390 AUDUBON 



noon; finished a figure of the Colymbus scptentrionalis^ 

 Feeling the want of exercise, went off with the captain a 

 few miles, to a large rough island. To tread over the 

 spongy moss of Labrador is a task beyond conception 

 until tried; at every step the foot sinks in a deep, soft 

 cushion which closes over it, and it requires a good deal 

 of exertion to pull it up again. Where this moss hap- 

 pens to be over a marsh, then you sink a couple of feet 

 deep every step you take; to reach a bare rock is delight- 

 ful, and quite a relief. This afternoon I thought the 

 country looked more terrifyingly wild than ever; the dark 

 clouds, casting their shadows on the stupendous masses of 

 rugged rock, lead the imagination into regions impossible 

 to describe. The Scoter Ducks, of which I have seen 

 many this day, were partially moulted, and could fly only 

 a short distance, and must be either barren or the young 

 bachelors, as I find parents in full plumage, convincing 

 me that these former moult earlier than the breeding 

 Ducks. I have observed this strange fact so often now 

 that I shall say no more about it ; I have found it in 

 nearly all the species of the birds here. I do not know 

 of any writer on the history of birds having observed this 

 curious fact before. I have now my hands full of work, 

 and go to bed delighted that to-morrow I shall draw a 

 Ptarmigan which I can swear to, as being a United States 

 species. I am much fatigued and wet to the very skin, 

 but, oh ! we found the nest of a Peregrine Falcon on a 

 tremendous cliff, with a young one about a week old, 

 quite white with down; the parents flew fiercely at our 

 eyes. 



July 6. By dint of hard work and rising at three, I 

 have drawn a Colymbus scptentrionalis and a young one, 

 and nearly finished a Ptarmigan ; this afternoon, however, 

 at half-past five, my fingers could no longer hold my 

 pencil, and I was forced to abandon my work and go 



1 Red-throated Diver, now Urinator, or Gavia, lumme. E. C. 



