66 £be Marbler 



ing to the strong winds which are so common there the sand is perpetually 

 drifting, and the patches of grass in which last year's blades are still stand- 

 in^ receive, along with the rest of the surface, a small layer of sand. When 

 the birds start nest building they excavate for about an inch into the soil 

 among the long grass. This excavation exposes to view the lower layer of 

 soil which is usually dark and sometimes black for a few inches. If one 

 should be passing by one of these favored nesting places at this critical 

 moment the site of the future nest is very easily discovered on account of 

 the contrast in the color between the uncovered layer of dark soil and the 

 surrounding gray of the sand; but so soon as the bird lines this carefully with 

 the dry grass blades, of which the foundation is usually built, the contrast is 

 ended and the nesting site is difficult to discover. Toward the eastern end 

 of the Island the ground is fairly well covered with patches of crowberry 

 (Empetrum nigrum) and these patches are another favorite nesting site in 

 which the discovery of the nest is much more difficult than it is among the 

 comparatively scanty growth of beach grass, which probably contains three- 

 quarters of all the nests built on the Island. 



The ornithological situation on the Island is so peculiar from the entire 

 absence of vegetation over three feet high and from the fact that only one 

 land bird nests there that recollections of a visit to this out of the way place 

 will dwell long in one's memory. 



Our plate shows 3 of the set of 5 eggs of which Mr. Saunders has written, 

 and are accurately represented as to both size and color. The largest egg of 

 the set measures .yy x .60 and the smallest .75 x .56 Ed. 



