her baby. Fear is the most contagious 

 thing in the world ; and that flap of fear by the 

 other bird thrilled her too, but as she had with- 

 stood the stampede of the colony, so she caught 

 herself again and held on. 



She was now alone on the bare top of the rock, 

 with ten thousand circling birds screaming to her 

 in the air above, and with two men creeping up 

 to her with a big black camera which clicked 

 ominously. She let the multitude scream, and 

 with threatening beak watched the two men come 

 on. A motherless baby, spying her, ran down the 

 rock squealing for his life. She spread her wing, 

 put her bill behind him, and shoved him quickly 

 in out of sight with her own baby. The man 

 with the camera saw the act, for I heard his ma- 

 chine click, and I heard him say something under 



