"^r! SOTf^i 



(:• 



Wn 



I i: 



THE LABRADOR JOURNAL 



36; 



that forms here what must be called earth ; the eggs are 

 deposited on a bed of down and covered with the same 

 material ; and so warm are these nests that, although not 

 a parent bird was seen near them, the eggs were quite 

 warm to the touch, and the chicks in some actually hatch- 

 ing in the absence of the mother. Some of the nests had 

 the eggs uncovered; six eggs was the greatest number 

 found in a nest. The nests found on grassy islands are 

 fashioned in the same manner, and generally placed at the 

 foot of a large tussock of grass. Two female Ducks had 

 about twelve young on the water, and these they protected 

 by flapping about the water in such a way as to raise a 

 spray, whilst the little ones dove off in various directions. 

 Flocks of thirty to forty males were on the wing without 

 a single female among them. The young birds procured 

 were about one week old, of a dark mouse-color, thickly 

 covered with a soft and warm down, and their feet ap- 

 peared to be more perfect, for their age, than any other 

 portion, because more necessary to secure their safety, 

 and to enable them to procure food. John found many 

 nests of the Larus marinus, of which he brought both 

 eggs and young. The nest of this fine bird is made of 

 mosses and grasses, raised on the solid rock, and hand- 

 somely formed within; a few feathers are in this lining. 

 Three eggs, large, hard-shelled, with ground color of 

 dirty yellowish, splashed and spotted with dark umber and 

 black. The young, although small, were away from the 

 nest a few feet, placing themselves to the lee of the near- 

 est sheltering rock. They did not attempt to escape, but 

 when taken uttered a cry not unlike that of a young 

 chicken under the same circumstances. The parents were 

 so shy and so wary that none could be shot. At the 

 approach of the boats to the rocks where they breed, a 

 few standing as sentinels gave the alarm, and the whole 

 rose immediately in the air to a great elevation. On 

 another rock, not far distant, a number of Gulls of the 



