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, 



