OCEAN WANDERERS 



forth. As at our " Expositions," different classes or 

 nationalities have their " day," so off on the sea, 

 perhaps for purposes of exposition to the ornithol- 

 ogist kindly furnished by Providence, different kinds 

 of birds have theirs. Usually the Greater Shear- 

 water is the abundant " Haglet," outnumbering 

 their dark-hued relative twenty to one. But now 

 and then comes a " Sooty day," when the order is 

 almost reversed, though the disproportion is seldom 

 as great. Perhaps there is a " colour-line " among 

 the Shearwaters, so that when the "coloured" Hags 

 in large numbers invade the " Crab Ledge," most 

 of the lighter-coloured aristocrats manage to find 

 more congenial marine pastures elsewhere. At 

 times in August we are treated to a " Phalarope 

 day," when rafts of these dainty little creatures dot 

 the water far off shore. 



But, of all these special occasions, I know none 

 more entertaining than "Jaeger day" at this great 

 marine exposition of Nature. One such that I 

 shall ever remember was the 26th of August, 

 four years ago. Long before we reached " Crab 

 Ledge" I knew it was "Jaeger day," for the great 

 dark fellows were everywhere about, chasing the 

 Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls in their savage fashion. 

 And what a strange fashion it is ! If a Tern or 

 small Gull happens near a Jaeger, there is almost 

 certainly trouble in store. The latter gives chase. 

 The pursued makes every effort to escape. But the 

 Jaeger, well named he is ? " hunter," is the better 

 flier. With savage swoops, he strikes his little 

 white cousin from this direction and from that. 

 Mounting in the air is of no avail. So at last, in 



