1897] Young — Birds of the Magdalen Islands. 151 



a man who was said to be an adept in rock-climbing. We found 

 several nests of the pigeon or black guillemot, each with two 

 eggs in, laid on the bare soil in a hole or crevice of the soft rock. 

 Near the west end a few puffins breed, and we took one egg. 

 On the south shore a stretch of sandhills and wet sandy beaches 

 extends about a mile ; while a little distance inland great quan- 

 tities of American cranberries grow, which though of last year's 

 ripening were still fit for use. Amongthe small pools of fresh water 

 I expected to meet with the yellow-legs, but saw nothing except 

 some Eparrows, and a few pii)ing-plovers at the sea shore. We 

 noticed a pair of ospre}^s, which, doubtless had a nest in some of 

 the larger spruce trees. 



June 24th. — This morning walked with the proprietor of 

 the island and my other friends to the lobster factory, thence to 

 the east point, where a heavy sea was running, the spray flying 

 over the tops of the cliffs. I saw the spotted sandpiper, another 

 sandpiper, numbers of American scoters and a few mergansers. 

 Fox-sparrows were scarce, there were a few pairs of black-poll 

 warblers. We took a number of black guillemots eggs, nothing 

 else. I learned that Leach's petrel slill bred near the east point, 

 so in the afternoon went with one of the boys who lived on the 

 island to the locality where they weie said to breed. After a 

 short search wc located a nest-hole among the roots of a scrubby 

 spruce bush some thirty yards from the edge of the cliffs. The 

 hole was eighteen inches deep, and found by the strong odour 

 proceeding from the bird and pervading the whole bush. At the 

 end of it was the nest consisting of matted grass, chips,fibres, &c. 

 The first two I found, each contained one fresh egg ; in the third 

 one the bird had been killed. I caught the old bird on both the 

 nests that contained the eggs, and after carefully examining let 

 them go. They appear to be nocturnal in their habits, and are 

 at first dazed by the light. When taken in the hand they eject 

 a few drops of a strong-smelling oil, whose odour lasts for a long 



