MARINE LIFE AT CORRIGUEN AIKB. 77 



On such mornings it was interesting to observe the movements of the 

 different water fowl, which were everywhere abundant on this coast, and 

 note the attitude of each toward the tide. I noticed that when the tide 

 was highest and the force of the waves against the shore greatest, the 

 gulls, cape pigeons, etc., remained far out to seaward beyond the limits 

 of the breakers, where they sat in perfect safety, gracefully riding the suc- 

 cessive swells as they came rolling in. The grebe, on the other hand, 

 seemed fairly to revel in the excitement of the surf and breakers nearer 

 shore. They defied the dangers of the smaller waves and breakers and 

 rode in triumph through the dashing spray of each. When confronted by 

 one of the larger breakers just described, they resorted to other and quite 

 different tactics. On such occasions, when within a few feet of the high 

 and often overhanging wall of water, which came rushing forward with 

 maddening speed, accompanied by such terrifying and ominous sounds, 

 just as the last hope for their safety was vanishing and their destruction 

 seemed inevitable, they would suddenly dive, and, disappearing for a few 

 moments beneath the advancing wave, would shortly reappear quite as 

 suddenly, sitting gracefully and unconcerned upon the surface in the rear 

 of the wave, awaiting with apparent eagerness an opportunity for repeating 

 the operation. They were not always successful, however, in the safe 

 performance of this feat, as was clearly evident from the great numbers of 

 dead and crippled birds found scattered along the beach. It will readily 

 appear how, by the miscalculation of only a few seconds, this interesting 

 sport might end in the destruction of the participant. 



On quiet days, when the tides were running at their highest, the waters 

 immediately fronting the shingle-covered beach were frequented by con- 

 siderable numbers of Leptonyx weddeli, the common haired seal or sea 

 leopard of this region. Occasionally these animals would approach quite 

 near the beach, just beneath where we were engaged with our fossils, and 

 thrusting their heads far out of the water remain stationary for a moment, 

 apparently intent on ascertaining the meaning of our presence. 



On several occasions when the tide was full, we were visited by schools 

 of porpoises and I never tired of watching these graceful cetaceans disport 

 themselves in the water about me. At times they would move along 

 with the great dorsal fins protruding from the surface of the water. Then 

 instantly, as though one mind controlled the movements of all, they 

 would turn on their sides, or with back down glide gracefully along just 



