OCEAN WANDERERS 



fear and despair, the Gull or Tern does what it 

 knows the robber wants, disgorges the hard-earned 

 contents of its crop, a choice fish, or a mass of 

 half-digested matter. No further use, at present, 

 has the pirate now for his victim. Poising for an 

 instant, he swoops down after the meteoric shower 

 of food, usually catching it before it reaches the 

 water. If not, he alights, gathers it in, and then 

 kites away in search of another swallow of the sea, 

 on which to pour the vials of his wrath. There 

 are so many more of the hunted than of the hunt- 

 ing, that the former might easily combine and mob 

 the marauder, did they but know their real power. 

 We saw this process repeated until we were too 

 far off shore for Terns to be often found. But the 

 Jaegers do not depend upon Terns ; they can forage 

 for themselves, and, in fact, they do it for the most 

 part. On the fishing-grounds I was delighted to 

 find them as abundant as Shearwaters, or even more 

 so. They hung about us all day in large numbers, 

 and partook of the liver that I threw out to them. 

 Despite all my efforts, I could not get one near 

 enough for a satisfactory picture. Perhaps I might 

 have done so, but for the tamer Shearwaters, that 

 were always the first to gobble up any bait near the 

 boat, before the Jaeger, hovering off in distrust, 

 could make up his mind to venture. This time we 

 had towed out a little skiff, and, as it was quite 

 calm, I rowed off in it from the vessel, hoping that 

 in this way I might approach them. The Petrels 

 came up very close, but the Jaegers, though they 

 flew rather low over my head, would not come 

 down near, where I wanted them. 



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