AMONG THE WATER-FOWL 



to examine further, we made the descent, lowering 

 one another from ledge to ledge. I told the 

 anxious Keeper that I must have five minutes more, 

 and rushed around to the other side of the island, 

 where I could see what I named " the Rift." It 

 was as though the island had at some time cracked 

 apart, leaving an opening a few rods across, with 

 perpendicular sides that furnished nesting-places for 

 a number of Kittiwakes. I do not remember see- 

 ing any Murres or Razor-bills, though there may 

 have been a few on the sides not examined. The 

 sea evidently washes through this rift at times, 

 though now one could walk across. I got time for 

 one picture of it, and another of the Pinnacle, 

 before the Keeper protested that I must come, and 

 fairly dragged me into the boat. The wind was 

 rising and the sea increasing. We got back to 

 Great Bird Rock, however, before the squall 

 finally came. Then the wind blew quite hard 

 and the rain poured down for some time, when it 

 cleared again, giving us a beautiful calm, sunny 

 afternoon. 



I spent the first part of the afternoon getting 

 pictures of various birds by setting the camera on 

 the rocks where they alit, with the tube attached. 

 Later I went down with the Keeper again to the 

 Gannet colony on the ledge at the north-west cor- 

 ner, and did some photography, as on the first visit 

 I did not take the camera. Returning to the 

 top, the Keeper tied a rope under my arms, and 

 held it while I climbed down to a ledge near 

 the top where a number of Murres were nesting, 

 and secured a few identified eggs of both species, 



76 



