XI 



THE BIRDS' COMPASS 



HAVE you ever been in a small boat off- 

 shore in a fog? It is not a pleasant ex- 

 perience. You venture out, perhaps to fish or 

 sail, on some fine, clear day, when suddenly a 

 bank of fog comes creeping in from the sea. 

 Almost before you see it, softly, silently, swiftly, 

 it surrounds you. The shore becomes dim and 

 soon disappears. Probably you have no com- 

 pass, and unless a fog siren, the wind, or the tide 

 gives you a clew, you may soon be quite at a loss 

 to say where the land lies. 



Then you will be fortunate if somewhere near 

 by there is a nesting colony of sea birds. In the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, where I have had such an 

 experience as I am describing, there may be 

 Murres, Auks, or Puffins. Off the coast of 

 Maine we would find Herring Gulls. If we 

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