THE OOLOGIST. 



329 



Leach's Petrel- 



In writing an account of a day's out- 

 ing it is almost invariably the custom 

 to make the first few sentences in re- 

 gard to the weather. To most persons, 

 the state of the weather undoubtedly 

 does have a great deal to do toward the 

 enjoyability of the trip, and to follow 

 this custom I will say that on the twen- 

 ty-second of June, 1893, I do not re- 

 member whether it was very warm or 

 very cold or whether the sun shone or 

 not. All I do recollect about this all- 

 important subject is that there was 

 enough breeze to make the little fish- 

 ing boat lean over in a most delightful 

 manner, as we hummed along toward 

 our destination. 



The "We" included Mr. Chas. K. 

 Reed, the fisherman, who received three 

 dollars for the use of his boat with his 

 services thrown in, and myself. JS"ow 

 Mr. Reed spends about fifty weeks of 

 the year mounting birds under his 

 "Patent Oval Convex Wall Shades"; the 

 other two weeks he always plans to 

 spend hunting for eggs and for 

 recreation. So for about a week we 

 had been wandering around among the 

 islands of Penobscot Bay, Me. We 

 found plenty of recreation but not so 

 many eggs. Nevertheless we were 

 having a good time and on this particu- 

 lar day we were bound for one of the 

 outer islands, to see what we could do 

 with the Leach's Petrel or as they are 

 known among the fishermen the "Cary 

 Chickens." 



About eleven o'clock we drew near 

 the island. When half a mile from it 

 we knew there were plenty of birds 

 there, although not one was to be seen, 

 for the wind coming to us from over it 

 brought to our nostrils the peculiar 

 musky odor which these birds always 

 give out. The boat was soon anchored 

 in the lee of the land and embarking in 

 the dory we rowed to the shore, mak- 

 ing a landing without much difficulty. 



The island was about ten acres in ex- 

 tent and covered with a growth of 

 grass and weeds. A couple of lobster 

 fishermen had made it their head- 

 quarters and remained there except in 

 the coldest of the weather. They came 

 down to the shore to inspect us, for vis- 

 itors were scarce at that lonely spot. 



We had found out by experience that 

 the best way to make friends with 

 these Penobscot Bay fishermen was to 

 tell them one's history and business 

 without being "pumped" very much 

 for it. So we immediately told them 

 that we were "rusticators," which is 

 a name they have for city people who 

 are pleasure-seeking in the country, 

 and that we were spending a few days 

 around among the islands looking for 

 sea birds eggs for our collections. They 

 were immediately interested and told 

 us to hunt the island over and welcome 

 but were afraid we would not find 

 much but "Cary Chickens." 



"The Carv Chickens are just what 

 we would like to get" we answered. 



"Take the pesky things," said one of 

 them, "we'll be glad to get rid of them ; 

 they bother us so some nights that we 

 can't sleep." "Yes," added the other, 

 "after dark they are as thick as skeet- 

 ers and we can kill any number by 

 throwing sticks in the air; they keep a 

 squeaking going all the time that used 

 to bother us dreadfully about sleeping." 



In its breeding habits the Leach's 

 Petrel is a nocturnal bird, coming and 

 going to its nesting place only after 

 dark. 



Upon turning our attention to the 

 island we found it completely honey- 

 combed witn the burrows of the Petrel; 

 some within a few feet of the fisher- 

 men's rude shanty; burrows here, there, 

 everywhere; hundreds of them, thous- 

 ands of them wherever there was soil 

 enough to dig into; but where were the 

 birds? Not one was in sight, not a 

 wing fluttered over the island, not one 

 in sight over the sea. 



