THE OOOLGIST. 



257 



Murres .the gulls begin their harsh 

 screams, seemingly to assist in scaring 

 the Murres from their eggs.' The air 

 is often black with multitudes of 

 Gulls. As the '"egger" .n ears the rook- 

 ery, the Murres stir uneasily, but re- 

 main on their eggs until they are sure 

 their enemy is about to rob them, when, 

 with a last glance at their treasures, 

 they shamble from the rocks and soar 

 put over the ocean. The "egger" rap- 

 idly gathers the eggs a*<d puts them in 

 the folds of his blouse. The Gulls, 

 however, manage to get their share, 

 and should the collector overlook any, 

 Larus occidentdlis quickly discovers 

 them. Owing to the voracity of the 

 Gull, the Murre never leaves its egg for 

 a moment unless compelled to. 



As soon as the "egger" "cleans out" 

 a rookery, he goes to his baskets and 

 unloads himself, taking' care to cover 

 the eggs securely before he leaves for 

 another collecting ground. Climbing 

 about on some of the high cliffs is ex- 

 ceedingly dangerous and ropes are used 

 for safety. A solitary "egger" on the 

 summit of a high cliff at a distance, 

 Avith thousands of screaming Gulls hov- 

 ering about him is a weird scene, to one 

 who has never witnessed such. The 

 Gulls are very fierce and many of the 

 eggers carry clubs, which they wave 

 vigorously above their heads, in order 

 to prevent attacks from these birds. 

 I am told that one saucy Gidl swooped 

 down on an uu wary "egger" and, fast- 

 ening its talons in his straw hat, sailed 

 out over the ocean with it. I can bear 

 proof to their attacks on persons dis- 

 turbing their young. 



As the eggs are collected the baskets 

 are put together in some central spot, 

 and are securely covered with weeds, 

 weighted down with rocks. They are 

 left here until all the rookeries hava 

 been visited, when each man takes two 

 baskets and the party returns to the 

 egg-house. Here all the eggs are wash- 

 ed and then piled up. The egg-house 

 is a small structure with thick stone 



sides to make it cool. In the middle of 

 the season 250 dozen eggs are sometimes 

 collected in a single day. When a suf- 

 ficient number have been obtained they 

 are put loosely into compartments of a 

 large fishing-boat' and taken to the San 

 Fransisco market where they are sold 

 to hotels, restaurants and bakeries. 

 6,000 dozen eggs were shipped from the 

 Farallones this year in a little over one 

 mouth's time. In San Fransisco, 

 Murres' eggs are usually known as 

 "Gulls" eggs. . The latter are very pah 

 pable but seldom reach the market. 



During my stay on the Farallones I 

 had an opportunity of testing Murres' 

 eggs as food. I could not detect any 

 fishy taste in the fresh eggs and liked 

 them fully as well as "hen fruit. " 



I suppose it is almost unnecessary to 

 say that the Murres' eggs range in color 

 from a plain bluish-white, through 

 various shades of green into pure white 

 as a ground color. The markings are 

 brown and black and often have the 

 shape of beautiful scrolls. The varia- 

 tions in color of Murres' eggs makes 

 a scies desirable for a cabinet. One 

 egg is the full complement. 



It is no wonder that the persecuted 

 Murre seeks a nesting place "away 

 from the busy haunts of men," for the 

 despoiler of their homes can hut he an 

 object of fear to them. At present, I 

 think the California Murre exceeds in 

 numbers any species on the Farallones, 

 but whether the depredations of the 

 eggers will noticeably decrease these 

 birds, or not is a question that only the 



future can solve. 



C. Barlow, 



Santa Clara, Cal. 



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